Repsol, Google team up for big data, AI-driven refinery management
Repsol is working with Google Cloud on a project that will tap on big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize refinery management.
The project will be implemented in Repsol’s third largest unit, located in the Spanish province of Tarragona. The Tarragona Industrial Complex processes 9.5 million tons of raw materials a year and has the capacity to distill 186,000 barrels of oil a day.
Managing a refinery involves around 400 variables, which demands a high level of computational capacity and a vast amount of data control, explained the Madrid-based energy firm.
Google’s data and analytics products, professional services consultants, and its machine learning managed service, Google Cloud ML, will help Repsol’s developers to build and bring machine learning models to production in their refinery environment.
“This is an efficiency project in all senses: it seeks to consume less resources; reduce energy consumption, which is the highest cost of a refinery; increase the unit reliability and, by extension, improve economic performance," said Maria Victoria Zingoni, Repsol’s Executive Managing Director of Downstream.
This pioneering initiative, which seeks to improve performance of the refinery’s overall operations, is part of Repsol’s ongoing digitalization, innovation, and technology projects development in all of its business units.
