Hydrocarbon Processing - May 2021 - 81

Environment
and Safety
A. MURUGAN, Fitiri, Houston, Texas; and
V. PATTABATHULA, SVP Chemical Plant Services,
Brisbane, Australia

Quantum leap in chemical plant safety and
reliability through mobile technology
The human factor has played a significant role in chemical plant accidents and
production loss incidents over the past
60 yr. Process equipment design, fabrication, metallurgy and control systems
have improved significantly within this
time frame. The human factor might be
the most critical element in safe chemical
plant operations.
The authors have identified certain
critical plant activities where mobile technologies can advance human-machine
interaction, thus improving plant safety
and productivity. Activities dependent on
human factors (such as operator rounds,
routine and non-routine tasks, and plant
emergencies) can be handled effectively
with mobile technology.
A proprietary plant management software solutiona helps operators safely run
plant operations through data and documents, rather than from memory and experience. Equipping plant personnel with
the right procedures and documents reduces stress and errors and supports better
decision making during emergencies. This
system also enforces discipline and streamlines the plant's operational functions, such
as compelling an operator to be physically
present near the equipment at the time of
operator rounds. Making technical documents intelligent and accessing them anywhere on demand through mobile tablets
raises an entry-level operator's knowledge
level to mimic that of a highly experienced
operator. Implementation of the system
has empowered plant personnel to perform efficiently, thus reducing plant accidents and production loss incidents.
This comprehensive plant management software solution interacts with

plant machinery, plant resources and
plant personnel to improve productivity
and safety. It automates the shift activity
log process and enhances communication and transparency of plant operational activities. It ensures a fail-proof, timely
completion of critical work orders and
shift activities.
Operators spend most of the time
with plant equipment (i.e., assets). They
are the first to sense if something is wrong
or abnormal about the equipment's operation or condition. If operators are
empowered, they can correct many
problems at the incipient stages, or work
closely with the maintenance team to
tackle significant problems, which leads
to operator-driven reliability.
The three main areas in plant operation where the human factor plays a critical role are:
1. Routine operations: Daily
operator rounds and routine tasks
2. Effective communication:
Between the operators,
supervisors and management,
using shift descriptive logs
3. Non-routine operations:
Startups and shutdowns.
Routine operations. As a part of rou-

tine operations, the supervisor manages
and coordinates a shift, while panel operators control the plant by distributed
control systems (DCSs) and humanmachine interfaces, and the field operators make inspection rounds to ensure
that equipment is functioning properly.
The current system does not fully use the
field operators when plants are running
normally. When the plants have upsets

or shutdowns, they receive instructions
from the control room and the supervisor
to open and/or close manual valves and
restart equipment. During normal operation, the proprietary system can mold the
field operator into a precious resource.
Field operator rounds. Field operator rounds are critical tasks carried out
by plant personnel to ensure that every
piece of equipment in the plant area is
functioning properly. The system provides an intuitive interface for the operator to smoothly collect data, and assists
to make meaning out of the data collection process. The system automatically
feeds the log sheets that are required to
be completed at a particular time for a
particular area. Within the proprietary
system, order and tag names are identical
to ones used in paper log sheets (FIG. 1).
This method enables familiarity with the
system, thus reducing the learning curve.
An option to view historical data is
helpful when a reading is not within operating parameters and past data is required for verification. When physically
near equipment, electronic tags placed on
equipment provide relevant log sheets. If,
for instance, a reading cannot be taken
due to a faulty gauge, then a standard
message can be chosen that raises a report
of all the faulty gauges in the plant for the
supervisor to follow up on. The system
is menu-driven and effortless to follow,
and requires the operator's physical presence near the equipment to open the log
sheets to input the equipment's readings.
The readings are all stamped as to date,
time and name, which helps to preserve
the authentication, authorization and accountability aspects of plant safety.
Hydrocarbon Processing | MAY 2021

Hydrocarbon Processing - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hydrocarbon Processing - May 2021