DecarbonX has shared that its research into the use of AI in industry has concluded. HEX Care, by DecarbonX, it said, utilises AI to enable heat exchangers to autonomously identify issues and then verbally communicate with staff at petrochemical plants, alerting them to maintenance needs.
Integrating this technology into heat exchangers, it noted, ensures the monitoring of fouling is proactive, rather than reactive.
The AI software enables heat exchangers to communicate regular health updates to engineers, and process masses of data to self-diagnose fouling. This, it said, de-risks operations and streamlines maintenance.
The experiment used data taken from existing refineries, combined with advanced AI software, to simulate the ability of heat exchangers to communicate between themselves and self-diagnose maintenance issues.
DecarbonX plans to scale this trial in the year ahead and conduct a full pilot project.
Utilising the findings from the pilot project, it aims to integrate the technology into an existing petrochemical plant by the end of 2024.
The process ensures that fouling can be prevented quickly and with minimal operational disruption.
Fouling, the build-up of deposits, impacts heat exchangers’ efficiency, and leads to increased energy consumption, and is a “significant contributor to global CO2 emissions,” it said.
Eduard Cherednik, Executive Director of the DecarbonX program, commented: “Our intelligent heat exchangers have shown remarkable capability to communicate with plant and laboratory personnel about their health, effectively discussing advanced maintenance strategies and operational adjustments. This is a significant step towards realizing the full potential of autonomous production, where equipment actively engages in its upkeep and seamlessly interacts with human teams.”
Alex de Valukhoff, Chief Executive Officer at Angara, said: “Embracing advances in AI will streamline industrial practices and help make heavy industry fit for purpose in an era of decarbonisation. Self-diagnosing heat exchangers are just the beginning, the petroleum industry must do more to reduce emissions and innovation must be a key part in the drive to decarbonise. With less than a year until the next global climate conference, COP29, I’m conscious of the sheer scale of emissions that could be abated in that time by refineries simply adopting energy efficiency technology. Our analysis shows up to 400 million of tonnes of CO2 can be abated per year, globally. Now is the time to take act.”