OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
THE ROLE OF PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE TOOLS Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are now coming on stream that can prevent such negative scenarios. By tapping into the power of machine learning and predictive analytics, companies can understand which pieces of equipment are likely to fail, and when. Also, with a more prescriptive analytics approach, they can even diagnose precisely what issues are causing the impending failure and prescribe action to avoid or at least mitigate the consequences. Lead times of weeks and months can give the time to carefully consider and plan the proper safe and orderly action that by design avoids the distress that can lead to flare valves opening and result in hydrocarbon releases. Moreover, the time to plan around
predicted downtime and a comprehensive view of the entire operation permits plant personnel to see how an operations of maintenance decision affects the entire organisation. Tey will immediately assess impacts planning and scheduling, how it determines feedstocks or delivery issues and see impacts or risk and safety. Te earlier warnings the business receives provide cross-functional work opportunities to find the optimum time to take the machine offline to perform the maintenance while minimising production losses. Tat
Excess flaring is a visual sign that abnormal conditions are occurring
optimal decision considers the needs of the whole business from production to maintenance and from supply chain to engineering.
Te right technology can simulate how
any event will impact the system of assets, the process, and an individual asset. Te technology can even be scaled to cover multiple plants to better understand their co-dependencies. So, when there is an issue in one location, the software can show how it will affect the pipeline coming in, the ships going out and whether the facility is at risk of defaulting on contracts. Beyond all that, where leaks do occur, technology will increasingly be able to
Smart solutions enable operators to increase safety while reducing emissions
detect them, and allow the oil and gas industry to take prompt action to mitigate the consequences. We can look forward to commercialisation of emerging sensor technologies such as acoustic, ultrasonic, AI-enabled visualisation and hyper spectral imaging that will increase our ability to detect and prevent issues much earlier.
THE TIME IS NOW Tose companies that take advantage of both existing and emerging technologies will be best placed to help slow global climate change and reduce their own environmental impact into the bargain. We have long known that predictive
and prescriptive maintenance technology allows oil and gas companies to achieve increased production, lower maintenance costs, and increased asset life. But this is about more than just the money. With better warnings and avoidance of emergency situations, organisations can realise a full sustainability ‘business trifecta’ of benefits – increasing safety and reducing emissions while also making key operational gains. And it is important that businesses
act now to start to access these benefits and build an edge over rivals. Companies that implement this technology first will put themselves at a distinct competitive advantage driving efficiency but also by reinforcing their ‘social licence to operate’ with improved sustainability performance.
Mike Brooks is with AspenTech.
www.aspentech.com
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www.engineerlive.com
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