KBC (A Yokogawa Company) announces launch of Petro-SIM® 7.7

Built on nearly 50 years of refinery and process engineering expertise, Petro-SIM 7.7 integrates AI/ML-enabled hybrid modelling with first-principles simulation within one platform. By combining engineering physics with machine learning, it helps engineers make safer, more informed decisions while maintaining high-fidelity digital twins and optimising large-scale operations across traditional and emerging energy systems.

Gartner predicts that more than half of enterprise generative AI models will be domain-specific by 2027, reinforcing the importance of AI built on industry expertise. "Industrial AI delivers the greatest value when it's grounded in engineering physics," said Philippa Hayward, Product Manager for Petro-SIM. "Process engineers need an accessible way to develop and apply hybrid models within a trusted simulation environment, helping them solve increasingly complex problems without specialist data science expertise."

Key capabilities include:

• Apply accessible AI/ML within engineering workflows through the embedded ML Utility Hub to generate synthetic data and develop, train, and deploy hybrid models within the Petro-SIM environment.
• Improve complex refinery process operations through an expanded optimiser library and new optimisation algorithms.
• Model refinery units and integrated value chains with greater fidelity through an expanded suite of reactor capabilities, including a new lube hydrocracker model, and enhanced physical property methods.
• Support traditional and emerging energy technologies, including bio-oil processing, electrolysis, and new decarbonisation correlations while providing the functionality to support pyrolysis and biomass gasification modelling.

Petro-SIM 7.7 provides the engineering foundation for process digital twins and KBC Acuity^TM Process Twin Pro, a digital twin application that continuously monitors model health, identifies deviations from plant performance, and helps keep models current throughout their lifecycle. Together, they enable more accurate monitoring, optimisation, and operational decision-making across refinery and petrochemical value chains.

"Industrial AI is only valuable when engineers can trust it," said Simon Rogers, Chief Technology Officer. "That trust is built on transparency, engineering rigour, and results that can be validated. AI should strengthen engineering judgment, not replace it. Our vision is to embed intelligent technologies across our software portfolio, helping engineers solve increasingly complex challenges with confidence."

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/product-news/09102026/kbc-a-yokogawa-company-announces-launch-of-petro-sim-77/