Refiners rarely lack ideas for new measurement points. The challenge is justifying a measurement that requires a shutdown, a pipe cut, or a new process penetration. Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo, Senior Director, Global Refining Market Strategy, explains how non-intrusive instrumentation changes that equation in an interview on Hydrocarbon Processing’s The Main Column podcast.
Why It Matters
Refineries are pushing outages out as far as possible, so improvements that need a process penetration often wait on a wish list until the next turnaround. Every new penetration can add installation complexity, safety reviews, a potential leak path, and future maintenance requirements. Non-intrusive measurement gathers process or asset information through or from outside the containment boundary, allowing teams to add measurements without cutting into the process. This gives engineers a practical way to improve visibility and support safety, reliability, and operational decisions between turnarounds.
Key Takeaways
- Measurement gaps persist because new points often require an outage windows, permits, engineering reviews, and work in harsh or congested areas.
- Non-intrusive instruments measure through or from outside the pipe or vessel wall, avoiding new process penetrations.
- High-value applications are often tied to safety risk, availability risk, recurring maintenance burden, or process uncertainty.
- Continuous integrity monitoring shifts corrosion and erosion assessment from periodic snapshots to trends.
- Start small with a few high-value points tied to measurable outcomes, then scale with standardized practices and clear data governance.
Non-intrusive measurement gets process or asset information without creating a new penetration into a pipe, vessel, or process boundary. Instead of inserting an instrument into the process, the reading is taken through or from outside the containment boundary. That lets refinery teams add data points without cutting a pipe, avoiding the added installation complexity, safety reviews, potential leak paths, and future maintenance that a new penetration brings.
Use non-intrusive instruments that measure through or from outside the pipe or vessel wall. Because they require no new process penetration, they avoid the shutdown and pipe cut that often defer new measurement points until the next turnaround. Start with a small set of high-value points tied to measurable outcomes, demonstrate the value, then scale with standardized practices and clear governance on how the data will be used.
The strongest opportunities are where a measurement gap ties to safety risk, availability risk, recurring maintenance, or process uncertainty. Examples include asset integrity monitoring, such as wall thickness; heat exchanger performance; harsh-service flow in cokers, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units, vacuum unit bottoms, and hydrocrackers; utilities and tank farms; and pressure relief valve monitoring for emissions compliance. Start where better data would change when you intervene, inspect, or clean.
Adding or modifying a thermowell can be difficult, and erosive or high-velocity fluids can wear thermowells away. Non-intrusive temperature measurement, such as Emerson’s Rosemount™ X-well™ technology, takes the reading without a process penetration. It supports troubleshooting, heat transfer monitoring, energy balance, and reliability by improving confidence in the data behind operational decisions.
Why Measurement Gaps Persist
The question is rarely whether a another measurement would be useful. The challenge is whether the measurement can be justified when installation requires a shutdown, pipe cutting, engineering reviews, permits, or installation in harsh or congested areas. Because many refinery units operate continuously and outage windows are limited, these improvements get deferred until a turnaround.
In practical terms, non-intrusive measurement means obtaining useful process or asset information without creating a new penetration into a pipe, vessel, or process boundary. Instead of inserting an instrument into the process, the measurement is taken through or from outside the containment boundary.
Where Non-Intrusive Measurement Creates the Most Value
According to Marcelo, the strongest opportunities are where a measurement gap links to safety risk, availability risk, recurring maintenance, or process uncertainty. Examples include:
- Asset integrity monitoring, such as wall thickness measurement
- Heat exchanger performance
- Harsh-service
flows with particulates in cokers and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units, vacuum unit bottoms, and hydrocrackers - Utilities and tank farms
He advised starting where better data would change a decision about when to intervene, inspect, clean, or reduce risk. Flexim Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flow Meters are ideal for measuring the harsh-service flow applications.
For asset integrity, traditional inspections remain valuable but are periodic snapshots. In harsh, changing conditions, it can be hard to see how corrosion or erosion evolves between inspections. Non-intrusive monitoring at high-risk points shifts the conversation to trends, showing whether degradation rates are changing and whether process conditions are contributing.
Temperature presents another opportunity. Adding or modifying a thermowell can be difficult, while erosive or high-velocity fluids can wear thermowells over time. Marcelo highlighted Emerson’s non-intrusive Rosemount™ X-well™ technology as another option that can support troubleshooting, heat transfer monitoring, energy balance, and reliability by improving confidence in the data behind operational decisions.
Deciding Where to Start and How to Scale
Marcelo recommended starting with the operational problem: areas with recurring uncertainty, recurring maintenance issues, or safety concerns. Emissions compliance is one such area. Monitoring pressure relief valves (PRVs) that open and release fluid to the environment, or that close but keep fluctuating, is an important application for non-intrusive instrumentation.
Identify a small set of high-value measurement opportunities tied to measurable outcomes. Once value is demonstrated, scale the approach with standardized practices and clear governance on how the data will be used.
He also pointed to digital programs. Artificial intelligence (AI) models, agents, and machine learning all need trustworthy inputs. If important process or asset conditions go unmeasured, the digital layer has blind spots. Non-intrusive measurement helps fill those gaps where traditional measurement was previously hard to justify.
Learn More
Listen to Marcelo Carugo discuss how refiners can close measurement gaps with less disruption on Hydrocarbon Processing’s The Main Column podcast. Then explore Emerson’s non-intrusive measurement solutions for improving visibility into difficult-to-measure refinery applications.
