About Petrocontrol

Following a career with Exxon Research and Engineering and KBC Advanced Technology, Dr. Zak Friedman founded Petrocontrol – a consulting firm in Advanced Process Control (APC) and On-line Optimization. Petrocontrol’s APC applications engage in minute by minute process engineering, employing first principles inferential models, process knowledge based designs, and attention to detail during implementation and commissioning.

Since 1992 Petrocontrol worked with about 30 clients, implementing inferential control models, sometime turnkey APC applications, client representation, auditing existing APC and training control personnel.

Petrocontrol specializes in:

• Inferential Control Technology:

  • GCC

  • GDS

  • FCC

  • REFS

  • Visbreaker

  • Coker

  • Alkylation

• Independent APC consulting

• Advanced Process Control Training Seminars

Petrocontrol has performed work on the following units:

• • Amine absorption and Claus units.
  • Amine production and separation.
  • Ammonia manufacturing.
  • Aromatics: BTX reforming, extraction and separation.
  • Atmospheric and vacuum crude distillation.
  • Blending gasoline, middle distillates, fuels and lubes.
  • Boilers, furnaces and utilities.
  • Distillation processes: a large variety of distillation columns, from main fractionators to gas plants to superfractionators.
  • Ethylene cracking and olefins separation.
  • Fluid catalytic cracking: FCC and RFCC
  • Gasoline processes: reforming, alkylation, isomerization, benzene saturation.
  • Hydrogen processes: hydrogen production, desulfurization and hydrocracking.
  • Thermal processes: thermal cracking, visbreaking, delayed coking.
  • Lubes processes, conventional and hydro-isomerization: deasphalting, dewaxing, aromatic saturation or extraction.