Refining Blog

Trends, Challenges and Solutions in Biofuels and Biomaterials Podcast

Jim Cahill — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 01:00:08 GMT

In order to strike a fine balance between expanding global energy consumption and reducing GHG emissions, alternative fuels and materials, also known as Biofuels, Biomaterials, and Biochemicals, are gaining increased attention from worldwide leaders, including AP.

As a part of our Asia-Pacific Sustainability & Decarbonization podcast series, I had a wide-ranging conversation with Emerson’s Sanjay Thakker on the trends, challenges, and solutions in the Biofuels & Biomaterials sector to achieve circular economy goals.

Listen to the podcast and visit the Renewable Biofuels and Sustainability & Decarbonization sections on Emerson.com for more on the technologies and solutions to help advance these production processes. You can also connect and interact with an Emerson Asia-Pacific sustainability & decarbonization expert in your area.

Transcript

Jim: Hi everyone. This is Jim Cahill with another “Emerson Automation Experts” podcast. We continue our Asia-Pacific Sustainability & Decarbonization podcast series with a closer look at the fast-growing Biofuels & Biomaterials sector, as it has a growing role in the energy & chemical mix in this region. I am joined today by Emerson’s Sanjay Thakker to discuss all about Biofuels & Biochemicals.

Jim: Sanjay, thank you for joining!

Sanjay: Hello, Jim. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the show.

Jim: It’s wonderful to have you here with us, Sanjay. Let’s start by asking you to tell our listeners about your background and how you got to where you are now.

Sanjay: Thanks Jim. Well, I completed my bachelor’s degree in Instrumentation from India in 91. After graduating I joined India’s leading fuel manufacturer & retailer, Indian Oil Corporation. Worked here for more than two decades in refining & petrochemicals operations. Initial refineries were very simple with crude distillation & downstream fluid catalytic cracking, but big energy guzzlers & highly polluting. Later in mid-90’s global leaders started working on environmental concerns & refineries were added with fuel quality improvement units, viz isomerization & diesel hydrotreater. Later Natural gas joined energy basket & became the natural choice for industries leading to glut in Naphtha production. Earlier naphtha was feedstock to fertilizers, but later it was replaced with NG & refineries were compelled to enter more energy intensive petrochemicals production which by then was finding increased application in downstream polymers. Working in all these units in various roles led me to think about how polluting our industries are. After working so many years in fossil fuel related industry, I can appreciate the tremendous impact biofuels & materials is going to make in the time to come. Also, I noticed a very significant global shift by all leading Oil & Gas industry giants, to focus on projects that support sustainability and decarbonization. I joined Emerson in 2019 to support refinery & petrochemicals business in India. Emerson team is also committed to global S&D efforts & my natural choice was Biofuels & Biomaterials. I support the Sustainability & Decarbonization business for Emerson Automation Solutions in the Asia Pacific region. So, my role aligns well with my passion in energy space & and Emerson’s purpose, to help customers make measurable progress towards their Net zero targets.

Jim: That’s great Sanjay. So, we are talking today about Biofuels & Biomaterials, and there seems to be a lot of talk about changing global energy mix & circular economy. Since we will be talking about wide ranging industry applications, perhaps you can start our discussion off first with biofuels by just explaining what are biofuels.

Sanjay: Sure Jim. In simple terms, biofuel is a fuel that is not derived from fossil fuels & is rather produced from biomass. Since biomass can be used as a fuel directly like say wood logs, some people use the words biomass and biofuel interchangeably. However, in industry parlance, the word biofuel usually refers to liquid or gaseous fuels, used for transportation or other industrial energy usage.

Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic or industrial biowaste. The two most common liquid biofuels are bioethanol and biodiesel. Others include renewable heating oil, renewable jet fuel, also known as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or alternative jet fuel, renewable naphtha, renewable gasoline, and other emerging biofuels that are in various stages of development and commercialization.

Gaseous fuels that may be compressed for use as a gaseous biofuel include compressed biogas (CBG) or renewable natural gas (RNG). Waste / Bio-mass sources like agricultural residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste and sewage treatment plant waste, etc. produce biogas through the process of anaerobic decomposition. The biogas is then purified to remove hydrogen sulphide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor and lastly compressed as Compressed Biogas (CBG). CBG has calorific value and other properties like CNG and hence can be utilized as green renewable fuel. Thus, it can replace CNG in automotive, industrial and commercial areas.

Jim: That’s good to know Sanjay, so it’s all about waste to energy! These days, we hear a lot of noise around bioethanol, biodiesel etc., tell us something more about all this.

Sanjay: Sure Jim, let’s talk more about these next gen fuels. Bioethanol, which is a renewable fuel can be made from various plant materials. Most ethanol is made from plant starches and sugars, but technologies today allow for the use of cellulose and hemicellulose, the non-edible fibrous material that constitutes the bulk of plant matter.

The common method for converting biomass into ethanol is called fermentation. During fermentation, microorganisms (e.g., bacteria and yeast) metabolize plant sugars and produce ethanol.

Basically, Ethanol is an alcohol used as a blending agent with gasoline to increase octane and cut down carbon monoxide and other smog-causing emissions.

The most common blend of ethanol is referred as E10, E15 or E20, where the numerical number is basically referring to the percentage of ethanol in petro-gasoline. When we say E10, it refers to 10% ethanol, 90% gasoline and is generally approved for use in most conventional gasoline-powered vehicles. Some countries like India are moving towards E20. Newer vehicles, called flexible fuel vehicles, are being designed to run on higher gasoline-ethanol blend.

When we talk of Biodiesel, it’s a liquid fuel produced from renewable sources, such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats and is a cleaner-burning replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuel. Biodiesel is nontoxic and biodegradable and is produced by combining alcohol with vegetable oil, animal fat, or recycled cooking oil.

Like petroleum-derived diesel, biodiesel is used to fuel compression-ignition (diesel) engines. Biodiesel can be blended with petroleum diesel in any percentage, depending on geography, season & application. While the most common blend, we see in most countries is B20, which is a blend containing 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel. Maximum we see Indonesia moving to B40 blend.

SAFs are jet fuels that are certified for use in commercial jet aircraft and that meet GHG and other sustainability criteria, and are also made from raw materials other than fossil fuels, such as wastes and agricultural residues.

USA is the largest producer of bioethanol, while EU is the largest producer of biodiesel & RNG or CBG, but AP is fast catching up & large capacities are being set-up for domestic consumption as well as export. As per IEA estimates, Asian biofuel production may surpass that of Europe by 2026.

Jim: Sanjay, biodiesel & renewable diesel terms are interchangeably used, tell us something more about the two.

Sanjay: Let’s understand the difference between renewable diesel (also known as R99) and biodiesel. Biodiesel, also called fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), and renewable diesel, also known as hydrogenated vegetable oil, (HVO), can both be blended with diesel fuel. While, Renewable diesel has the same chemical composition as fossil diesel and so is fully compatible with existing diesel engines, Biodiesel has a different chemical composition as compared to fossil diesel and so blending is limited. Europe, for example, limits blends to 7%.

While renewable diesel and biodiesel are made from the same organic waste streams – including animal and seed fats – there are significant differences between the two products, which primarily comes from the way it has been produced. Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification. This process converts the biomass oils into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and glycerine. On the other hand, renewable diesel is chemically made through hydro processing, using hydrogen under high temperature & pressure, same as petroleum diesel.

Biodiesel is generally referred to a blend than a traditional fuel. In the same sense that ethanol is blended with gasoline, biodiesel is a blend of Petro-diesel and biofuel. It’s there to help reduce fossil fuel content therefore reducing carbon emission

Jim: Quite interesting Sanjay! So, can we use any available renewable or biodiesel in our current vehicles, without any modification in the engines or are there any challenges in large-scale adoption of biodiesel?

Sanjay: Let’s try to understand more Jim! While renewable diesel is for all intents and purposes, a pure diesel fuel & can be dropped directly into current diesel engine, it functions identical to fossil fuel, with lower carbon emissions and environmental impacts, yet without any performance or maintenance impact. Renewable diesel greatly improves greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75 percent while retaining all the power of standard diesel. The carbon intensity of renewable diesel is approximately 60 percent less than petroleum diesel.

Biodiesel, on the other hand comes with some challenges, especially when it comes to storage conditions. Biodiesel must be stored at right temperature range & may pose some challenge in cold weather conditions. If it is too warm, it could grow mold, if it gets too cold, it may gel up. Biodiesel can also thicken to a gel if it is exposed to oxygen for too long & can also lead to more deposits in a fuel tank and pipes, which may call for more frequent replacement of fuel filters. In technical terms, both cetane & cloud points are compromised to some extant in biodiesel.

To sum up, although both fuels are made from similar materials, the difference between the two comes from how they are manufactured, but both helps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions & Government policies are the principal driver of the growing production capacities.

Jim: So, you mentioned governments are recognizing the potential for Biofuels, can you elaborate on what countries in Asia are communicating their strategies for biofuels & how Emerson is helping them in meeting their goals?

Sanjay: You’re touching a very relevant point, Jim. Improved policies and COP26 climate goals are set to propel renewable fuels growth to new heights. Government mandates, incentives, and standards to lower the carbon intensity of fuel combined with consumer demands for meaningful action on climate change has accelerated the demand for biofuels. IEA estimates that, Asia will account for almost 30% of new production capacities coming up in next 5 years. This is mainly due to strong domestic policies, growing liquid fuel demand and export-driven production. Recent Indian ethanol policies and blending targets for biodiesel in Indonesia and Malaysia are responsible for most of the growth in Asia. India is set to become the third largest market for ethanol demand worldwide by 2026. Although biofuels and bioenergy received scant attention in China’s recent Five-Year Plan, the country plans to peak emissions before 2030. As part of that plan, China plans to vigorously promote alternatives like advanced liquid biofuels and SAF & biofuels will play an important role in achieving emission reductions in China.

Another driving point to changing global energy mix is the post corona world order & now emerging geopolitical equations, largely due to the conflict in Europe, driving governments working on reduced dependence on fossil fuels which are largely controlled by handful of countries. Added to this, record high prices of fossil fuels are helping in making renewable fuels more viable.

Within Asia, due to huge push by government of India, India is emerging as hub for Bio Ethanol & Biogas. Recently a National Oil Company, Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has joined hands with two Finnish companies viz M/s Fortum and M/s Chempolis to make a strategic entry into the field of producing ethanol, from cellulosic feedstock ‘Bamboo’ which is available in abundance locally. The Bio refinery being setup will not only produce bio ethanol but other chemicals like Acetic Acid, Furfural & Furfuryl Alcohol. Emerson is the lead technology supplier for India’s first cellulosic feedstock-based Bio-Refinery. India’s largest National Oil companies IOCL is setting up a CBG plant in Gorakhpur & here again, Emerson is the lead Instrumentation technology supplier. Almost all National oil companies are establishing CBG plants & are promoting private sector investment with assured buyback of products.

Neste of Singapore is another hub of renewable production. Neste’s renewable and circular solutions are produced by renewable raw materials, the majority are wastes and residues such as used cooking oil and waste animal fat & Emerson is proud solution partner.

To summarize, major AP countries have demonstrated an understanding of the current situation and opportunity it provides of shifting global energy transition and are aligning their strategies around the same.

Jim: It is clear from what you outlined that biofuel is going to assume significant importance in changing energy mix scenario. Tell us something about changing biochemicals or biomaterials sector, and what opportunities & challenges are you seeing in the Asia region?

Sanjay: Yes Jim, let’s focus on biochemicals, which presents another exciting opportunity to replace fossil fuels. Given the tremendous focus on actions to mitigate climate change, steps are being taken to move from today’s fossil-based economy to a more sustainable economy based on renewable materials and recycling. The main driver for transition to a bio-based circular economy is the global issue of climate change and the need to reduce GHG emissions.

The desire of many countries to reduce an over dependency on fossil fuel imports by diversifying their energy sources is another reason driving the need to develop an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable circular global economy

To become truly sustainable and circular, industry is increasingly viewing chemical and polymer production from renewable resources as well as chemical recycling as the future modus operandi. Since plastics has become an integral part of economy, another area where lot of work is happening is bio-degradable plastics. Industry is working on both bio-degradable plastics from fossil-based chemicals and from renewable resources.

Within Asia, China is setting up large capacities to produce plastics which are bio degradable in nature from fossil fuel based resources like PBAT (polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate), which is mainly derived from esterification & polycondensation of BDO (butanediol), PTA (Purified Terephthalic Acid) & AA (Adipic acid).

Thailand is making major progress in renewable bio-based plastics, most notably cassava and sugarcane. As it contains glucose, sugarcane is highly useful raw ingredient for bio-based products. As opposed to other starch-based feedstock, Glucose requires no additional processing before use in biochemical and bioplastic production, thus shortening the conversion process and decreasing production costs. In Thailand, Purac (Thailand), from Corbion Purac is producing lactic acid which is the most vital biochemical for bioplastic industry production. Total Corbion is another company in Thailand focusing to manufacture polylactic polymer (PLA), another bioplastic material. PTT MCC is a joint venture between PTT Thailand and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) installed first Polybutylene Succinate (PBS) plant which is another bio plastic plant in Thailand.

To sum up both fossil based, as well as renewable material based bioplastics are gaining significance in Asia pacific.

Another important aspect of circular economy is plastics recycling, where Purecycle & Mura technology are key Technology providers. Both Japan & Korea are setting up facilities for plastics recycling. Emerson is again Key partner to provide technology solutions to overcome the challenges posed by these new technologies. In fact, Emerson is official partner for Born Digital-Smart Plant Program with Purecycle technology.

So, several challenges do exist Jim but with all of them, solutions are being developed and here at Emerson we certainly see ourselves as partners to finding those solutions to overcome them & make this world more sustainable.

Jim: Sanjay, I want to thank you so much for joining us and sharing your expertise with our listeners. I’ll add links to the transcript and here at the end to the Renewable Biofuels section and Sustainability & Decarbonization web pages, as well as the contact details for Sustainability & Decarbonization experts in the Asia-Pacific region.

-End of transcript-

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Addressing Energy Transportation Challenges

Jim Cahill — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 15:43:27 GMT

Companies across the energy supply chain are challenged to safely and reliably move energy with ever-growing challenges.

This 2:42 YouTube video, Emerson’s Advanced Digital Solutions for Energy Transportation, shares ways that Emerson technology and solutions can help address these challenges.

Visit the Transportation section on Emerson.com for ways to better respond to changing customer demands and sustainability initiatives by safely and efficiently moving products through the supply chain.

Transcript

The oil and gas supply chain, at its core, hasn’t changed in decades moving energy from production, to transportation, to processing plants, and finally to consumers.

And oil & gas have been our primary fuels for more than two centuries. But given the current transition to more sustainable forms of energy, many are wondering what changes may lie ahead.

Soon pipeline operators will be broadening their focus to bring new and cleaner products to market, such as hydrogen, biofuels, chemicals, and industrial gases. As we transition to these new energy sources, the two million miles of pipelines throughout the world will continue to be the safest form of energy distribution.

There are however new challenges facing today’s pipeline operators. Mature assets and a tightening regulatory environment make it harder to ensure the safe transportation of products, while minimizing the impact on the environment.

The increasing number of products creates new complexity. And cyber security threats are on the rise, increasing the pressure to maintain reliable, safe data environment and operations. It’s never been more important to successfully manage both the operational and business aspects of energy transportation and storage.

Emerson helps companies operate more responsibly while fulfilling industrial and consumer demands. We will continue to do so through the current energy transition and beyond.

By reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions using model-based engineering tools for more efficient asset design. By promoting safe operations through real-time model-based predictive intelligence simulations and situational awareness.

By protecting the safety of critical assets through reliable and secure control systems that use advanced software to collect data across thousands of miles—validating, visualizing, contextualizing, and delivering real-time operational intelligence. By protecting the environment with software that enables better pipeline integrity management. And by supporting operators with powerful but flexible transaction management and accounting software ensuring their business evolves along with the energy economy.

At Emerson, we see the opportunities that lie ahead for the energy transportation and storage industry. And our solutions will help the industry evolve through the energy transition and beyond with greater safety security and environmental sustainability.

-End of transcript-

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Gas Leaks are Dangerous and Environmentally Irresponsible. Here’s How to Detect Them.

Jim Cahill — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 04:32:45 GMT

In an Oil & Gas Engineering article, Emerson’s Jesse Sumstad reviews technologies for detecting combustible and toxic gas leaks.

A study published in March 2022, reports that among the 26,292 active wells and 15,000 km of natural gas pipelines in the Permian basin area of southeast New Mexico, natural gas is leaking at a rate of 194 metric tons per hour. Some individual leaks are large enough to be detected from satellites. There is every reason to think that the average rate is similar in other production areas. It’s little wonder that the oil and gas production industry is subject to extensive criticism since raw methane is far worse as a greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide that would result from its use as a fuel.

Such leaks are also highly dangerous as fire hazards, both at well sites and processing facilities. The challenge is detecting where they’re happening. Selecting and applying the right instrumentation to detect and quantify such leaks is the topic of my article in the June issue of Oil & Gas Engineering, Detecting Dangerous Gases to Improve Safety and Reduce Emissions.

Fugitive gases, even if they don’t cause immediate harm to workers or result in other damage, are emissions that are untreated and unmeasured. Methane lost this way is a financial hit, and it is also a serious greenhouse gas (GHG), contributing to climate change. Even if a company believes it can tolerate the financial impact and the local environmental agency is unaware of the release, this flies in the face of any company claiming to make serious efforts at improving its sustainability. Every facility should detect and control such problems for the sake of environmental responsibility, but also to avoid the potential for escalation to a more serious situation.

The causes of leaks are no mystery, and they aren’t limited to well sites and pipelines. They’re also common in refineries and petrochemical plants. Most are related to inadequate maintenance combined with corrosion. Sometimes it’s human error. Whatever the reason, pressurized gas escapes into the plant environment, inside or outside. So how do you know when it’s happening? There are detectors capable of responding to leaks of methane or hydrogen sulfide, two of the most common and problematic gases in the oil & gas industry.

Combustible gases (methane, gasoline vapor, etc.) can be detected via sensors using a chemical reaction with a catalyst. Atmospheric oxygen combines with the gas, driven by the catalyst, creating detectable heat. This is the working principle behind Emerson’s Net Safety Millennium II SC310 Catalytic Bead Combustible Gas Sensor.

A more versatile approach is differential optical absorption spectroscopy. It uses the characteristic of certain gases, including methane and hydrogen sulfide, to absorb specific wavelengths of light in the UV and IR ranges. The article goes into more detail, but the concept calls for a source and receiver placed some distance apart. If the target gas drifts into the space in between, it absorbs the target wavelength, and the receiver senses the difference. This can be applied to a point detector, such as Emerson’s Net Safety Millennium II SC311 Infrared Combustible Gas Sensors, but also to an open-path configuration able to cover a much greater distance. Emerson’s Rosemount 935 Open Path Combustible Gas Detector can cover a distance up to 200 m, and it is also available in a toxic gas detector version.

A fully integrated strategy for worker, plant, and community safety must include detectors for hydrogen sulfide, combustible gases, and even perhaps flame detectors. Designing such systems to be effective and economical will usually require a mix of the point and open path detectors just described. While it is difficult to rank these in importance, it could be argued that open path detectors carry the heaviest load of protection, and therefore deserve particularly careful consideration.

Visit the Flame and Gas Detection and Control & Safety System pages at Emerson.com for more on technologies and solutions for safety strategies. You can also connect and interact with other engineers in the Oil & Gas and Chemical Groups at the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post Gas Leaks are Dangerous and Environmentally Irresponsible. Here’s How to Detect Them. appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Gas Leaks are Dangerous and Environmentally Irresponsible. Here’s How to Detect Them.

Jim Cahill — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 04:32:45 GMT

In an Oil & Gas Engineering article, Emerson’s Jesse Sumstad reviews technologies for detecting combustible and toxic gas leaks.

Fugitive gases, even if they don’t cause immediate harm to workers or result in other damage, are emissions that are untreated and unmeasured. Methane lost this way is a financial hit, and it is also a serious greenhouse gas (GHG), contributing to climate change. Even if a company believes it can tolerate the financial impact and the local environmental agency is unaware of the release, this flies in the face of any company claiming to make serious efforts at improving its sustainability. Every facility should detect and control such problems for the sake of environmental responsibility, but also to avoid the potential for escalation to a more serious situation.

A fully integrated strategy for worker, plant, and community safety must include detectors for hydrogen sulfide, combustible gases, and even perhaps flame detectors. Designing such systems to be effective and economical will usually require a mix of the point and open path detectors just described. While it is difficult to rank these in importance, it could be argued that open path detectors carry the heaviest load of protection, and therefore deserve particularly careful consideration.

The post Gas Leaks are Dangerous and Environmentally Irresponsible. Here’s How to Detect Them. appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Digitally Transform Corrosion Monitoring in Refining Applications

Jim Cahill — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 12:45:48 GMT

To remain profitable, most refineries are examining ways to reduce costs and boost production, and one of the first points of focus is feedstock cost as purchasing crude oil makes up the majority of refinery operating expenses. Opportunity crudes are often the answer to this matter, but behind the attractive lower price, these crude types have undesirable chemical characteristics such as high total acid number (TAN) and high sulfur content that are a threat to plant equipment and pipework.

Processing feedstocks based on a higher concentration of opportunity crudes leads to operational challenges that must be monitored closely, especially in regard to potential corrosion. The corrosion threat increases exponentially depending on the production regime that can, in many times, change the crude diet significantly within days or hours. In those cases, traditional manual corrosion monitoring techniques are insufficient and often result in excessive mitigation programs and overdosing of chemical treatments.

An array of wireless ultrasonic sensors for corrosion and erosion monitoring.

Continuous monitoring of corrosion risk and impact using non-intrusive wireless sensors enables knowledge-based decisions to support operators to run a refinery at its full potential, increasing uptime and safety. Monitoring corrosion risk provides early warnings to process conditions that may harm the asset, allowing for better and faster mitigation responses. At the same time, it provides valuable data to optimize process parameters and support feedstock management.

Most refineries that have adopted online corrosion monitoring techniques started to implement the system in Crude Distillation Units (CDU) and Vacuum Distillation Units (VDU), where corrosion issues related to high temperature and feedstock contaminants first appear, especially in the column bottom hot circuits and overhead systems. Challenges related to hydrochloric (HCl) acid corrosion, amine hydrochloride salt corrosion, high temperature sulfidation, and naphthenic acid corrosion are likely to happen in these essential units.

Common CDU and VDU corrosion monitoring locations and high-risk areas within a refinery.

Analytics software like the Plantweb Insight Non-Intrusive Corrosion application can digitally transform asset health monitoring.

Monitoring corrosion using wireless ultrasonic sensors supports better long-term maintenance planning as this solution delivers complete insight into the integrity of equipment and pipework, increasing plant availability while at the same time helping operators determine the root cause of failures based on historical data and actual asset conditions.

Operators can benefit from reliable and continuous corrosion data made possible by advanced wireless technology, and it is recommended to apply both wireless and traditional monitoring methods in tandem for the most comprehensive monitoring system that delivers valuable information pertaining to asset health and corrosion status.

Interested in learning more? Download this new free white paper: Digitally Transform Corrosion Monitoring in Refining Applications.

The post Digitally Transform Corrosion Monitoring in Refining Applications appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

AIChE Fuels and Petrochemicals Division Award

Jim Cahill — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 16:40:02 GMT

Emerson’s Tim Olsen received the great news that he had been selected as a recipient of the AIChE Fuels and Petrochemicals Division Award for 2022. Each year, this division recognizes individuals who have made substantial technological contributions to the advancement of fuels and petrochemicals industries. Tim will be the guest speaker at the Fuels and Petrochemicals Division Annual Awards Dinner held during the AIChE Spring Meeting on Monday, April 11^th.

Tim has a long history in the downstream hydrocarbon industry, going back to the 1990s as a technical advisor for UOP. He advanced to the chief technical advisor for refinery startups writing standard operating procedures, training operators, and other commissioning activities.

He joined Emerson in the late 1990s as a refinery consultant to perform optimization consulting and other project and operational services. Tim has also been a very active member of AIChE. He has served on the board of directors, chairing industry sessions and presenting at AIChE conferences, and serving in various chairman roles for the Fuels and Petrochemicals Division and Executive Programming Committee.

Tim is also a prolific author. On his Author page, I’ve recapped many of his published articles. A few of these include:

He is now a business development engineer for alarm management and dynamic rationalization, state-based control, advanced process control and optimization, Lambda loop/system tuning, control room conceptual design, operator workload, advanced operator displays, and simulation. If you are attending this year’s AIChE Spring Meeting, catch up with Tim to congratulate him on this award and his contributions to the industry.

Visit the Operations & Business Management section on Emerson.com for the technologies and solutions to unlock process data and transform the efficiency and profitability of your operation.

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Overcoming Biofuel Production Challenges

Jim Cahill — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 16:30:50 GMT

Energy-intensive industries such as downstream hydrocarbons are pushing forward with decarbonization projects as part of their sustainability goals. Hydrocarbon Processing spoke with Emerson’s Julie Valentine to discuss this topic in a “The Main Column” podcast, Digital technologies: A path to increased production and decarbonization.

After some introductions, Julie was asked about biofuels and what constitutes a biofuel. She explained that the source of their production was living matter—plant, algae, animal waste, forest residues, etc. The first generation of biofuels included ethanol and biodiesel. An issue with these biofuels was that they needed to be blended with petroleum-based fuels to be used as energy sources.

Julie noted that the next generation of biofuels included renewable or green diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel. These fuels don’t require blending with hydrocarbons in internal combustion processes.

Next, she was asked about some of the process challenges with renewal biofuel production processes. Renewable diesel plants have three primary sections—feed pretreatment, reactor, and logistics to store and transfer the feedstocks and products. Across all these sections, the feedstock’s variability and physical properties can pose a challenge. Feedstocks such as distillers’ corn oil and chicken or beef fat have very different properties and are challenging to measure flow rates and levels in the tanks and vessels.

The technologies in the measurement devices need to be considered to ensure that they can withstand these physical property changes and the variability and still give reliable measurements.

Julie highlighted another challenge for effective process control is the reactions for biodiesel that are very highly exothermic. More exothermic than most reactions in a typical refinery. The control systems need to be designed to ensure that temperatures stay within operational limits. By closely monitoring feed recycle and purge rates that need to adapt to the varying feedstocks, software that incorporates AI-based solutions offers a significant advantage in process control optimization.

Record keeping is another challenge for renewable diesel plants versus traditional refining operations. In addition to feedstocks and products accounting, plant personnel have to quantify the amount of hydrogen consumption, the fuel gas consumption used in fired heaters, and other energy-consuming processes. Usage for correct allocations is also required and particularly challenging for the renewable diesel units located within a traditional refinery. Accurate measurement systems and a data repository to track, analyze and report that data in a verifiable manner are critical.

Listen to the podcast as Julie describes other challenges such as corrosion and catalyst deactivation, recycle gas byproduct buildup, and the digital technologies, such as Plantweb Optics, that can help address these challenges. Visit the Downstream Hydrocarbons section on Emerson.com for more on the technologies and solutions to drive performance improvements for traditional and renewable refining operations.

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Pump Health for Storage Terminal Reliability Podcast

Jim Cahill — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 16:20:57 GMT

Statistically, operations face equipment degradation every 12 months, especially hard-use equipment, like pumps. Your storage terminal facility is looking at a 50% increase in repair costs, increased downtime, and shutdowns for when your essential assets fail.

Corrosion is one of the biggest challenges that Storage Terminal operators face in the field when it comes to maintaining operation reliability. Areas like tank bottoms, pumping equipment, pipe supports and in-between the pipping which can be more difficult to assess, are all susceptible to corrosion. The only way to ensure both reliability and safety are regular checks prior to any leaks or failures. This can often be missed if you are only checking annually via traditional and manual style check-ups.

In this Storage Terminal Reliability podcast, Emerson Expert Carlos Matos, highlights the true cost of not being proactive (thousands of dollars per day) on shutdowns and repairs and provides how there are now innovative technologies like Plantweb Insight that can help you utilize the latest Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies to monitor your equipment and provide maintenance for your unique process.

Visit the Storage Terminal Reliability and the Corrosion & Erosion Monitoring sections on Emerson.com for more on the technologies and solutions to help you drive safer, more reliable, and more efficient terminal operations.

Transcript

Jim: Hi, everyone. This is Jim Cahill with another “Emerson Automation Experts” podcast. In this continuing podcast series on enabling storage terminal safety, I’m joined by Emerson’s Carlos Matos to discuss ways to reduce maintenance costs with pump health monitoring solutions. Welcome, Carlos.

Carlos: Thank you for having me, Jim.

Jim: Well, it’s great that you’re here joining us today. Let’s start by, can you share with our listeners your educational background?

Carlos: Sure. I’m a graduate from ITESA. It’s a school in the Dominican Republic offering a four-year electronic technologies degree, majoring in industrial electronics, so design and support of industrial equipment.

Jim: Okay. That’s great. What’s been your work experience outside of Emerson today?

Carlos: I have done work from design down to component level with electronics cell phone. I used to work for Motorola, as part of the design team, as well as field engineering. Also worked for Phoenix Contact with products for building cabinets and marking devices. And for the last 10-plus years, I’ve been working with Emerson, working as a field specialist.

Jim: Oh, that’s great. And what’s your current role today?

Carlos: Yes, my role is a wireless business developer manager. And in this role, I help customers find solutions for different automation and digitalization challenges using our wireless technologies.

Jim: Okay, that’s great. Thanks so much for that background. Let’s get into it a little bit. Is there a statistic or interesting fact that you can provide our listeners that touches upon some key challenges faced in the terminal industry?

Carlos: Yes, Jim. One of the things that we talk to customers and talked about with customers is some of the issues that they see with the different assets that they have. And one of the numbers that we see is based on the 5th Edition Offshore Reliability Data Handbook. We’ve seen over there, that statistically, pumps will fail or suffer degraded operations every 12 months. We have also seen, not just on pumps but according to the National Response Center, on average, it costs about 50% more to repair a failed asset than if the problem had been addressed prior to any system failure.

Jim: Wow. So, that hits you with costs on both loss of operations as well as maintenance costs to repair it. So, how is reliability important to terminal operators, overall operations?

Carlos: Yeah. So, it really regardless of industry, but especially with terminal operators that unplanned downtime can cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to sometimes over a million dollars per day. And these costs can include the replacement of parts and the repair of the equipment. And a very common asset that causes this downtime, as I said, pretty much in every industry is the pumps that are used to move the volume or to transfer from one vessel to another. So, just a simple leak or breakdown can create a very costly and hazard risk situation for any tank farm operator for any chemical or any refinery facility. So, we see that reactive maintenance software and data statistic earlier will result in 50% higher costs as compared to having done preventive maintenance. And this was because reactive maintenance allows for poor equipment reliability and can impact health, safety, and environmental in the form of safety incidents, regulatory fines, and capacity shutdown. So, unexpected pump failures can impact throughput, can increase also the OPEX [operational expenditures] due to the costly repairs.

Jim: So what challenges do the staff in the plant to work with the pumps face when monitoring pump health?

Carlos: Yeah, you know, ideally you know everything about the pump, and it would be great if you could do all these with automation and wired devices. But pumps are typically repaired in a routine basis or are manually verified with spot checks. And the truth is, especially in today’s situation that we see in the fields is that limited training staff or trained staff and expertise to address pump reliability. And most of the times that monitor these pumps have to limit their verification to short vibration analysis, where the process variation may not allow for a complete picture of the condition of the pump components. Monitoring pumps require really to have a full view of everything that is happening with the pump. It requires instrumentation that will allow you to see conditions like vibration signatures, and temperature of the shaft bearings, suction and discharge of the impellers, the falling of the strainers, pressure and level of the seal fluids and seal pods. And these are all very difficult to implement when you have hundreds of pumps that are critical to the facility. Running wires to each of these pumps, and for these many instruments can be extremely costly and very difficult to justify.

Jim: You know, that sounds like a lot of issues with the way things are currently done. So, what are some of the possible pump health issues that can affect operator’s entire system reliability?

Carlos: Yeah, you know, the most recognized failure modes, perhaps on a pump are going to be your bearing faults, which is many times caused by cavitation, but it also can be due to other reasons such as seal fluid failure, insufficient or excessive bearing lubrication, or high vibration, perhaps caused by shaft misalignment or other mechanical conditions. Other failures also include on the pumps as the seal failures. So, a seal failure can create incidents as simple as leaks around the pumps, but it could be as bad as process incursion into the pump components and possibly causing a fire.

Jim: Wow. That seems like a lot of things to monitor for to make sure things are operating as they should. So, what pump health monitoring solutions does Emerson offer, and how is it different from other suppliers’ offerings?

Carlos: Yeah. So, we offer many levels of pump monitoring and many other assets. Some of the solutions that we offer include machine learning that can monitor the process and detect changes in the conditions and how those conditions affect pumps, things like the different fixtures, or you may be circulating the different fluids that can be circulating the flow of this fluid. So, there’s a lot of things that can affect how the pump is performing. We can update equipment data, and characteristics, and repair bill of material for each piece of equipment, perform a failure mode, effect analysis, or FMEA analysis. But maybe a good place to start is to perform condition-based monitoring, that would be probably the most basic and easiest type of implementation. And with these, we can use our Plantweb Insight virtual computer that is very easy to deploy. You can even deploy this on a laptop, on an industrial computer, or a server in your facility. And these will bring all of the pump monitoring data to the operator, and you can bring all this data wirelessly using one of our wireless gateway. So, we don’t have to resource to use all of the space that you have available on your junction boxes. And in a matter of hours, you can have a system deployed that can detect most fault conditions of a pump.

Jim: Yeah, you listed off all those different fault conditions and everything, and I guess being able to wirelessly monitor for those and get that in, that really should be able to help instead of the manual checks that happen periodically. So, what are some of the failure modes that can be detected?

Carlos: Yeah. So, with just this one Plantweb Insight virtual machine, we can actually detect high vibration and bearing fault using one of our wireless vibration transmitters. We have different models to choose from, but those would be available via wireless signals. We can detect cavitation with a combination of vibration transmitters and pressure transmitters in the discharge side of the pump. Also, using wireless pressure transmitters, we can detect pre cavitation conditions. So, we can be proactive instead of waiting for the actual cavitation to create issues, we can detect low head and low discharge. We can detect seal pressure, low suction and low flow, strainer fold, and seal failures. Then, with a wireless level transmitter, we can monitor the seal fluid level. And these helps a lot for those customers that need to conform with API Standard 682 for seal monitoring. So, between the pressure and the level solutions can help customers reach their API Standard 682. And also, with the wireless temperature transmitters, we can monitor the bearing temperature, which is really, really critical, especially if you work to have a seal that has failed and have a bearing that overheat could be disastrous.

Jim: Well, it sounds like a whole bunch of different ways to use these wireless sensors to monitor all those different conditions. So, how are Emerson’s solutions going to improve terminal operators’ goals around reliability? And overall, how is this important for their business goals?

Carlos: Yeah, so whether a customer is just trying to prevent issues or trying to do improvements so that they can improve the top quartile, those solutions can definitely help many of the goals. And we have many, many customer examples. I can mention, for example, in just entire tank farm areas, we have customers like Aramco Refinery, where they were able to reach a 9% reduction of maintenance costs, get a 2% increase in the mechanical availability, and a 90% decrease in loss/profit opportunity. We also have seen major process plants achieve 2% additional revenues, four days increase in uptime, and a 30% reduction in loss/profit opportunities. And some of the major facilities, I can think of one that have achieved a 20% reduction in maintenance costs and 90% in operating equipment efficiency. So, definitely great solutions that we have available.

Jim: Well, it sounds like there’s some major opportunity to lower costs and improve operational performance. I guess as we wind the podcast down, what else is important for our listeners to know?

Carlos: Yes, if you think of solutions that you can present to your institution, so if you’re trying to reach that vision of reaching top quartile performance in your industry, or if you’re just trying to reach goals that are tied to improving the reliability, improving the safety, and reducing energy. If you had already seen or want to prevent recordable events, and sometimes, you know, we’ve seen facilities that have newsworthy events, we can offer you a very simple-to-deploy system that would have a minimal cost without having to install new wiring infrastructure, which is typically what blocks the efforts around reliability, safety, and energy is just too expensive to run all those wires and tie wires that could be used for controls. So, your system could be up in a short time with a lot of flexibility for expansion. And if you needed, it can also be a portable system. So, it’s very, very easy to deploy once you’re using wireless technologies. I would suggest, you know, for our customers, if you have any questions or if you want to see some of the stuff that we do, visit our Plantweb Insight section on Emerson.com. There’s a lot of information over there that is very informative.

Jim: Yeah, the Plantweb Insight helps provide those operational analytics to really help with a lot of that information coming in from those wireless sensors. So, that’s a great thing to make sure, for people listening and have some interest in that area to check out the Plantweb Insight section on the site. And we invite our listeners to learn directly from our experts by tuning in to the Storage Terminal Reliability podcast series. You can also go to Emerson.com/terminal-reliability or search on Emerson.com to learn more. Well, Carlos, I want to thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your expertise with our listeners.

Carlos: I really appreciate you having invited me, it’s a pleasure.

The post Pump Health for Storage Terminal Reliability Podcast appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Industrial Grade WiFi Infrastructure Helps Digitally Transform Singapore Oil Refinery

Jim Cahill — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 18:23:04 GMT

Recently, a large refinery in Singapore capable of processing over 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day implemented an Industry 4.0 digitalization plan with the help of Emerson and Cisco. The refinery sought a wireless solution that would address challenges created by production downtime and also support real-time data collection and collaboration.

With a compact, scalable, and flexible design, the customer selected the Emerson and Cisco Wireless Access Point, which delivers WirelessHART and WiFi coverage to transform tasks such as pump condition monitoring, corrosion monitoring, and pressure measurement for berth loading and unloading. This technology also provides mobile connectivity to refinery employees who access information from ruggedized tablets.

Results of implementing this solution include:

Reduced costs by enabling the customer to significantly and increase operational efficiencies while building a foundation that supports future IoT innovation use cases
Improved productivity by enabling a lean workforce to assess equipment health in real time, respond quickly to problematic situations, and continue to provide a high degree of safety
Increased productivity by offering mobile and wireless views of production and process data anywhere in the refinery, eliminating the need to collect critical performance data using cumbersome, time-consuming paper-based methods

“Emerson and Cisco helped us digitally transform in phases, in short agile sprints, for holistic transformation across multiple operational departments.”

– Plant Manager, Refinery at Jurong Island, Singapore

As an additional benefit, the digital solution will help the customer adhere to government COVID-19 guidelines, which mandate social distancing and encourage a remote work arrangement. In the next phase of this project Emerson Plantweb Insight, an industrial analytics solution, can be added to collect data from sensors and mobile devices to deliver actionable, real-time insights to further improve operational performance and worker safety in potentially hazardous surroundings.

To learn more, read the full case study here.

The post Industrial Grade WiFi Infrastructure Helps Digitally Transform Singapore Oil Refinery appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

One Protocol to Simplify Growing Sensor Deployments

Jim Cahill — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 17:54:19 GMT

FDI combines the best features of EDDL and FDT packages.

Historically, differing asset monitoring devices, even if mounted on the same installation, might have very different ways of sending their data or configuration methods. Such a situation leaves project teams in a bind—do they stick with only one type of sensor, potentially eliminating their ability to use devices that are a better fit, or do they support multiple host technologies and increase the knowledge, custom configuration, and workload necessary each time they want to add sensing equipment?

Fortunately, there is now a mechanism that can help just this kind of situation. Field Device Integration (FDI) provides a common method that technicians can use to manage all the new devices being added as asset management programs grow. It is compatible with all host systems, and how it works is the topic of an article by Anna Veleña in the October issue of InTech, FDI Certification Enables Smoother Digital Transformation.

What is FDI?

“FieldComm Group is a global, standards-based, nonprofit member organization focused on digital open standards in the process industries. It has collaborated with industry foundations and suppliers like Emerson to develop FDI, an internationally standardized solution for process automation devices and system integration. A single FDI device package includes the device definitions, user interface plug-ins, certificates, and useful documentation. This information simplifies integration with field devices and FDI-enabled plant, enterprise, and cloud-based host systems. It also simplifies the selection, installation, and configuration of all field devices.”

One of the first objectives of FDI was to create a bridge between Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) and FDT Device Type Manager (FDT/DTM), two incompatible device management protocols that did much the same thing, but in different ways. Instrumentation and host system manufacturers tended to prefer one or the other, forcing users to learn both.

FDI packages provide fast access to protocol-specific files, registration certificates, data sheets, and manuals.

FDI solved much of that problem, but as originally published, it left much latitude for how manufacturers implemented it. FDI registration tightens up that latitude, which makes it easier on end users. Anna explains,

“As more manufacturers enable this [FDI] support, users will have access to a wider range of devices and functionality in their device manager applications. However, because manufacturers can choose which individual features to implement on their FDI host systems, it is possible that some applications will support certain elements of FDI but not others. To get the full benefits of FDI, standards organizations are supporting FDI-registered applications. FDI-registered hosts have implemented all the FieldComm Group’s specifications and passed a rigorous testing process to ensure that required features are supported by the software.”

Leveraging FDI to Support All Devices

The article shows how FDI solves many problems, for example by enabling easier personnel training and providing improved cybersecurity. Technicians don’t have to scour manufacturers’ sites to look for a critical file on an acoustic monitor because with FDI, a single package delivers everything necessary for integration.

Instead of scouring the Internet for hundreds of necessary files, users can simply download a single FDI package.

As support for FDI grows, so, too, will the number of devices a plant needs to monitor. Emerson’s AMS Asset Monitor is not only FDI-registered, but also supports thousands of devices, allowing you to monitor everything in the plant from a single instance, while simplifying installation and improving interoperability.

How are you handling asset monitoring in your plant? Is it “one size fits all,” or are you still working the hard way? Visit the AMS Asset Monitoring and Health Analysis Solutions pages at Emerson.com. You can also connect with other maintenance and reliability engineers at the Emerson Exchange 365 community.

The post One Protocol to Simplify Growing Sensor Deployments appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Improving Terminal Reliability with Quality Isolation Valves

Jim Cahill — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 16:59:59 GMT

An InTech magazine article highlighted the statistic that only 28% of a valve’s lifecycle cost is the initial cost. This means that the majority of your total costs for valves are going towards maintenance and repair, energy consumption, asset disposal, and other costs.

In this Storage Terminal Reliability podcast, Emerson’s David Leavitt discusses the challenges that you can face in the Tanks and Terminals industry that increase your total cost of ownership He also provides suggestions to better solutions that can give you more control and reduce costs around unplanned maintenances.

Avoid unplanned maintenance by:

Consulting experts, education and investing in the equipment that is right for your operation
Understanding how to service your current equipment
Preventing leaks by investing in valve equipment designed for wear-and-tear and better sealing

Visit the Storage Terminal Reliability and the Isolation and Shutoff Valves sections on Emerson.com for more on the technologies and solutions to help you drive safer, more reliable, and more efficient terminal operations.

Transcript

Jim: Hi, everyone. I’m Jim Cahill with another “Emerson Automation Experts” podcast in our continuing series on Storage Terminal Reliability. Today, I’m joined by David Leavitt, and we’ll be discussing how to reduce isolation valve maintenance and lifecycle costs. Welcome, Dave.

David: Well, thanks for having me, Jim.

Jim: Well, it’s great that you’re here. Let’s start out by asking you to share your background and path to your current role here at Emerson for our listeners.

David: Yeah, sure. So I went to the United States Naval Academy. I’ve got an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. And then as I served in the Navy, I did nuclear power plants on aircraft carriers. So I’m very familiar with the steam cycle or the power world. And so that’s, when I got out of the service, is what drew me to Tyco Flow Control at the time. And I was doing sales for Tyco into all industries, and that was 2005. And so I was doing power, mining, oil and gas, water projects. And that company was purchased by Pentair and I continued to do this same job. I was promoted to a regional sales management position covering the Western United States. Then Emerson purchased the company in 2017. For Emerson, and I started doing business development for a product and I was in charge of the Vanessa triple offset valve for the United States, mainly focused in the west. And then with the reduction in business because of the global virus pandemic, and there were some layoffs. And I’ve now taken a role as a regional sales manager covering the west. So actually almost the exact same job I had back in 2010 to 2013 with Tyco and Pentair, doing that same kind of geography again in same industry. So it’s kind of come full circle for me, Jim.

Jim: Well, that’s a fascinating background, from nuclear, and the Naval Academy background, to all the way through and coming into the Emerson family through acquisition. So that’s great. Well, let’s get into it. Is there a statistic or interesting fact that you can provide that touches upon isolation valve maintenance, and creating a need for sustainability?

David: Yes, there was an industry article put out by “InTech Magazine,” which is an ISA product, and they looked at the lifecycle cost of valves. And they determined that only 28% of a valve’s lifecycle cost is the initial cost. So there’s an additional 72% of a valve’s costs that’s still to come over its lifecycle, ranging in things from maintenance, disposal, maybe energy, if it’s an automated valve. So there’s just a lot of costs that maybe aren’t taken into account if we just focus on that upfront initial cost. And so if the industry looks at, you know, a little broad, or long-term, or total cost of ownership, they can start to see that certain valve technologies are much more economic and provide them a sustainable future.

Jim: Well, that’s interesting. I guess, given that a lot of those lifecycle costs come after purchase and installation, I guess, what are some important considerations in annual budgeting, especially in our case, for tanks and terminal sites?

David: Yeah, Jim, the biggest thing is just that unplanned maintenance. If a valve is leaking to a point where it’s not going to make it to the next scheduled outage or planned maintenance, and you’ve got to now drain either a tank, drain some miles of pipe, do some maintenance that just requires that valve to come out and be replaced, it’s a very large undertaking. You know, we can’t have a leak. So if we have a leak, and that’s what’s driving this unplanned maintenance, whether that leak is to the environment, whether that leak is from a tank to a tank, if it’s to a tank, it could be caused for overflow, if they don’t budget or plan accordingly, they can really, I’ll just use the term blow their budget, because of that unplanned maintenance.

Jim: Wow. So it sounds like it’s those unexpected things that can get you. So having enough contingency to be able to do it, I guess, as you look across all the valves you have installed there, that’s something. So I guess what are challenges that industry professionals have in isolation valve selection? So I guess the front-end part. And how can we, as Emerson, help?

David: Well, I think they need to have a big picture, right? What’s going on within their company? Are they reducing manpower? Are they switching more to automation? Are they, I’m just going to use the term, “We’re just going to build this, and we’re going to sell the asset, so we don’t want to invest too much money.” So it’s, you know, what is this producer or this operator’s, you know, philosophy? There’s always something cheaper in any industry that you can always fill a hole in a pipe with. But is that the right answer, right? Is it worth saving, I’m going to say 10%, 20%, 30%, whatever that number is on that upfront cost, but yet within the first five years, you’ve already spent two or three times the amount on maintenance or even replacement of product? So the challenge is really either education because they don’t know certain technologies exist.

And I can tell you that the technology we’re talking about today has been around for 50 years, but there are customers that maybe use a certain product, they have, and they feel that it’s worked acceptable for them for the past, and so they want to continue that way, or they say, “Well, we’ve got comfort with it, and our maintenance crew has comfort with the old technology. So we don’t want to look at this,” I’m going to call it new technology, but it’s not new by any means. So there’s just a lot of competing factors with regard to, do we spend the money now and get a product that we’ve heard about, maybe we have no experience with, but, you know, do we spend that money take that risk, or do they just go with something they know is less cost upfront? There are thousands of them in the market in terms of, if I did need to replace one, but boy, there’s just so many other costs that go with it.

Because if I just have to take a valve out, it’s not that simple. I’ve got lost, I’ll just say production, but, you know, throughput of your plant capacity. You might have to take a bigger part of the plant down than planned because they can’t get isolation to do the valve change out. So there’s just a lot of things to consider. How do we help? I really think through education, pouring at customer, maybe getting them the references or the contacts that have been using this product. North America, in particular, has been using this product quite extensively. Since about 2006 was really when our big push, our big focus in the market, but also the market was expanding and a lot of tanks and terminals were being built, as crude oil demand and production were both on the increase through fracking. And so there just was a lot of storage requirements, so, you know, a lot of infrastructure being built.

And so the timing was good on our part and the industry’s part to take a look at new valve technologies to that industry and evaluate the cost savings on the front end. Because there are additional cost savings, as opposed to just the valve, that can be identified from a weight, a space, no need for platforms, smaller actuations. There are some other costs that they can start to identify. So that’s really what I think that Emerson can bring, is just a comfort level of trying a product and then putting them in contact with, I’ll just say, peers in the industry that have been using the technology for now going on 15-plus years.

Jim: Well, that sounds like education is really a big part of it. Now, I know in when you were introducing yourself a little bit, and you had mentioned the Vanessa valves, and they have the triple offset technology. Can you share some of the advantages of this triple offset technology found in these valves?

David: Yeah, so, you know, the best way to understand the technology, Jim, is to see it, right, get your hands on it. But hopefully, I can paint you a picture with my words. So we’ve got a product that is rotary, that means it rotates 90 degrees. So like a ball valve, like a traditional butterfly valve, like a plug valve. But all those other designs, through that 90 degrees, you have components in contact, therefore rubbing over the entire 90 degrees, right? If it’s a butterfly, you’ve got a disc edge and a seat that are rubbing. If you’ve got a ball valve, you’ve got the seats and the ball that are always in contact and rubbing, whether those seats are soft, like nylon, Teflon, or they could even be metal. And then in a plug, well, you could have Teflon line type plugs, or you could have lubricated plugs that are rotating metal on metal with a lot of grease.

So the design we tried to eliminate, or that was the task, right? We want to eliminate completely the contact of sealing element and seat through the 90-degree rotation. And so in 1972, when Vanessa started manufacturing this product, they were able to accomplish this through triple offset valve technology. And so they offset the relationship of the stem and the sealing elements. So in a traditional ball or butterfly, everything’s concentric. The shaft comes right into the center of the ball, or the shaft goes right through the center of a disk. And it could rotate 360 degrees if you wanted it to. But we had to engineer in by putting the shaft behind the disc or the sealing element, we had to offset the shaft in the center of the flow left to right, so it’s offset, it’s not right in the center.

And then last, we had to offset the, use the term cone and sealing. So the cone is not right in the center of the flow, it’s offset to the pipe wall. But by introducing these three offsets, we now can manufacture a rotary product, so 90-degree rotation product that can go through the entire stroke of 90 degrees and not touch, or rub, or wear the sealing component and the seat component. And we manufacture this as metal to metal, everything is metal in the construction. And by doing that, you now get a product, because it doesn’t touch or rub in theory, it should not wear. And so the big difference, though, is in the very last principle, which is a ball valve is position seated, a butterfly valve is position seated, meaning you just rotate at 90 degrees and you let go of the lever or the gear, and it just sits there.

A triple offset valve is torque seated. Our design is torque seated. That means that now we’ve rotated the disc through the 90 degrees, we’ve brought the seal ring or the sealing element in contact with the seat, and we apply torque. So we are trying to over-travel the shaft. We’re applying torque to the shaft through a gear. That torque is transmitted down the shaft to keys on the shaft that transmit it to the disc. And then on the edge of the disc, we’ve got a seal ring, a metal steel ring made of duplex stainless steel. And that seal ring is now in contact around the full 360 degrees. And the seat obviously is equal and opposite to that. And we get a non-rubbing, non-wearing metal-to-metal seat that is repeatable. Because we don’t touch, rub, or wear through the rotation, so the wear is not there. And so we give a very long life of giving zero leakage to the industry, which is what they’ve been looking for a long time. So it’s been a great product to introduce to the tank and terminal industry. And they’ve had a lot of success. You know, our success is really their success.

Jim: Well, I think that paints a really good picture. And I think you did a great job comparing and contrasting with the more concentric designs on the other valves. And I know if, in the listener’s mind, they didn’t quite get a clear picture of those three offsets, that there’s some really good videos that visually demonstrate that on there. So I encourage people listening here to, you know, google for those, find them, and check them out. I guess, from a financial side, given the fact that they can last longer without the maintenance by the way they’re constructed, how would you sum up the return on investment value created by having these more reliable isolation valve solutions?

David: There’s a few different places where we like to really focus on how the customer will get a return on investment. So let’s just start with, I made the comment, the valve is a zero-leakage valve. So let’s start there. The most common product in this industry is a gate valve. So I know I, I compare this product to a butterfly and a ball. That’s just because those are rotary-designed products. But the most common valve in this industry is a linear product, a wedge-gate valve. And that wedge-gate valve is allowed to leak when it leaves the factory. It’s a metal-to-metal seated product, it’s linear, and it is allowed to leak. So now, they’re more economic, I will just say that. They’re much more economic than a triple offset valve.

But the return of investment starts to show up when we look at the weight of a valve, so maybe now you need more pipe supports, the size of the valve. You know, this industry has a lot of 24-inch and larger valve. So a 24-inch gate valve quickly becomes 96 inches when you account for the valve, the bonnet, the yoke, the overhead clearance of a shaft coming out of the top of the yoke. So now with 24-inch valve, really envelopes starting to take up 96 inches vertically. With that, we now have to build a platform so that operations can get up there and do set up on an electric actuator or a platform just for an operator to be able to go up and manually stroke the valve. Then we talk about two big places that the rotary design eliminates. A linear product typically has… I’ll just use the term, it typically leaks from the packing. So the packing, that’s where we are isolating the movement of a shaft to the environment. And it’s a graphite packing typically top and bottom is braided graphite and then die-formed packing in the center.

And as that linear product goes up and down, up and down through that packing, it typically starts to leak. So we have now a potential leak path to the environment for, let’s just assume it’s crude oil. So if crude oil leaks now, if it is a certain amount, then it’s a reportable incident. Now we could have a fine. So we have that issue. Linear product also has issues with emissions. So volatile organic compounds, the LDAR programs, so leak detection and reporting and repair, whatever the R is. You know, the end-user has got to do that. That’s on them to report places where we have leaks to the environment of gasses. So gate valves are notorious for being a violator of, you know, having high emissions, higher than the limit.

A rotary product, like the triple offset valve, same packing arrangement, top and bottom braided graphite, die-formed packing in the middle. And because it’s just 90-degree rotation, we’re not going up and down through the packing stack and causing it to, I’ll just say, wear and degrade over time. In the rotary design, it just is rather easy duty, not as severe duty. And so long-term, they get very good emissions results so their LDAR program can be satisfied. So basically, if the industry standard is 100 PPM or less, you know, we’re in the single digits apart per million VOC. So we’re way, way below the limit that is put on us by the industry. So another place where, you know, you could be fined, you could have to replace your packing. You know, you’ve got to take down the plant so that you can replace the packing in a gate valve.

You know, all of that is just something that is going to be those additional costs that we talked about. You know, if the initial cost is only 28% of a lifecycle, well, now I can really start to address the long-term either maintenance or even fines, because you could have fines for crude oil leaks, you could have fines for having too high of emission. So there’s a few places there, but just being able… You know, an incalculable cost is probably, you know, the day, Jim, that you want to actually go do maintenance. “Today, I’m going to do maintenance on a pump, and I need to isolate the suction in the discharge.” Well, what if that suction in the discharge valve leak? Well, there’s a couple options, close more valves. There’s another option, you know, put in a blind flange, not do the maintenance, right? Ah, can’t get isolation, that’ll take too long, so we’ll just defer that maintenance.

But, you know, you might have a crew there. You know, you had a service crews show up, either it’s third-party crew or it’s even your internal people. And they’re there to do pump maintenance that day and we can’t get it to isolate. So you’ve got a bunch of, you know, man-hours being spent and nothing’s happening. Or we’re just closing more valves. As we close more valves, possibly we’re taking more and more of the plant capacity out of service. And so it just continues to be additional costs on the producer, on the customer that is there. Why? Because they saved a few dollars on valve technology that leaks the day they get it. It’s never going to get better, right? So the valve isn’t going to leak last in time. You know, they can save a few dollars on the front end, but they quickly could pay for it on the back end, Jim.

Jim: Well, it sounds like with all the sustainability efforts underway and trying to reduce those emissions and operate more sustainably and everything, that alone is good. Not to mention, you know, the maintenance costs, the additional construction costs, put everything in and any fines or anything that happens from leaks and everything else. So yeah, that sounds like it can paint a pretty compelling ROI to more than offset any difference in initial purchase price. So I think that’s great. Well, let’s start winding things down. I always like to ask our subject matter experts, what didn’t I ask you about isolation valves that perhaps I should have?

David: You know, there’s another component of, I’ll just say costs, that could show up for a producer. Human error is listed. There was PHMSA, which is Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. So PHMSA has got a report out that the second leading cause of accidents, so let’s talk spills, over the last decade have been caused by human error, human error. So the problem with some older technology, so let’s just go to the traditional gate valve that is still 90% of this industry, two operators could go out and really physically strain to try and close one of these valves for, I’m going to use the term 15, 20 minutes. It’ll take them that long. Okay. Large diameter, wedge gate valve, a lot of torque through the entire stroke, a gear ratio, and a handwheel diameter of whatever it is. It’s going to take two operators 15 to 20 minutes to close that valve.

And there’ll be absolutely exhausted at the end. But when they leave that valve, they’re going to say to themselves that that valve’s closed. The shaft has gone all the way down. “We think it’s all the way down. The valves look closed, we don’t hear flow.” But that valve probably is still leaking to no part of there. You know, the operators didn’t think that they closed it, they did. But you know, your lines are still pressurized, probably. You’ve got a valve that you believe is closed. And if that valve is isolating a tank, it could just continue to fill and fill and fill. You know, is it bubbles per minute, is it gallons per minute? Well, don’t know. But it could be gallons per minute. It’s an older valve, and they just are exhausted, and it doesn’t seal anymore.

And so now you’ve got a tank that’s slowly going up, going up, and you see every now and then that, you know, human error because they just don’t have a good feel for that valve being closed. They can look at all the signs that they can think, right? The shaft is down and the gate. Or the shaft goes down in the gear. They don’t hear flow, they don’t think there’s any concern, and yet that can lead to overfill. And now you’ve got a reportable accident. So, you know, human error is a big piece of this. And so having valves that are pretty intuitive that they’re closed, they’re easy to close, so that’s a real positive for an operation standpoint. I’ve stroked very large valves. I’ve personally stroked the 48-inch 300 Vanessa. Takes a long time, but I’m not worn out by the end of it. And I know it’s closed. I know it’s going to be zero leakage. That’s how we shipped it, that’s how it will perform for a long, long time, provided that, you know, we don’t misapply it. There are certain, you know, abrasive applications we don’t want.

But in the crude industry, it’s a pretty easy service for this technology, all-metal construction rotary, and it just allows, or it eliminates that human error concern that, you know, 17% over the last decade of spills directly attributed to human error. Well, the error was either they did a valve lineup incorrectly or, you know, what they thought was closed, what they thought was open maybe was not. Really, it’s the valve technology that’s selected. So that’s something I would say is important, is just trying to eliminate that human error piece as well from the industry.

Jim: I’m really glad you brought up that personal or personnel safety standpoint because that really is an important consideration. And just the time spent in being in perhaps a hazardous area to do it. So that’s beyond all the economics that you mentioned that are advantages, that safety side is really important. Well, this has been a real enlightening discussion today. Where can our listeners go to learn more about storage terminal reliability from an isolation valve perspective?

David: Well, so the Emerson websites should have some different podcasts. We have PowerPoints. We’ve got the meet the experts, presentations that have been done in the last 12 months. I think, you know, the Emerson website should be a good starting place, Jim. Otherwise, they can come to me directly or do other regional peers to help support them.

Jim: Okay. That’s great. And I’ll add a link into the whole storage terminals area of the site so people can go and find more information in there. Well, Dave, I want to thank you so much for joining today and sharing some of your expertise with our listeners. So thank you so much.

David: Oh, it was my pleasure, Jim. And yeah, if you need any other support, please lemme know.

Jim: Will do.

-End of transcript-

The post Improving Terminal Reliability with Quality Isolation Valves appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

How to Select Valves for Molecular Sieve Switching Applications

Jim Cahill — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 15:25:23 GMT

As a business development manager for Emerson’s AEV C-Ball Valves, I recently published an article in the October 2021 issue of Plant Services. The article describes the unique and difficult challenges associated with molecular sieve switching valves and the new valve options available to address these issues. The article is titled How to Select Valves for Molecular Sieve Switching Applications and it is summarized below.

Molecular sieves

Molecular sieves use a desiccant process to remove water vapor from hydrocarbon streams. The process involves flowing hydrocarbon fluid over an adsorption bed to remove moisture. As a bed reaches saturation, switching valves direct the hydrocarbon gas to another bed while the first bed is regenerated with hot, reverse flowing gas (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Typical molecular sieve dehydration unit.

Switching valves are key

From the article, here’s how important the switching valves are to this process.

The performance of a molecular sieve unit is critically linked to the performance of the switching valves. The drying process itself requires tight sealing between the adsorption and regeneration streams to maintain efficiency. Mechanical reliability is also paramount since these units can run for years between turnarounds, while switching two to three times a day.

The valves must seal reliably, despite the presence of abrasive dust and constant thermal cycling between ambient feed and 500°F regeneration gas. Increasingly strict fugitive emission requirements make the design problem even more difficult because the valve must both seal and avoid packing leaks, even as it is constantly operated.

Historically, the industry has used rising stem ball valves (RSBVs) for molecular sieve service. This design employs a mechanical arrangement that first moves the ball off the seat, then turns the ball away from the seat as it opens. The valve closes by first twisting toward the seat, then jamming against it to achieve tight bidirectional shutoff. The RSBV design has two design issues. The mechanical stress on the stem is excessive, eventually warping the stem and creating seat leaks. More detrimental are the higher fugitive emissions associated with a rising stem design, which tend to be 100 times higher than with a rotary valve.

A modern solution

As operating units continue to extend times between turnarounds, industry has sought better performing valve alternatives. One design, the double eccentric C-ball valve, has emerged as the best choice. This design offers the same mechanically assured shutoff as an RSBV, with zero leakage bidirectional shutoff and low-wear eccentric motion, but has further advantages, as I explain:

The double eccentric C-ball valve has a much simpler and more rugged design than an RSBV. It also has no stem wear, and it utilizes true rotary motion to greatly minimize emissions. With the same face-to-face and flow coefficients as an RSBV, a double eccentric C-ball valve is a drop-in replacement.

The new valve design can operate in molecular sieve service for eight years or more without maintenance, and during that time it continues to meet fugitive emission requirements, without the need for packing adjustment.

Double eccentric c-ball design details

Double eccentric C-ball valves incorporate a C-shaped ball, which moves along two axes to achieve tight closure (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The ball in a double eccentric C-ball valve moves freely with no contact until it reaches the seat, where a camming motion ensures a very tight seal across the entire sealing surface.

The C-ball utilizes double offset trunnions to create a camming motion that allows the valve to seal independent of process pressure. The camming effect also moves the C-ball away from the seat as the valve opens to minimize wear. The combination of fixed metal seats, mechanical sealing independent of process pressure, low wear, low emissions, and a very long service life make this type of valve ideal for molecular sieve switching service (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Double eccentric C-ball valves (left) are often the best choice for zero leakage severe service applications, such as molecular sieves.

Double eccentric C-ball valves are available in sizes from ½ inch to 42 inches, and pressure classes up to 4,500 pounds. End users are utilizing this technology for molecular sieve switching applications, and they are also deploying the valves in a variety of other severe service applications that demand reliable shutoff and long life.

Visit the C-Ball Valves section on Emerson.com for more on how these advanced ball valve designs deliver performance and efficiency improvements over traditional designs.

The post How to Select Valves for Molecular Sieve Switching Applications appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Corrosion Monitoring for Terminal Reliability

Jim Cahill — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 18:28:27 GMT

For the oil & gas industry alone, the yearly cost of corrosion damage is estimated to be over $1.3 billion USD according to NACE International (formerly National Association of Corrosion Engineers) and now known as AMPP: The Association for Materials Protection and Performance. They note:

That figure can be broken down into $589 million on surface pipeline and facility costs; $463 million annually in downhole tubing expenses; and another $320 million in capital expenditures related to corrosion.

In this Storage Terminal Reliability podcast, Emerson’s Dag Joraholmen discusses how corrosion monitoring can reduce the need for reactive maintenance and increase the overall reliability of storage terminal operations across the production lifecycle.

Transcript

Jim: Hi, everyone, this is Jim Cahill with another Emerson Automation Experts podcast. Today I’m joined by Dag Joraholmen to discuss ways to improve storage terminal reliability through continuous corrosion monitoring. Welcome, Dag.

Dag: Thank you so much for having me, Jim.

Jim: Well, it’s great to have you join us today. Let’s start out by asking you about, can you share your background and path to your current role here at Emerson?

Dag: Absolutely. I appreciate that. Yes, I started in Costa Rica. I’m from Costa Rica. I used to be a diesel mechanic, repairing what we call the Sealand refrigerator containers. And from there, I grew into an opportunity to work and live in the United States, went to Texas A&M University, graduated with a degree in engineering. And my evolution into Emerson came about my experience working with offshore facilities, plants, offshore drilling platforms, and looking at what we talked about, the asset integrity requirements of the NORSOK, which is the Norwegian regulatory environment that allowed us to understand the different elements that affect asset integrity and avoidance of loss of containment.

Jim: Well, that’s a fascinating background, you know, from diesel mechanic to Texas A&M engineer into all aspects around asset integrity. Well, let’s dive into it and start out, corrosion is a major asset integrity issue in many industries. Can you give us a sample of the corrosion issues that have affected your customers’ assets around storage terminals?

Dag: Yes, indeed, thanks. The experience that I’ve had with terminals, and is primarily a long attacking the piping of terminals, we have found through sources like API 754 and other data that we have collected, about 60 to 70% of the major incident losses is because of internal corrosion, whether it’s the equipment internal corrosion, the piping. But we’ve also found that the majority of the issues that affect our customers’ assets is their inability to inspect everything all the time and understand how their risk of corrosion can create a negative impact on their asset integrity.

Jim: Well, yeah, that sounds like if you can’t continuously look at it, you might find out the hard way when you have some kind of loss of containment. So what are the pressures terminal operators face that will drive these corrosion issues to the forefront of their business?

Dag: Well, I’m going to press maybe a handful of items, and hopefully, we can make this a short answer. At the same time, I would like to present a visual image to my audience that the tanking or the terminal management folks are under a lot of pressure on their business. There are economic benefits of using different products or storing and managing different products. And we can have people that have tanks with acids to other things that are poisonous. And the issue we have with them is that as the economic pressures on selling more and cheaper will allow them for the evaluation of riskier products, what we call maybe dirtier products to be stored, especially if it’s a feedstock on finished products. How much acid are you going to allow in finished products? But at the end of the day, the folks are always affected by the economic impacts in the marketplace.

We would like to see that everybody has an opportunity to have a positive margin, everybody wants to make a profit, but as the economies of the market changes, they have to also adapt to the changing conditions. Also, what we have found is that there is demand for longer runs in between maintenance or shutdown cycles for inspections. So, the scenario is they have to run longer with more economic pressure, with tighter capital expenditure budgets, a lot of these people have to deal with assets that have been around for a long time. They were designed for different conditions that are being exposed to new processes, new products, and new conditions.

The most important pressure they have to deal with is what happens with the loss of containment. What is the health implication or the environmental consequences of not only their spill but how do they comply with the ever-changing environmental regulations and health requirements for their staff? And last, what we have all experienced in several industries, especially in the energy industry, you can see that we are getting fewer and fewer people that have the ability to teach the newcomers about how to operate an asset safely. The shortage of experienced personnel is clear and evident. And we’re looking at tools that allow us to continue maintaining the health asset, even during the transition from experienced people to inexperienced staff.

Jim: Wow, that certainly is a wide range of issues from some of the economic pressures to the people side of it and the experience required to do it. So it’s great that technology can play an increasing role there. So can you walk us through what is the best way to manage and mitigate leaks due to corrosion?

Dag: Absolutely. In terms of managing and mitigating leaks due to corrosion starts with understanding what parts or portions of your assets are at risk, due to corrosion. So we can measure the risk of corrosion or offer the customers an idea of the risk that they’re introducing into their processes. For example, as you move, let’s say, an acid through a pipe, from a tank to a pipe, we know the risk is high but what can you do to understand that risk, if you don’t have a way to look inside the pipe?

The other scenario that they have to look at is not only am I exposing my asset to our risk of corrosion, but can I actually visualize or quantify the impact of that corrosion on my asset? As we know, assets are designed with very specific tolerances. And we know that the wall thickness for a tank or a pipe or a manifold, all those have critical impact on the safe operating of an asset. What we have over at Emerson is a great portfolio of managing not only the corrosion risk with several electronic and wireless probes within the Roxar family of products. But as well, we can measure the actual impact of corrosion, with a family of products through the Rosemount Permasense brand, that allows us to measure the actual wall thickness of the pipe or the tank.

So with these two product lines, we create what I think our intelligent business…would provide the customer intelligent pieces of information that are actionable. And the key here is allows the customer to see what’s happening in their asset, whether the risks that are already producing it to their tanks or the pipes, but also measure the impact influence being able to see that at their fingertips in front of them on a computer terminal, they can start making decisions of what to do next. Those decisions then can turn into actionable items, such as, for example, deeper inspections, shutting down the asset, be able to confirm that you can run the asset longer if things are still safe, and avoiding what I call a loss of containment, which is in terms of operating an asset is an upset. And we want to avoid all these upsets. Every absent will cost you money.

So if you think the cost of a leak or shutting down for a day, versus what you can do with this technology, you’re going to find that the return on investment on some of these tools that we provide the customer create financial benefit. I’ve seen return on investment calculations from the customer that have seen these tools pay back in less than 12 months, some of them less than six months. So those intelligent and actionable points of information that you can concatenate into your decisions and devise trends and help guide your teams into safe operations is the ultimate tool that I can offer my customers.

Jim: Well, that sounds like yeah, being able to have that data to make informed decisions to avoid some of those situations would be very helpful there. So what is a common scenario we find around corrosion? And you mentioned the technologies and the Roxar and Permasense brands, what might you recommend helping improve overall asset performance and reliability?

Dag: This is a very good question that I get also from all my customers, “What do you recommend?” And we are finding that our collaboration practice with the customers, they know their assets better than anyone else. And that can help give them a portfolio of options. So they can implement what makes sense to them. They understand that their risk-based inspection protocols tell them what parts of their assets are a priority for these types of measurements. We can offer intrusive measurements, so they can see the effect of inhibitors, for example. If they’re trying to create a blend of products to understand the risks that are introducing into that portion of the asset, let’s say a blend of products that they’re offloading from a tank, what things they can cause, some feedstock products, they have residue or what we call BS&W [basic sediment and water], which may contain some particles.

We can use our technology to tell them where erosion can be caused because of those products that are not perfect. And we know that feedstocks are not always 100% perfect, especially when we’re bringing raw materials into tanks, they contain a certain percentage of day one, we call the BS&W, in all products. So, we can have intrusive and nonintrusive products to measure the risk of what’s happening with the movement of product from one tank through their series of manifolds and pipes to their destination. But we can also use non-intrusive tools that can measure the actual wall thickness. And measuring the actual wall thickness which I mentioned earlier with Permasense and with their managing the risk or measuring the risk, the impact of their actual combination of the production of their processes will allow this customer to understand first, are they operating in a safe environment?

They can look at the measurements and they can decide themselves in real-time where they can handle a riskier product and instantly measure what it is causing to their asset. And they can confirm in real-time that they’re operating in a safe manner and avoiding a loss of containment. Before, customers would have to manually create them what I call a chain of visual events to understand what was happening, the leak would be found only when somebody saw it or they will do some manual inspections that were not reliable, they were not available immediately, and they were not repeatable. And those three elements are key to be able to predict how your asset will behave. So, availability of data, accessibility to the locations so they report that inspect is going to be safe. Let’s imagine the top of a tank. And they do it the same way twice. Then one person or two people deliver the same results by doing it manually the same way. And we found that those three components today, we can fulfill with our products allow our customers to run a consistent predictable result for them to make decisions day in and day out.

Now, in terms of a common scenario, we get on tanks the typical self-corrosion on the outside and they do not know what the corrosion on the inside may look like. I mentioned that corrosion on the outside yes exists but on the inside 60, 70% of the leaks that we have collected data for has been because of internal corrosion of a pipe or a tank. At the end of the day, we have to prove that these types of solutions not only are technologically savvy, and accurate, and dependable, but we also have to understand do they make sense? Are we adding value to their processes of inspection and maintenance? And will their results and return on investment, justify or help justify the expenditure on the tools? I mentioned earlier that we’ve seen return on investment cases that are almost immediate.

I had one case where a, just a maintenance team, some the things that we helped them avoid such as I access to locations that were not as safe, by using our technology, they no longer had to climb up ladders and create an unsafe situation or potentially unsafe situation for an employee. And they were getting constant monitoring of that high-risk point in their asset. At the end of the day, some of our customers have hired third-party people to give them their inspection results. And those third-party people just provided data. One thing that our customers have learned to come to rely on us at Emerson is that we can help them manage their data, interpret their results, and provide an actual actionable report, whereby they can share that across the entire enterprise because those reports are easily shareable. We use them in electronic format, and we have what we call different dashboards that allow them to take decisions on the spot. And we have provided for them the measurements. We have done the data interpretation. We have prioritized the different data results by location, and the customer can take actionable data.

For those things alone, we have seen return on investment that are not only full of what we call verifiable data points, but we also have some of those intangibles. such as employee safety, that sometimes you cannot put a price to it. Sometimes we’ll say, if we can avoid one person getting hurt, what value does that have? Overall, in operations, we’re worried about leaks or loss of containment. What is the cost of losing containment in that asset? Is that something that can cause you to lose your licensing, your permitting or is it something that is just an economic disruption to your business? At the end of the day, as I mentioned earlier, our customers have a lot of pressures from regulatory bodies or environmental conditions, and financial pressures in the marketplace to operate efficiently, effectively, and with positive results.

Jim: Wow, you pretty much talked about the whole lifecycle from that upfront collaboration, say, for an upstream oil and gas producer, and how much basic sediment and water, that BS&W you mentioned, all the way to in operation being able to see the impact of maybe some production that you’re flowing in there, maybe higher acidity or whatever else that could cause greater corrosion all the way, you know, through the lifecycle, being able to collaborate with the meaning of this data coming from these different areas and making recommendations about what to do with it. So it sounds like throughout, really that whole life cycle, that we can be a part of, you know, helping them have more reliable operations. Let’s wind things down towards the end. I always like to throw this out there about what haven’t I asked you that I should have asked you in our discussion today?

Dag: I appreciate that question. And we get that question also, from customers, “What have you experienced with other customers that we have not asked or talked about?” Well, I have to mention that my goal today was to create a visualization of what corrosion risks… You know, corrosion can affect your asset integrity, and that help you avoid loss of containment. I think I’ve achieved that goal. And I think that from there, customers can get what I call get into the weeds of their very unique particular scenarios that they have themselves. Every customer that may be tanking, for example, they may not all push the same product through their asset. But at the end of the day, they may have the same risks and consequences or impact of corrosion affecting their asset integrity. They want to avoid loss of containment, when loss of containment is not only environmentally an issue but also what do you do with the product that you lost? If it’s a sizable loss of containment, will cost you a lot of money. If it’s a high consequence area, you don’t want to have the environmental impact, financial impact of cleaning that mess up, right?

So each customer will come to us and extend those conversations by invitation, of course. We will sit down and work with them on defining what we call the phased approach. Do we start with early discussions like you and I did? And will we go from there to an assessment evaluation where our team of experts can help collaborate with the customer in evaluating different scenarios? So we can have a few scenarios that maybe one significant event that has created the impetus for us to be talking about corrosion monitoring. This scenario then evolves into, based on these tools and these results, can you extend your service capabilities to help us manage the entire enterprise? And we’ve talked to some customers. I had the good fortune last week to meet with a customer that they have 600 tanks. We started small. And that’s what I think is important to let customers know that our tools are scalable, so we can then talk, where we can start small, where it makes sense, and grow their solution. There’s quite a bit of information on the Emerson website where we talk about corrosion management. We talk about tools like Plantweb Insight, that is that technology is highly scalable. And we talk about dashboards that allow customers to make decisions quickly.

Jim: Well, you preempted my next question a little bit, which is for those that have heard something that sparks their interest, where can they go to learn more about helping their reliability through corrosion monitoring?

Dag: Looking at the Emerson website, it is quite overwhelming because we have so many products, but you can go into the emerson.com website and look through the industries and look at the storage tank, sorry, at the transportation storage and tank storage section of our website. It gives you more idea of the products that we utilize to serve that segment of the industry. You can also Google “Emerson” and “corrosion” or “corrosion sensors,” “corrosion monitoring.” So we have quite a bit of ways of getting information. And as I mentioned earlier, we have two family of products dedicated specifically to the corrosion monitoring risk and impact that could affect your facility. One was the Roxar family of products and the other one is the Permasense family of products.

Jim: And I’ll add some hyperlinks to the transcript we have to help our listeners navigate to some of those areas. And I guess finally, Dag, how can our listeners reach you if they have questions?

Dag: I aDag Joraholmen joins pm reachable through my personal cell phone number, which is 346-342-3436, or dag.joraholmen@emerson.com.

Jim: Well, I want to thank you so much, Dag, for joining us today and sharing with our listeners some of the technologies and issues and ways to move forward. So, thank you so much.

Dag: My pleasure, Jim. Thank you so much. And thank you all for listening to us.

-End of transcript-

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Why Continuous Non-Intrusive Corrosion Monitoring is Fast Becoming Refining Industry Best Practice

Jim Cahill — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 16:35:10 GMT

Corrosion risk is great, and incidents can be severe – potentially endangering lives, therefore there is increased need for corrosion control in refineries. Even slight changes to the process can affect corrosivity greatly. Changing crude diets, flow rates, yields or inhibition levels can impact negatively on asset integrity. Monitoring periodically through techniques such as manual inspection do not provide the granularity, accuracy and repeatability found in continuous monitoring. This makes it impossible to correlate corrosion events to asset integrity, and the real result is refiners operating reactively and not proactively.

There are lots of potential methods for measuring corrosion such as inline corrosivity monitoring or periodic manual inspection. In addition, refineries can install fixed corrosion sensors to areas to continuously monitor wall thickness, and therefore corrosion, such as Rosemount Wireless Permasense corrosion monitoring solutions.

Traditional Ultrasound Monitoring
Traditionally, wall thickness monitoring has been performed using manual ultrasound. Manual ultrasound is infrequent and has poor repeatability. A lot of it comes down to the technician rather than the equipment, and it allows movement of the transducer to give a good reading, which usually means the same part of the pipe is not being measured.

In addition, manual ultrasound methods have the following disadvantages:

High temperatures: Temperatures above ~100˚C (212˚F) can permanently damage the NDT (Non Destructive Testing) equipment. There are also safety risks to the NDT technician at higher temperature locations.
Physical access: The NDT technician needs to have access to the equipment at the measurement location of interest, which requires scaffolding (possibly permanently installed) and stripping of insulation to expose the metal work to make the manual measurements, bringing significant cost.

Wireless Sensors for Continuous Corrosion Monitoring
Utilising permanently mounted ultrasonic sensors measuring wall thickness and employing wireless data retrieval are fast becoming best practice in refineries. The sensors are simple and cost-effective to deploy at scale and provide a quality and frequency of data that is otherwise unavailable. The data informs a wide range of operational decisions due to its sensitivity to small changes in wall thickness, robustness to extreme plant conditions, and extended battery life enabling reliable operation over the entire cycle between turnarounds. Data is transferred using WirelessHART communications to the end users’ desk, allowing frequent, reliable, and safe wall thickness monitoring.

The range of commercially available sensors offer continuous operation at pipe temperatures up to 600˚C (1100˚F). A variety of mounting techniques offers quick and easy deployment of large sensor systems, enabling scalable digital transformation quickly.

Emerson offers a range of devices to cover any metal at any operating temperature, with best-in-class quality measurement.

Corrosion Monitoring System
The sensors mounted in the plant are only one part of the system, which relies on industrial WirelessHART technology to retrieve the data. Devices require new batteries up to every nine years, meaning that between scheduled shutdowns, data is retrieved without manual intervention to the plant. WirelessHART as a technology is perfect for this application, with many plants already having wireless networks running, corrosion sensors can be added easily, boosting the robustness of the mesh whilst adding valuable insight into the health of the assets.

The Rosemount Wireless Permasense solution encompasses both industry leading hardware, communication protocol and software.

Data retrieved is fed into Plantweb Insight, an industrial analytics solution, which offers instant visibility to key assets, enabling better and faster decisions to digitally transform operations. Plantweb Insight delivers known solutions for known problems in an easy to interpret manner. With pre-packaged analytics focusing on the health monitoring of plant assets, the corrosion software applications give end users the ability to monitor both the risk and impact of corrosion in their plant. A range of analytics supports abnormal situation identification to mitigate safety related incidents, as well as managing routine maintenance and turnaround scope and schedule.

There are benefits to this software interface over other technologies which allow wall thickness reading directly from the device. Onboard sensor processing typically results in lower quality readings as measurements do not consider the historical trend of the data. Patented Adaptive Cross Correlation (AXC) processing reduces noise typically seen in ultrasonic wall thickness measurements, by using a proprietary machine learning algorithm. This unique ability is one key differentiator between Rosemount Wireless Permasense devices and others, which typically use rudimentary signal processing techniques that are prone to error and inaccuracies.

Wall thickness vs. time graphs as well as custom corrosion rate views allow both root cause analysis and predictive maintenance strategies to be done from the engineer’s desk.

Best quality and reliable measurements are key when it comes to predictive maintenance. Built-in tools allow end users to see accurately the point of retirement of the asset or piping, allowing early replacement scheduling, and consideration of metallurgy for future corrosion resistance. Wall thickness data can be combined to correlate periods of increased corrosion with process data, considering that crude TAN, flowrates, inhibition strategy often affect corrosion rates in fixed assets.

Conclusion
Online non-intrusive corrosion monitoring is fast becoming refining industry best practice with the availability of data-to-desk monitoring systems that provide previously unachievable quality and frequency of online wall thickness measurements. Permanently installed Rosemount Wireless Permasense sensors deliver wall thickness measurements directly to the desk for analysis by engineers and inspectors and have demonstrated the ability to know the current condition of the equipment at any point in time with no additional maintenance or costs since the system was installed. The quality and frequency of the measurements enables variations in corrosion rates to be detected, measured, and acted upon while the plant is operating.

Emerson’s customers can maximise their operations, both in productivity and profitability, whilst balancing the impact of corrosion on their fixed assets, by utilising online corrosion monitoring. Combining reliable and continuous corrosion data with any process data is now easier than ever, when using the new Plantweb Insight software platform. With over 300 installations worldwide and over 25,000 deployed, Rosemount Wireless Permasense non-intrusive monitoring solutions are industry leading.

The post Why Continuous Non-Intrusive Corrosion Monitoring is Fast Becoming Refining Industry Best Practice appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.

Solving Level Measurement Challenges for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants

Jim Cahill — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 20:21:41 GMT

According to OSHA, the chemical industry has one of the most stringent safety regulations. Regular inspections, servicing, and maintenance work are required due to the intense stress that is often placed on the equipment because of the exposure to very aggressive substances and extreme high temperatures and pressures. Depending on the size and type of plants and operations concerned, maintenance often involves a complete shutdown, however, maintenance and servicing operations in localized production areas are common.

In recent times, chemical plants are adapting new recommendations and incorporating newer processes to meet the highest safety guidelines prescribed across industries. Faced with many harsh process conditions such as low pH environments, boiling liquids and extreme pressures at a typical site, companies are turning to automation and upgrading their activities from simplified manual operations to more sophisticated equipment, driving greater production efficiency and safety management practices.

Figure1: Typical applications in Petrochemical and Chemical Plants

Frequency Modulated Continuous Waves (FMCW) versus Pulsed Systems

Pulsed systems

Pulsed radar systems which is a Non-Contacting Radar type using an antenna, measure level based on the time-of-flight principle and use a method called time expansion to convert extremely short time delay to a slower timescale. The surface echo is built up of tens of thousands of short radar pulses emitted from an antenna positioned at the tank top, directly towards the process material below. These pulses are reflected from the surface of the material back to the transmitter. The transmitter measures the time delay between the transmitted and received echo
signal, and the on-board microprocessor calculates the distance to the process media surface using the following formula: distance = (speed of light x time delay) /2. Once the transmitter is programmed with the reference gauge height of the application— usually the distance from the flange face to the bottom of the tank or chamber—the level measurement is then calculated by the microprocessor.

FMCW technology

Instead of measuring time, Non-Contacting Radar using FMCW technology transmits a radar signal with a frequency, increasing over time to create a signal sweep. After the signal is reflected by the process media surface, the echo is picked up by the antenna. As the transmitted signal varies in frequency, the echo has a slightly different frequency compared to the signal being transmitted at that moment. The difference between these frequencies is directly proportional to the echo delay (i.e., the distance from the transmitter to the process media surface), which enables the level to be accurately measured. An advantage of this technique is that the process variable information is in the frequency domain instead of the amplitude modulated (AM) or time difference domain, which allows more accurate signal conversion. This is the same advantage that FM radio has over AM radio. Most tank noise sources are in the amplitude domain and thus FM signal processing can ignore them, and accuracy is not affected.

Smart Diagnostics & Real Time Intelligence

Two of the major challenges customers in the Chemical and Petrochemical industry face are:

No data to act on before failure of instrument
Limited data for troubleshooting

We have developed two specific features to assist in solving these issues. The first is the Signal Quality Metrics (SQM). By looking at the Signal to Noise margin, our device enables predictive maintenance before the instrument encounters error due to failure such as build up on the antenna or the probe.

To solve the issue of limited data for troubleshooting, we have developed a unique 7-day data historian, to allow users to revisit and check echo curve at the time of event in an on-board memory. The data collected by the Rosemount 5408 and 5408:SIS are compliant with NAMUR NE 107 Field Diagnostics for standardized device diagnostic information.

Figure 2a (left): Rosemount 5408 Non-Contacting Radar Historian Dashboard showing active (colored) and inactive (grey) failures and alerts; Figure 2b (right): Rosemount 5408 Non-Contacting Radar installed on a Chemical Tank

One Stop Level Solution

We will be discussing many more features around the Level portfolio in the presentation including topics of Functional Safety for Level Measurement including Proof Testing, Interface measurement and Reactor Level measurement specific.

Figure 3: The Rosemount Level Solution Portfolio including all the technologies from Guided Wave Radars, Non-Contacting Radars, Custody Grade High Precision Non-Contacting Radars, and Point Level Switches & Level Detectors

Join us at Emerson Exchange Asia Pacific, coming on October 26-28, 2021. Register for the event via our webpage, Emerson Exchange Asia Pacific.

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