(145a) Transforming Abundant Data into Improved Process Reliability (Keynote Talk)

Today, processing facilities are beginning to effectively utilize the abundance of process and asset health data and information as part of an overall IIoT strategy. Although a digital transformation will require investments in technology, one cannot forget the investment in training staff to behave differently (improved) with the new timely information. It should be noted that some jobs will be replaced (e.g. manual data collection), new roles will emerge (e.g. analysts and planners), and other jobs will evolve to be more efficient. Properly trained operations are invaluable in this process, as they not only act on information from analyzed data, but can also make decisions on their own based on sensor data.

Abnormal operation and imminent asset failure can quickly be identified and corrected with properly trained staff to act on this new timely analyzed information. Big data and IIoT will continue to have a role with shortages of skilled resources, thus having the staff be more efficient and effective at their role with additional information and insight into operations.

This presentation will focus on the applications where big data and IIoT have improved process and asset reliability. Although the applications presented will come from oil refineries, the solutions can be applied to other continuous processing facilities.