Hydrocarbon Processing - May 2022 - 10

Business Trends
Many operators
retrained/qualified
members of the non-operations workforce
for backup contingency to work
processing units in case an insufficient
number of operators were unavailable
due to COVID-19. Ten percent of the
participants needed to use non-operations
personnel to alternately staff units.
Some changed their shift schedules (moving
from a 12-hr to an 8-hr shift) to allow
childcare flexibility since many schools
closed and went to online formats. Several
participants implemented technology to
allow electronic communication between
operators in the field and support staff to
minimize face-to-face interactions.
In the future, one-third of participants
plan to improve the level of field automation
to reduce the minimum operating
staff needed for safe operations. While
automation cannot totally replace human
operators, it can eliminate recurring tasks
performed by operators on processing
units, allowing the remaining staff to focus
on safe, environmentally compliant,
reliable and profitable operations.
Maintenance staffing. More than half
of the study participants changed maintenance
schedules, driven by the need
to reduce exposure and perform critical
activities only. Adjustments included the
following:
* Staggering report times
* Putting technicians on shifts
* Scheduling cohorts 7 d on/off
* Switching between a 3 d on/
4 d off and 4 d on/3 d off
work week.
Two-thirds of participants reduced
their contractor staffing levels due to a
reduction in base maintenance activities
and lack of contractor availability. StaffTurnarounds
ing
schedules were adjusted to mirror
company maintenance resources. Contractor
costs increased due to disinfection,
idle/waiting times and increased
personal protective equipment.
In the future, nearly half of the study
participants plan to reduce their reliance
on non-turnaround maintenance
contractors, primarily driven by setting
specific limits for cost reduction. Some
respondents plan to use nested non-turnaround
contractors during turnarounds.
Non-field personnel. Nearly all study
participants allowed their non-field personnel
and support staffs to work remotely
from home or work alternative
schedules. Only 10% are re-evaluating
consolidating their general and administrative
personnel, outsourcing to fewer
countries. Many are increasing their information
technology resources to support
online communications.
Health and safety. Nearly all study participants
plan to update their response
measures for future pandemics as dictated
by their local/national governments.
Risk mitigation examples include:
* Requiring contractors to
submit their own pandemic
response plans
* Allowing employees to
self-screen temperature checks
at site entrances
* Using temporary buildings
and structures to enable
social distancing
* Wearing masks indoors
* Staggering lunch times
* Enacting mandatory quarantine
and COVID testing upon return
from travel to high-risk regions.
United States and Canada
Maintenance turnarounds. The pandemic
forced refiners to rethink their traditional
maintenance turnaround strategy.
Refiners could have enacted any of
the following strategies:
1. Defer shutting down units for
maintenance due to negative cash
margins, worker health concerns
and equipment delivery delays.
2. Shutdown units for turnaround
due to a pressing need to address
mechanical integrity and process
safety concerns.
3. Potentially take a longer time to
execute turnarounds to manage
worker health concerns and
negative cash margins.
Most turnarounds are scheduled to
occur at intervals of 4 yr-6 yr between
downtimes. The author's company compared
cumulative turnaround work hours
to averages witnessed in 2015-2016.
Most regions had a decrease in total turnaround
work hours except for the Middle
East and Central/Southern Europe.
FIG. 3. focuses on turnaround work
hour patterns in the U.S. and Canada.
Cumulative work hours in 2020 trended
in line with previous averages for
1Q 2020. Work hours plateaued in 2Q
2020 when COVID lockdowns were
enacted around the March timeframe.
However, we did not see the normal increase
in fall season work hours after the
high gasoline demand for the summer
driving season was over.
This data suggests that more refiners
chose turnaround deferral. However,
what are the longer-term impacts
of this strategy? Would postponing
turnarounds lead to more equipment
breakdowns and unit downtimes as refiners
attempt to stretch intervals another
1 yr-2 yr? Would these unplanned
events happen during times of higher
margins, leading to higher lost opportunity
for increased profitability?
Operational availability is the author's
2016-2019
2020
company's metric for measuring when a
unit is available to run regardless of economic
conditions. FIG. 4 shows historical
operational availability from 2010-2020.
This data shows a mixed result for each
region. Many regions with lower operational
availability had more unplanned
downtimes. Were
Jan.
Feb.
March
April
May
June
FIG. 3. U.S. and Canada turnaround work hours.
10 MAY 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
these unplanned
downtimes caused by lower availability
of maintenance personnel and resources
due to the pandemic? Some regions exCumulative
work hours
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Hydrocarbon Processing - May 2022

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