Solomon Announces Inaugural Propane De-Hydrogenation Study

DALLAS – July 15, 2015 – HSB Solomon Associates, LLC (Solomon), the leading performance improvement company for the global energy industry, announced the launch of its first-ever Worldwide Propane Dehydrogenation Plant Performance Analysis (PDH Study). The study is designed to assist PDH plant managers in their decision-making processes related to yield optimization, cost reduction, energy efficiency, strategic planning, and margin improvement. It will run concurrent with the Worldwide Olefin Plant Performance Analysis (Olefin Study) for operating year 2015.

There are roughly 20 PDH units currently in operation worldwide, with more PDH capacities scheduled to come online in the next few years. While PDH technologies have been in commercial operation since the 1990s, the recent and anticipated future growth in propylene capacity from this technology make this the ideal time for the launch of this new study.

PDH Study results can be used to benchmark the performance of each plant against that of other PDH plants. As such, plant managers can better identify and target specific performance areas for improvement by analyzing and evaluating their plant’s competitive positioning and ranking results.

“At Solomon, we know that for performance improvement programs to be successful, many facets of plant operation must be examined,” said Claire Cagnolatti, Solomon Associates Vice President of Chemical Studies and Project Manager for the PDH Study. “That’s why we offer a holistic approach to chemicals manufacturing improvement. We analyze a broad range of key performance indicators (KPIs). Solomon KPIs are designed to be incorporated into your internal tracking metrics, allowing you to better set meaningful improvement targets.”

As part of your study results, Solomon provides individual plant rankings within each peer group based on a wide range of KPIs that include plant capacity and capacity utilization, propylene production, hydrocarbon loss, net energy consumption, and more. Solomon KPIs are capable of being combined with other facilities on a shared/integrated site to represent the overall supply chain competitiveness, not just the rankings of the individual plants. In addition to peer group rankings, other peer group average data can be compared to participant data for additional operating parameters.

Participants will receive:

• Plant rankings for all key benchmarks
• Study averages by size, age, region, and other pertinent peer groups
• Indexes comparing energy consumption, operation expenses, work hours, and maintenance costs to standards determined from statistical analysis of industry data
• Averages by performance quartiles, thirds, or halves in every major performance category
• A report showing distribution curves and revealing the full range of performance for each major benchmark along with the plant’s position within that spectrum
• An on-site presentation.

Participants in both the 2015 PDH Study and the 2015 Olefin Study will have the option of combining the study into an integrated report that examines their company’s overall olefin industry performance.