Time to get smart when it comes to process measurement

Industrial instrumentation is undoubtedly getting smarter, but what are the key drivers encouraging plant operators to opt for more intelligence in their kit?

Automation has been on the increase for more than thirty years, yet it would appear from a recent industry survey that more than half of plant operators report that less than 20% of their control instrumentation is currently equipped with intelligence, such as Hart, Fieldbus or Profibus communications.

Furthermore, even where there is the potential for intelligent control, 43% of users reported that they don’t use it, according to ABB’s recent ‘How do you measure up?’  benchmarking survey.

But, notes the report, which focused primarily on mid to large sized companies in the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors, the situation is gradually changing, as companies replace their ageing equipment and recognise the potential benefits that intelligence can deliver.

Just under half of companies have control systems that are less than 10 years old. Almost 40% are working with the same systems for between 11 and 20 years, which means that many operators will be looking to upgrade and modernise their controls over the next few years.

So what do users view as the key drivers most likely to make them choose intelligent options when the time comes for them to renew their instrumentation?

Health & safety and process efficiency are the two biggest incentives, with around three quarters of users saying that they’re planning significant investments in instrumentation in each of these areas.

The most obvious health & safety advantage lies in the ability to access information from instruments remotely, so operators don’t need to access devices in potentially hazardous locations, such as at the top of a column.

There are more specific health & safety-related benefits too. For example, emergency shutdown valves (ESDs) are the element that’s most likely to go wrong in a safety instrumented system (SIS).  They therefore need to be checked regularly using partial-stroke tests (PSTs).

Combining these tests with a communications protocol such as HART creates a powerful strategy for improving safety. An intelligent shutdown device enables operators to initiate a PST remotely, and configure the parameters that determine the test pattern and the criteria for passing the test.

Process efficiency is the other consideration at the top of most company agendas. With many firms operating high-volume, low-margin businesses, even a small incremental improvement can have a huge impact on the bottom line.

Field-based intelligence can typically improve overall efficiency by at least 2% during normal operations, with much greater savings possible during plant start-up. Exactly how much value intelligence and improved efficiency can deliver depends on the specific application and the value of the products being processed.

For example, built-in software can improve measurement accuracy during normal operations, enabling operators to achieve more precise control. The ability to compensate automatically for changing conditions means that pressure instruments are 10 times more accurate today than they were 20 years ago, for instance.

On-board intelligence can also impact on a range of other costs by enabling controllers to see what’s going on remotely, rather than having people constantly out gathering information. A reduction in downtime thanks to on-board instrument diagnostics and predictive maintenance can also help to drive down costs substantially.

Looking at calibration, for instance; diagnostics has increased the calibration interval required for many instruments from six months to as much as five years. 

According to estimates from within the marketplace,  as many as 35% of trips into the field are for routine checks, 28% are for non-existing problems, 20% are for calibration shifts, 6% are for “zero off” and 6% for plugged lines. Just 4% are actually for failed instruments.

So it’s no surprise to find that of those companies already making use of on-board intelligence, around three quarters are looking to improve their maintenance programmes.

 Going ‘green’

Other important drivers for companies to invest in smart instruments include environmental compliance and energy consumption, with more than six out of 10 companies reporting energy and green issues gaining traction in their decision-making process. In fact, environmental legislation is changing so fast that about a third of users report that their organisations formally review the potential impact of impending legislation on a monthly basis.

The Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) in particular place the onus firmly on companies to monitor their own environmental performance - and demonstrate that they’re doing so effectively.

The requirement for operators to use the Best Available Technique (BAT) for emissions control and monitoring, and the introduction of MCERTS to determine which instruments and systems are suitable, are all driving investments in monitoring instrumentation with on-board intelligence.

With so many different drivers encouraging the greater use of field intelligence, one of the main worries that prevents wider adoption is the belief that it will be “difficult” or “complicated” to get to grips with the software needed to realise the benefits. Yet reputable vendors can provide integrated systems that are designed to ensure that any expertise required should be well within the capabilities of typical plant personnel.

Integration obviously has a huge role to play in making intelligent instrument schemes work together as a coherent whole. Companies increasingly need to consider their overall control scheme when installing or upgrading instruments, so 36% of users currently expect to opt for suppliers with the systems integration expertise that they may lack in house.

There’s a long way to go before many companies in the process industries fully embrace the benefits of field-based intelligence. But pressure from all the key areas impacting on business today, from tough trading conditions and health and safety issues to energy costs and environmental concerns, are all driving plant operators to look for ways to work smarter. Intelligent instrumentation can help them do that.

 With constraints on the availability of skilled resources in UK industry, the ABB survey noted a shift towards procuring packaged instrumentation as a way to reduce some of the time, effort and expertise involved in specifying individual equipment.

Packaged instrumentation systems can offer a good way of helping to minimise on-site configuration and commissioning work. They can also reduce the amount of work in checking issues such as certification, as the systems, particularly those for specific duties, will already have been pre-certified.

A shortage of skilled engineers is a problem affecting many countries around the world, including the UK. A recent statistic for the UK has shown that only around 12,000 engineers graduate every year, some 18,000 short of the number required.

This shortfall has resulted in those engineers who do go on to work in industry being expected to handle multiple roles, rather than specialising in specific disciplines as would previously have been the case.

The impact of this is being seen especially in roles concerning energy management and functional safety, where many engineers lack either the time or the training to properly perform their duties.

 In the area of functional safety, for example, many engineers now lack the skills or the knowledge to carry out Safety Requirements Specifications (SRS), leading to a mismatch between the risks identified on a site and the equipment used to help address them.