A Graphical User Interface for Polyethylene Production Grade Changes

Abstract: To compete globally, the European process industry needs to increase its cost effectiveness by minimizing waste and maximizing revenue. This can be achieved by adapting to the market demand and always produce the most profitable products. To minimize the cost, the production changes needs to be as effective as possible. By optimizing the product or grade change, the time spent producing inexpensive products outside of the specifications is limited. As part of a PIC-LU project, optimization methods for polyethylene production grade changes have been developed at Lund University. The optimization methods use a calibrated Modelica model of a polyethylene production plant and the optimization problems are solved with JModelica.org, an open source software platform for modeling, simulation and optimization. The Master’s thesis was carried out within the PIC-LU project and in coordination with an industrial partner, Borealis. This Master’s thesis investigates the possibility of combining calibration and optimization methods into a graphical user interface. The goal of the graphical user interface is to make the technology and research results more available. By creating a graphical user interface the engineers at Borealis can test and evaluate optimal strategies for grade changes. The objective is that the graphical user interface can be used as an aid in the planning and decision making. The result of the Master’s thesis is a graphical user interface capable of solving grade change optimization problems, and allowing the user to evaluate the calculations by comparing the optimization results with measurement data.