Grey-box modelling for estimation of optimum cut point temperature of crude distillation column

A grey-box modelling framework was developed for the estimation of cut point temperature of a crude distillation unit (CDU) under uncertainty in crude composition and process conditions. First principle (FP) model of CDU was developed for Pakistani crudes from Zamzama and Kunnar fields. A hybrid methodology based on the integration of Taguchi method and genetic algorithm (GA) was employed to estimate the optimal cut point temperature for various sets of process variables. Optimised datasets were utilised to develop an artificial neural networks (ANN) model for the prediction of optimum values of cut points. The ANN model was then used to replace the hybrid framework of the Taguchi method and the GA. The integration of the ANN and FP model makes it a grey-box (GB) model. For the case of Zamama crude, the GB model helped in the decrease of up to 38.93% in energy required per kilo barrel of diesel and an 8.2% increase in diesel production compared to the stand-alone FP model under uncertainty. Similarly, for Kunnar crude, up to 18.87% decrease in energy required per kilo barrel of diesel and a 33.96% increase in diesel production was observed in comparison to the stand-alone FP model.