Emerson Exchange 365

Activity

Digital Innovations in Refining

Jim Cahill

The World Refining Association : …exists to facilitate knowledge sharing and nurturing of business partnerships within the downstream oil and gas sector. We help the industry share knowledge, with a focus on new technology and in particular technology that improves efficiency and increases plant productivity. This November 17-18, they’ll be conducting ERTC Virtual: Europe’s Virtual Meeting Place for Downstream Leaders…
- 12 Oct 2020
Digital Innovations in Refining

Jim Cahill

The World Refining Association : …exists to facilitate knowledge sharing and nurturing of business partnerships within the downstream oil and gas sector. We help the industry share knowledge, with a focus on new technology and in particular technology that improves efficiency and increases plant productivity. This November 17-18, they’ll be conducting ERTC Virtual: Europe’s Virtual Meeting Place for Downstream Leaders…
- 12 Oct 2020
Better Ways to Design and Organize Product Selection Efforts for Future Reference

Jim Cahill

Emerson’s Seth Natala and Dan Cychosz show how to apply new engineering design tools when selecting a DP flow meter and other instrumentation. Anyone who has tried to troubleshoot an equipment problem might have wondered how a specific piece was selected in the first place. This happens because few companies have a useful mechanism for gathering and organizing such information. The selection process information might…
- 10 Oct 2020
Better Ways to Design and Organize Product Selection Efforts for Future Reference

Jim Cahill

Emerson’s Seth Natala and Dan Cychosz show how to apply new engineering design tools when selecting a DP flow meter and other instrumentation. Anyone who has tried to troubleshoot an equipment problem might have wondered how a specific piece was selected in the first place. This happens because few companies have a useful mechanism for gathering and organizing such information. The selection process information might…
- 10 Oct 2020
Continuous Condition Monitoring Cuts Costs

Jim Cahill

In an article in the AFPM Summit Conference News, Emerson’s Jacob Swafford makes the case for continuous versus intermittent condition monitoring. I don’t think I have ever met a maintenance manager who said that condition monitoring is a waste of time. They agree it’s important but most shrug and say, “I wish we could do more, but we don’t have the resources.” Refineries and chemical plants that don’t monitor the…
- 2 Oct 2020
Continuous Condition Monitoring Cuts Costs

Jim Cahill

In an article in the AFPM Summit Conference News, Emerson’s Jacob Swafford makes the case for continuous versus intermittent condition monitoring. I don’t think I have ever met a maintenance manager who said that condition monitoring is a waste of time. They agree it’s important but most shrug and say, “I wish we could do more, but we don’t have the resources.” Refineries and chemical plants that don’t monitor the…
- 2 Oct 2020
Fuel Blending Unlocks Refinery Cash Register

Jim Cahill

For refiners, effectively and efficiently blending the refined fuels enables margin improvements. Yet, many refineries fail to give their blending area the attention it deserves. It’s worth reconsidering since fuel blending is essentially the “cash register” of the business. Because this area is where profits can be made or lost, it should receive the investments necessary to be efficient and flexible, and able to quickly…
- 24 Sep 2020
Fuel Blending Unlocks Refinery Cash Register

Jim Cahill

For refiners, effectively and efficiently blending the refined fuels enables margin improvements. Yet, many refineries fail to give their blending area the attention it deserves. It’s worth reconsidering since fuel blending is essentially the “cash register” of the business. Because this area is where profits can be made or lost, it should receive the investments necessary to be efficient and flexible, and able to quickly…
- 24 Sep 2020
Driving Safety Improvements through Flow Measurement Advancements

Jim Cahill

In the oil & gas upstream, midstream and downstream industries, flow measurement is critical for accurate fiscal and custody transfer accounting. But what about their use to make these processes safer? In a Hydrocarbon Processing article, Leveraging modern flow technologies to improve safety in refineries , Emerson’s Meha Jha and Julie Valentine describe how advancements in these flow measurements, “…enhance safety…
- 22 Sep 2020
Driving Safety Improvements through Flow Measurement Advancements

Jim Cahill

In the oil & gas upstream, midstream and downstream industries, flow measurement is critical for accurate fiscal and custody transfer accounting. But what about their use to make these processes safer? In a Hydrocarbon Processing article, Leveraging modern flow technologies to improve safety in refineries , Emerson’s Meha Jha and Julie Valentine describe how advancements in these flow measurements, “…enhance safety…
- 22 Sep 2020
Extending Existing WirelessHART Networks to Improve Worker and Plant Safety

Jim Cahill

In a Hydrocarbon Engineering article, Emerson’s Amanda Alexander describes two ways to extend existing wireless networks for worker location and toxic gas monitoring. Emerson colleagues who were around back at the dawn of Wireless HART tell me the earliest deployments were usually limited to monitoring applications. At that time there wasn’t a long enough track record of reliability for us to suggest this still-new…
- 14 Sep 2020
Extending Existing WirelessHART Networks to Improve Worker and Plant Safety

Jim Cahill

In a Hydrocarbon Engineering article, Emerson’s Amanda Alexander describes two ways to extend existing wireless networks for worker location and toxic gas monitoring. Emerson colleagues who were around back at the dawn of Wireless HART tell me the earliest deployments were usually limited to monitoring applications. At that time there wasn’t a long enough track record of reliability for us to suggest this still-new…
- 14 Sep 2020
Automating Procedures in Ethylene Furnaces can bring Huge Benefits

Jim Cahill

There are many examples in plants where operators need to follow a particular procedure to safely transition the plant to a new condition. In an ethylene plant, furnace startup, decoke and shutdown operations are classic examples where following strict operating procedures is critical to prevent unsafe conditions as well as promote efficient operations. Since furnaces are decoked every 30-60 days depending on feedstock…
- 14 Sep 2020
Improving Refinery Emissions Management

Jim Cahill

Controlling emissions is one of the great challenges for the energy-intensive refining industry. However, it is imperative because meeting increasing environmental regulations globally is a key concern. In a Refiner’s Guide to Digital Transformation and Top Quartile Performance article, Control emissions to meet changing regulations , Emerson’s Ed Schodowski highlights ways technology can help minimize emissions while…
- 2 Sep 2020
Multiple Systems Working Together Prevent Tank Overfill Disasters

Jim Cahill

In Hydrocarbon Engineering’s Tanks & Terminals Supplement , Emerson’s Helena Hjortsberg looks at all the elements of a comprehensive overfill prevention system in her article, A Coordinated Strategy. Overfilling a tank storing hydrocarbons or other flammable chemicals can cause an environmental incident under the best circumstances, but also a high probability of an explosion and fire. Given the costs in lost product…
- 2 Sep 2020
Building Digital Transformation, One Step at a Time

Jim Cahill

In a Flow Control magazine article, Seven Digital Transformation Myths Exposed, Emerson’s Brian Joe offers advice on starting a digital transformation program. When we talk to companies about digital transformation, especially companies that have yet to launch a program, we frequently hear two kinds of responses representing two extremes. Either they don’t think the technologies work, or they have inflated expectations…
- 31 Aug 2020
Building Lines of Defense Against Hydrocarbon Releases and Fires

Jim Cahill

In a Chemical Engineering article, Emerson’s Nick Pinto offers strategies for improving tank farm safety with more effective gas release and flame detection In countless war movies, the heroes, whether in trenches or spaceships, have to stop the enemy advance at some particular point, providing the last line of defense to avoid disaster. This may be overly dramatic, but designing an overall safety strategy for large…
- 26 Aug 2020
This Week at the 2020 AFPM Summit

Jim Cahill

The 2020 American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) Summit starts today as a virtual conference. It is a learning event with in-depth sessions to share ways to improve plant performance. From the agenda , I wanted to highlight some of the Emerson experts presenting this week. Tomorrow, August 26 at 1:30pm EDT, Meha Jha will present, Strengthening Your Career by Building Webs and Developing Spidey Senses. Meha…
- 25 Aug 2020
Choosing Temperature Instrumentation Should Begin with Understanding the Process

Jim Cahill

In a Process Heating magazine article titled Questions to Ask About Temperature Measurement Applications , Emerson’s Sarah Kendrick helps engineers work through the critical temperature application design process. Imagine this: One of your process engineers comes to you, points to a P&ID and says, “We need a new process temperature measurement right here. Take care of it.” What is the first thing you need to know to ensure…
- 8 Aug 2020
Refinery Optimization Strategies

Jim Cahill

Ensuring that a refinery is flexible enough to accommodate a variety of discounted crudes and adjust production to meet critical customer commitments sometimes feels like walking a tightrope with just the right balance between the financial benefit these crudes offer and the increased fouling and corrosion they cause to a refinery’s assets. In my article, Production levels: Are they all they could be? , in the Refiner…
- 6 Aug 2020
Holistic Approach to Top Quartile Reliability Performance

Jim Cahill

Operating reliably is one of the critical success factors in driving business performance for manufacturers and producers in the process industries. In the Refiner’s Guide to Digital Transformation and Top Quartile Performance , the article, From cultural shifts to tactical strategies: Ensuring refinery reliability takes a holistic approach, highlights an effective path to success. The opportunity? By generating…
- 15 Jul 2020
Choosing the Right Gas Analyzer for Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Emissions Monitoring

Jim Cahill

NO x is probably the most ubiquitous combustion-created air pollutant since it can be generated by any process burning any fossil fuel, and it is tightly regulated by the U.S. EPA and other regulatory bodies around the world. Plants with relevant combustion processes, including most refineries and chemical processing plants, must monitor NO x output continuously any time fuel is burning. How plants choose to do this is…
- 10 Jul 2020
Moving from Paper and Pencil to Digital Practices

Jim Cahill

One path in digital transformation initiatives is the move from paper & pencil-based data collection on operator rounds to Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based sensors collecting and transmitting the data on a continuous basis. In a Hydrocarbon Engineering article, Disparate Data (registration required), Emerson’s Jodi Johnson describes how this shift helps create value for manufacturers and producers. She opens…
- 30 Jun 2020
Technology Modernization for Refinery Digital Transformation

Jim Cahill

Control systems’ lives are measured in decades instead of the short life spans we experience with our consumer electronics and other consumer technologies. Yet even with this long lifespan, control systems need to be modernized to take full advantage of advancing technologies that help to improve safety, efficiency and reliability. In a Refiner’s Guide to Digital Transformation and Top Quartile Performance article,…
- 25 Jun 2020
Improving Refining Operations with Rich Data and Analytics

Jim Cahill

“While online data from sensors has been available for decades, the low cost and quick installation time of wireless sensors compared to their wired counterparts is driving a new digital transformation in refineries around the world. The data from wireless sensors not only provide real-time measurements and valuable insights into asset health, it can spur new ways to integrate work processes and improve the timeliness…
- 10 Jun 2020