While instrumentation has been monitoring and providing data for process control for decades, the advancement of technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) have enabled these sensing devices to help improve safety, reliability and more.
In an Intech article, Using IIoT technology to improve reliability and safety, Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo shares ways IIoT helps manufacturers and producers improve safety practices and overall reliability.
Marcelo highlights a remote monitoring example about valve remote monitoring. It can be used:
…along with collaborating for maintenance and repair, to improve reliability. Remote monitoring starts with data collection, enabled by digital valve controllers, which provide extensive information for use by asset management, distributed control, and other host systems.
In the past this data might be isolated to where it could not be easily shared for collaborative access. With the WirelessHART communications standard, data from these sensors can be gathered in host or edge computer-based systems.
Host systems send data to remote experts via the Internet or internal intranets for analysis to provide actionable insights, which can call for valve maintenance or repair.
From a collaboration perspective:
…remote assistance services empower local technicians by giving them mobile device connectivity via the Internet, so they can securely share their field of view through augmented reality software in real time.
Marcelo shares another example of tagging plant assets with RFID technology for more proactive maintenance. RFID technology is used:
…to identify, track, and manage valve assets in a safer, more efficient, and more accurate manner. An RFID tag is installed on each valve, either before it is placed in service or during a safe period of operation, enabling automation of otherwise time consuming, error prone, and sometimes dangerous methods for identifying valves. An RFID reader is used to scan the tag, and the associated valve information is sent to an asset management system via the Internet or company intranet.
Read the article for more on how the combination of IIoT technology and increased collaboration reduces safety risks and improves reliability in refining and downstream oil & gas plants. Download the Refiner’s Guide to Digital Transformation for other ways to use IIoT in your digital transformation initiatives.
