What to look for in modern process automation solutions

While the top priority for companies involved in accessing and processing energy reserves remains the safety of workers, an increasingly important set of considerations is production plant or rig integrity and protection of the environment.

More important than ever is total cost of ownership of infrastructure and equipment, including the life-cycle costs of maintaining it. Reaching maximum productivity onsite – whether on an offshore rig or vessel or an onshore facility – can be the difference between a highly profitable model and an unsustainable one. Proven integrated process automation solutions can help with each of these key criteria, while working closely with an automation solutions provider can help to deliver the service to keep critical infrastructure online and available.

Knowing what good process automation for the industry looks like is a matter of understanding the potential control that can be achieved with the latest systems. Recognizing how scalable integration with existing infrastructure and management systems can offer advanced visualization and asset performance management possibilities is vital to getting the most out of an investment.

Looking at process automation technology in more detail is helped by breaking it down into key areas where the solution’s performance is critical to the profitability and safety of the facility:

• Process control;
• Process safety and critical control;
• Advanced process control;
• Compressor and turbine machinery control;
• Condition monitoring and protection;
• Integrated information and visualization;
• Asset performance management; and
• Information flow.

Process control

Technology convergence has resulted in a blurring of the lines between the traditional options of a distributed control system (DCS) versus a programmable logic controller or SCADA solution. It is now possible to combine discrete process control for drives, motion, safety, and communications in a modular way, allowing complex systems to be built and improved with the advantages of a DCS system using faceplates and standard databases.

At the process control level, controllers should offer a reliable, proven solution, while high-speed, high-performance, multidisciplined control needs to integrate at low engineering and start-up cost and allow full integration of motor-control equipment. The best control platforms also will offer fully redundant architecture, which allows seamless switchover and a high level of availability. The critical element of how the control platform communicates with the whole system means that the best platforms will offer more flexibility.

Analogue, digital, and specialty input/output communication options are important so that new architecture fits with installed equipment, as are the engineering and con- figuration considerations of implementing advanced controllers. High-performance controllers offer the processing power to control many loops, and configuring complex functions should be as simple as possible.

Where the reduction of downtime is of considerable importance to the process being controlled, it is important to use a solution that allows additions and modifications to be made while the process is operating, making redundancy capabilities desirable. Seamless integration with software is also a consideration so that real-time information databases are maintained.

Process safety and critical control

Convergent technology is also an important factor in understanding the best safety solutions for oil fields. The best modern controllers come certified by independent auditing authority TUV Rheinland for use in safety integrity level (SIL) 1 and SIL 2 applications; according to International Electrotechnical Commission 61508 standard. Thus, the controller itself is often capable of running the required safety level concurrently with the control requirements of the process.

Regardless of the size of the process, safety should be a fundamental part of the design process for new lines and should be built into upgrades or changes. For those unsure of the requisite SIL targets for the job at hand, systems can be built in a modular fashion with a minimal SIL solution and then added to with cost-effective upgrades on a loop-by-loop basis if necessary.

Advanced process control

Turning data into useful information can be the competitive edge that producers look for in response to demands for reduced costs, increased yields, and gaining full leverage of existing technology. A stabilized production process can be achieved with an advanced process control solution that can use software to constantly drive the process towards optimum performance. This can maximize production rates and yields and minimize off-spec production while satisfying all process constraints such as emissions limits and energy consumption.

Offshore E&P requires maximum uptime, often under extremely harsh conditions. Whether operations are manned or unmanned, oil and gas companies need reliable, integrated systems that offer advanced remote monitoring capabilities to help address government regulations and improve worker and environmental safety.

Compressor and turbine machinery control

When it comes to controlling specialist equipment such as turbines, producers must consider flexibility and integration into existing infrastructure. Controllers should have features that suit a number of potential applications, including gas and steam turbines, gas expanders, mechanical drives, pumps, and compressors. These features include:

• Speed governing;
• Temperature monitoring;
• Overspeed avoidance and protection;
• Vibration monitoring;
• Extraction control;
• Process control;
• Load management; and
• Power management.

The decision to implement an integrated or standalone process safety system is mostly driven by the requirements of the plant and, while both options are in use today, a process safety system fully integrated into the process control system does provide significant advantages.

Condition monitoring and protection

Condition monitoring systems are not so new now, but with increasing amounts of data becoming available, these have become integral to running an efficient system. By constantly monitoring the health of process machinery using live feedback, anomalies can be spotted quickly, unplanned downtime can be reduced, and productivity can be increased. Importantly, monitoring also can help extend the life cycle of equipment by raising the alarm if anything is running outside of its most efficient operating conditions.

Integrated information and visualization

Real-time information exchange from modern process automation solutions allows a producer to make real-time decisions to improve productivity, control costs, and assure regulatory compliance. Optimizing production is a constant process reacting to the information and ever-changing conditions of the production environment and equipment. It is here that a fully integrated programmable automation controller solution has an advantage over traditional DCS functionality, with information needs met from a globally distributed database and fully integrated information and visualization.

There are several key access points to information and visualization tools, from operator human-machine interface (HMI) points at workstations on the process to management-level, plant-wide control interfaces.

When assessing HMI points in a well-integrated automation solution, it is important to look for functionality that makes relevant information available and easily accessed. A consistent interface across the whole production facility, no matter which HMI terminal is being used, helps engineers move around the system within a single environment.

Multiple language support seems a simple requirement in the modern age of user interfaces but should not be overlooked; experienced global process automation solutions suppliers are likely to have language support as standard. Single-click access to alarm summaries makes it easy for engineers to quickly appraise the local running conditions, while easy access to real-time and historical trending data can help the operator make localized decisions to maintain optimum production based on evidential information.

Having this much control at operator workstations brings with it certain issues that must be considered by oil and gas producers. HMI functionality should include a strong layer of user-based security to ensure that engineers have clearance to access sensitive information and make decisions that change the settings of the system.

At the management level, the information available at all of the HMIs should be easy to access with powerful data management infrastructure that combines production data, alarms, and events across the whole plant or system. Key features of a fully integrated system to look for are the ability to manage alarms and historical data with precise control using:

• Real-time alarm management;
• Controller-based time-stamping for sequence of event analysis;
• Alarm suppression;
• Alarm filtering by process resource and operator role;
• Operator flexibility in display preferences;
• Historical performance equations;
• Advanced calculation engines with recalculation capabilities; and
• Data access server technology (open database connectivity, object linking and embedding, and open productivity and connectivity data access specification).

Accessing and managing such data should be simple, intuitive, and above all flexible. With vast amounts of data available, it is important that the visualization offers information and control levels appropriate to the role of the person accessing it.

Asset performance management

Fully integrated systems offer great opportunities for operations and maintenance personnel to maximize the value of assets by ensuring these are always operating within parameters that ensure they achieve maximum lifespan and reduced maintenance requirements. This reduction of life cycle costs is achieved through good data aggregation, workflow emulation, role-based virtualization, and automated performance analysis.

In addition, producers should be looking for solutions that provide high levels of security and configuration archiving of asset control information.

Information flow

From the control equipment, turbo machinery, devices, and instruments to the HMIs, visualization tools, and powerful software, the strength of a modern integrated system is the simplicity with which the modular nature of it can be created, adapted, and built upon, according to the requirements of the system. In terms of networking, it is now possible to use single or multiple networks that enable all technologies to communicate through a single integrated platform in a common language. The result is a system that can manage everything from a single source rather than requiring separate control systems.