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Monday, October 24, 2011Highlights of the 2014 Emerson Global Users Exchange

Inspiring Ingenuity

EmErson ExchangE to InspIrEIntErnatIonal IngEnuIty“The Better We Listen to You, the Better We Understand Your Needs, and Then the Better We Can Help You Keep the Promises You Make”by paul studebaker

“What moment of ingenuity set you on the path to where you are today?”

began steve sonnenberg, emerson executive vice president and president of emerson Process Management, in his keynote address on the first day of the 2014 emerson Global Users exchange this week in Orlando, Florida. For sonnenberg, the memorable moment of inspiration “came when i won first prize in the fourth-grade science fair. My project was on inertia,” he said. “What about you?”

We all have the capacity for ingenious solutions to our problems if we keep an open mind and are willing to seek a little help from those around us. “the person next to you may have figured out the answer to a problem you’re struggling with today,” sonnenberg said.

For emerson as a business, 2014 started out a bit slow, but is accelerating in the second half. there’s strife around the world, but “the North American market has been a stabilizing force,” sonnenberg

said. “in fact, it ’s become the new emerging market. Our orders for the first three quarters were up 6%, and North America was more than double that” these results are fueled by oil and gas projects in North America, with international activity also recovering in Asia, latin America, the Middle east and Africa.

since the last exchange, emerson Process Management has added more than 3,500 people and acquired four companies: MrG (reliability), Virgo (on/off valves), enardo (safety and environmental equipment for tanks and terminals) and APM (level instrumentation for bulk solids).

“i want emerson to be a listening organization,” sonnenberg said. “the better we listen to you, the better we understand your needs, and then the better we can help you keep the promises you make.” those promises include those made to your customers to produce quality products; to your employees to provide a safe place to work; to your bosses to complete projects on time

“Our goal is to help you keep the promises you make.” Emerson Process Management’s Steve Sonnenberg updated Emerson Exchange attendees on the company’s strategic direction.

and in budget; and to your shareholders for a solid return on their investments, sonnenberg said.

emerson keeps close tabs on industry trends and economic factors that can influence your business, and it surveys customers about its performance and future direction, he continued. “And, of course, we listen to what you say whenever we meet with you, from service calls to executive briefings and everything in between.”

“i’ve heard you, and so has my management team. What you’ve told us guides our investments to strengthen our ability to help you meet the challenges you face.” there is no shortage of challenges. three major ones are project risk due to increased size and complexity; reliability and uptime; and skills shortages.

emerson products such as smart Wireless instruments and electronic Marshalling with cHArMs technology reduce project risk. “cHArMs technology simplifies the thousands of i/O connections in a project. it reduces the time and cost required to make changes, even late in the project. And it has been successfully implemented in more than 600 sites around the world,” sonnenberg said.

emerson also has more than 5,000 project personnel around the world with the skills and experience to help effectively manage its customers’ projects.

On reliability, “Arc estimates as much as $20 billion in annual losses are caused by unscheduled shutdowns or slowdowns, and that 80% of those situations are preventable,” sonnenberg said. “Just think what improved reliability could mean in your operation.”

emerson has acquired MrG and is adding its reliability experts to its teams, sonnenberg said. “they bring a consulting approach to reliability that helps you gain management buy-in—all the way to the boardroom.”

Other emerson strategies to improve reliability are pervasive sensing technologies, such as vibration, corrosion, gas and steam trap leak detection, to detect problems before they cause slowdowns or shutdowns; service experts to help plan and execute shutdowns; and rapid access to spare parts.

On the skills shortage, “Finding the right people with the right skills and experience is downright tough,” sonnenberg said. “One study found that not having the right project team and skills available was the root cause behind 26% of project delays.” emerson is helping with educational services, skilled emerson personnel in more than 400 service centers around the world, and the ability to embed an onsite asset manager to monitor equipment and work with your maintenance team.

“Finally, we help you leverage the skills and experience of your smartest people no matter where they are,” sonnenberg said. “integrated operations centers, or iOps centers, use communication and collaboration tools to bring the problems to the experts, instead of making them go to where the problem is. that’s a much more efficient way to make sure you have the right skills in the right places.

“We not only listen, but we also act when you tell us your problems. Our goal is to help you keep the promises you make.” n

To illustrate the evolving importance of reliability from tactical maintenance requirement to strategic imperative, Emerson’s Jim Nyquist began in Nomex coveralls, hardhat, safety glasses and toolbelt before shedding them in favor of suit and tie.

As much as 5% of production capacity is lost each year as a result of unplanned shutdowns,

said Jim Nyquist, president, emerson Process Management’s PlantWeb solutions. Nyquist heralded the charge of the process solutions company into economic-based reliability strategies this week at the 2014 emerson Global Users exchange in Orlando, Florida.

“effective reliability programs are essential to maintaining production levels and reducing loss of revenue,” he said. “As much as 43% of unplanned downtime is caused by equipment failure. the good news is we know how to solve this. this is physical equipment, and we know the failure modes—we can model, monitor and track the performance. this should not be impacting our industry. But it is because knowing exactly what, when and how to model, monitor and track can be difficult to figure out when you have thousands of pieces of equipment in your plant. if we could solve just this, we’d be

able to put a significant portion of that 5% of production capacity back online.”

Because of its bottom-line impact, reliability needs to be a boardroom-level business initiative, emphasized Nyquist. “there is a tremendous opportunity to save on maintenance spending and improve operational reliability,” he explained. “We see reliability as a strategic business initiative that has major impact on plant safety, plant availability and, ultimately, enterprise profitability.”

A safety incident is much more likely to occur when equipment is in transient operations, explained Nyquist. “in a refining or petrochemical facility, over 50% of safety incidents occur during transient conditions, even though they are only in a transient state 10% of the time,” he explained. “the second point is the ability to keep facilities running when they need to. Facilities are running longer and harder between planned outages or maintenance turnarounds in order to get the production and productivity they need

Reliability is a business stRategyReliability Needs to Be a Boardroom-Level Business Initiativeby Mike bacidore

out of their plant assets. the last factor is profitability. if a piece of equipment fails, it not only causes a disruption to production, but it can also cost 50% more to repair it than to do the proper maintenance before the failure. Additionally, unplanned failure can put pressure on parts inventory and the supply chain. every 1% gain in availability is worth $8.4 million of additional margin capture per year in a typical 200,000 barrel/day refinery.”

Building on 25 years of experience with equipment reliability, in the spring of 2014 emerson acquired Management resources Group (MrG), a management consulting firm with almost 30 years of experience in developing strategic approaches. this strategic investment leverages emerson’s “pervasive sensing” and complements existing lifecycle services offerings.

“if a company is not a top-quartile performer, it is losing millions in revenue and spending millions of dollars on

unnecessary maintenance costs,” said robert Distefano, founder of MrG, who is now vice president and general manager, reliability consulting, emerson. “every dollar not spent on maintenance goes directly to the bottom line. Our approach helps companies dramatically reduce downtime and enhance safety and compliance, increasing the stature and reputation of a company and ultimately providing better value for shareholders.”

A recent solomon rAM study found companies reach the top-performing quartile when they have less than 3% unplanned downtime and have maintenance costs that are less than 2% of plant replacement value (PrV), explained Distefano. For example, a $1- billion, top-performing plant spends $12 to $20 million per year on maintenance expense. By contrast, poor performers spend two to four times more per year. n

Usability, Process insights Drive new Micro Motion transMitter offeringMicro Motion’s New Flagship Model 5700 Transmitter Is Designed to Be Easier to Install, Configure, Operate and Troubleshootby Keith larson

emerson Process Management has introduced the Micro Motion Model 5700 transmitter, a coriolis flow transmitter designed to translate measurement data into meaningful insight and

instruction. the Model 5700 is applicable for a broad range of applications, from liquid and gas custody transfer to simple process control.

“the Model 5700 transmitter was developed using emerson’s Human centered Design approach to technology innovation,” says Jason leapley, product manager. “We performed usability testing to

fully understand user information demands and real-world application requirements. every feature of the Model 5700 was designed to reduce the time and expertise needed to install and operate the coriolis meter.”

“the Model 5700 moves beyond just providing more data and instead focuses on delivering usable information to provide even deeper process insight from Micro Motion coriolis measurement,” adds Bill Graber, emerson’s vice president of marketing for the Micro Motion business. “the result empowers customers to better leverage

Micro Motion’s new flagship Model 5700 transmitter is designed to be easier to install, configure, operate and troubleshoot, and bring a new level of process understanding to Coriolis flow measurement.

rich coriolis measurement data in order to further understand and improve their operating environments and achieve new levels of productivity.”

the Model 5700 provides users with access to detailed measurement history for troubleshooting or optimizing processes. the graphical user interface was designed for intuitive operation, with simplified installation, configuration, maintenance and troubleshooting. the new transmitter translates coriolis measurement data into useful operating insight through robust, time-stamped history files for process and meter health data, and logs for configuration changes and alarms.

the Model 5700 digital signal processing architecture provides fast flow response time, making it optimal for custody transfer

proving and short batching applications. the historian feature also improves Micro Motion smart Meter Verification, which provides measurement of the full meter health without process interruption—improving measurement confidence and easing regulation compliance.

compatible with new and previously installed Micro Motion elite coriolis sensors, the Model 5700 has a field-mount design that is suitable with most hazardous area installation practices and with both integral and remote installation options. it currently includes options for analog, pulse, discrete and Modbus outputs and an analog or HArt input. the Model 5700 and additional digital communication options will be available for other Micro Motion meters and platforms in the near future. n

URS PaRtneRS with emeRSon, LBP foR tURnkey hiPPS SoLUtionA Turnkey HIPPS Solution Allowed URS to Streamline Engineering Effort and Start Up on Timeby keith Larson

Among the many innovative projects to be presented at this year’s emerson exchange is Denver-based Urs corp.’s partnership with emerson Process Management and local

business partner (lBP) Applied control equipment (Ace) to execute a series of turnkey, high-integrity pressure protection systems (HiPPs). the systems are used to isolate and protect gas processing equipment from high pipeline pressures, providing a more elegant and

environmentally responsible alternative to the flares and pressure relief valves or rupture disks they replace.

But the engineering, sourcing, integration, testing, and documentation tasks involved in ensuring that a piecemeal HiPPs solution meets the necessary level three safety integrity level (sil 3) requirements as specified in iec 61511 and 61508 standards would have been no small undertaking, according to Al schmidt, supervising

A turnkey HIPPS solution based on technology and expertise from Emerson Process Management and LBP Applied Control Equipment allowed URS to streamline engineering effort and start up on time.

i&c engineer for Urs, who, together with colleague richard Marchetti, Urs consulting engineer, and eric schultz, control system specialist for Ace, will share their project experience with exchange attendees in session 5-1561 on tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. and again thursday at 1:15 p.m. the work that is subject of their presentation also is a finalist for this year’s Plantweb excellence award.

“rather than coordinate all these activities, we found that we could write a single specification for the performance of the entire system, and that Ace, working with emerson Process Management, could deliver a complete turnkey solution,” schmidt says. “this saved us a tremendous amount of time,” adds Marchetti. “if we were to engineer this solution we would typically have to go out to three different suppliers to find iec 61508 components for each discipline—measurement, control, and valves. But through our local business partner, Applied controls, we were able to write only one purchase order, and not pursue certifications for any components required for the

iec61511 sil verification report.”the finished HiPPs solution

accounts for only 1% of the total DeltaV system i/O count at the facility, including three redundant pressure transmitters, two digital valve controllers, two solenoid valves, and four limit switches—all connected to a DeltaV sis smart logic solver and managed with emerson’s AMs suite. But by turning things over to emerson and Ace, Urs reduced its own engineering time by two-thirds and, more importantly, shaved eight weeks off the project schedule and allowed the facility to start up as scheduled. Further, FielDVUe Valvelink software provides diagnostics for partial stroke testing, allowing Urs’ customer to extend scheduled plant outages by verifying the availability of the HiPPs during normal plant operations.

“An integrated common platform for the process control system, safety instrumented system, and the HiPPs system provides a common access and interface to all aspects of plant controls, including partial stroke testing and documentation of test results,” schmidt says. “the PlantWeb system does everything in one package.” n

“The futurist’s job is to focus on the big picture and point out the 800-pound gorillas that others are missing because their attention is focused elsewhere.” Jack Uldrich shared 10 technology arenas that are poised to transform both business and life.

seeing the future is easier if you take off blinders in the present. that’s because many potential

and upcoming innovations are already foreseeable given today’s capabilities and tools. What’s needed to reveal them is awareness and the humility give up stuck-in-a-rut thinking patterns that stifle useful questions and possibilities. then the will to action can turn these desired futures into new realities. this is easier said than done, of course, but futurist Jack Uldrich lit some sparks in his keynote address to emerson Global Users exchange delegates. Uldrich has written more than 10 books, including his latest, Foresight 20/20.

“the futurist ’s job is to focus on the big picture and point out the 800-pound gorillas that others are missing because their attention is focused elsewhere,” said Uldrich. “i want to help future-proof your businesses against all the changes that are coming tomorrow. Many business models are changing quickly, while others are fading away, so it ’s important to be aware of changes you

might not be able to see.”Uldrich reported that developing

this keener awareness begins with “jumping the curve” to learn about and understand seemingly futuristic technologies that are already being applied now, but are rapidly dropping in price, increasing in capability and about to mushroom in the mainstream.

“Many large industries say change can’t happen fast, but North America was looking at importing natural gas just 10 years ago, and now we’re going to export it thanks to the development of new drilling and fracking technologies,” added Uldrich. “the opportunities for ingenuity are being greatly extended, but we must have humility, keep an open mind and be aware of them. However, we’re conditioned to see the world in one way. so when something really new stares us in the face, it can be hard to see. so we have to work at seeing it, gaining the confidence to innovate into the future we want to build.” n

‘Jump the Curve’ to Foresee transFormative innovationsThe Futurist’s Job Is to Focus on the Big Picture and Point Out the 800-pound Gorillas That Others Are Missing Because Their Attention Is Focused Elsewhereby Jim montague

“We want to be the one force driving valves everywhere.” Emerson’s David Plum introduced two new high-performance valve automation products this week at Emerson Exchange.

After six decades of developing on/off valve automation solutions, it might seem logical for emerson

Process Management to pause and take a well-deserved breather. But anyone who thinks that doesn’t know how this company works. Just like the changing seasons and national holidays that are forever rolling around, emerson ceaselessly investigates new ways to make its on/off valves and supporting technologies serve its users better and achieve greater success.

“customers are always seeking to gain more benefits from their valves, so even though we started out 60 years ago making pneumatic and hydraulic valves, we’re now doing many of the same tasks in smaller, tighter and more compact envelopes,” said David Plum, president of emerson’s valve automation division. He announced two new valve products at a tuesday press conference this week at the emerson Global Users exchange in Orlando, Florida.

Plum reported that the $3-billion valve automation market has gained multiple technologies for fail-safe and emergency shutdowns, and that electric actuators

are one of its largest and fastest growing segments, while its primary applications include oil and gas, chemical, power, water and wastewater, refining and pipelines. “We want to be the one force driving valves everywhere,” added Plum.

to accomplish this goal and further enable its users, Plum announced that emerson has added a robust electro-hydraulic operator (eHO) to its broad valve automation capabilities with the release of the Bettis eHO actuator, which couples proven technologies from emerson’s Valve Automation division’s actuation and controls solutions to handle critical shutdown situations where dependability is crucial.

“the Bettis eHO capitalizes on proven eiM electronics, Bettis mechanics and shafer hydraulic technologies,” explained Plum. “this gives it high-torque capability in a field-proven, reliable and modular design, resulting in dependable performance for safety and environmental protection applications.”

in addition, the eHO is available in spring-return or double-acting configurations and can operate on utility electrical power

New ValVe actuators address Both eNds of torque spectrumEmerson Adds a Robust Electro-Hydraulic Operator (EHO) to Its Broad Valve Automation Capabilitiesby Jim montague

or optional solar power for remote areas where electric power is unavailable or not reliable. the eHO is operable in temperatures ranging from -40 °F to +140 °F (-40 °c to +60 °c). its fail-safe capability is reliable, with fast close or open stroke times suitable for emergency shutdown in oil or gas service.

in his second major announcement, Plum reported that emerson’s new high-performance electric actuator, eiM Model 500 with tec2 electronics, builds on decades of electric actuator innovation, while adding state-of-the-art electronic control technology for use in rotary and linear valve applications. its tec2 electronics provide the visibility, insight and reliable control needed

for effective plant operations. in today’s plant environments, getting timely information on valve operation in process units is key to reducing costly downtime, so the Model 500’s tec2 electronics provide ready information on actuator status and diagnostics that help operations avoid unscheduled downtime.

“the Model 500 is targeted to automate lower torque valve applications,” added Plum. “it has proven non-intrusive eiM technology, a lightweight and compact design, options to operate in both linear or rotary valve applications, and diagnostics to reduce unplanned maintenance and improve turnaround planning.” n

How much would a 10% savings in maintenance and operations at your plant be worth? At the lyondellBasell chemical plant in channelview, texas, it merited

recognition as the emerson reliability Program of the Year. “Our budgets have not increased since 2009,” explained christopher ryan, reliability engineering manager of the award-winning facility. “Avoided downtime is estimated between 3% and 5% annually. this is a chemical plant. everyone knows you have to do turnarounds. this plant’s going on 11 years without one.”

lyondellBasell’s program is one of four semifinalists presented live this week at the emerson Global Users exchange in Orlando, Florida. initially, 84 companies submitted entries, which included a 15-page questionnaire about their reliability

programs. “We evaluated those and narrowed it down to a list of eight,” explained Augie DiGiovanni, vice president, reliability strategic accounts, at emerson Process Management. “those eight companies then got a one-day, on-site assessment visit from the emerson team, which then determined the ‘Final Four,’ who came to the exchange to present their programs.”

the other semifinalists included celanese in Narrows, Virginia; consolidated edison in New York; and Praxair in the Woodlands, texas. the program participants were judged on criteria including demonstration of an integrated maintenance philosophy, documented return on investment, effective work process flows, effective use of technologies and good communications.

LyondeLLBaseLL CLaims ‘ReLiaBiLity PRogRam of the yeaR’ honoRsLyondellBasell’s Mission Is to Provides Engineering and Maintenance to the Site and to Proactively Maintain All of the Assets to Achieve Equipment Reliabilityby mike Bacidore

lyondellBasell met those requirements and more. “We have 2,000 acres, more than 600 employees and over 77,000 pieces of equipment,” said ryan. “Our mission is to provide engineering and maintenance to the site and to proactively maintain all of the assets to achieve equipment reliability. We don’t treat reliability as just our department. it’s a team function with operations, maintenance and reliability all involved.”

the plant’s diagnostic technology includes emerson’s AMs suite software, valve signatures, infrared thermography, oil analysis, vibration analysis, risk-based inspection, ultrasonic leak detection, radiography and nondestructive testing. “For failure analysis, we use root cause failure analysis and materials analysis,” said ryan. “You have to have a good work process. Our sAP cMMs [computerized maintenance management system] is fully integrated, and we use best practices in work order notification and management. We’re looking to integrate AMs suite software with Meridium. We’re going to pilot it in one of our other plants and then roll it out across the company.”

the channelview facility has more than 10,000 pieces of equipment that have been classified as safety-critical, regulatory-critical, accounting-critical and/or quality-critical.

“For planning and scheduling, everything is prioritized by criticality,” explained ryan. “For every failure, we want to bring those codes into sAP. then we can use Meridium to sift through them, so we know where the systemic issues are. We perform formal root cause failure analysis and failure mode and effects analysis when required, especially where we’re implementing new, large systems.”

When it attempted to optimize its lubrication preventive maintenance (PM) activities, the lyondellBasell plant found 202 unnecessary ones that were deleted and 459 missing ones that were added. And yet, PM hours decreased by 50%. “the execution and scheduling are where we made those up,” explained ryan. “We optimized our electrical PMs and achieved

a 30% reduction in high-voltage PM hours. instrument PM optimization took us from 35,000 PM hours to 25,000, a 28% reduction, which is a million dollars in cost savings.”

Yearly reliability at the plant rose from 93.26% in 2011 to 99.49% in 2013. An example of how the plant increased reliability and availability is with mean time between repairs on pumps, which increased by more than 42% over the past three years.

“AMs suite software is key,” said ryan. “since we’ve implemented it, we’ve improved our PMs by another 35% and improved calibration efficiencies by 15%. in 2014, we identified a problem with a boiler control transmitter that avoided an estimated production impact of $5 million, as well as potential equipment damage.” n

LyondellBasel’s Christopher Ryan (2nd from left) received the 2014 Emerson Reliability Program of the Year award from Emerson executives (left to right) Jim Nyquist, Ron Martin and Augie DiGiovanni.

The new Rosemount 5708 Series 3D Solids Scanners “bring to bulk solids the same resolution as liquid level measurement,” said Emerson’s Joe Willson. They also offer significant improvements in safety when technicians don’t have to climb vessels that are “tall, exposed and slippery when wet.”

“At roughly $4 billion annually, the liquids level sensor market is mature, and we can generally

provide suitable technology,” said Joe Willson, vice president and general manager, rosemount level, emerson Process Management, in a press conference tuesday morning at emerson Global Users exchange 2014 in Orlando, Florida. “solids applications are at least 20 years behind in terms of sophistication.” You can use a liquid technology like radar to get a spot reading, but “your understanding of what’s in the bin is a combination of a level and a set of assumptions,” Willson said. “that may be OK for a tall cylinder with a cone of material at the top—the error may be irrelevant—but otherwise, it’s inaccurate.”

the new rosemount 5708 series of 3D solids scanners use three transducers, radiating acoustic waves and fuzzy logic algorithms to measure solids in silos, large open bins, bulk solid storage rooms, stockpiles and warehouses. there are models to deliver either level data only or both level and volume data using intuitive monitoring software. they map the uneven

surface typically found in solids applications and can provide the minimum and maximum level, the total volume and a 3D visualization of the surface.

Unlike laser-based technologies that can take several hours to take measurements and require the process to be shut down, rosemount 3D solids scanners provide continuous volume measurements that are representative of the material’s surface. they can measure practically any kind of material, including difficult-to-measure fly ash and materials with a low dielectric that would challenge other technologies. the self-cleaning design requires little maintenance even when used in the dustiest environments.

the 5708 “brings to bulk solids the same resolution as liquid level measurement,” Willson said. Along with better measurement, it’s a significant improvement in safety when personnel don’t have to climb vessels that are “tall, exposed and slippery when wet,” he said. “there are numerous fatalities each year from techs falling off silos.”

the instruments also can detect

3D Scanner BringS Bulk SoliDS level MeaSureMent into 21St centuryThe New Rosemount 5708 Series 3D Solids Scanners Bring to Bulk Solids the Same Resolution as Liquid Level Measurementby Paul Studebaker

asymmetric buildup that can overload a silo structure. “Big silos collapse due to asymmetric loads,” Willson said.

the rosemount 5708 series includes level scanners for silos up to 5 m (16 feet) diameter and 70 m (230 feet) height, and there is also a version for larger vessels and silos up to 12 m (39 feet) diameter and 70 m (230 feet) height. emerson can also supply systems of multiple devices to cover large areas such as

30 m x 70 m (98 feet x 230 feet) warehouses.the new rosemount 3D solids scanners are part of emerson’s

comprehensive range of level measurement devices for many applications across a range of industries. the new 3D solids scanners complement emerson’s existing rosemount 5400 series of non-contacting radar level transmitters and the rosemount 5300 series guided wave radar for solids measurement in smaller vessels. n

Patch ManageMent Service StreaMlineS SySteM Maintenance at eli lillyPatching Is Not Everyone’s Favorite Job. You’re Always Trying to Find the Next Hole and Plug Itby Jim Montague

One common headache shared by process control engineers and it managers is how to effectively deal with software patches. And when applications, systems,

workstations and the requisite updates multiply, keeping up with all of them can quickly devolve into a sanity-threatening situation.

“Patching is not everyone’s favorite job. You’re always trying to find the next hole and plug it,” said Kurt russell, consultant engineer for automation at eli lilly and co. “Patching for an entire plant can introduce a whole new level of complexity, and is pretty painful, especially if it has to be done by one person.” russell is responsible for 15 DeltaV distributed control systems at his company’s pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in indianapolis, ind.

russell, together with Bill Beane, sureservice and Advanced services engineer at emerson, and shelli callender, Advanced services project manager at emerson, presented “DeltaV

Patch Management: An enterprise Approach” this week at the emerson exchange Global Users exchange in Orlando, Fla.

in part because of the sheer volume of applications and systems, the manual patch management methods employed at eli lilly had become unwieldy. “it’s a time-consuming task, and so it tended to be reactive, infrequent, and prone to delay or even mistakes,” said russell. “so, we began to experiment with mechanisms to automate patching with some success, but we’re especially thankful that emerson was able to develop its Guardian software Update Delivery service (GsUDs) and offer it as a free software tool for patch management.”

GsUDs enables eli lilly and many other users to download software patches, hot fixes and other updates needed to keep its systems in safe and secure working order. these tasks are performed on the Guardian WsUs interface (GWi). WsUs is short for Microsoft’s Windows server Update services.

“We’ve used GsUDs since its inception, and we struggled

“The main benefit is that we don’t have to run around and manually do patches anymore.” Eli Lilly’s Kurt Russell explained how Emerson’s Guardian Software Update Delivery Service is helping to keep the company’s DeltaV systems in safe and secure working order.

early as there was little supporting documentation,” said russell. “so we worked with emerson to develop better documentation, and invested considerable time into the implementation as it matured. We feel a lot better with the current state of the product, and its popularity is growing at eli lilly as a result of my success using the patching service.

“the main benefit is that we don’t have to run around and manually do patches anymore. We can really see them all in one place, and easily get the data and reports we require.”

russell explained that eli lilly’s system updates are managed through an upstream server with internet access, where the GsUDs application resides, as well as a corporate it server where symantec live Update Adminstrator (lUA) security updates are received. each DeltaV system, in turn, is handled by a dedicated downstream server machine that hosts Microsoft WsUs, GWi, and lUA

applications.“the downstream servers are all

currently small form-factor Dell servers,” added russell. “these servers also support other needs depending on the particular system, including backup and recovery, MiMic simulation, and virtualization snapshots.” Microsoft security patches are automatically approved at the upstream server and synchronized to the downstream server. GWi approves updates and hot fixes specific to DeltaV, and each system administrator approves updates to their own system. russell stressed that hot fix prerequisites still must be performed. “Otherwise, installation of new patches may fail, and a second attempt will be necessary following a Windows reboot,” he said.

“in short, GsUDs gives us a single infrastructure for patching, automatic distribution of updates and other content,” russell said. “it saves us much time and effort compared to manual methods.” n

“We are strong believers in standards organizations that provide open platforms for interoperability.” Emerson’s Peter Zornio (left) together with the FieldComm Group’s Ted Masters on Emerson’s recent donation of the PIDPlus wireless controller to the nonprofit organization.

the proportional-integral-derivative (PiD) control algorithm has long been a mainstay of process control. But

its underlying mathematics didn’t make a smooth transition to the world of wireless and the often infrequent measurement update rates used to conserve battery power. emerson Process Management’s PiDPlus algorithm was developed to overcome these limitations, and the underlying intellectual property has been donated to the HArt communication Foundation, soon to be combined with the Fieldbus Foundation into a single organization called the Fieldcomm Group.

“emerson Process Management has continued to test PiDPlus at the University of texas at Austin and it has proven to be a reliable and robust technology,” said Peter Zornio, chief strategic officer, emerson Process Management. “WirelessHArt has undergone rapid adoption across a variety of industries and, as such, now provides greater confidence and performance when using wireless for more critical applications. We are strong believers in standards organizations that provide open platforms for interoperability. this belief is what

inspired us to make the donation.”“We are pleased to offer PiDPlus

technology to our membership as another step to advance the capability of WirelessHArt toward reliable real-time control,” said ted Masters, president and ceO of the Fieldcomm Group. “contributions such as this from our member companies continue to push the HArt communication protocol as cutting edge technology for the benefit of the entire process automation industry.”

Process and control engineers interested in learning more are encouraged to explore the book Wireless control Foundation by terrence Blevins, Deji chen, Mark Nixon and Willy Wojsznis, which discusses wireless communication concepts and terminology needed to apply wireless control in the process industries. You can purchase the book at the isA bookstore near the cyber cafe on level 2 of the convention center. the book is also available from the international society of Automation’s website at www.isa.org. For more information, please see www.wirelesscontrolfoundation.com. n

EmErson EnablEs WirElEss PiD Control, DonatEs algorithm to inDustry“We Are Strong Believers in Standards Organizations That Provide Open Platforms for Interoperability.”by leslie gordon

“Wireless eliminated more than 96% of call-outs due to communication or equipment failure issues.” Occidental Petroleum’s Jose Ludena on the performance of its Emerson Smart Wireless instrument network in a remote North Dakota oil field.

Between its wildly unpredictable weather, limited and costly labor force, and rugged terrain, North

Dakota can be a rough neighborhood for process applications. these were a few of the reasons why Occidental Petroleum corp.’s engineers, technicians and operators were so happy to automate more than 200 wells, tanks and other equipment near Dickinson with wireless transmitters and other components from emerson Process Management.

located in the harsh and often unforgiving terrain of the geological Bakken region, the company’s 200 well pads and their oil and water tanks are widely dispersed, subjected to snow, ice and ambient temperatures that can shift by 80 °F in a day, and typically require large amounts of hardware and costly labor to install and maintain. each well has six 400-barrel tanks, including four for storing oil and two for storing water. the wells produce light crude oil and slightly salty water.

“We needed to automate our existing

and new oil production facilities located near Dickinson for both monitoring and control, so these facilities could be operated remotely from a centralized control room,” said Jose ludena, Occidental’s senior facilities engineering advisor. “this project began in 2012 and included the wells, oil and water tanks, heater-treater and well-monitoring systems, and a central tank battery with five 10,000-bbl, fixed-roof tanks, two lAct [leased automatic custody transfer] units, two produced water injection pumps, three crude oil shipping/sales pumps, three flares, a vapor recovery unit (VrU), and all associated electrical infrastructure.”

ludena and James Haw, it manager for Occidental, presented “implementing effective Process control in a Harsh and Unforgiving terrain” this week at the emerson Global Users exchange in Orlando, Florida.

Because of its aggressive project schedule, the bulk of Occidental’s well infrastructure, wireless upgrades and other construction had to be executed

Occidental OvercOmes rOugh terrain by autOmating 200 Wells With WirelessOccidental Petroleum Talks About the Performance of its Emerson Smart Wireless Instrument Network in a Remote North Dakota Oil Fieldby Jim montague

during the winter. “Heavy snow and/or rain at any time during the year in North Dakota results in very muddy and hazardous driving conditions, making it very difficult to reach facilities, and the state’s department of transportation frequently closes roads during inclement weather,” said ludena. “We also had an aggressive central tank battery schedule, and our rapid deployment of wells and infrastructure also required us to build more than 120 of the well pads in less than 18 months. Unfortunately, because there’s s much oil and gas-related development in this area, limited resources are locally available, especially skilled labor, and so resources are either brought in from out of state or hired from the existing pool at a premium.”

to meet these challenges, ludena, Haw and their colleagues at Occidental needed a wireless system that could be run reliably in sub-zero and icy conditions. “We installed our wireless components by May 2012; installation was less and required fewer commissioning resources,” said ludena. “We eliminated the bulk of the traditional loop infrastructure, such as conduit, cable, terminal blocks, fuses, etc., and greatly reduced the amount of

necessary construction resources. We eliminated point-to-point checkout associated with traditional wired instrument loops. Our mesh network is reliable, self-healing, and it’s also easy to expand and add devices to the network.”

ludena added that Occidental’s new wireless network on its wells in North Dakota has greatly improved overall reliability. “implementing wireless eliminated more than 96% of call-outs due to communication or equipment failure issues,” reported ludena. “it also eliminated electrostatic discharge issues while unloading vessels and inherently improved reliability by eliminating problems such as loose connections, cracked insulation, broken wiring and crushed conduit.”

ludena added that cost benefits of Occidental’s wireless network include a 35% reduction in overall deployment labor costs and a 15% reduction in overall material costs. “Our original estimate for automating a well pad with a traditional wired solution was seven days, but actual deployment time with wireless is now two days, and it can be even faster for multiple wells located at the same site.” n

“Managing in the 21st century, with its Facebook, WhatsApp generation means we’re going to have to move away from the status quo.” Dave Beckmann challenged Emerson Exchange attendees to be passionate and think differently.

so you want be inspiring and ingenious? congratulations, it’s a very worthwhile path. However,

it’s also fraught with stress, frustration, organizational obstructions, personal conflicts, uncooperative colleagues, calcified managers, incentives against change, minefields, face-plants, thankless chipping away in obscurity and little recognition even if you finally succeed.

Despite these and other hurdles, an expert panel explored many ways to instill and nurture true ingenuity this week at the emerson Global Users exchange in Orlando, Florida.

“We’re preparing the next generation to take over from us old folks, but we’re all going to have to think in different ways to help them get to the next level,” said moderator Dave Beckmann, emerson’s retired senior marketing vice president. “this also means shaking up management and pushing against tradition. Our old ways of thinking were never designed to carry the strain of a whiplash economy, technological

disruptions, global competitors, fractured markets, omnipotent customers, rebellious shareholders and idealistic employees who strive for significance over pay. Managing in the 21st century with its Facebook, WhatsApp generation means we’re going to have to move away from the status quo.”

“Over long periods of time, low-probability events can build up,” said panelist Greg stephens, vice president of consulting solutions at Urs Professional solutions. “the Fukushima facility was designed well physically, but its emergency fuel was stored offsite, and the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami shorted out its generator bays, pumps and instruments. Now decontamination is going to take until 2020, and de-fueling will take another eight to 15 years.” Beckmann added that total clean-up costs will be about $3 trillion.

to help avoid these kinds of incidents and potential catastrophes, sandy Vasser, instrument and electrical

IngenuIty IngredIents? thInk dIfferently, speak up, take rIsksDave Beckmann Challenged Emerson Exchange Attendees to Be Passionate and Think Differentlyby Jim Montague

manager of the facilities group at exxonMobil Development co., reported it’s crucial to get management to listen to what needs to be done, and simplify systems and equipment whenever possible. He added this has been greatly helped by migrating from traditional i/O approaches to adopting smart i/O methods like emerson Process Management’s cHArMs electronic marshalling solution.

“We talking capital efficiency in every meeting,” said Vasser. “We often say ‘you can’t get something wrong if don’t have to do it,’ and so we seek to eliminate steps, designs and equipment. twenty-year-old cabinets can have a lot of wires, but we can eliminate a lot of them with DeltaV and cHArMs. And using standardized cabinets and systems like these can also help reduce a lot of former customization, specifications, FAts [factory acceptance tests] and documentation on the 20 or 30 projects we do simultaneously.

“We just need a better way to manage all these tasks and information, but we’re not there yet. the biggest hurdle is stopping people from doing what they’ve always done. For example, standard cabinets don’t need FAts, but some objectors say FAts are needed to verify software designs, so we’re trying to solve this by doing virtual FAts in the cloud.”

robert Wojewodka, technology manager and leader of the Process improvement team at lubrizol, says his company reduces organizational friction by concentrating on cooperation, teamwork and trust. “Management relies on engineering and other technical groups regarding new projects,” said Wojewodka. “We stay focused on value-add to help justify process investments. We also have long-term supplier partnerships to help ensure seamless consistency on a global scale. We strive to break down silos of power, so operations managers respect the input of every individual regardless of title. You need to move from being managed to managing, expand your sphere of influence and navigate the minefield of encouraging your management do the right things. the bottom line is you have to be willing to step on some mines, but keep advancing projects and visions forward.”

“conventional thought for achieving project success has been to focus on perfecting the way projects have always been executed,” added Vasser. “However, this has burdened and impeded the identification of change because only improving on what has always been done can only result in incremental improvements at best. challenging traditional and proven practices is difficult, but we have got to redefine and transform how we execute automation projects.” n

“Powerhouse availability rose from 94% to 99%, and productivity increased 10%.” Barbara Hamilton, senior industrial energy consultant, Emerson Process Management, on the results of control and safety system upgrades to stoker coal boilers at FMC’s soda ash mining facility in Granger, Wyoming.

the stoker coal boilers on the powerhouse at FMc’s soda ash mining plant in Granger, Wyoming, had become

a serious problem. “the boilers were not running well, and when they did run, they would not run at full load,” said Barbara Hamilton, senior industrial energy consultant, emerson Process Management, in her presentation Wednesday morning at emerson Global User exchange 2014 in Orlando, Florida.

there were also safety concerns, Hamilton said. “they were running on manual, and whenever they opened the door to pull ash, they had positive pressure issues.” FMc and emerson brought in Jansen combustion and Boiler technologies, and they all went to work. “Jansen works on air flow, and they do a lot to improve combustion,” Hamilton said. “Meanwhile, i went over every valve, pressure transmitter, flow transmitter and the controls.”

the first problem was air flow measurement. “the Venturi design was excellent, and they had good instruments, but they had not configured them,” said Hamilton. “they had no square root extraction, so automatic control didn’t work. the operators were using differential pressure as flow—they had learned what to do by trying things and seeing what

happened. so we got air flow measured and into the control system.”

then there was fuel. “they had a gate that opened and closed to let more or less coal onto the belt that threw it in,” Hamilton said. the final elements had position feedback, so the original control engineer had put PiD on them. “this just added dynamics and delays,” she said.

Finally, the flue gas control was being done using the damper and fan speed, but the induction draft damper was set at 60% with no gap action. “essentially, there was no turndown on this boiler; it was not responsive at all,” Hamilton said. “the air was not right, the fuel was not right and the flue gas control was not right. Other than that, it ran great.”

the safety systems had their own issues. “We did a complete NFPA 85 safety audit,” said Andrew Verdouw, also a senior industrial energy consultant with emerson. “A lot of the hard-wired sequences were not in play, so when they took a safety trip, it was a hard trip.”

the boiler fires up on oil. “i was trying to find the serial numbers on the injectors, and i couldn’t—they had made and installed the oil guns themselves,” Verdouw said. the whole oil system was homemade. “it was a very

Powerhouse AvAilAbility boosts PlAnt ProductivityEmerson Process Management Talks on the Results of Control and Safety System Upgrades to Stoker Coal Boilers at FMC’s Soda Ash Mining Facility in Granger, Wyomingby Paul studebaker

challenging system. it was only used 12 hours a year, but it had to meet NFPA 85,” he said.

“this was not a DeltaV site,” said Hamilton. emerson did a complete scientific Apparatus Makers Association (sAMA) documentation, functional specification, design and management of change (MOc) review. “they had to learn how to read sAMAs; they had never seen one before,” she said. Planned changes included new pre-trip and conditional alarming programmed in the Dcs, as well as corrections to the fuel and air flow controls. the upgrades were made without shutting down, which got the plant’s full attention. “We developed a very detailed cutover plan,” she said. “We put it on a whiteboard with the existing control system in one color and the additions in another.”

the migration was planned to take four days and was essentially completed in two, Hamilton said. “We left the boiler in manual overnight, and it was still there the next morning.” throughout the project, emerson worked with Jessica Pauley, process supervisor, FMc, who was not available to co-present as she left FMc a week ago for a new job with spaceX in california.

“Powerhouse availability rose from 94% to 99%, and productivity increased 10%,” said Hamilton. “there’s a multiplier effect because productivity suffers more from a trip as everything goes down and has to come back up.”

FMc’s powerhouse superintendent is very pleased. He reported, “We have eliminated a serious safety concern, and our boiler room is now an advantage, rather than a hindrance, to our production.” n

3051S PreSSure TranSmiTTer Lauded for ‘unique To induSTry’ diagnoSTicSEmerson’s Scott Nelson Receives a Plaque Commemorating the exida 2014 Safety Award

With award-winning product in hand, Emerson’s Scott Nelson (right) receives a plaque commemorating the exida 2014 Safety Award in the category of sensors for the Rosemount 3051S Advanced Diagnostics Pressure Transmitter from exida’s Bill Goble.

rosemount’s 3051s Advanced Diagnostics Pressure transmitter has been awarded exida’s 2014 safety Award in the sensor category. “the exchange theme of inspiring innovation certainly applies to this

product,” said Bill Goble, principal partner, exida, in presenting the award to scott Nelson, vice president and general manager, worldwide pressure products, rosemount Measurement, emerson Process Management. “i don’t think that industry fully understands its ability to support both safety and reliability,” Goble continued. “its advanced diagnostics are unique in industry.”

Historically, when people think of instrument diagnostics, they think of the health of the instrument, added Nelson. “But with the 3051s Advanced Diagnostics, we’ve extended them to include the integrity of the process connections; the electrical connections, including loop wiring and power supply; and to the process itself,” Nelson said. “Users say it’s become a stethoscope for overall process health, truly giving them the insight they need to ensure that the process delivers the quality and efficiency required.” n

“They want the P&ID by next week when we don’t even have the process information. You’re already behind schedule when you start.” WorleyParsons’ Robert Armstrong talked about challenges, project trends and solutions impacting costs and schedules for engineering and procurement contractors.

As the global economy shifts and absorbs the U.s. oil and gas boom, engineering and procurement

contractors (ePcs) are finding they must respond to pressures from growth and technological change.

“Because of the economy, everybody’s trying to do the same thing at the same time, waiting until the last minute to commit investment and then wanting to go full speed ahead,” said robert Armstrong, chief engineer of ePc WorleyParsons, presenting to a packed room Wednesday afternoon at emerson Global Users exchange 2014 in Orlando, Florida. “they want the P&iD by next week when we don’t even have the process information. You’re already behind schedule when you start.”

trouble with attracting and retaining talent means the people there at the start aren’t always there at the end, and everybody has their own ways of doing things. “change is inevitable,” Armstrong said, “and the cost of a change increases rapidly as you progress through a project, so you need to respond quickly.”

Armstrong used as an example a recently completed 45,000-tonne offshore oil and gas platform for an arctic environment

involving 44,000 tags, 450 P&iDs and 600 km of cable. Being totally enclosed, it had more than 100 fire zones and 50 HVAc systems.

spacing between decks was reduced to 3 m to minimize weight and cost, and this density created problems. “Korean shipbuilders and fabricators build a bunch of small blocks at the same time and then bring them together,” Armstrong said. “there’s no field-run pipe; everything has to be done ahead of time and match precisely.” then many feet of cable has to be run in crowded wireways tucked away in the structure, he said. “the density of stuff inside is mind-boggling. it’s a lot of trouble to pull wiring.”

With 100% cHArMs for control, but hardwired safety systems, the project gave WorleyParsons a real opportunity to compare technologies. “We distributed the wiring as much as we could to minimize home-run cable, so all that would be left is the fiber,” Armstrong said. “cHArMs helps us do that with electronic marshalling. We can order the controls before the design is done. it also helps us eliminate cross-wiring for less space and weight, and allows us to design for easy additions—with fiber-optics, there’s no need to redesign cable trays.”

EPCs ChallEngEd to ManagE ChangEWorleyParsons’ Robert Armstrong Talked About Challenges, Project Trends and Solutions Impacting Costs and Schedules for Engineering and Procurement Contractorsby Paul studebaker

in contrast, “On the sis [safety instrumented system], if it’s hardwired, much of the design comes out of the HAZOP [hazard and operability] study, late in the engineering process,” Armstrong said. “it’s a lot of trouble.

“late changes are a fact of life, and electronic marshalling is a big deal. And it saves a lot of money—we estimate 2 hours per i/O point in design and more in the field.”

On a recent project to engineer a methanol plant for the U.s. Gulf coast, WorleyParsons worked with emerson to encourage the client to use wireless technology for lower cost and more flexibility. the client was reluctant to use wireless on regulatory control, so there are 2,100

cHArMs, but 300 wireless measurement points as well. “We reviewed the 3D model and looked for places to use it, for example, the tank farm,” Armstrong said. “We collaborated with emerson to help us advance the technology and help the client see the advantages.”

One of the advantages is that wireless supports emerson’s Mobile Worker offering. At 10 loops per day per team, the client’s three teams of two technicians would need 100 days to check the 3,000 loops. “there was talk of hiring outside help for checkout,” Armstrong said. “But with Mobile Worker, each technician is a team, so the client is able to cut the allotted time and rely on its in-house technicians.” n

Fast Loop Response pays oFF FoR HMC poLyMeRsHMC Polymers’ Anucha Pudkhunthod Talks On the Maintenance and Calibration Impact of the Company’s FOUNDATION Fieldbus Implementation on a Propane Dehydrogenation Plantby paul studebaker

HMc Polymers’ propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant is located on the eastern seaboard of thailand in rayong, a city 200 km southeast of Bangkok. the plant began

construction in 2007 and started commercial operation early in 2011. “it produces propylene from propane through a licensed dehydrogenation technology, which enables the production of high-quality polymer-grade propylene,” said Anucha Pudkhunthod, senior APc/Dcs engineer, HMc Polymers, in his presentation tuesday at the emerson Global User Group exchange 2014 in Orlando, Florida. the session will be presented again today at 2:15 p.m. in Osceola 2.

the PDH process is licensed from UOP, and UOP’s performance guarantee requires 250-ms response times on many control loops to reduce process variation and allow the process to run closer to optimum. “they also operate some of the process at very high

temperatures, close to burning the product.,” said Jonas Berge, director, applied technology, emerson Process Management and session co-presenter. “You can put the controller on 250 ms, but that doesn’t include the input and output. UOP wants 250 ms end-to-end, which is hard to achieve with 4-20 mA.”

to achieve the required rapid response times, the PDH plant uses FOUNDAtiON fieldbus with control in the field. “control sits in the valve actuator,” said Berge. “You might think you can only do that for simple loops, but this is a complex process, with 1,400 devices also being monitored for health, calibration and configuration.”

With FOUNDAtiON fieldbus, you can do control in the controller the conventional way, but you can also put PiD in the transmitter or valve positioner. DeltaV version 9 also allows control on the H1 card. “the beauty is it’s time-synchronized from the transmitter to the controller to the valve,” Berge said.

“We estimate our savings so far at about $5 million.” HMC Polymers’ Anucha Pudkhunthod on the maintenance and calibration impact of the company’s FOUNDATION fieldbus implementation on a propane dehydrogenation plant.

“this is the feature used to achieve control in the field for complex loops.”

the approach works for simple loops with one PiD, cascade loops with two PiD, and complex loops with multiple PiDs, subtraction, selectors, etc. At HMc, it is possible to execute entire loops in less than 150 ms. “it looks complicated, but don’t worry about it,” said Berge. “DeltaV takes care of it for you.”

in a cascade loop, a secondary loop with fast response, such as flow or pressure, can be used to speed up a slow primary loop, such as level or temperature. the slow loop can be executed in a shared controller, while the fast loop uses synchronized execution in the field. Here, “it’s important to put fast-loop devices on the same fieldbus segment,” Berge said, “but slow, primary loop devices do not necessarily have to be on the same segment.”

As an example of a complex loop, consider a fired heater controlling at 650 °c with multiple inputs, multiple PiD, arithmetic, etc. “We implement this in an H1 card, single controller with all the devices on the same bus segment,” Berge said. “We usually allocate 30 ms for link time, but here we used 15 ms—H1 can do that, no problem.” Doing control in the

H1 card minimizes the number of blocks across the bus, and they execute faster. “same bus, same junction box for all the transmitters in the loop,” he said. “it’s not too complex. Just do it in the design.”

it’s also important to make sure all the blocks are executed in the logical order. “it’s faster, and H1 won’t accept it any other way,” Berge said. On the fired heater, “eleven function blocks, four transmitters and a partridge in a pear tree is executed in less than 150 ms, every time, time after time.”

At HMc, “some loops have 4-20 mA, and that’s no problem. You can mix and match on DeltaV,” Berge said. “But if we did the plant over again today, i think it would be all FOUNDAtiON fieldbus.”

the resulting “digital ecosystem” provides other significant benefits. “We have diagnostics on the devices,” said Pudkhunthod. “if there’s some fault in a transmitter, we can inform a maintenance guy and get it fixed before the plant shuts down.” there’s also significant time savings in calibration. the PDH plant requires only two maintenance personnel, while the analog PP plant requires five, he said. “We estimate our savings so far at about $5 million.” n

“This approach is expected to provide both Chevron and Emerson benefits that will cut costs associated with over-specifying technical and quality requirements.” Chevron’s James Maze on the companies’ jointly developed Control Valve Procurement Procedure.

like most global energy players today, chevron is seeking ways to get capital projects off the drawing

board and into production quickly, while ensuring the integrity and safety of the end result. “Yet projects keep getting larger, while supply chains continue to grow more complex,” said James Maze, chevron global category analyst, in a Wednesday presentation to the emerson Global Users exchange in Orlando, Fla.

Maze, together with lori Abernathy, program manager with emerson’s Fisher valves business, reported on a joint effort between the two companies to wring costs, complexity and delivery time out of the control valve procurement process. chevron invests some $38 billion annually in capital projects, and a fair chunk of that investment goes to emerson’s valves business, chevron’s strategic preferred supplier of control valves. “Because both companies are global, they have projects, manufacturing capabilities and suppliers all over the world,” said Abernathy. “the price we all pay for this complexity is more than just cold hard cash. long lead

times can frustrate customers, suppliers and ePc [engineering/procurement/construction] contractors.”

to reduce complexity and boost delivery performance, chevron sponsored a six sigma project across the two organizations. team members from chevron included several managers and a control valve engineer, while those from Fisher included individuals from sales and account and project management. subject matter experts (sMes) from both companies included people in quality assurance, welding, materials, packaging, it and more.

“Both companies began by laying their cards on the table, so to speak, and asking each other direct, honest questions,” continued Maze. Out of this endeavor came the chevron/Fisher control Valve Procurement Procedures (cVPP), which standardizes requirements between the major capital projects teams and gives them a line-by-line way to proceed.”

the initial cVPP was 41 pages long and had 45 separate reference attachments,

Lean CoLLaboration StreamLineS ControL VaLVe DeLiVery anD CoStSImplementing This Approach Is Expected to Provide Both Chevron and Emerson Benefits That Will Cut Costs Associated With Over-Specifying Technical and Quality Requirementsby Leslie Gordon

according to Maze. “Before, a chevron engineer could search for ‘control valves’ in our standards and practices library, and end up with hundred of results.” so the team worked with the sMes to develop predefined control valve specifications for 32 pre-approved manufacturing procedures such as for welding, testing and painting. it also created a predefined list of chevron specifications to be submitted with every quote and purchase order. “this, along with creating predefined quality assurance needs and a pre-defined quality control inspection and test plan, was intended to help emerson meet chevron’s requirements without getting bogged down.”

Once the cVVP reached a certain level of maturity, the team showed it to stakeholders in both companies and got their thumbs up, said Maze.

“implementing this approach is expected to provide both chevron and emerson benefits that will cut costs associated with over-specifying technical and quality requirements, as well as slash the ePc resources needed to approve procedures and drawings,” Maze said. “it will also reduce the costs incurred by fabricators to deal with incomplete packages, which must be completed on-site, as well as cut costs from expediting shipments.” All told, the new processes are expected to trim months from control valve delivery time.

the cVPP is currently being piloted on several major capital projects, and chevron plans on moving forward with the approach in the future. the same key issues around control valves exist in other technology areas, so the approach could work in them as well. n

Wireless MPC to Be tested on divided Wall distillation ColuMn‘We’re Not Afraid of Wireless for Controlling Critical Processes’by Paul studebaker

What happens when you combine wireless transmitters and valves with model-based predictive control (MPc)? can you maintain close control of a relatively

poorly characterized piece of process equipment like a divided wall distillation column (DWc)? researchers at the University of texas at Austin are about to find out.

Built in 1984, Ut’s 6-in.-diameter, 30-ft.-tall DWc has 19 temperature sensors and 28 stages. Adding a vertical dividing wall prevents the feed from mixing with the product, allows the draw of side streams in addition to tops and bottoms, and offers the potential for saving 30% of the energy for conventional distillation. But, “Adding a wall allows a lot of degrees of freedom and more interactions,” said Bailee roach, PhD

graduate student at Ut, thursday morning at emerson Global Users exchange 2014 in Orlando, Florida. “it’s harder to control.”

Ut has been working with emerson to tame the DWc with MPc, and roach’s research will now include the effects of using wireless to control valves and heaters on four liquid flow loops and two temperature control loops. the valves and heaters are set up to allow comparison of wired or wireless measurement and/or wired or wireless throttling. “We’re not afraid of wireless for controlling critical processes,” roach said.

the principals behind MPc with wireless are simple, explained Willy Wojsznis, senior technologist, emerson Process Management. compared to wired connections, wireless offers longer and sometimes varying scan intervals. “in MPc, a process variable is

“We’re not afraid of wireless for controlling critical processes.” Bailee Roach, PhD graduate student, University of Texas at Austin, on the prospect of using wireless flow and temperature loops on a divided wall distillation column.

compared to a predicted value, the error is measured and the model is corrected as needed,” Wojsznis said, “control works on the predicted value.”

With wireless, the controller is set to retain the last value until a new value is available. instead of the one second typical of wired networks, wireless devices typically update at 8, 16 or 32-second intervals to conserve battery life. “so we do not provide a correction until a new value is available,” Wojsznis said.

this is not a lot different from what happens when a conventional measurement fails. “in MPc, we simulate a value for up to a defined maximum period,” Wojsznis said, which may be as long as 2 minutes or more. A similar approach is taken with lab data—a lab value is held until a new lab reading is available.

“so wireless is not a lot different,” Wojsznis said. “We set the input value as constant until a new value is transmitted. After a status change, the

status is ‘good’ for more than one MPc scan. After that, hold constant for up to a maximum period of time.”

in a simulation using an MPc function block for the DWc, researchers tested update rates 8, 16 and 32 times longer than the MPc execution rate. response curves show “a small bump every time the variable changes. Otherwise, it’s the same as wired, with no instability,” Wojsznis said. “step response performance is less than 10%, which is acceptable.”

Having a good model is more important for wireless, because “a significant part of the time, MPc works on the model with no correction,” Wojsznis said. “But in the real world, MPc execution is not once per second, it might be once per minute. so it’s not as different as it might seem.”

At Ut, testing will begin this fall using water, with hydrocarbon trials coming next year, roach said. “look for our results at next year’s exchange.” n

An IntegrAted ApproAch to deltaV dIAgnostIcsHow to Get from DeltaV Diagnostics to Comprehensive Awareness of and Consistent Response to System Issuesby paul studebaker

“How do we want to respond to a DeltaV upset? things happen, then there’s a reboot.

How do you know about it?” asked Anthony DeJohn, r&D process systems group leader at the Bristol-Myers squibb research facility in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “DeltaV diagnostics are good, but we needed more. it’s my job to make sure operations has information immediately. they can’t fix a problem they don’t know about.”

DeJohn spoke on October 9 to a standing-room-only crowd at the emerson Global Users exchange in Orlando, Florida. His presentation won a “Best in track” award in the event’s Operations and Management track.

DeJohn’s facility is an r&D site that develops processes and produces pharmaceuticals for trials. “Our group develops software applications on DeltaV to produce pharmaceuticals,” he said. “Ours is a regulated environment, so of course we need data to meet regulations. We also need data for our scientists, and our data must have integrity—we do not want to release a product that puts the public at risk.”

the facility has multiple DeltaV

systems. “Faults could be minor to major,” DeJohn said. “they can impact data or production and range from network upsets to service hang-ups to hardware failures. An undetected fault could lead to investigations and potential delays.”

the question was, “How do we respond?” DeJohn said. “When and how do we detect problems? How long will it take to determine the extent of the impact? Do we know who to contact? Do we know what to tell them? is there a repeatable response to upsets? Are we relying on a process, or on exceptional talent?”

the plant’s prior approach was a reflection on the available tools. “the only program was DeltaV Diagnostics,” DeJohn said. “se we had defined a set of parameters that define a healthy DeltaV system, but we did not have enough instruction on how to communicate or proceed in the case of a fault. Without instruction, i was always amazed at who they would tell—it might be someone three levels up in management, or two levels too low. “it was too reactive. DeltaV Diagnostics is great for troubleshooting, but it doesn’t tell

“An undetected fault could lead to investigations and potential delays.” Anthony DeJohn, R&D process systems group leader at the Bristol-Myers Squibb research facility in New Brunswick, New Jersey, described how to get from DeltaV Diagnostics to comprehensive awareness of and consistent response to system issues.

anyone else.”to get diagnostics into mainstream communications, the

facility now uses DeltaV control studio. “We use a control module, our traditional workspace,” DeJohn said. “For any parameter of interest, you can copy and paste the ‘diagnostics parameter path’ from Diagnostics into control studio.”

the approach opened “a ton of possibilities,” DeJohn said. “We can check nodes for health, communications, time offset, time synchronization. We can check our batch historians—one primary, one backup—to know if one is not working. DeltaV is now watching itself 24/7, whether someone’s there or not.”

the hard part is to decide what is really important. “Decide that, and it’s just a little work to put it in a module,” DeJohn said. Now, instead of scanning many screens in Diagnostics, the control system will let you know if there’s an exception. small problems like minor time shifts can be easily seen and corrected before they become big problems. By setting alarms, significant problems can get immediate attention, he said. “if a historian is down or the alarms are not talking, call the Ghostbusters, we have a real problem.”

And f you want to use Pi data to make decisions, you can make sure it’s current by observing the heartbeat tag. “if i want to make a real-time call, i’d better be sure the data is up to date,” DeJohn said. it’s easy to set alarms using “out-of-the-box DeltaV stuff,” DeJohn said. “What’s important to you? You can set an alarm and be notified.”

the plant added an OPc-based cellular paging system that sends a message to operators if a system needs attention, and

calls DeJohn’s group if something needs their attention. the system also allows DeJohn to call in to check status. “if i’m on a lacrosse field on a saturday afternoon and there’s a power outage in New Brunswick, i’ll get a call asking ‘How’s DeltaV?’” he said. “in about a minute, i can find out.

“if you think about the dollar value of what’s in our tanks, it’s understandable that people want to know right away if anything is going wrong.”

Once the diagnostics are in control studio, DeJohn can access them from a button on the control screen. “i can take a quick look and if it’s all green, no problem. i can scan 20 screens’ worth of diagnostics in 20 seconds. i can see right away what’s working and what’s not working, and i can drill down into why.

“One screen shows information that would take me half a day to tabulate, and it’s real-time. if i tabulated it, it would be out of date before i got done.”

Alarm triggers are used to visualize a form of “uptime,” DeJohn said. “How’s the historian doing compared to last year?” For example, more triggers might indicate that a hardware problem is developing on a server. the facility already had the logic for this application built in excel. “i just put in the start and end times, and excel goes and gets the data and makes the graphics,” he said.

in essence, the work instruction procedure becomes “consistent everywhere,” DeJohn said. it changes from “look at the diagnostics” to actionable information—who to tell, what to tell them—and from reactive to proactive,” he said. “so you can take proper action when things aren’t going right.” n

“We needed the best way to approach instrumentation in terms of start-up and commissioning.” Fluor’s Adrian Lee on the company’s philosophy of using non-incendive wiring in Class I, Div 2 areas.

like any engineering, procurement and construction (ePc) company today, Fluor must compete on project

execution, delivery and infrastructure costs. “As such, we needed the best way to approach instrumentation in terms of start-up and commissioning,” said Adrian lee, Fluor director of control systems engineering, in a presentation this week at the emerson Global Users exchange. “Most of our installations are in the hazardous class i, Division 2 category,” he added.

class i, Division 2 areas are those in which explosive mixtures may potentially occur, but only during abnormal circumstances. “We could have taken any one of several approaches to address Fluor’s challenge,” said larry lammers, caltrol technology consultant, who presented alongside lee. “One method would have been to use traditional wiring with conduits and seals. this approach works well, but in this case was unnecessarily labor and material intensive. Another option would have been to use intrinsically safe methods, which are really intended for extremely hazardous locations governed by class 1, Division 1 standards. Again, an expensive option due to the intrinsic barriers needed.”

Because many of Fluor’s needs fall in the slightly less stringent class l, Division 2 category,

the decision was made to go with a “non-incendive” wiring philosophy where applicable. in essence, non-incendive approaches take steps to minimize the potential for an electrical ignition source which, even in the remote chance of explosion mixture being present, would still keep the area safe. “in a Division 2 area, there is less risk,” explained lammers. “so we can do things a little differently from a Division 1 area, and the costs of installations are lower.”

“the non-incendive concept saves construction time,” lammers continued. “And because it allows moving i/O out to the field, it cuts wiring costs. inexpensive fiber optics or ethernet cable can be used to connect to the field junction boxes.” emerson Process Management offers non-incendive-rated electronic marshalling with cHArMs technology for DeltaV process automation and safety instrumented system (sis) applications, said lammers. “Non-incendive equipment can range from temperature transmitters to level, flow, analytical and tank gauging devices.”

Another advantage of the non-incendive approach is that it allows using exposed cable runs, added lee. “Fluor guidelines forbid using more than three pairs of cable in a 3/4 in. conduit, but having exposed runs eliminates this limitation.” n

NoN-INceNdIve ApproAch FIts clAss I, dIvIsIoN 2 NeedsAdvantage of the Non-Incendive Approachby leslie Gordon

cups running over are an expression of abundance and gratitude. Oil and chemical tanks overfilling are not.

in fact, overfilling is a chronic and dangerous problem in many process industries, but thankfully some new and powerful help is on the way. the fourth edition of the American Petroleum institute’s APi2350 -- “Atmospheric tank storage Overfill standard” was released in 2012, and it’s giving tank owners and operators more specific guidance and solutions for preventing overfill incidents.

However, all this excellent help is pretty voluminous and can be a little hard for many users to sort out and integrate into their routine operations, so emerson Process Management’s experts are providing some timely assistance in sessions today and Wednesday. thense Korsbo, manager of technology for emerson’s rosemount tank Gauging and an APi 2350 committee member, will present “the New APi 2350 Atmospheric tank storage Overfill standard explained in Detail” (2-2349) today (tuesday) at 10:00 a.m. in tampa 2, and again at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday in captiva 2. A link to emerson’s “complete Guide to APi 2350” will also be provided during the presentation.

“the three prior editions of the standard required the typical instrumentation and tests, but they didn’t include evaluating the risks in individual applications and responding appropriately,” says Korsbo. “As a result, the

standard’s first three editions weren’t widely used and were less precise than needed.”

Korsbo adds that upgrading from APi 2350’s third edition to its fourth edition was also the result of investigations and findings following several well-known accidents, including the U.K.’s Buncefield oil-storage overflow incident, vapor-cloud explosion and fire in December 2005. “Atmospheric storage tanks cause the most incidents at refineries according to insurance data,” reports Korsbo. “so APi 2350, edition 4, requires owners and operators to have good tank management systems in place. However, while overfill systems were previously part of tank management systems, now they also need to have multiple components to assure they’re safely in place and sustainable, particularly when risk assessments or updates are needed or when incidents occur. “

though his presentation will cover many other essential details, Korsbo reports that emerson’s basic guidance on APi 2350, edition 4, explains revisions with respect to:

• Scope of API 2350, which covers unpressurized tanks larger than five cubic meters containing class i or ii products;

• Tank management system requirements, which now encompass the entire safety lifecycle of their components. these include implementing formal, written operating procedures, training and qualifying personnel, testing and maintaining

equipment, addressing normal and abnormal operating conditions, handling management of change, investigating process for near misses and incidents, and using lessons learned;

• Performing risk assessments that address operations changes, updating procedures and practices, and changing equipment systems and alarms;

• Defining levels of concern (LOC) for maximum-working, high-high alarm and critical-high levels in tanks;

• Implementing automatic overfill prevention systems (AOPs), including sensors, logic solvers, actuators and closed-loop control;

• Performing proof testing of overfill prevention systems (OPs) upon initial installation and retesting during routine operations; and

• Using wireless devices where appropriate, except for AOPs.

“the response times on automatic tank-gauging systems (AtGs) and AtGs with independent overfill alarms systems are much quicker than manual readings, so they can increase each tank’s storage performance and capacity. the more instrumentation and quicker response you have, the higher you can fill your tanks,” adds Korsbo. “the whole idea of APi 2350, edition 4 is that users can assess their plants and categorize them based on their own instrumentation and operations.” n

What You Need to KNoW about the NeW aPI 2350 taNK overfIll StaNdardThe Three Prior Editions of the Standard Required the Typical Instrumentation and Tests, but They Didn’t Include Evaluating the Risks in Individual Applications and Responding Appropriatelyby Jim Montague

“All systems fail at some point in time.” BP’s Rahul Bhojani, together with co-presenter Len Laskowski of Emerson, discussed a range of “gotchas” that can torpedo the best laid SIS plans.

Having a safety instrumented system (sis) doesn’t make a process control application safe.

Adopting it intelligently and managing it vigilantly does.

“All systems fail at some point in time,” said rahul Bhojani, technical authority for downstream at BP. “siss can have random or systematic failures. random failures are usually the result of degraded mechanisms in the hardware, such as corrosion or thermal shocks. systematic failures are due to human error during the lifecycle of the sis or process, so they can occur during any phase of that lifecycle.”

Bhojani and len laskowski, principal technical consultant at emerson Process Management’s Midwest engineering center, presented “safety instrumented systems: Why Do they Fail?” at the emerson Global Users exchange this week in Orlando, Florida.

“the good news is that failures can be learned from and help produce process safety standards, such as OsHA PsM 1910.119, as well as sis standards, such

as isA 84/iec 61511, that have evolved over time,” explained Bhojani. “some of these standards have requirements, while others have recommended good practices. either way, it’s important that applicable requirements are understood and followed.”

“Details are important in managing safety systems,” Bhojani continued. “You have to get a lot right in safety instrumented functions (siFs) to get them to perform properly.” so how can you spot the issues? Bhojani advises taking several essential steps:

• Conduct a thorough hazards and operability (HAZOP) study;

• Verify the layers of protection analysis (lOPA);

• Have a complete safety requirements specification (srs);

• Install new functioning hardware;• Install new tested software,• Conduct regular proof tests;• Train world-class operators; and,• Use engineered trip setpoints or

process delay time” that would save all of us a lot of headaches in the future.

Safety LifecycLe PreventS SyStemic faiLureSSafety Instrumented Systems: Why Do They Fail?by Jim montague

“However, you have to be careful here as well because you can negate an siF because you haven’t selected the right trip setpoint,” said laskowski, who further recommended adopting a three-part safety lifecycle approach. the first part, Analysis, includes performing a process hazard and risk analysis, allocating safety functions to protection layers and drafting a sis safety requirements specification. the second part, realization, includes designing and engineering the sis; building, integrating and factory acceptance-testing it; installing and commissioning the sis; and validating it. the third part, Operation, includes operating and maintaining the sis; modifying it as needed; and decommissioning it at the end of its lifecycle.

“Unfortunately, safety lifecycles can fail when all initiating causes aren’t identified, such as when all fuel sources and thermal oxidizers aren’t identified,” added laskowski. “likewise, during overfills, all inlet lines need to be identified as closing on high level, not just big lines. Also, loss of utilities like power, steam, cooling water and instrument air can lead to initiation and need to be identified. Finally, other consequences may have been under or overestimated.”

to seek a stable safety lifecycle, laskowski also suggested implementing an “interaction matrix,” which lists all raw materials, end products and other materials and equipment in a process application on an X-Y axis, and then cross-references their potential interactions with each other. “if two of these materials

come in contact they could decompose, polymerize or become flammable,” said laskowski. “After one big explosion, the affected r&D department said it hadn’t reported that the two materials involved could possibly explode because they were never supposed to be heated. in fact, they were cooled in this process. However, during start-up or shutdown, they did become heated, and that caused an accident.”

“Many independent protection layers (iPls) aren’t as independent as they’re described,” laskowski continued. “One research study reported that 44% of failures are engineered into their application’s specifications; this is why it’s important to validate your lOPA early. Further up in the process stream, the lOPA may not be as stringent, and the iPls are as valid as they should be, and this little bit of wiggle room can cause some real problems. so users need to look at all possible modes of failure, and also do complete testing.”

Bhojani added, “it’s difficult to quantify direct project savings, but from a moral perspective, providing employees a safe workplace is the right thing to do, and it’s also a legal requirement. Properly designed and operating siss and other iPls are fundamental to maintaining a license to operate a facility. this is why proper sis lifecycle management is required; they must be designed, operated and maintained correctly. this can be best addressed by auditing projects and facilities, and will reduce the user’s total cost of ownership. it’s better to have fewer well-managed iPls than numerous unmanaged ones.” n

“Placing wireless casing pressure devices on wells eliminates 10,000 site visits per year.” Emerson’s Jon Weidenbaum explained how Emerson and Santos collaborated to boost LNG production while reducing travel to inhospitable locations.

santos, the largest onshore producer of conventional oil and gas in Australia, is undergoing a

$16-million project to boost production in its cooper Basin lNG processing site to better supply the company’s Moomba facility in Queensland. At this year’s Global Users exchange, Mike ilgen, senior director industry solutions, Asia Pacific, emerson Process Management, and Jon Weidenbaum, automation consultant, also of emerson Process Management, described how emerson and santos collaborated to map out a way to reach this goal.

the cooper Basin area is an arid and remote location, so a main project goal was to implement monitoring technology that would eliminate the need for maintenance technicians to travel to the site.

“Part of the project entailed first identifying 50 key stakeholders across santos, asking them questions and distilling their comments into main themes,” said Weidenbaum. “this let us drill down to find the source of problems so we could come up with appropriate products and solutions.”

Out of this endeavour, several themes arose, continued Weidenbaum. “some

themes, such as well integrity and corrosion monitoring, were easy wins because placing wireless instruments in the field to perform these functions could potentially eliminate thousands of site visits. Additionally, santos had many disparate systems with many different assets, so it needed a more consolidated control platform. the problem was to roll out major changes without impacting production by shutting off wells to make modifications. Using wireless technologies lets us do this.”

According to ilgen, the team used the themes to develop a roadmap to drive improvements forward. “We first focused on technologies that would bring santos the highest rOi. these included wireless devices that monitored consumables and corrosion to ensure the integrity of pipelines and wells. We then developed a field pilot site to test the technologies in a real-world setting,” he said. “For example, placing wireless casing pressure devices on wells eliminates 10,000 site visits per year. And wireless corrosion inhibitors eliminate 5,000 visits a year, while wireless cathodic protection for the pipeline saves 1,100 visits a year,” he says.

Another benefit is that the wellhead is

Collaboration Creates automation roadmap for santos lnGEmerson’s Jon Weidenbaum Explained How Emerson and Santos LNG Collaborated to Boost LNG Production While Reducing Travel to Inhospitable Locations.by leslie Gordon

no longer considered a fixed asset in the field, but is rather thought of as a collection of assets, said ilgren. Using digital remote test unit (DrtU) technology packaged into a skid allows assets to be moved from one well site to another without any re-engineering. “Once the DrtU is place, installation is simple, and the well can be commissioned in one day.”

When it comes to operational processes, the ultimate goal of

santos is to move from disparate systems to optimized closed-loop operations control with an integrated architecture. “to support this, all the wellhead sites will use emerson’s remote Operations controllers (rOcs), while the satellite facilities and the operations center in Moomba, Australia, will use DeltaV,” explained ilgren. the upshot is emerson will be putting wireless gateways at all the existing satellite sites to get all the AMs data into Moomba. n

Smart technology to Drive Smarter ProceSS PlantSSmart Plants Can Operate More Safely, Reliably and Efficientyby leslie gordon

technological advances in the form of smaller and more powerful computers, cheaper data storage,

and faster more pervasive communication networks are improving the way process plants operate. At this year’s emerson Global Users exchange, Doug White, director refining industry solutions, emerson Process Management, described why these phenomena are resulting in progressively smarter plants. “smart plants take advantage of wired and wireless measurement, field, and safety devices,” White said. “Predictive analytics and human-centric design also take center stage in the smart plants of today and tomorrow.”

to set the stage, consider a recent application outside the realm of process

control. transferring information to the curiosity rover on Mars takes 13 minutes, but the craft’s trip through the atmosphere to the planet’s surface took only seven. “to synchronize control, mission engineers had to preprogram every single action and response to unexpected situations. since then, related technologies have continued to evolve such that they can better support plant endeavors to efficiently boost production, ensure asset reliability, make operations safer and slash maintenance costs.”

According to White, eliminating serious incidents tops plant management’s list of important issues. “technology addresses this by moving plant operations from reactive to predictive approaches. smart

“A predictive approach eliminated 6,000 man hours of maintenance, boosted plant efficiency by 10% and helped avoid unscheduled outages.” Emerson’s Doug White on the potential for increasingly smart plants to operate more safely, reliably and efficienty.

plants can perform real-time measurements using relatively low-cost sensors for tasks such as condition and efficiency monitoring. together with more powerful microprocessors and computers, smart plants have the capability to leverage huge amounts of digital data. real-time data analysis frees them from having to react to events after the fact and helps them forestall potential disasters.

“For example, consider the series of explosions that happened in 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil storage terminal in the UK,” White continued. “Because the site did not have an overfill detection method, when a tank spilled fuel, it caused a series of explosions that led to europe’s largest peacetime fire. Fortunately, no one was injured. However, had the plant implemented a separate overfill protection method, it could have prevented the fire from happening in the first place.”

smart plants also address the problem that working in cooling towers is both unsafe and unpleasant, yet ensuring their smooth running is critical to many operations. “cooling towers are wet, cold, and slippery, so operators balk at traveling to the towers to ensure they are running correctly,” said White. “this meant

that most individuals never took the necessary readings. in contrast, a smart facility puts monitors on its cooling towers to measure process and equipment data, which then goes into a preconfigured software algorithm to reveal potential issues to the control room. in once case, a predictive approach eliminated 6,000 man hours of maintenance, boosted plant efficiency by 10% and helped avoid unscheduled outages.”

Another challenge that current technology has also brought with it is new kinds of data in the form of videos, thermographic images and vibration spectrum information, continued White. “We need to figure out how to handle these kinds of data so it is easily retrieved and presented to engineers and operators to facilitate their taking action. in addition, issues of cybersecurity demand we come up with ways to recover after an intrusion.”

that said, using smart technology helps process plants reach modern operating objectives, which can be summed by “the four zeros,” said White. “these fall in the areas of zero serious safety incidents, zero excess energy use, zero unscheduled downtime and zero lost-profit opportunities.” n

ElEctric lEvEl loop Solution HElpS cut coStS and voc EmiSSionSThe Electric Solution Lets You Maximize Your Efficiency and Gain Visibility into Your Remote Production Equipment, All While Being Environmentally Compliantby leslie Gordon

Does your facility comply with the ePA’s new Quad O standard? Among the many innovations to be presented at this year’s emerson exchange is the emerson Fisher

electric level loop solution for the oil and gas industry. the technology is important because it replaces traditional pneumatic equipment, thereby helping users more easily adhere to New source Performance standards subpart OOOO (Quad O) requirements, according to reid Youngdahl, application

engineer for emerson Process Management, who shared his expertise with exchange attendees in session 4-2360 on tuesday morning at 8 a.m. in captiva 2 and again Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. in emerald 1.

the electric level loop solution includes the l2e electric level controller and the easy-Drive electric actuator, which together work in production separators to prevent the process oil and water from mixing, as well as control their flow out of the vessel.

the l2e controller uses a small displacement rod that sits between the oil and water or just on the oil. it controls the water and/or oil level via buoyancy forces depending on the specific gravity of the material and whatever the net difference is. A small current travels between the l2e and the easy-Drive. When the displacement rod lifts up a set amount, it breaks the signal, and the controller tells the easy-Drive to open and dump the oil or water. When the level goes down, the current starts again and tells the easy-Drive it is finished dumping.

“in the past, there were few concerns about venting to the atmosphere, but since then, the ePA has continued to make its emission regulations more stringent.” says Youngdahl. “to measure and maintain process variables, pneumatic controllers typically bleed pressurized natural gas to the atmosphere, so they contribute to the release of volatile organic compounds (VOc).”

Quad O sets the natural gas bleed limit for individual continuous-bleed pneumatic controllers at 6 standard cubic feet per hour (scfh). the newly established standards regulate VOc emissions from production and processing applications, including drilling and well completion, production wells, gathering lines, boosting stations and gas processing plants.

the electric level loop solution is zero-bleed, so plants using the technology need not worry about complying with Quad O. According to Youngdahl, “the regulations can be very confusing. end users must often hire third-party contractors that understand how to comply, which can be especially critical in newer applications like fracking. Another potential issue with pneumatic solutions is that they use natural gas as the supply medium, so facilities lose money venting gas that could otherwise be sold.”

Besides zero-bleed, the electric level loop solution provides diagnostics capabilities over a Modbus network. technicians can log in to a rtU, such as the rOc (remote operation controller), off-site to see if a valve is stuck, or the vessel is operating at

high cycles. Acquiring well production data over time helps production engineers better manage the well site. Data can include liquid dump cycle time/frequency, liquid dump volume, and liquid and gas production trends. this supports a predictive maintenance approach and boosts a facility’s efficiency.

“in sum, the electric solution lets you maximize your efficiency and gain visibility into your remote production equipment, all while being environmentally compliant,” says Youngdahl. n

The L2e electric level controller and easy-Drive electric actuator easily can be dropped in as replacements for traditional pneumatically driven devices.