South Korea Energy Giant Launches Smart Factory Innovation Program, AI Technology Enables Petrochemical Industry Transformation

South Korea integrated energy company, recently announced the launch of an intelligent production system upgrade project with a total investment of 8 billion won (about US $5.5 million), marking the petrochemical industry's formal entry into a new era of AI-driven. As the core demonstration project of the South Korea government's "Intelligent Manufacturing Ecological Construction Plan," the project will systematically reshape the production paradigm of traditional heavy industry.

technology architecture, GS Caltex will build a two-track parallel innovation system: deploy a global data acquisition network at the basic layer, and capture more than 300 process parameters of core links such as cracking and fractionation in real time through Internet of Things sensors; Develop a multi-modal AI model in the application layer, deeply integrate mechanism modeling and machine learning algorithms, and accurately analyze the coupling relationship between complex variables such as temperature field distribution and catalyst activity. This digital twin technology can improve the optimization efficiency of key process parameters by 40% and reduce the carbon intensity by 8%.

project adopts the "double helix" strategy: the first stage (2024-2026) focuses on digital infrastructure and completes the deployment and verification of AI training platform in Lishui National Petrochemical Base; In the second stage (2027-2028), the intelligent system will be expanded to 8 core units such as aromatics production and olefin polymerization. It is worth noting that the company has taken the lead in incorporating the hydrogen energy production line into the intelligent monitoring system, and realized the nano-level crack warning of the preheating furnace tube through the ultra-high frequency acoustic wave detector.

the strategy not only has the significance of industrial demonstration, but also bears the mission of regional economic revitalization. The head of GS Caltex Technology Department stressed: "Under the dual pressure of global competition and carbon constraints, AI-driven process reengineering has become the key path for the survival of the industry. Through the intelligent scheduling system, we can improve the operating efficiency of the device by 12%, and the annual cost reduction benefit exceeds 20 billion won. The digital service ecosystem derived from the project is expected to create 500 high-tech jobs and drive local small and medium-sized enterprises to complete the intelligent transformation.

In the field of safety, enterprises are simultaneously promoting the construction of "intelligent protection matrix": the behavior recognition system based on computer vision can analyze the operation compliance in real time, and VR/MR training platform can improve the emergency response capability of new employees by 60%. The three-dimensional monitoring system composed of UAV inspection and wireless sensor network reduces the operational risk coefficient of high-risk areas to less than 0.3.