Chemical Engineering December 2011 - 37

Feature Report
TURNAROUNDS:
Shorter, Safer,
Simpler
John Barth
Apprion, Inc.
Wireless networks are easily justified
in a turnaround budget,
and keep paying off after startup
T
oday's plant turnarounds bear
little resemblance to those of the
past:
Last-minute preparations
and procurements combined with
hurried work plans penciled into a
notebook often led to undisciplined procedures,
incidents and equipment that
still operated with defective parts.
Those bygone practices have been
cleaned up and replaced with clearer
processes as turnarounds have become
critical to a plant's longterm sustainability
and to a company's compliance
with increasingly strict government
regulations. Indeed, in this age of litigiousness
and first-class environmental
expectations, the difference
between a sloppy and a successful
turnaround can impact the very reputation
and viability of a company in
the chemical process industries (CPI).
Nonetheless, it's common knowledge
that the vast majority of turnarounds
still don't meet all performance standards.
In fact, about 25% significantly
underperform in more than one success
criteria. It's also no secret that
labor costs, capital budgets and preplanned
time frames are still regularly
exceeded.
One particularly cost-effective solution
that can narrow the gap in
turnaround performance is industrial
wireless technology. New, yet proven,
state-of-the-art tools are helping CPI
leaders turn around their turnarounds
by keeping them on track and bringing
them in under their planned financial
and time budgets. On top of that, the
same investment that paid for itself in
streamlining the turnaround, can also
be used after startup to improve operations
throughout the lifecycle.
From a technology perspective,
what has happened is this: As more
and more CPI companies have turned
to a new generation of automated intelligence
tools for project management,
procedure execution and other
key tasks, most of the tools have also
advanced to run as wireless applications.
These tools are especially effective
when they can tie into networkwide
information systems and can
provide necessary information to
turnaround personnel exactly when
and where they need it. This improved
availability of information can help
overcome some of the enduring challenges
associated with turnarounds to
help cut costs and time and to improve
efficiency, accuracy and productivity.
Just like the turnaround itself,
proper preparation, planning and processes
are integral to reaping the most
rewards from an industrial wireless
solution. As with almost any relatively
new technology in the CPI, however,
proven success and lessons of what to
expect go a long way in making the decision
to take the plunge at all.
CPI wireless adoption so far
In addressing this burden of proof, let's
look at the growing trend toward wireless
technology in the CPI and why it's
FIGURE 1. This 802.11a wireless grid
simulation output offers signal power
levels as one reading of many in a live
wireless site survey analysis
happening. In " State of Industrial Wireless
2010, " a year-long research effort,
key findings from process manufacturing
respondents showed the following:
* 64% of process manufacturing facilities
reported having at least one
wireless application installed at
their facility
* A 23% increase in wireless adoption
and an 85% increase in those considering
wireless applications
* Compliance applications for security,
safety and workforce productivity
were the key drivers for adoption in
2010, with over 50% of respondents
considering one of these applications
* Condition monitoring and asset
management applications led wireless
adoption with a year-over-year
increase of 56%
* Video, communications and mobility
are the applications driving the next
wave of adoption
Significantly, the same survey found
that the number one barrier to implementing
wireless applications is
that imposed by cost and budget constraints.
I believe cost and budget constraints
are easily overcome when we
consider the benefits and timing of a
wireless deployment as a part of turnaround
planning.
Balancing the cost equation
As a percentage of the cost of a turnaround,
an all-inclusive wireless infrastructure
(networking, instrumentation
and mobile devices) is miniscule. For exCHEMICAL
ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM DECEMBER 2011 37
http://WWW.CHE.COM
Chemical Engineering December 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering December 2011
