Stories of High-Quality Development | AI unleashes new vitality on factory production lines

Narrator: Zhao Peihui, Process Technology Engineer, Asphalt Materials Operations Department, Shandong Chambroad Petrochemicals Co., Ltd.

Production safety is the lifeline of any chemical company, and every area must be monitored in real time. Even a slight deviation in a parameter could be an early warning sign of a major accident.

I used to dread the sound of the equipment alarm. Every nerve in my body was on edge all day long. We used to rely on seasoned workers to listen, touch, look, compare and smell. By the time we detected an abnormality, we had often missed the best time to address it.

A new expert has joined our plant: TPT, a time-series large model. Its arrival has really taken a lot off my shoulders.

The large model does the technical work more precisely. Switching raw materials used to be my biggest headache. It's like cooking. You use different rice or flour each time, yet the taste and texture must remain the same. Under our old procedures, every time we switched to a new raw material, I had to prepare production instructions and simulate and calculate the entire changeover process. Adjusting data relied entirely on experience and judgment.

The large model acts like a more precise and reliable brain, automatically tuning production parameters to their optimal values. It can also predict changes in key indicators. When an abnormality occurs, the system can adjust operations autonomously.

It also makes manual work more efficient. The large model is like an extra pair of eyes and hands. We've seen an 80 percent drop in the frequency of manual operations in the control room. Our on-site workload has also fallen by more than one-third.

Our new AI expert has made the plant safer, cheaper to run and more efficient. Production equipment alarms used to go off more than three times an hour. Now they sound only once every dozen hours or so. Savings on fuel gas alone exceed 1 million yuan ($150,000) a year, and the share of high-value-added products has also increased, with additional annual returns expected to exceed 4 million yuan.

In the past, we had to work around the equipment. Now, AI helps keep the equipment running. Intelligent upgrades have freed up our time and energy for more valuable work. I'm currently working on a research project to reduce costs and improve efficiency. I'm also taking part in a science and technology program. The experience and expertise of seasoned workers like us can now be put to much better use.