Blog

Improving Refining Agility, Reliability and Collaboration

Jim Cahill — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 21:04:08 GMT

Production agility is an increasing objective among refiners and petrochemical producers. Changing characteristics of feedstocks and demand for produced products is forcing these companies to look for solutions to increase operational flexibility.

In a Petroleum Review article, Future-proofing refining (membership required for access), Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo shares his insights on how transformative digital technologies improve agility and overall business performance.

In the article’s opening, Marcelo is quoted:

The smart refinery offers better collaboration between different groups in the refinery [which previously operated in silos] and third parties, for optimisation of production planning, operations, maintenance and quality management…

He describes three operational and business goals commonly shared by refiners and petrochemical producers—agility, reliability, and shared intelligence and collaboration.

Agility is defined in terms of switching production mixes between produced fuels to respond to market demands and opportunities. Marcelo explains:

Market demand will determine appropriate feedstock and product slates in real-time as operation managers have access to integrated data analysis from the crude source to the gasoline/diesel pump and most places in between. Lean, just-in-time inventories will become the ‘new norm’ as managers examine supply chain detail online.

From a reliability standpoint:

…dedicated online asset reliability networks will execute condition-based maintenance strategies remotely. Supported by self-diagnostic equipment and early alerts, maintenance managers can respond to potential abnormalities far enough in advance to prevent any breakdown or incident affecting production.

And, from a collaboration viewpoint:

Smart refineries will automate and simplify processes, enabling expertise and decision-making to be shared across multiple facilities.

The article reveals some Emerson-sponsored research highlighting operational agility as top three business objective for national, integrated and independent refiners. Improving asset reliability was another key objective. And finally, senior executives with these organizations expressed the need for increased shared intelligence and collaboration to improve performance.

The article shares examples of improved collaboration using online dashboards such as Plantweb Insight and Plantweb Advisor, as well as Digital Twin simulation technology to train personnel and test various operating scenarios to optimize production.

Read the full article if you’re an Energy Institute member or visit the Refining section on Emerson.com for more on ways to move your digital transformation efforts forward to optimize production and boost profitability while keeping your people safe.

You can also connect and interact with other downstream hydrocarbon industry experts in the Refining group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Improving Refining Agility, Reliability and Collaboration appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Digital Transformation in Health-Safety-Environmental Applications

Jim Cahill — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 22:38:25 GMT

Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) experts in the manufacturing and production industries gathered recently here in Austin for the 4C Health/Safety/Environmental Conference.

Marcelo Carugo

Julie Valentine

Marcio Donnangelo

At this year’s conference, Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo, Julie Valentine and Marcio Donnangelo presented in three of the sessions.

Julie and Marcio teamed up to present, How Digital Transformation Can Impact Compliance for Environmental and Safety Regulation. Their presentation described how digital transformation is eliminating layers of complexity to bring pre-interpreted field data directly to those who need to make decisions and take action. They highlighted two examples.

The first example involved environmental reporting. These reports require flow measurements which must be verified to be accurate. Discovery of an inaccurate measurement can be costly for operators as they may pay fines from the last date that they can prove accurate measurement. Meter verification tools make it simple and convenient to prove accuracy over time. Operators will be notified of problems at once to avoid misreporting and allowing for immediate corrective action.

The second example was for pressure relief valves (PRVs). PRVs are no longer isolated mechanical devices that rely on manual rounds as part of a preventive maintenance program. Release and leakage alerts from PRVs can be wirelessly monitored, and then integrated into reporting and analytical systems.

In the presentation, Measurement Technologies and Innovative Digital Solutions for Flare Management, Julie, Marcelo and Marcio team up to describe this solution. Knowing the effects of flare system activity is not the same as knowing the hidden causes coming from behind the headers.

Controlling the flare stack is not enough. Asset monitoring technologies give granular insight into ancillary equipment for better flare management operations. With this previously unavailable data and analysis, operators can make timely corrections or elimination of the root causes.

In the final presentation I’ll highlight, Marcio presented, Improving Safety with Wireless Monitoring of Safety Showers. Marcio shared ways on how digital transformation improves safety by wirelessly monitoring safety shower, eye-wash stations, H₂S Remote Monitoring, Hydrocarbon Leak Detection and a breakthrough technology combining three Location Awareness application in one solution: Geofencing & Monitoring, Safety Mustering and Safety Alerts. This approach helps comply with OSHA without incurring complex installation and deployment costs. A personnel safety system integration using wireless technology is not only cost-effective, but also can provide instant alerts and quick and effective response time.

Follow the links above to learn more about these solutions and how they help with your HSE practices and reporting efforts. You can also learn more about solutions for refining and petrochemical solutions in the Downstream Hydrocarbons section on Emerson.com.

The post Digital Transformation in Health-Safety-Environmental Applications appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Digital Transformation in Health-Safety-Environmental Applications

Jim Cahill — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 22:38:25 GMT

Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) experts in the manufacturing and production industries gathered recently here in Austin for the 4C Health/Safety/Environmental Conference.

Marcelo Carugo

Julie Valentine

Marcio Donnangelo

At this year’s conference, Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo, Julie Valentine and Marcio Donnangelo presented in three of the sessions.

In the final presentation I’ll highlight, Marcio presented, Improving Safety with Wireless Monitoring of Safety Showers. Marcio shared ways on how to improve safety by wirelessly monitoring safety shower and eye-wash stations. This approach helps comply with OSHA without incurring complex installation and deployment costs. A safety shower system integration using wireless technology is not only cost-effective, but also can provide instant alerts and quick and effective response time.

The post Digital Transformation in Health-Safety-Environmental Applications appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Opportunity Crude Blending Operations

Jim Cahill — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 22:32:32 GMT

Opportunity crudes provide refiners with lower feedstock costs, but they must be carefully characterized and blended with other crudes to avoid problems during the refining process. These opportunity crudes are typically discounted from typical crudes because of the refining challenges they introduce.

In the 4-minute YouTube video, How to Maximize Profit by Characterizing and Blending Opportunity Crudes, Emerson’s Julie Valentine describes ways technologies can help.

Julie describes how proper feedback control using an analyzer to get all the opportunity crude properties helps to optimize the recipe and accurately determine the blend ratio with the other crudes.

The analyzer helps determine the crude properties and required blend ratio and accurate flow meters ensure this ratio and required recipe are achieved.

The traditional crude blending approach is to use the storage tanks, look at the levels through the tank gauging instruments, and roughly determine the ratios of the crudes being processed. Julie highlights a better approach that some refineries use instead. Micro Motion Coriolis mass flow meters which accurately measure the mass of the crude oils being blended, independent of properties.

Using these accurate measurements allow refiners to match the characteristics sought by the planning and scheduling groups. For one refiner, this meant being able to use the full capacity of the coker, where greater profitability could be achieved.

These measurement improvements also improved scheduling of tank loading activities and optimized operations downstream of the coker allowing the refinery to run closer to unit constraints and reduce allowances for planning errors.

For more, visit the Refining industry section on Emerson.com. You can connect and interact with other flow measurement and refining experts in the Measurement Instrumentation and Refining groups in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Improving Opportunity Crude Blending Operations appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Opportunity Crude Blending Operations

Jim Cahill — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 22:32:32 GMT

In the 4-minute YouTube video, How to Maximize Profit by Characterizing and Blending Opportunity Crudes, Emerson’s Julie Valentine describes ways technologies can help.

Julie describes how proper feedback control using an analyzer to get all the opportunity crude properties helps to optimize the recipe and accurately determine the blend ratio with the other crudes.

The analyzer helps determine the crude properties and required blend ratio and accurate flow meters ensure this ratio and required recipe are achieved.

The post Improving Opportunity Crude Blending Operations appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Avoid Corrosion-Induced Asset Integrity Loss

Jim Cahill — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 19:05:23 GMT

A U.S. Energy Information Administration’s post, When was the last refinery built in the United States?, reveals that more than half the “newest refineries” in their list were built in the 1970s or 1980s, or 30 to 40+ years ago. And, with 137 operating U.S. oil refineries, the rest are even older. A lot has changed over this time, but much of the piping and vessel infrastructure remains the same.

In a Chemical Engineering article, Using Corrosion Data to Stave Off Extinction, Emerson’s Christiane Lederer discusses how changes in crude oil feedstocks, aging assets and regulatory changes are increasing the difficulty in containing corrosion with the plant piping, vessels and asset.

Christiane cites a NACE International study which:

…put the total annual cost of corrosion in the oil-and-gas industry at $1.372 billion.

Integrity loss from corrosion can lead to:

…unplanned downtime and costly repairs, or in the worst case, an incident posing major risk to personnel, the environment and stakeholder value.

The choices for refineries with aging assets are:

…do they decommission the asset at a substantial cost and search for ways to replace its production, continue to produce at a potential profit with the associated risk, or find a way to continue operation in a cost-effective and safe manner?

Christiane shares some of the causes of increased corrosion in refineries including fracking fluids in feedstocks, higher total asset number (TAN) crudes, and compounds contained in the fluid streams such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, cyanides, and other organic acids.

Jetties along waterways provide cost effective transportation for crude oil feedstocks in and refined products out. In many instances when the refineries were built:

…it wasn’t cost effective to construct these jetty pipelines from stainless or alloy steel; instead, carbon steel was used to build the pipelines decades ago.

This carbon steel is more susceptible to corrosion, especially:

…in jetty lines, since they have intermittent or slow flowrates, allowing water to settle in low points.

Christiane describes the traditional approach to monitor corrosion through manual inspection on 3- to 6-month intervals. This opens broad time windows where integrity loss can occur. Applying digital technologies offers a better approach.

Permanently installed, ultrasonic, wireless wall-thickness-monitoring sensors…are ideal for corrosion monitoring because they provide the data required to make proper decisions on a continuous basis.

These non-intrusive Permasense wireless wall-thickness monitoring sensors provide:

…corrosion information…to make the right decisions at the right time about when and where critical maintenance should be carried out to support safer and more economic operations.

These sensors work by measuring:

…the thickness of the pipe wall and send data directly to server-based analysis software via a wireless network. With the enhanced insight provided by this realtime data, refinery operators can quickly realize improved safety, reduce operational expenditure and increase production from their aging assets.

Read the article for more on the conditions causing corrosion in older refineries and how modern wireless sensing technology can help mitigate loss of asset integrity risks.

Join us at the Oct 1-5 Emerson Exchange conference and see the short course, How Integrated Corrosion Monitoring Can Lead to Top Quartile Refinery Performance or visit the Permasense section of Emerson.com.

The post Avoid Corrosion-Induced Asset Integrity Loss appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Avoid Corrosion-Induced Asset Integrity Loss

Jim Cahill — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 19:05:23 GMT

Christiane cites a NACE International study which:

…put the total annual cost of corrosion in the oil-and-gas industry at $1.372 billion.

Integrity loss from corrosion can lead to:

…unplanned downtime and costly repairs, or in the worst case, an incident posing major risk to personnel, the environment and stakeholder value.

The choices for refineries with aging assets are:

…do they decommission the asset at a substantial cost and search for ways to replace its production, continue to produce at a potential profit with the associated risk, or find a way to continue operation in a cost-effective and safe manner?

Jetties along waterways provide cost effective transportation for crude oil feedstocks in and refined products out. In many instances when the refineries were built:

…it wasn’t cost effective to construct these jetty pipelines from stainless or alloy steel; instead, carbon steel was used to build the pipelines decades ago.

This carbon steel is more susceptible to corrosion, especially:

…in jetty lines, since they have intermittent or slow flowrates, allowing water to settle in low points.

Permanently installed, ultrasonic, wireless wall-thickness-monitoring sensors…are ideal for corrosion monitoring because they provide the data required to make proper decisions on a continuous basis.

These non-intrusive Permasense wireless wall-thickness monitoring sensors provide:

…corrosion information…to make the right decisions at the right time about when and where critical maintenance should be carried out to support safer and more economic operations.

These sensors work by measuring:

…the thickness of the pipe wall and send data directly to server-based analysis software via a wireless network. With the enhanced insight provided by this realtime data, refinery operators can quickly realize improved safety, reduce operational expenditure and increase production from their aging assets.

Read the article for more on the conditions causing corrosion in older refineries and how modern wireless sensing technology can help mitigate loss of asset integrity risks.

The post Avoid Corrosion-Induced Asset Integrity Loss appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

DP Measurement Technologies for Challenging Refinery Applications

Jim Cahill — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 20:30:46 GMT

The energy derived from crude oil has powered the advancement of civilizations across the globe. Getting this energy into usable forms such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel is the work refineries must do safely, reliably and efficiently every day.

In a Hydrocarbon Processing article, Adapting instrumentation to the needs of refineries, Emerson’s Douglas Carlson and Dan Cychosz describe the challenging applications within these refineries and role of instrumentation in meeting these challenges.

Douglas and Dan open highlighting the hazardous conditions that make up the refining process:

Flammable and explosive—The very nature of hydrocarbons

Hot—Converting oil into higher-value products takes heat

Corrosive—High total acid number (TAN) crude oils, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), alkylation acids, etc.

Viscous—Crude oil can contain residual content with very high boiling points.

One of the key measurement technologies used by refiners is differential pressure (DP). It:

…can be used for simple pressure measurements, along with DP, but it is also the most common way of measuring flow and is a frequent choice for level.

Rosemount 3051S Thermal Range Expander

Given the high heat in many applications as the crude oil is distilled into its hydrocarbon components, instruments cannot be directly in contact with the process fluids. Impulse lines can be used with these incompressible fluids but can have issues with high viscosity fluids and cold weather conditions. DP meters with two fill fluids, such as the Rosemount 3051S Thermal Range Expander, can be used in these applications.

The high-temperature fluid is used in the part exposed to the process. It bears the brunt of the heat and stays warm enough to avoid thickening. It sends the pressure value via an intermediate diaphragm to a second fluid designed for lower-temperature operation. This second and less-viscous fluid spans the remaining distance to the transmitter, and is unaffected by lower temperatures, even below freezing.

This extended temperature range, based on fill fluid – maximum 770°F (410°C) to minimum -157°F (-105°C) can be used in pressure, level and flow measurement applications. Measuring the DP across a flow path obstruction, such as an orifice plate:

…can provide data from which the volumetric flow can be calculated. Adding a temperature and static pressure reading and known density characteristics can help convert a volume reading to mass flow.

In the early parts of the refinery process, such as distillation, impurities in the crude can cause clogging by the obstruction creating the differential pressure to be measured. A wedge primary element with remote seals:

…creates a reliable DP flow reading while being resistant to wear or plugging and reducing pressure loss. When mounted in a horizontal pipe run, the wedge cuts in from the side to keep an unobstructed flow path on the top and bottom, so there are no places for particulates or entrained gases to accumulate and impact measurement reliability.

Read the article for other technologies ideal for use in challenging refining applications including Rosemount 3051S Electronic Remote Sensor (ERS) System, conditioning orifice plates, and combining these technologies to solve specific challenges.

Join us at the October 1-5 Emerson Exchange conference where you catch Douglas’ presentation, Hot Process DP-Level Solved with Cool Thermal Range Expander! and Dan’s presentation, Reducing Project Risk for PBF Energy – Toledo Refining Center Hydrocracking Unit SIS Upgrade. You can also connect and interact with other refining industry and pressure, level and flow experts in the Refining, Pressure, Level, and Flow groups in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post DP Measurement Technologies for Challenging Refinery Applications appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

DP Measurement Technologies for Challenging Refinery Applications

Jim Cahill — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 20:30:46 GMT

Douglas and Dan open highlighting the hazardous conditions that make up the refining process:

Flammable and explosive—The very nature of hydrocarbons

Hot—Converting oil into higher-value products takes heat

Corrosive—High total acid number (TAN) crude oils, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), alkylation acids, etc.

Viscous—Crude oil can contain residual content with very high boiling points.

One of the key measurement technologies used by refiners is differential pressure (DP). It:

…can be used for simple pressure measurements, along with DP, but it is also the most common way of measuring flow and is a frequent choice for level.

Rosemount 3051S Thermal Range Expander

The high-temperature fluid is used in the part exposed to the process. It bears the brunt of the heat and stays warm enough to avoid thickening. It sends the pressure value via an intermediate diaphragm to a second fluid designed for lower-temperature operation. This second and less-viscous fluid spans the remaining distance to the transmitter, and is unaffected by lower temperatures, even below freezing.

…can provide data from which the volumetric flow can be calculated. Adding a temperature and static pressure reading and known density characteristics can help convert a volume reading to mass flow.

…creates a reliable DP flow reading while being resistant to wear or plugging and reducing pressure loss. When mounted in a horizontal pipe run, the wedge cuts in from the side to keep an unobstructed flow path on the top and bottom, so there are no places for particulates or entrained gases to accumulate and impact measurement reliability.

The post DP Measurement Technologies for Challenging Refinery Applications appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Evaluating Right Fuel Blending Strategy for your Refinery Operation

Jim Cahill — Tue, 08 May 2018 12:53:38 GMT

Refiners are driven to produce fuels and other products profitably, while meeting ever-increasing regulatory requirements—all while operating safely, reliably, and efficiently. Fuel blending operations are a key part of the refining process to meet these challenges.

I connected with Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo about how refiners develop their blending strategies. Marcelo noted that compliance is paramount due to the high costs of non-compliance. Refiners will comply at all costs, even if they must do so in a cost-inefficient way.

Eliminating these inefficiencies, adding process units to comply with new regulations, or addressing other operational issues like excess inventory holds, quality giveaways, or excessive re-blends might require management to re-examine their refinery’s fuel blending strategy.

Marcelo noted that every refinery is different due to its available space to expand, current units and production assets, and the regulatory requirements in the location in which it operates. These differences affect which blend strategy will yield the best performance.

There are many blending scenarios to consider, each with its pros and cons. Performing a detailed technical and economic evaluation can ensure that the right structural and process improvements are made to the blending area, which directly impacts the profitability of the refinery.

Marcelo shared an example of a refiner who worked with the Emerson refining industry consulting team to make recommendations on gasoline blending improvements. First, the consultants worked with the refinery staff to understand the overall business strategy, assess the current state of the refinery, benchmark current performance, and understand the desired outcome. Marcelo explained that the assessment included examining tank capacities and utilization, process hydraulics, fuel grades, and product certification procedures.

Using the data from a one-month schedule of blends shared by the customer – as well as the assessment of their existing assets – the consultants evaluated each of the blend scenarios to help the customer understand the benefits of different blend strategies, cost estimates to implement changes, and the return on investment of the different approaches.

For instance, as the experts evaluated each scenario they calculated the required tank utilization and component availability needed to meet demand. The process hydraulics were also evaluated to ensure that for the proposed blend strategy the customer would be able to maintain sufficient pressure to ensure adequate flow.

Click to Enlarge

Based on the scenario analysis, the customer decided on a modernization plan that included upgrading the gasoline blending system to enable in-line blending directly to tanker ships, which would allow for more flexible tankage assignments, reduced inventories, reduced quality giveaway, and fewer re-blends.

To achieve these improvements, the plan called for adapting existing piping and pumps, adding new pumps sized for the desired hydraulics, improving blend scheduling tools, and increasing blend model certainty. The team also recommended expanding the number of process measurements on unit rundowns, including accurate flow measurements, and employing online analytical instrumentation.

Finally, because adoption by personnel is critical to the success of any technology migration, Emerson experts worked with the customer to create a plan for institutionalizing and implementing the recommendations, including working with the operators to facilitate adoption of all process changes.

To assess and improve your fuel blending operations, visit Emerson’s fuel blending website and ask to connect with one of our refining industry experts. You can also connect and interact with other refining and automation professionals in the Refining group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Evaluating Right Fuel Blending Strategy for your Refinery Operation appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Evaluating Right Fuel Blending Strategy for your Refinery Operation

Jim Cahill — Tue, 08 May 2018 12:53:38 GMT

Click to Enlarge

The post Evaluating Right Fuel Blending Strategy for your Refinery Operation appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

Jim Cahill — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 22:25:19 GMT

The world’s energy leaders and policy makers gather in Houston next week for the annual CERAWeek conference. These energy leaders in the oil & gas production, distribution, refining, petrochemicals, coal, electrical power and alternative energy industries gather to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities for performance improvement.

Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo has written a post, Refiners and Petrochemical Producers’ Path to Top Quartile Performance in advance of his presence at CERAWeek. Here is an excerpt from his post:

Changing sources and global flows of hydrocarbons have challenged refiners and petrochemical producers to increase their flexibility to accommodate the changes and maintain safe, reliable and efficient operations.

Opportunities for improvement come from three primary areas—improving plant availability, capturing higher margins, and complying with more stringent clean fuel regulations.

The difference in plant availability between top quartile and fourth quartile performers is striking. Fourth quartile performers maintenance costs are 3.5x higher and days of downtime are 6x more. First quartile performers have 14% better availability of the mechanical assets.

To achieve top quartile performance, a key area of focus should be to align organizations including HSSE, engineering, operations, maintenance, IT and supply chain logistics to streamline processes and workflow.

Technology can play an important role. By adding measurements to support predictive alerts, refiners can take corrective actions before mechanical asset failures occur. Predictive analytics, when combined with people and new processes, can reduce unplanned downtime. Our own research on failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), confirms that Emerson’s technology can detect more than 70 percent of potential failure modes for nearly all assets and more than 80% for the assets that have the greatest downtime impact in refineries and petrochemical plants. One example is wireless non-intrusive corrosion sensors on piping and vessels to identify issues long before they lead to unsafe conditions and downtime.

…

Read Marcelo’s full post on opportunities for improved downstream hydrocarbon production performance. You can also connect and interact with Marcelo and our refining and petrochemical industry experts in the Downstream Hydrocarbons area of Emerson.com.

The post Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

Jim Cahill — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 22:25:19 GMT

Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo has written a post, Refiners and Petrochemical Producers’ Path to Top Quartile Performance in advance of his presence at CERAWeek. Here is an excerpt from his post:

Changing sources and global flows of hydrocarbons have challenged refiners and petrochemical producers to increase their flexibility to accommodate the changes and maintain safe, reliable and efficient operations.

Opportunities for improvement come from three primary areas—improving plant availability, capturing higher margins, and complying with more stringent clean fuel regulations.

The difference in plant availability between top quartile and fourth quartile performers is striking. Fourth quartile performers maintenance costs are 3.5x higher and days of downtime are 6x more. First quartile performers have 14% better availability of the mechanical assets.

To achieve top quartile performance, a key area of focus should be to align organizations including HSSE, engineering, operations, maintenance, IT and supply chain logistics to streamline processes and workflow.

Technology can play an important role. By adding measurements to support predictive alerts, refiners can take corrective actions before mechanical asset failures occur. Predictive analytics, when combined with people and new processes, can reduce unplanned downtime. Our own research on failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), confirms that Emerson’s technology can detect more than 70 percent of potential failure modes for nearly all assets and more than 80% for the assets that have the greatest downtime impact in refineries and petrochemical plants. One example is wireless non-intrusive corrosion sensors on piping and vessels to identify issues long before they lead to unsafe conditions and downtime.

…

The post Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

Jim Cahill — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 21:25:19 GMT

Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo has written a post, Refiners and Petrochemical Producers’ Path to Top Quartile Performance in advance of his presence at CERAWeek. Here is an excerpt from his post:

Changing sources and global flows of hydrocarbons have challenged refiners and petrochemical producers to increase their flexibility to accommodate the changes and maintain safe, reliable and efficient operations.

Opportunities for improvement come from three primary areas—improving plant availability, capturing higher margins, and complying with more stringent clean fuel regulations.

The difference in plant availability between top quartile and fourth quartile performers is striking. Fourth quartile performers maintenance costs are 3.5x higher and days of downtime are 6x more. First quartile performers have 14% better availability of the mechanical assets.

To achieve top quartile performance, a key area of focus should be to align organizations including HSSE, engineering, operations, maintenance, IT and supply chain logistics to streamline processes and workflow.

Technology can play an important role. By adding measurements to support predictive alerts, refiners can take corrective actions before mechanical asset failures occur. Predictive analytics, when combined with people and new processes, can reduce unplanned downtime. Our own research on failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), confirms that Emerson’s technology can detect more than 70 percent of potential failure modes for nearly all assets and more than 80% for the assets that have the greatest downtime impact in refineries and petrochemical plants. One example is wireless non-intrusive corrosion sensors on piping and vessels to identify issues long before they lead to unsafe conditions and downtime.

…

The post Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Advancing the Practice of Chemical Engineering

Jim Cahill — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 20:34:05 GMT

One of the ways you can share your expertise and skills developed in your work in your industry or profession is to join a relevant professional organization serving in these areas.

As you participate at different levels in these organizations, you can rise up into leadership positions. I mention this to share one example—Emerson’s Tim Olsen.

Tim has worked in with the refining industry for almost 30 years, first as a technical advisor with UOP and then with Emerson as a technical and business consultant to petroleum refiners. He has shared his expertise not only with refining professional who are Emerson customers, but also through his work with AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) and AFPM (American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers—previously known as NPRA).

Tim was recently elected to the 2018 AIChE Board of Directors. This board is represented by people working for great organizations such as Pfizer, Savannah River National Laboratory, Bechtel, Amgen, Dow Chemical, Honeywell UOP, Chevron Phillips, Mondelez International, ExxonMobil as well as many educational institutions of higher learning.

The board represents more than 50,000 chemical engineers across the world. The AIChE helps these individuals by helping them:

…access information on recognized and promising chemical engineering processes and methods. Connect with a global network of intelligent, resourceful colleagues and their shared wisdom. Find learning opportunities from recognized authorities. Move forward professionally with AIChE and enrich the world we live in.

From his AIChE bio, Tim has been with Emerson:

…for 17 [now 20+] years, and 25 [now almost 30] years in the refining business. He is a refining consultant within the global refining industry solutions group where he supports Emerson’s technical and business strategy.

Tim is a Past Division Chair for the AIChE Fuels & Petrochemicals Division and the Meeting Program Chair for the 2014 AIChE Spring Meeting in New Orleans.

He has a B.S. in chemical engineering from Iowa State University with emphasis in industrial engineering and process control, and an MBA from the University of Iowa.

Congratulations to Tim on his election to the board and to all the AIChE board members for their efforts to advance the practice of chemical engineering in order to improve the safety, reliability, efficiency and effectiveness of manufacturing and production processes across the globe.

You can connect and interact with other refining experts in the Refining group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Advancing the Practice of Chemical Engineering appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Blog

Improving Refining Agility, Reliability and Collaboration

Digital Transformation in Health-Safety-Environmental Applications

Digital Transformation in Health-Safety-Environmental Applications

Improving Opportunity Crude Blending Operations

Improving Opportunity Crude Blending Operations

Avoid Corrosion-Induced Asset Integrity Loss

Avoid Corrosion-Induced Asset Integrity Loss

Related Posts

DP Measurement Technologies for Challenging Refinery Applications

DP Measurement Technologies for Challenging Refinery Applications

Related Posts

Evaluating Right Fuel Blending Strategy for your Refinery Operation

Evaluating Right Fuel Blending Strategy for your Refinery Operation

Related Posts

Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

Related Posts

Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

Related Posts

Advancing the Practice of Chemical Engineering