AspenTech and Aramco partner on new CCU software innovation

Aspen Technology, a global leader in industrial software, has announced a partnership with Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, that positions AspenTech to introduce a unique, integrated modelling and optimisation solution that will enable capital intensive industries to achieve practical and economic solutions for Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU).

The new solution is based on technology developed by Aramco collaboratively with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), the company said.

Aramco, through its subsidiary Saudi Aramco Technologies Company (SATC) has licensed the technology to AspenTech as part of its broader capabilities to optimise carbon emissions reduction. It will aim to address the identification of the most promising carbon capture and utilisation paths by simultaneously considering economics, process design and operations constraints and CO2 reduction, AspenTech said in a statement.

The goal of this innovation is to enable businesses to make evidence-based decisions in support of adopting carbon management strategies that optimize and accelerate sustainable operations, it said.

“The advanced and reliable optimisation algorithm developed by Aramco provides a visualised superstructure interface for users to intuitively develop case options and cost curves,” said Dr. Aqil Jamal, Carbon Management Chief Technologist at Aramco’s Research & Development Center.

According to Dr. Bashir Dabbousi, Director of Technology Strategy and Planning at Aramco, the company and AspenTech will combine their strengths “to bring together integrated modelling and optimisation to help make informed decisions on carbon strategies and ultimately to help meet sustainability targets.”

Dr. Vikas Dhole, General Manager, Sustainability at Aspen Technology, said: “Our agreement with Aramco demonstrates the importance of technology innovators working together to address the biggest challenges in ensuring a sustainable future. The AspenTech solution, based on this partnership between AspenTech and Aramco, will aim to help companies rapidly evaluate potential opportunities and new innovative solutions that mitigate carbon footprints while ensuring profitability.”

According to AspenTech, the objectives of the solution include allowing companies to optimise CCU configurations to determine the optimum balance between emissions and profitability objectives, and evaluate the impact of uncertainty in energy costs, carbon fees, and raw material and product costs.

It also includes developing short, intermediate, and long-range production and strategic plans that include consideration for optimum CCU options to simultaneously address profitability and sustainability objectives.