Chemical Engineering May 2021 - 34

bleshooting (Figure 6).
Environmental leak testing.
Engineers commonly perform
extensive leak testing on fittings
to check for leaks that
may present safety and environmental
hazards. Realtime
collaboration between the onsite
engineer and the virtual
colleagues can streamline the
process throughout a plant.
Safety and cost savings can
be achieved by thoroughly addressing
leaks (Figure 7).
Virtual
witnessing
procurement
operators
processes.
the
opporCompliance
teams can offer
plant
FIGURE 8. During a virtual evaluation, the on-site
engineer can share photos and videos with remote colleagues
in real time so everyone can brainstorm solutions
as a connected team
tunity to virtually witness
manufacturing and shipping
practices that may ordinarily
require an on-site visit to vendor
facilities.
Virtual user visits to manufacturing
and fulfillment
centers. On-site visits can go both
ways, as plant operators or managers
may want to visit and evaluate
the processes and operations of their
vendors. Virtual technology makes this
possible, too.
Additional benefits
Whether inviting a single engineer to
perform a virtual site visit or managing
such visits with existing plant personnel,
virtual visits can help to minimize
the amount of time a plant's fluid system
issues may go undiagnosed or
unaddressed - while also limiting personnel
to help accommodate pandemic
protocols. At the same time, the plant
can additionally save on travel-related
costs, accommodations, and coordination
time associated with larger site
visits. In addition, the user may be able
to share data and experiences from a
documented site visit at one location
with other similar enterprise locations
to help enhance those operations.
There can be unexpected benefits,
as well. For example, AR visits can
prove effective when several people
watching remotely are all evaluating the
exact same thing, at the same time.
This enables several engineers to ask
questions in real time and collect data
more efficiently, compared to simply
having one person on-site, or several
34
people on-site all collecting their own
data (Figure 8). This streamlined process
can enhance the efficiency of
making evaluations and diagnoses, as
well as gathering supporting data. This
can help eliminate the potential need to
go back on-site to get data that were
forgotten or missed when looking at
notes after the initial site visit.
This ability to gain insight into a system
and process the
information
of key
in
parallel to diagnoses and recommendations
with the entire team at once can be
more effective than typical on-site visits
that require multiple touchpoints with
the user and system after gathering information
across the facility. An engineer
who has several other colleagues in his
or her " ear " to provide reminders about
examining certain system parameters,
or to ask the operators certain questions,
can result in some significant new
efficiencies to the inspection and evaluation
process.
A virtual team composed of a global
network of specialists who can provide
insight in real time, take data, and conduct
preliminary calculations, can result
in a more comprehensive analysis than
when one engineer does this on his or
her own. This approach combines decades
of experience evaluating a system,
collaborating in real time, and sharing
insight, all virtually.
Maintaining operational efficiency is
a top goal for any chemical plant or
refinery. While safety measures related
to COVID-19 may have created some
challenges in this regard, the technology
is available to overcome some of
those challenges in unique ways -
and the benefits can extend well into
the future.
n
Edited by Gerald Ondrey
Acknowledgement
All images courtesy of Swagelok.
Author
Stacey Phillips is field engineering
manager, Americas for Swagelok Company
(29500 Solon Road, Solon, Ohio
44139; phone:
+1-440-248-4600;
Email; stacey.phillips@swagelok.com;
Website: www.swagelok.com. She has
been with the company for 13 years
and has extensive experience in the
field helping chemical plants and petroleum
refining operations optimize critical
fluid and sampling systems. Phillips hold a B.Sc. degree
in biomechanics from the University of Alberta, Canada, and
a M.Eng. degree from the University of Colorado Boulder.
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