Emerson automates refinery scheduling to improve margins and respond faster to market volatility

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Emerson has introduced new software designed to automate two of the most complex and margin-critical processes in refinery operations: crude scheduling and product blending. The latest additions to its Aspen Unified Scheduling platform help refiners improve operating margins, increase efficiency and react more quickly to changing market conditions.

The new Crude Schedule Optimisation and Multi-Blend Optimisation applications are now available within Aspen Unified Scheduling (AUS), bringing refinery planning, scheduling and blending together in a single integrated platform. By replacing disconnected software tools and manual workflows, the solutions enable refiners to make faster and more informed operational decisions while improving overall plant performance.

As energy markets continue to experience increasing volatility, refineries are under pressure to optimise production, maximise profitability and respond rapidly to changing crude prices and product demand. Emerson's latest software developments are designed to address these challenges by streamlining scheduling processes and reducing the time required to move from planning to execution.

Integrated refinery scheduling for faster decision-making

Many refineries continue to rely on multiple disconnected systems and manual data collection when creating production schedules. These time-consuming processes can make it difficult to adapt quickly when crude prices fluctuate or market conditions change unexpectedly.

Customers using Aspen Unified Scheduling can eliminate much of this complexity by bringing planning, scheduling and optimisation together within a single digital environment. The addition of Crude Schedule Optimisation and Multi-Blend Optimisation enables operators to transform optimal planning strategies into realistic and executable schedules quickly enough to respond to fast-moving market conditions.

This integrated approach reduces manual intervention, improves collaboration between planning and operations teams and helps ensure refinery schedules remain aligned with commercial objectives.

“Refinery schedulers are managing more complexity and greater crude market volatility, with the same hours in the day,” said Claudio Fayad, chief technology officer at Emerson's Aspen Technology business. “By automating the most time-intensive workflows within a unified platform, our solutions free experienced teams to focus on higher-value decisions while enabling newer engineers to contribute faster. The result is stronger margins and better operational decisions across the organisation.”

Automating crude scheduling to maximise refinery margins

The new Crude Schedule Optimisation application uses refinery data from Aspen Unified PIMS to automatically determine the most profitable crude receipts, transfers, blends and production schedules.

By automating what has traditionally been a labour-intensive scheduling process, the software reduces reliance on manual calculations while improving scheduling precision. Refinery teams can also rapidly evaluate multiple “what if” scenarios, allowing them to assess alternative production strategies before implementing operational changes.

This capability enables refiners to respond more effectively to fluctuations in crude supply, changing feedstock prices and evolving market opportunities, helping maximise refinery margins while reducing the risk of scheduling errors.

Automated optimisation also allows schedulers to spend less time gathering and validating data and more time making strategic operational decisions that improve profitability.

Optimising product blending for greater efficiency

Alongside crude scheduling, Emerson has introduced Multi-Blend Optimisation, which enhances the efficiency of refinery blending operations.

The software simultaneously optimises the recipe for every individual batch of blended product produced during the scheduling window. Rather than optimising each blend independently, the solution continuously balances product quality requirements with market conditions and operational constraints to deliver the most profitable outcome.

The optimisation process ensures all finished products remain within required quality specifications while making the most effective use of available blend components. This helps reduce quality giveaway, lower raw material costs and improve overall refinery profitability.

By automatically identifying the optimal blend recipes, refinery operators can improve production consistency while reducing unnecessary material usage and increasing operational efficiency.

A unified platform for refinery optimisation

Both Crude Schedule Optimisation and Multi-Blend Optimisation are available as separately licensed applications within Aspen Unified Scheduling.

As part of Emerson's wider Aspen Unified software portfolio, Aspen Unified Scheduling connects refinery data, optimisation models and operational execution within a single platform. This integrated digital approach reduces manual workflows, improves operational consistency and accelerates critical business decision-making across refinery operations.

By combining planning, scheduling and blending into one environment, refineries can improve collaboration across departments while responding more quickly to changing commercial and operational conditions.

With increasing pressure on refiners to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and maximise profitability, Emerson's latest software innovations provide operators with the digital tools needed to make faster, more accurate and more profitable scheduling decisions in an increasingly volatile energy market.