32 Environmental Laboratory
“In spite of complex quality, regulatory and interface requirements, rolling out SampleManager in Pearl GTL was ‘a no- hassle implementation,’” said Kumar. “Some of the LIMS interfaces we implemented are first of their kind in any Shell facility. SampleManager is a very flexible system that is easy to customise for the various requirements of any enterprise.”
Automation and Error Elimination
One of Shell’s principal reasons for choosing the LIMS was its ability to work with other systems. At Pearl GTL, the LIMS is integrated with an operations management system (known as OTTER), process historian (PI), the oil movement and batch tracking system, laboratory instruments and other production systems.
“Integration between SampleManager, OTTER, PI, lab instruments and other systems is completely seamless and bi- directional,” said Mansoor Al-Shamri, laboratory manager for Qatar Shell GTL. “SampleManager makes my life a lot easier, because it ensures that working with data from each of the systems requires no manual transition whatsoever, which alleviates errors, automates our operations and allows us to make faster, more pragmatic decisions. All the information we need to manage complex sample scheduling, and stringent safety, quality and regulatory requirements is readily accessible.”
The way the LIMS integrates with PI is a particular source of efficiency for Shell and Qatar Petroleum at Pearl GTL. Where some labs manually send test results to operations, technologists and process engineers, among other users, at Pearl GTL results become available to all relevant parties within the PI system as soon as they are authorised in SampleManager. This means that the many employees whose work hinges on quality sampling are receiving the information they need in real time.
Faster Production and Reporting
Another critical consumer of lab data is Pearl GTL’s oil movement and batch tracking system. Again, the LIMS creates efficiencies by eliminating wait times. When panel operators need to move oil to new tanks in preparation for shipping, for example, they do not have to wait to be notified of test results, minimising demurrage charges for loading delays that can cost as much as $35,000 per day. As soon as the results have been issued in the lab, LIMS notifies operators through the oil movement system, with which it is seamlessly integrated. Since Pearl GTL opened, the facility has
A LIMS also helps Pearl GTL operators more efficiently collect data from the field for analysis in the lab. Using the OTTER system, all sample points in the field are marked with radio frequency identification tags. When field operators perform sample rounds, a handheld computer guides them to each sample point and then automatically records the required information, whether the sampling task is routine or non-routine.
“It’s amazing how much overhead we were able to eliminate with the OTTER system,” said Al-Shamri. “Field operators can do their jobs faster and also more accurately, since they’re not recording readings by hand. And ultimately, it’s SampleManager that
incurred no demurrage charges, an incredible feat for an operation so large.
The LIMS has also enabled a paperless environment that eliminates many human errors inherent in traditional laboratories. Human beings make an average of 3-6 mistakes for every 1,000 lab readings transcribed. In a sampling program the size of Pearl GTL’s, this would amount to dozens of errors – if not hundreds – every day. SampleManager solves this problem by integrating with lab instruments that automatically transmit data to the LIMS as soon as final results are produced.
The LIMS aggregates all this data and combines it with information collected from other sampling systems, and even technicians in the field, enabling the vast array of data to be collated and presented in a logical format for managers to analyse, which makes for fast, effective decision making.
Integrating the Field with the Lab enables the real-time aspect of the OTTER system to be possible.”
The LIMS is fully integrated with OTTER, so the data collected in this system are instantly transferred to SampleManager from the field for analysis by managers or technicians back in the lab, saving Pearl GTL an estimated 2,400 hours worked per year.
Enhanced Compliance and Safety
Finally, the LIMS makes it possible for Pearl GTL to meet an increasingly crucial requirement of oil and gas laboratories: regulatory compliance. ISO 17025 established an international standard for how sampling labs manage data collection, security, instrumentation, traceability, personnel and more. By collecting complete data records, the LIMS ensures that Pearl GTL is always in compliance with ISO 17025 and other standards. The solution also guarantees that compliance can be easily proven in the case of an audit.
The LIMS even helps Shell go beyond ISO 17025 requirements in instilling a culture of safety at Pearl GTL. By tracking equipment condition, well content and many other issues that could become safety concerns at any GTL facility, SampleManager allows managers to make real-time decisions that protect workers and the surrounding environment. Shell’s and Qatar Oil’s dedication, coupled with the holistic LIMS solution have led to an impressive safety record at Pearl GTL: Despite its enormous size, in 2010 the facility hit 77 million hours worked without a single lost-time injury.
Conclusion
From the moment it broke ground in 2006, the ambitious Pearl GTL project needed to be grounded in proven, dynamic technologies. Shell and Qatar Petroleum used a LIMS to help their ambitious vision excel by managing a highly sophisticated sample program. The LIMS fully integrated multiple systems within the testing laboratory, including operations management, batch tracking and laboratory instruments. SampleManager also brought that integration into the field where the LIMS automates data transmission via handheld devices. Finally, the LIMS ensures that the facility constantly adheres to the highest standards of safety and quality. Pearl GTL’s testing program enables the world’s largest gas to liquids facility to operate efficiently and safely while adhering to regulations and maintaining profitability, and a LIMS is the lynchpin that makes it all possible.
Off-the-Shelf LIMS for Radiolabelled Environmental Studies is Released
ISO Guide 34
Debra 6.1, LabLogic’s (UK) latest addition to the Debra platform, incorporates the previously standalone system Trace as part of its core functionality. This new module is aimed at solving the problems of isolation of metabolites and residues from matrices, which can be a long and complex process.
Keeping track of the extraction systems used and the calculations necessary to determine the concentration of each component in the extraction system presents a number of problems, all of which are addressed by this new module. It allows the scientist to keep track of complex extraction procedures used to isolate residues and metabolites from samples. These fractions and residues can then be analysed by the typical Debra routes of weighing/LSC counting to ensure recovery of the radioactive sample along each step of the pathway. Final analysis by radiochromatography can be performed to see the major analytes in the sample data from Laura. Chromatograms can be linked to enable reporting of recovery or concentration of these metabolites.
ACCREDITED SOLUTIONS FOR PURE CHEMISTRY
Single and multi-component CRMs for ICP-MS • ICP-OES • AA • IC • ISE
ROMIL Ltd Call +44 (0)1223 863 873 Email
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To aid the user further, visual representation of the extraction steps are shown in a sample tree to enable the scientist to see how the pathway of the end-product was isolated.
The key benefits of using Debra to perform this work over manual data entry into spreadsheets are the time savings and accuracy of data recorded with direct data collection from lab instrumentation as well as integration of chromatography data.
For more information about Debra 6.1 please contact Huw Loaring, LabLogic’s Systems Director, who will be pleased to demonstrate the capabilities of the the new module.
For More Info, email:
25413pr@reply-direct.com
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