Industry 4.0- Advancing Smart Manufacturing Capabilities in the Chemical Industry

 

INDUSTRY 4.0-

Advancing Smart Manufacturing Capabilities in the Chemical Industry

 

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, popularly known as “Industry 4.0” is deemed to be a significant transformation in how manufacturing industries operate. Picking up from the use of computers and industrial automation, developed during the Third Industrial Revolution; Industry 4.0 enhances this infrastructure by connecting the computers and machines for autonomous decision-making without human interference. This combination of cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT) and other technologies help to realise the idea of smart factories.

Fig. 1- Advances made during the Four Industrial Revolutions

Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Management

A major component of Industry 4.0 is the interconnectivity between devices, achieved through the Internet of Things (IoT). This mechanism not only helps during in-house operations, but also effectively applies the cloud data for smooth manufacturing.

Typically, the data from the physical world is captured and stored in the cloud environment. Then, the machines share this gathered information using advanced analytics and visualise the real-time parameters to generate physical movement. Pre-set algorithms aid decision making to translate these digital codes into physical action of the materials and equipment involved. Thus, ensuring seamless movement between the physical to digital and back to the physical realm. This mechanism according to a report by Deloitte, can potentially transform the chemicals industry by promoting strategic growth and streamlining operations.

Fig. 2- Design Principles of Industry 4.0

Successful enterprises follow the  adage ‘Customer is King’. With the increasing customer-specific demands and the potential threat from other competitors, enterprises are always on their toes to meet customer satisfaction. IoT enables factories to manufacture flexibly based on the customer’s demands. For example, at BASF’s smart pilot plant facility at Kaiserslautern, Germany; soap production is entirely automated and permits such flexibility. Once the customer places the order for a customized soap, the radio frequency tagged containers instructs the equipment via wireless communication to produce soap according to the customers’ composition without manual intervention. IoT thus enables effective use of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT).

Catalysing Business Operations

Over the years, a large amount of data relating to chemical processes and equipment has been collected. Industry 4.0 enables the manufacturers to use this to improve business operations by means of improving productivity and reducing risks in the short to medium term. Smart manufacturing employs techniques such as predictive asset management, process management and control, production simulations etc. Technologies such as production simulations and digital twinning of large-scale manufacturing facilities have been employed by market leaders such as BASF, Sinopec etc.

Safety and risk management are of paramount importance in the chemical and processing industries. Traditional methods are helpful to a certain extent. Imagine the amount of money and time wasted to inspect elevated structures like a flare burning at 2000^oC by shutting down the entire unit; use of drone cameras to reach such difficult positions within the plant prevent the need for shutdown of the entire facility to inspect the flare stack. Similarly, smart paints and piezoelectric composites may be applied to surfaces of chemical tanks to detect the mechanical vibrations due to corrosion or crack formation; thus reducing risks. Industry 4.0 enables operators to capture continuous real-time data and monitor essential process parameters with the help of sensors to thwart potential hazards.

Use of  Advanced Analytics

Purchased equipment cost accounts for up to 40% of the fixed capital investment. This clearly indicates the highly asset intensive nature of the chemical industry. As discussed previously, IoT enables effective use of digitized records for maintenance purposes. However, other aspects of Industry 4.0 help the operators to optimize their maintenance spending by means of predictive asset management. Sensors mounted in critical equipment like turbines, extruders, compressors etc. generate continuous data feed, which can studied to identify patterns for cause of breakdown. Advanced analytics tools help gather this feed from the equipment to not just identify potential breakdowns, but also ordering of parts and schedule of deliveries. Manufacturing units can thus move away from regular or scheduled maintenance checks to predictive maintenance. Further, data from one plant can be used to predict the similar issues of the equipment at another manufacturing site. Information transparency is a key feature in the larger Industry 4.0 framework, through transfer of such critical data between equipment manufacturers and their clients after market performance of the equipment may also be improved. Such arrangements can prove to be extremely vital for critical and expensive equipment used in the manufacturing facility.

It is widely accepted that chemical manufacturing units are highly energy intensive, especially separation processes. Decrease in energy costs benefits the companies by reduction in operation costs and contribution to the emission of greenhouse gases. To this effect, companies have started employing data mining and modelling software to develop dynamic target values of energy consumption, taking into consideration factors such as conditions within the plant, outside temperature, fouling of systems, aging of catalysts etc. Moreover, use of highly sensitive sensors to monitor the dynamic processes helps to control plant operations and improve the overall energy efficiency.

Industry 4.0 helps companies to improve supply chain planning in two ways: firstly, the continuous data feed from sensors and connected systems, helps to improve visibility in the supply chain and reduce risks. Sensors help identify if the quantity of raw materials has fallen below a critical level and through the interconnected network of devices, messages can be sent to the operator to replenish the stock. IoT also helps firms to keep a track of the supply and delivery of these raw materials and components. This enables smooth supply management and transportation, and avoid unnecessary delay due to shortage of raw materials or  even small maintenance materials like nuts and bolts.

Secondly, the use of deep analytics tools helps to identify  consumer demand patterns. Use of big data and artificial intelligence help in demand forecasting i.e. adjusting the production schedules in line with the changing customer needs. Demand forecasting is found to be extremely easy and useful for downstream processing companies, who have proximity to the end customer. For example, AkzoNobel uses point-of-sale data from retail outlets to minimise production related risks of manufacturing paints and coatings that are low in-demand or slow moving inventory. Similarly, demand forecasting using analytics tools can help FMCG industries (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) dealing in foods, beverages and consumer goods. 

Industry 4.0 in Research and Development

An article published in 2020 states that approximately $51 billion is invested in research and development (R&D) by chemical industries. Research and development of new products and devices, leads to generation of new revenue streams and opportunities to make amends in older products. Given the large amount of capital spent on this front, companies want to be sure that their investments in research pay off. Industry 4.0 allows such companies to strategically use big data and other tools to predict the outcome of an investment. For example, use of advanced analytics helps researchers to study existing data chemical properties of materials and develop new material composites according to specific requirements of the customer.

Advanced analytics thus help companies to develop new ‘physical products’. For example, Molecule synthesis machine developed by the University of Urbana-Champaign helps break down complex molecules to basic building blocks and then re-arrange them to develop new drug or agrochemical components. Similarly, increasingly Machine Learning (ML) is being applied to develop novel catalysts. The advent of such advanced analytics tools has helped the chemical industry to grow from a trial-and-error approach to use of modelling to identify and develop new materials. Possibly, in the future scientists can begin with identifying the properties of the material and then with the help of physio-chemical data, reverse engineer to develop the final product.

Fig. 3- Additive manufacturing has improved rapidly over the last decade

Additive manufacturing/ 3D printing has been identified as another promising technology to this effect. Using 3D printers, digital codes are translated into physical objects that can be used for testing at significantly lower costs. Researchers at the university of Glasgow, recently developed 3D printed polypropylene reactors to carry out certain hydrothermal chemical synthesis. These reactors (of capacity 1- 20mL) could withstand temperatures up to 140^oC and when arranged in arrays of specific shape yielded in the discovery of two new co-ordination polymers as a part of the reaction being carried out. Additive manufacturing as a technology has moved from prototyping to actual production. Advances in use of metal additive manufacturing further opens up a newer set of possibilities for production activities.

Diversification into Smart Products and Services?

Ultimately, the opportunities to grow a business derive upon the capacity to add incremental revenue and by generating new revenue streams. With the help of Industry 4.0, chemical industries are no more restricted to revenue generation from traditional means. In fact, technologies like IoT present an opportunity to develop smart products for chemical application and develop new data services. For example, Monsanto has developed software tools to help its farmers in identifying the type of crop disease. A farmer has to just click a picture of the infected leaf and verify this with the connected database, which recommends the appropriate pesticide to be applied. Industry 4.0 can thus help chemical companies to generate new revenue streams, to develop value-added consumer products and services and not just earn by selling chemical products on a per-tonne basis.

References

Forbes (2018) What is Industry 4.0? Here’s A Super Easy Explanation For Everyone

<https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/09/02/what-is-industry-4-0-heres-a-super-easy-explanation-for-anyone/?sh=7b95c7d79788 > (Accessed on: April 28, 2021)

 

Industr (2020) Industry 4.0 in Chemical Industry-  Catalysing Operations Improvement

<https://www.industr.com/en/industry-in-chemical-industry-catalysing-operations-improvement-2539568> (Accessed on: April 30, 2021)

 

Center for Automotive Research (2018) Additive Manufacturing: The “Cool Factor” in Manufacturing

<https://www.cargroup.org/additive-manufacturing-the-cool-factor-in-manufacturing/> (Accessed on: May 10, 2021)

R&D World (2020) Developing a data-driven Chemical Industry

<https://www.rdworldonline.com/developing-a-data-driven-chemical-industry/> (Accessed on: May 10, 2021)

 

Robert F. Service, Science (2015), Vol. 347, Issue 6227, pp. 1190-1193

DOI: 10.1126/science.347.6227.1190

 

Kitson, P.J., Marshall, R.J., Long, D., Forgan, R.S. and Cronin, L. (2014), 3D Printed High‐Throughput Hydrothermal Reactionware for Discovery, Optimization, and Scale‐Up. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 53: 12723-12728. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201402654

Deloitte (2020) Industry 4.0 and the chemicals industry

<https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/de/Documents/consumer-industrial-products/Deloitte-Industry-4.0-and-the-chemicals-industry.pdf >(Accessed on: May 1, 2021)