Oil Refining Digitalization Software and Consulting | Technical Support Service

Digitalization for the Refining Industry

Astron International provides Digitalization technologies and consulting services to the refining industry involving technical data, technical applications, machine learning and natural language processing.

Technical Support Service (TSS)

TSS increases the effectiveness of your technical service staff by eliminating time consuming operating data analysis tasks to allow them to focus on providing refining customers high value services.

REFINING ONLINE

A leading Web Portal for the oil refining industry for over 20 years featuring an active Q&A forum with more than 6000 questions and answers on refining operations. The Q&A features Sia, a virtual advisor powered by our AstronAI platform.

AstronAI is your gateway to unleashing the power of Artificial Intelligence in your organization: rapid decision-making, agile business processes, and unearthing the business intelligence and expertise hiding in your data.

WHO WE ARE

Founded by experienced chemical engineers over 25 years ago, Astron international offers a unique blend of refining industry domain knowledge, business process expertise, and proven digital application skills involving technical data, technical applications, and natural language processing.

Astron International provides the following digitalization technologies and services: (a) strategic technical service applications for efficient analysis of operating data for valuable insights, and (b) machine learning applications that combine data science with process knowledge to deliver tools such as a soft sensor that detects bad data and substitutes with reliable values, and a natural language processing platform based on advances in text analytics to unearth expertise and data buried in volumes of inhouse proprietary documents and other unstructured data.

Astron International is also the founder of Refining Online®, a leading Web portal serving the refining industry for over 20 years and provides refining consulting services.

WHAT WE OFFER

Technical Support Service

AstronAI

Refining Consulting Services

Technical Support Service

A corner stone of unit monitoring, Technical Support Service (TSS) lets suppliers deliver high value technical service to clients by providing standardized analysis of unit operating data. TSS is positioned as a key part of a customer’s digitalization strategy to boost technical service value and efficiency.

	Cloud based offering for FCC and Hydroprocessing units
	Data import, validation, cleanup, and calculations
	Technical service report generation with extensive charting tools
	Data analytics integration with kinetic and statistical models

For more information, please see our product sheets: TSS for FCC and TSS for Hydroprocessing

AstronAI

Data Analytics | Text Analytics

Analysis of complex process operating data is often hindered by missing or bad data due to malfunctioning sensors, erroneous data acquisition or simply infrequent lab analysis. Valuable opportunities are often lost due to inadequate or unworkable data analysis. AstronAI combined data science with process knowledge to offer a process specific soft sensor called AstronAI Sensor. Detecting bad or missing data and substituting them with reliable values is not possible. Because each process has unique characteristics the AstronAI Sensor does not have one-size-fits-all approach but specifically designed for the process. For example, AstronAI Sensor or Hydrotreating, FCC and more.

	Detect bad, missing or outlier data and replace with reasonable values
	Produce complete data sets for analysis or process model input
	Fill-in gaps in lab data due to infrequent analysis

Exploiting your company's treasure of reports, papers, and other forms of text, collectively called ‘unstructured data’, has traditionally been limited to the unappealing search capabilities of document manangement applications. There were limited options until recently to tap the expertise hidden in volumes of unstructured data. AstronAI includes a Natural Language Processing platform based on advances in text analytics and machine learning that lets employees readily tap the intelligence buried in their company’s unstructured data through a virtual advisor called Sia.

Your workers interact with Sia by asking questions in natural language and Sia responds in natural language with the knowledge they seek. Sia understands your company’s domain, your proprietary terms, and the question’s intent to respond meaningfully.

	Exploit documented in-house expertise to make better decisions faster
	Provide faster and more informed technical service to your customers
	Capture the experiential knowledge of subject matter experts
	Train less experienced staff and boost their productivity

Refining Consulting Services

Astron International, Inc.’s refining consulting division is headed by CJ Farley. CJ. brings over 28 years of Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) experience, combining operations troubleshooting and optimization with hardware design and catalyst technology know-how.

Astron International offers the following consulting services:

	Performance surveys
	Optimization and debottlenecking
	Technology selection
	Catalyst evaluations
	Troubleshooting FCC issues

OUR CLIENTS

OUR NEWS

AstronAI and Sia: AI and NLP based cognitive applications from Astron International. Astron International has built and launched an AI-based cognitive application platform called AstronAI to harness their customers’ unstructured data. The AstronAI platform delivers a customized virtual advisor called Sia which mines intelligence and expertise that reside in in-house reports, papers, and other forms of textual information.

Astron International launches initiative to deliver mobile apps Astron International has released a mobile version of its free ROL Assistant software for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone devices. This is part of a larger scale initiative to deliver mobile applications and solutions.

Criterion Catalysts presents benefits of Microsoft SharePoint solution co-developed by Astron International At Microsoft Global Energy Forum 2011, Criterion Catalysts presents benefits of Microsoft SharePoint based Cat-Check Information Portal.

Astron International Sponsors the Shaw/Axens 8th FCC Forum at Abu Dhabi Astron International was one of the sponsors the Shaw/Axens 8th FCC Forum held at Abu Dhabi from 30 March to 2 April, 2009.

Benchmarking FCC Operations - article in PTQ This article published in PTQ (Petroleum Technology Quarterly, Q3 2006) describes the benefits of using a Web based Benchmarking tool by BASF in routine FCC data evaluations. This tool was developed by Astron International, Inc.

Astron International co-authors NPRA paper with BASF A technical service paper entitled "FCC Operations Benchmarking: A Valuable Tool for Identifying Opportunities for Improved Profitability".

Technical Support Service™ for Refining Industry Technical Support Service™ assists refiners and their suppliers capture optimization opportunities by providing rigorous analysis of operating data on a routine basis.

Astron International Launches Refinery Productivity Center ™ Refinery Productivity Center is a knowledge management and collaboration application for the petroleum refining industry.

Using Microsoft's .NET Platform, Astron International Delivers XML-based Digital Solutions for BASF Astron International developed and delivered XML Web Services based e-business solutions for BASF using Microsoft's .NET platform.

more...

OUR ALLIANCES

To provide high quality cost-effective software development services to its customers, Astron International owns this programming services company in India. In addition to offering low cost services this also allows us to provide continuous development around the clock.

Astron International has teamed up with technology leader, Microsoft, to provide cutting edge Web based solutions. As a Microsoft Certified Partner, we provide proven, robust, and sophisticated solutions as well as assurances that the products will function effectively with Microsoft operating systems and server applications. With the assistance of Microsoft, we were the first in the Gulf coast region to develop a fully functioning e-business Web site using the .NET framework.

CONTACT US

Astron International, Inc. 15810 Park Ten Place, Suite 250 Houston, TX 77084
	(281) 589-6600
	(281) 589-7335
	Info@astroninc.com

Miles	Directions
	Depart George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Get on TX-8 Beltway W from John F Kennedy Blvd
0.03	Head north on John F Kennedy Blvd
0.6	Keep left to stay on John F Kennedy Blvd
0.04	Use the left lane to merge onto N Terminal Rd
0.3	Turn left onto John F Kennedy Blvd
2.1	Continue straight to stay on John F Kennedy Blvd
0.2	Use the left 2 lanes to take the Beltway 8 exit
0.8	Continue onto John F Kennedy Blvd
0.04	Slight right toward Texas 8 Beltway Frontage Rd
0.4	Turn right onto Texas 8 Beltway Frontage Rd
0.2	Use the left lane to take the Texas 8 Beltway W ramp to I-45
	Take Sam Houston Tollway W to Interstate 10 Frontage Rd W. Take the exit toward Park 10 from I-10 W
5.0	Merge onto TX-8 Beltway W
17.3	Continue onto Sam Houston Tollway W
1.6	Use the right 2 lanes to take the Interstate 10 W exit toward San Antonio
4.1	Merge onto I-10 W
0.3	Take the exit toward Park 10
	Continue on Interstate 10 Frontage Rd W. Drive to Park Ten Pl
0.5	Merge onto Interstate 10 Frontage Rd W
0.09	Turn right onto Broadfield Blvd
0.06	Turn left at the 1st cross street onto Park Ten Pl
	Destination will be on the right