Devices and methods for determining the cumulative distribution of a polymer property in a reactor without physical separation of reaction subcomponents. The device includes a means of measuring an instantaneous property of the polymers being produced in a reaction vessel a plurality of times during a polymerization reaction as well as a means of determining the corresponding change in polymer concentration in the reaction vessel between measurements of the instantaneous polymer property. The device also includes a means of computing a statistical distribution appropriate to the polymer characteristic and applying the statistical distribution to a recently measured instantaneous value of the polymer property so as to have an instantaneous distribution of the polymer property and a means of adding together the instantaneous distributions of the polymer property in order to obtain the cumulative distribution of the polymer property in the reactor.

Assemblies and methods to enhance control of a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processing assembly associated with a refining operation, may include supplying a hydrocarbon feedstock to one or more first processing units associated with the refining operation. The assemblies and methods also may include conditioning a hydrocarbon feedstock and unit material samples, and analyzing the samples via one or more spectroscopic analyzers. The assemblies and methods further may include prescriptively controlling, via one or more FCC process controllers based at least in part on the hydrocarbon feedstock properties and the unit material properties, the FCC processing assembly, so that the prescriptively controlling results in enhancing accuracy of target content of materials produced by the FCC processing assembly, thereby to more responsively control the FCC processing assembly to achieve material outputs that more accurately and responsively converge on target properties.

Assemblies and methods to enhance control of a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processing assembly associated with a refining operation, may include supplying a hydrocarbon feedstock to one or more first processing units associated with the refining operation. The assemblies and methods also may include conditioning a hydrocarbon feedstock and unit material samples, and analyzing the samples via one or more spectroscopic analyzers. The assemblies and methods further may include prescriptively controlling, via one or more FCC process controllers based at least in part on the hydrocarbon feedstock properties and the unit material properties, the FCC processing assembly, so that the prescriptively controlling results in enhancing accuracy of target content of materials produced by the FCC processing assembly, thereby to more responsively control the FCC processing assembly to achieve material outputs that more accurately and responsively converge on target properties.

Methods for simultaneously determining the concentrations of transition metal compounds in solutions containing two or more transition metal compounds are described. Polymerization reactor systems providing real-time monitoring and control of the concentrations of the transition metal components of a multicomponent catalyst system are disclosed, as well as methods for operating such polymerization reactor systems, and for improving methods of preparing the multicomponent catalyst system.

A process provides for minimizing an amount of fuel gas utilized in an absorber off-gas incinerator and better control of emissions. The process provides for less temperature deviations in the absorber off-gas incinerator firebox and for less deviation in an amount of oxygen in the absorber off-gas incinerator stack gas.

A plant or refinery may include equipment such as reactors, heaters, heat exchangers, regenerators, separators, or the like. Types of heat exchangers include shell and tube, plate, plate and shell, plate fin, air cooled, wetted-surface air cooled, or the like. Operating methods may impact deterioration in equipment condition, prolong equipment life, extend production operating time, or provide other benefits. Mechanical or digital sensors may be used for monitoring equipment, and sensor data may be programmatically analyzed to identify developing problems. For example, sensors may be used in conjunction with one or more system components to detect and correct maldistribution, cross-leakage, strain, pre-leakage, thermal stresses, fouling, vibration, problems in liquid lifting, conditions that can affect air-cooled exchangers, conditions that can affect a wetted-surface air-cooled heat exchanger, or the like. An operating condition or mode may be adjusted to prolong equipment life or avoid equipment failure.

Devices and methods for controlling the properties of chemical species during time-dependent processes. A device includes a reactor for containing one or more chemical species of a time-dependent process, an extraction pump for automatically and continuously extracting an amount of the one or more chemical species from the reactor, one or more detectors for measuring property changes of the one or more extracted chemical species and generating a continuous stream of data related to the one or more property changes to the one or more chemical species during a time interval, and a process controller configured to fit the continuous stream of data to a mathematical function to predict one or more properties of the one or more chemical species at a future time point and make one or more process decisions based on the prediction of one or more properties at the future time point.

Devices and methods for determining the cumulative distribution of a polymer property in a reactor without physical separation of reaction subcomponents. The device includes a means of measuring an instantaneous property of the polymers being produced in a reaction vessel a plurality of times during a polymerization reaction as well as a means of determining the corresponding change in polymer concentration in the reaction vessel between measurements of the instantaneous polymer property The device also includes a means of computing a statistical distribution appropriate to the polymer characteristic and applying the statistical distribution to a recently measured instantaneous value of the polymer property so as to have an instantaneous distribution of the polymer property and a means of adding together the instantaneous distributions of the polymer property in order to obtain the cumulative distribution of the polymer property in the reactor.

Devices and methods for controlling the properties of chemical species during time-dependent processes. A device includes a reactor for containing one or more chemical species of a time-dependent process, an extraction pump for automatically and continuously extracting an amount of the one or more chemical species from the reactor, one or more detectors for measuring property changes of the one or more extracted chemical species and generating a continuous stream of data related to the one or more property changes to the one or more chemical species during a time interval, and a process controller configured to fit the continuous stream of data to a mathematical function to predict one or more properties of the one or more chemical species at a future time point and make one or more process decisions based on the prediction of one or more properties at the future time point.

A plant or refinery may include equipment such as reactors, heaters, heat exchangers, regenerators, separators, or the like. Types of heat exchangers include shell and tube, plate, plate and shell, plate fin, air cooled, wetted-surface air cooled, or the like. Operating methods may impact deterioration in equipment condition, prolong equipment life, extend production operating time, or provide other benefits. Mechanical or digital sensors may be used for monitoring equipment, and sensor data may be programmatically analyzed to identify developing problems. For example, sensors may be used in conjunction with one or more system components to detect and correct maldistribution, cross-leakage, strain, pre-leakage, thermal stresses, fouling, vibration, problems in liquid lifting, conditions that can affect air-cooled exchangers, conditions that can affect a wetted-surface air-cooled heat exchanger, or the like. An operating condition or mode may be adjusted to prolong equipment life or avoid equipment failure.