Case Study: Thermoplastics Manufacturing Company achieves 77 days of advance leak detection with Aspen Technology (Aspen Mtell)

Leaks in Reboiler Detected With Months of Advance Notice

Thermoplastics Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of engineering thermoplastics, faced repeated shell-and-tube reboiler failures in the process that produces a plastics precursor. With limited online instrumentation to monitor water chemistry and a suspicion of corrosion, they engaged Aspen Technology and its Aspen Mtell solution to increase advance warning of leaks.

Aspen Technology deployed Aspen Mtell, using about 30 upstream process variables to identify a signature that signaled a slow windup to leak events and built the Mtell agents on site in three weeks. The pilot provided 77 days of notice for tube leaks, gave experts insight into the root cause, and will more than pay for itself given that a single failure typically incurs over €1M in maintenance costs.