Hydrocarbon Processing - November 2022 - 33

Process Controls, Instrumentation and Automation
with operating in crisis mode, which demands addressing
whatever emergency is most pressing at a given time.
Finally, with the likelihood and consequences defined and
quantified, the last step is translating that data into financials.
Consequences like regulatory fines and/or lost opportunities
during shutdowns can be translated into monetary costs. Talk
with key plant stakeholders to help define those costs so managers
do not need to. Get an accurate estimate of the project's
total costs to replace the analyzer system. Additionally, always
be prepared to give a cost for the do-nothing option, such as
short maintenance outages and costly spare parts. Armed with
the risk (likelihood and consequences) quantified into financial
terms, you are ready to present a strong case to management
to replace those problematic systems. Remember, the
goal is not necessarily to win project approval but to provide
leaders with as accurate a picture as possible and a defined plan.
Sometimes, the correct answer is to accept the risk for a time.
Do not become so invested in the project proposal that you lose
sight of the overall facility.
With this template, return to the evergreen list model. After
compiling the data analysis into a compelling case to replace a
system, apply the principles of holistic planning in the appropriate
level of detail to all the analyzer systems on your evergreen list.
Pitfall #4: Drowned in detail. Performing the in-depth
analysis as outlined for every analyzer in the plant could range
from daunting to despair-inducing. Do not drop the ball at this
point! Prioritize your systems and give complete treatment
only to those that need a thorough evaluation. For systems that
are in good shape, use your best judgment. Define the framework
for the risks and costs, but if risks are low, provide a rough
order of magnitude estimate. The list should be ordered from
immediate to long-term needs. Ideally, each upgraded system
should move to the bottom of the list as it is addressed. The
data collected to identify risk scenarios and costs move with
the items on the list and will only need review and updates in
the future. At this point, the hard work is done, and what is left
is a maintainable, long-term action plan that can readily convey
the status and risk of any analyzer in your plant.
With a dedicated analyzer maintenance plan or a group
devoted to managing such plans, plants that utilize key performance
indicators (KPIs) to communicate performance and
reliability will have better data. It is to be expected that KPIs
that track downtime will most likely increase (or perform
lower) in the short term. However, the long-term health of the
plant's analyzer programs will increase and should begin to
improve, and that improvement will be reflected in the KPIs
for the program.
BENJAMIN TAYLOR is the Control Systems Department
Manager for Anvil Corporation and can be reached at
btaylor@anvilcorp.com or 360-937-0503. Taylor has more
than 16 yr in the oil and gas industry, based out of Bellingham,
Washington. He holds a BS degree in chemical engineering
from Montana State University-Bozeman.
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