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How PetroSlate compares with the established refinery planning tools, feature by feature. Competitor entries come only from what each vendor publishes about its own product, with a link to the page we read. Where a vendor's page doesn't mention something, we say “Not stated”, which doesn't mean the product lacks it.

Sources checked 4 October 2026

Where PetroSlate leads

Only in PetroSlate

None of the vendor sources listed below states these capabilities. Each is built and in the app today.

AI, optional

AI that builds and edits the model

Describe a refinery or a change and the assistant proposes it as a validated patch, shown as a diff with its margin impact. Nothing applies until you accept, and the AI never writes the LP, the solver input or result numbers. Use a local model, your own API key, or none. The incumbent AI features we found explain results, generate cases or run app commands; none says it builds models.

Explainable

Every number traces back

Marginal values and results link to the LP row, the column and the model input behind them, so a planner can check any number against the model that produced it.

Local-first

Three ways to run it

It runs in the browser, in the desktop app and as a single offline HTML file, and gives the same answers in each. No SQL Server, no database and no licence server for core features.

Investment

What is a change worth?

Justified capex for any capacity or spec, capacity value curves, a ranked investment screen, and project cases valued against the base case with NPV, IRR and payback through an exchange file for inferTIC cost estimates.

Like for like

Capability matrix

“Not stated” means the sources we checked don't mention it. Codes such as [A2] link to the vendor page each entry comes from; the full list is under Sources. PetroSlate entries match what is built in the current release.

Refinery planning tools compared from public vendor sources, checked 4 October 2026
CapabilityPetroSlateAspen PIMS-AO / Aspen Unified PIMSHaverly GRTMPSAVEVA Unified Supply ChainPrincepsLP
Modelling
Flowsheet model building✓ Flowsheet with a unit template library✓ Flowsheet to build, edit and view models [A2]Not stated✓ Flowsheet modelling [V2] [V3]Not stated
AI assistant✓ Builds and edits models as validated patches shown as a diff; explains results; diagnoses infeasible casesAVA explains marginal values and constraints and generates cases, on single and multisite models; model building not stated [A1]Not statedAI Assistant answers from the documentation and proposes app commands in chat [V1]Not stated
Model migration and onboarding✓ Bring your refinery: reads a model's documents (PDF, Excel, CSV, text), maps their tables into validated changes, AI migrate mode shows where each number was found, then checks the model against a PIMS month. Scanned PDFs by OCR in the installed or hosted app, not the single-file build. No PIMS file is readAutomatic converter from PIMS models to Aspen Unified PIMS [A5]; guided conversion from Aspen PIMS to PIMS-AO [A6]; scheduling model built from the Unified PIMS model [A8]Not stated for planning models; free conversion service for assay data formats [H2]Not statedNot stated
Nonlinear blending and pooling✓ Pooled blend qualities and yields that change with the planProprietary nonlinear solver [A2] [A5]✓ gSLP recursion, adherent and distributive [H1] [H5]Not stated✓ Nonlinear and pooling [P1]
Product blending correlations✓ Ethyl RT-70 octane interaction; ASTM D976 or D4737 cetane index; blending indices for RVP, viscosity, freeze, pour, flash and smoke pointBlending correlations shared between Aspen PIMS and Aspen Petroleum Scheduler [A9]; Aspen Refinery Multi-Blend Optimizer for linear and nonlinear blending [A7]Blending indices for nonlinear properties such as vapour pressure, octane and viscosity [H11]; NetBlend: nonlinear blending such as reformulated gasoline and CARB [H7]Not statedOptimix: linear and nonlinear blending correlations [P4]
Cut-point optimisation✓ Swing cuts as LP decisionsNot stated✓ Cut Point Optimization with H/CAMS [H1] [H5]Not statedNot stated
Yields from simulator or plant runs✓ Fits base yields and delta-base vectors from a simulator case study or test runs (CSV/XLSX), with fit statisticsReduced-order hybrid models to improve model accuracy [A6]Process Simulator Interface brings external simulators into the solve; Excel link [H1] [H5]✓ Base-Delta regression from plant and simulator data [V3] [V6]Simulator interface for nonlinear process models [P1]
Solving
Integer decisions (MIP)✓ Units on or off with a minimum rate, one mode at a time, build or not, whole-cargo crude purchasesNot stated✓ Multi-period, multi-location MIP: binaries, semi-continuous bounds, batch sizes, one of several operating modes [H1] [H9]Not statedNot stated
Distance from the best plan✓ “Within X% of the best possible plan” after each pooled or integer solve; Prove optimum runs a branch-and-bound search to close the gap, on single plans and on whole multi-period and multi-site plans (may stop a few per cent short on large models)Solver stated to find the global optimum of nonlinear problems [A5]; PIMS-AO global optimisation check and multi-start [A6]Branch-and-bound MIP gap (default target 0.01%); multi-start for nonlinear models [H9]Not statedNot stated
Provenance to LP row, column and input✓ Not statedNot statedNot statedNot stated
Scenarios and sensitivity✓ Cases, price and limit ranging, two-stage stochastic and robust plansAutomatic pricing and sensitivity analysis tools [A2]; ranging and parametric analysis [A6]Case generation and what-if studies [H1]Case stacks and analytics over single or multiple periods, with robustness alongside economics [V3]✓ Parametric loops, scenario trees and sensitivity analysis [P1]
Data
Crude assay library42 public ExxonMobil assays bundled; BP, Equinor, TotalEnergies and CSV files importedChevron library: 1,000+ crudes, 2,800+ assays [A2]Chevron 3,500+, Phillips 66 1,800+, Haverly 1,000+ [H2]AVEVA-curated crude data; Shell or Chevron libraries under licence [V1] [V5]Not stated
Assay estimation and crude blends✓ Full assay from API and sulphur (+ TBP points), leave-one-out accuracy published; volume blends of assaysAssay management with property prediction from molecular characterisation [A5]Flash Assay Updater; crude blends within or across libraries [H8]Statistical modelling from sparse data sets; crude blending [V5]Not stated
Plant data and back-casting✓ Historian import (PI, IP.21, CSV/XLSX), calibration, plan against actualPlan vs schedule vs actual in Aspen Unified Scheduling [A2]✓ Back-casting [H1]Plan vs schedule analysis; schedules compared with actuals [V3] [V4]Not stated
Planning scope
Multi-period and multi-site✓ Periods with inventory and turnarounds; sites with transfers and crude routes, in one LPMultiple refineries and terminals in Aspen Unified Multisite for PIMS [A2]✓ Multi-period, multi-location [H1] [H5]Multiple periods; multi-plant optimisation in Network [V3]✓ Multi-period, multi-refinery [P1]
Scheduling from the plan✓ Crude and blend schedules from a solved plan in hourly slots on the same solver, as MIPs; the two reconciled by a bounded feedback loop, not one joint optimum; plan against schedule; closing stocks published back as opening stocks✓ Aspen Unified Scheduling: crude schedule and multi-blend optimisation from the plan; scheduling model built from the Unified PIMS model [A8]; Aspen Petroleum Scheduler shares assays, targets and unit models with PIMS [A9]✓ H/Sched: crude feed and product blends to meet targets and specs; event-based, to the minute [H3]✓ Schedule: feed and blend optimisation on the planning flowsheet [V4]✓ Planning and scheduling share process models [P1]; Compass crude blending and sequencing [P3]; Optimix multi-period multi-blend [P4]
Tanks and logistics in the schedule✓ Tank qualities over time, mixed crude tanks, unit hold-up, tank-to-tank transfers, named berths with draft and tide windows, demurrage, pipelines with line fill✓ Aspen Petroleum Scheduler: dock scheduling with berth availability and demurrage; pipeline fill with multiple, bi-directional segments; tank-to-tank transfers [A9]✓ Streams through tanks, units, blend headers, arrivals and shipment terminals; tank compositions and qualities [H3]Not statedCrude receipts, transfers and runs; demurrage [P3]; tank receipts, shipments, transfers and blends [P4]
Economics and transition
Energy transition✓ Carbon price, bio co-processing, HEFA/SAF, electrolyser and blue hydrogen, CCS, mandates, Scope 1–3Sustainability applications: CO2 Scope 1–3, bio co-processing, hydrogen, carbon capture [A4]H/COMET: hydrogen, natural gas and CO2 studies; carbon-intensity modelling with a GRTMPS model [H6]Not statedEmission constraints and multi-objective optimisation, plant to life cycle [P5]
Investment economics✓ Justified capex, project cases, NPV and IRR via the inferTIC exchangeCapital expenditure allocation and plant configurations named as uses [A5]Debottlenecking and feasibility studies [H5]Not statedNot stated
Reports, collaboration and integration
Planning reports✓ Seventeen print-ready reports from real solves (monthly plan, quarterly outlook, budget, crude valuation, model book, PIMS comparison and more): paginated PDF, self-contained HTML and Excel, with sign-off block and a provenance appendixDynamic reports that update with new results, shared by link [A2]; scheduler reports, predefined and configurable [A9]Interactive reports [H1]; Report Generator: cases side by side with delta cases, in Excel [H10]User-configurable visual reporting [V3]Fully configurable reports, single or multi-case [P1]
Multi-user, versions and review✓ Versions, model diff, three-way merge and review offline; optional team server with OIDC sign-in, roles, check-out, review-only projects, shared versions and an append-only change and audit log✓ Multi-user, check-in/out, change tracking [A2] [A5]✓ H/Planet multi-user collaboration [H4]Shared data with read, write or no access per user; roles in the app [V1]✓ Central database, roles, full versioning [P1]
BI and APIs✓ Parquet and CSV star schema, Power BI and Excel scripts, a Power BI report template (open once in Power BI Desktop before saving it as a template), REST with OpenAPI on the team server✓ Power BI, web APIs [A2]Standard tools to import data and share plans with other systems [H4]Export to BI tools; SDK for ERPs [V2]; SDK via .NET and COM [V3]Not stated
Deployment
Where it runsBrowser, desktop app or a single offline HTML file; no server needed, team server optionalWeb-based thin client in any browser, on a public or private cloud server [A7]; on-premise, private cloud or hybrid [A2]; PIMS-AO local install can work offline [A3]GRTMPS on a desktop PC [H5]; H/Planet cloud or single workstation [H4]Cloud service on CONNECT: web apps in a browser plus a Windows desktop client [V1]Not stated
Database and licence serverNone for core features: models are files, and signed licence keys can be checked offlinePIMS-AO: SQL Server recommended for large models; SLM licence server [A3]H/Planet database stores model data and results [H4]Desktop client: Windows 11, .NET Framework 10.0, SQL Server Express 2022, 32 GB RAM [V1]Central database [P1]

Plainly

Where we're still proving ourselves

  • No benchmark against a production PIMS model yet. PetroSlate is built from first principles and published linear programming and pooling theory, and it reproduces the published answers of the standard benchmark problems. A side-by-side run against a refiner's production model is planned with our first design partner. We make no claim to be more accurate than the incumbents.
  • A smaller assay library. 42 bundled public assays plus estimation from lab values and your own imported files, against libraries of 2,800 to 6,000+ assays. Those large libraries are commercial and licensed; a refiner can import, from spreadsheet files, the assays its own licences allow it to use.
  • A newer company. PetroSlate is a newer product. The incumbents have decades of use in refineries; we have yet to earn that track record. Why that need not hold you back: your model, data and results stay on your own machines, in a file you can export to Excel at any time; PetroSlate runs alongside your current tool during a trial, so nothing is switched off until its answers match yours.
  • Bounds that may not close. A plan is not guaranteed to be the best possible. Prove optimum gives a bound, which on large models and multi-period or multi-site plans may stop a few per cent short within its time limit.
  • Scheduling stops short of the whole plant. Blend and crude scheduling from the plan covers tanks, qualities over time, mixed crude tanks, unit hold-up, berths with tides, pipelines with line fill and transfers. Not yet: a joint crude-and-blend optimum (a bounded feedback loop reconciles them), unit modes and FCC feed tanks in the schedule, and proven optimality.

Sources

Each vendor's own published material, checked 4 October 2026.

Product names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify their products; no endorsement or affiliation is implied. Competitor information is taken from the public sources above and may be out of date. If anything here is wrong or has changed, please tell us at access@petroslate.com and we will correct it.

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