INDUSTRY

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Aspen Technology, Inc. today announced that Samsung General Chemicals (SGC) has successfully used AspenTech's engineering software and process design expertise to achieve significant energy savings at one of its major manufacturing facilities. The AspenTech solution has enabled SGC to dramatically reduce the facility's annual energy costs, delivering a payback of its capital investment within six months. The savings were realized at SGC's eight-unit aromatics complex in Daesan, Korea, which produces 500,000 tons per year of paraxylene and 280,000 tons per year of benzene. With an energy bill reaching in the tens of millions of dollars per year, energy reform became a key corporate focus for SGC to remain competitive. Using process modeling and pinch/column analysis expertise, coupled with Aspen Engineering Suite(TM) (AES) technologies, AspenTech's process design group identified the main process inefficiencies within the plant complex. Based on this analysis, the group produced an energy savings plan, which outlined the changes required to maximize overall energy efficiency. The plan was recently implemented, and the audited results reveal yearly savings of at least 12 percent of total energy consumption. "AspenTech's experience in the chemical industry has been fundamental to the success of this project," said Hong-sik Ko, President and CEO, Samsung General Chemicals, Ltd. "By leveraging its technology and its process design knowledge, we have identified savings that far exceeded our expectations." The project's success was formally acknowledged by SGC with the presentation of its Samsung General Chemicals Excellence Award, which recognizes significant achievements in technology and general expertise. "The savings identified by Samsung General Chemicals demonstrate the significant bottom- line improvements that can be achieved with AspenTech's engineering solutions," said David McQuillin, co-COO and CEO-elect of AspenTech. "Energy costs represent a major operating expense for chemical manufacturers, and our technologies enable companies to reduce these costs as well as improve their environmental performance." This project is one of many similar successes that will be highlighted at the upcoming AspenWorld 2002 conference in Washington, D.C., Oct. 27 - Nov. 1. SGC will present these implementation results in greater detail and describe how AspenTech helped them achieve their energy goals. Conference and registration information may be accessed at http://www.aspenworld2002.com/. The Aspen Engineering Suite helps customers design new, and optimize existing process assets. It enables companies to maximize their return on capital by reducing the cost of investments and improving operating performance.