INDUSTRY FOCUS OIL & GAS
The importance of calibration in oil and gas T
The maintenance of equipment in the Oil & Gas industry is incredibly important in terms of workplace safety. A key aspect of this is the calibration of equipment, as Fluenta explains
he Oil & Gas Industry often operates in hostile and hazardous
locations. Maintaining equipment in these environments is essential for effective production and reduced risk, while the regular calibration of equipment helps guard against incorrect measurement. Inaccuracy can lead to large financial losses at the exploration, production and distribution stages and can significantly impact on-site safety.
THE QUESTION OF CALIBRATION Calibration of equipment is completed by comparing a sequence of measurements on the device under test (DUT) to a set of universally accepted reference standards. With regular calibration, oil and gas operators can be sure of the highest degree of measurement accuracy, reducing measurement uncertainties and helping to maximise profits.
A BIG MONEY PROBLEM Companies that do not regularly service and calibrate equipment risk products failing or working at sub-optimal levels. Without a servicing schedule in place, repairs or calibration can be considerably more expensive when carried out. An unplanned plant shut down is the most expensive by-product of equipment failure. Full mechanical shut downs can last weeks – there are reports of companies losing $40m after being forced to restart after maintenance and equipment calibration.
SAFETY COMES FIRST Failing to regularly assess, calibrate and maintain equipment could also put employees in danger. Consider gas flaring. Flare stacks are often used for burning off flammable gas released by pressure relief valves during the unplanned over-pressuring of plant equipment, something that regularly
Above: The Oil & Gas industry often operates in hostile and hazardous locations
takes place during start-ups and shutdowns in production. The burning – or flaring – of excess natural gas is a critical part of oil and gas safety regimes. The alternative to allowing the gas to escape would be a significant build-up of pressure and the risk of explosion. If flare gas meters are not properly
calibrated and maintained, their accuracy is reduced. This can have a knock-on effect on the safe disposal of excess natural gas and potentially increase the likelihood of explosion.
A REGULAR CHECK-UP Fluenta provides customers with robust, reliable and accurate flare gas meters. By maintaining meters with a high level of service, customers can expect Fluenta products to deliver reliable and effective measurement. .
Fluenta
www.fluenta.com
ELECTRONIC LINE BREAK FOR INCREASED LINE BREAK SAFETY
The Rotork Electronic Line Break (ELB) is a robust, self-contained system that combines pipeline pressure monitoring with intelligent valve control. It continuously monitors upstream and downstream pipeline pressure dynamics to provide early detection of pipeline breaks and initiate automatic valve actuator movement to a pre-selected emergency position. In one recent contract, Rotork GO (Gas-over-Oil) pipeline actuators
have been fitted with ELB units for line break monitoring and protection on remotely installed valves on a natural gas pipeline in China. The ELBs will enable the operator to monitor the running condition of the gas pipeline and the open/closed status of the valves. The immediate reporting of a line break by an ELB will enable the operator to swiftly close the appropriate valves and isolate the problem. The ELB is housed in a compact, environmentally sealed and explosion-
proof housing that can be mounted on the actuator or remotely. Valve actuator control - selectable as fail close, fail open or stay put - is based on Rate-of-Drop (RoD) and Rate-of-Rise (RoR) of the pipeline pressure as well as high and low pressure limits. A remote Process Shut Down (PSD) input with the option to override all functions is also available to
drive the valve to the pre- determined fail position. The ELB also provides an array of programmable alarm and alert indications and has an extensive range of features that can be configured to meet end users’ specific requirements. These include up to six remote inputs and four configurable solenoid outputs, Partial Stroke Testing (PST) and Modbus network connectivity. Setting menus displayed on the large HMI window are the focus for
non-intrusive programming and commissioning using Rotork IQ intelligent electric actuation technology. In normal mode the LCD display indicates valve position. The same window also displays visual indication of status, alarms, event, trend and operation logs and diagnostic data.
Rotork
www.rotork.com
32 JUNE 2018 | INSTRUMENTATION
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