(37g) Smart Instruments Provide Advanced Diagnostics and Early Event Detection to Improve Reliability and Availability of Refineries and Petrochemical Units

The focus of this paper will be to present advanced industry oriented solutions in refining and petrochemicals that utilize the unique capabilities of smart instruments. Predictive intelligence, advanced diagnostics, wireless solutions and other latest functionalities embedded in the smart instruments can be utilized for ?Early Event Detection? of developing operational problems and provide solutions that improve reliability and availability of operating units. Some examples include applications for early detection of flooding in distillation columns, catalyst transfer problems in FCC units, flame instability detection in direct fired heaters, detection of high tube skin temperatures in ethylene crackers, and condensation detection in compressor inlet lines. The paper will also present results of some field trials that have been recently conducted. The preliminary results are quite encouraging and are expected to provide significant benefits that include operational enhancements, prevention of unit shutdowns, and improved profitability.