Improving asset management

The oil and gas industry, and pipeline operators in particular, continue to be challenged to reach higher standards for pipeline operations. Mediocre overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) scores continue to challenge companies to set and accomplish for bigger and better goals. According to the Aberdeen Group, pipeline companies trail world-class OEE scores by fifteen points or more. Root cause analysis points to unplanned or inopportune downtime as the primary culprit driving down scores.

Companies achieving scores closer to world-class levels have successfully taken several steps in concert to help operations discover potential problems before downtime occurs. Specifically, operators have aligned the disciplines of facilities engineering, maintenance and operations in a unified fashion. They have implemented dashboards, analytics, mobile tools and automated workflows to achieve the discipline alignment around the common goals of the pipeline.

Many have achieved success by bringing these tools together in an overall supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to improve production. The challenges facing today’s pipeline operating companies can be solved through applied and proven technology that empowers employees to succeed in their roles.

Integration and payback

Asset performance management (APM) is a disciplined method of achieving optimum performance from a given set of assets in a under a certain set of conditions. It strategically aligns the disciplines of facilities design, facilities operations and facilities maintenance with common tools and automated work flow processes. APM brings together enterprise-wide production data, the financial constraints and data from a CMMS and role-based visualization under the umbrella of a SCADA system.

APM tools in a well-designed network are helping oil and gas companies boost their bottom lines – 27% of companies that implemented these solutions saw a 10% or better reduction in maintenance costs, according to a study by the Aberdeen Group. Companies that weren’t using these solutions averaged only 81% for on-time deliveries and just 58% for OEE.

Typically, pipeline systems must operate in harsh environments. Stations are spaced great distances apart. Operations rely on a shrinking pool of people to monitor conditions and implement corrective actions as problems occur. Events on a pipeline typically launch a “dump” of data over a given time period. This in turn results in a big dig to find the root cause. The search for the problem takes time that could be better utilized identifying methods to avoid the problem in the future.

APM begins with role-based visualization. This empowers a given discipline with task specific data and limits their view to the information required to effectively perform a task. However, role-based visualization still relies on individuals to monitor reams of data in search of problems. Often, the sheer volume of data means most problems are missed until downtime occurs. Automated workflows and analytics utilize predictive modeling to identify problem areas before downtime occurs. Actionable data is compared to a set of ideal conditions, and flags are set pointing the right discipline of personnel to the problem ahead of downtime occurring, as is the case with current signature analysis in electrically driven rotating assets.

Pipeline facilities require tremendous capital investment and are expected to provide long-term support to a nation’s economy. Optimal utilization for the planned life of that equipment is essential to achieve the desired financial results from the facilities. Although they may not understand ideal conditions, operators are tasked to drive performance from equipment they can’t see. The challenge becomes one of striving for more uptime through an APM plan that monitors assets, processes conditions and provides automated analytic tools to drive better business decisions. 

The foundation of APM

Often, when engineers are challenged to fix a problem, they reply that they need more data.  Getting more data from heavy equipment requires more measured points, more instruments, more systems and more budget related to measurement equipment, software, etc. Amazingly, with condition-based monitoring systems, process control systems and electrical metering equipment, the information required to drive asset performance is frequently already in place. Applying a few tools to make the information usable is all that is required to move to the next level of operational achievement. The foundation involves maximizing the use of network architecture – flatten the architecture to enable smooth data flow; maximize the use of Ethernet technologies; and minimally invest in measurement devices that are open and networkable. 

Key actions for success

As with other investment-intensive heavy industries, energy companies are looking to increase utilization of existing equipment to increase profits. When applying an APM strategy to this approach, companies can efficiently boost throughput and increase asset return with minimal investment.

According to the recent Aberdeen study on APM, one of the top pressures driving companies to focus on asset management is the need to achieve a competitive edge in the market place by implementing an asset reliability strategy. “This is a fundamental shift required in many asset intensive companies; the change of culture from viewing asset management as a cost center to viewing it as a competitive advantage” said Mehul Shah, research analyst with the Aberdeen Group. “An effective asset performance strategy will enable companies to improve asset utilization and availability resulting in quantifiable business benefits.”

An APM program aligns operation and maintenance strategies, offers tools that enhance operational transparency and applies real-time analytics to improve decision support. Although implementing this type of program may seem like a daunting task, by applying a systematic approach, companies can complete the process in phases that can quickly show results.

A sound data strategy

Optimum APM requires not only developing a network strategy but also creating a data strategy. This comes back to simple questions of who, what, where, why and how? Considering these questions will drive the design team to determine what data is needed, where it is needed and how it will be utilized for project success.

Consider whether to implement a centralized or federated data model. Given the size of systems today, a centralized data model has the potential of growing to an unmanageable size that is difficult to maintain. It does have common rules and simplifies tag tracking but at what price, system performance. While answering these questions, consider timing of systems and what operators are required to see. A load shedding system will need to respond in 150mS, having 10 seconds elapse while the system builds a record for the operators to see what happened is probably acceptable. Needing a pump to start to head off a shutdown and it taking 15 seconds for this to occur because the system is bogged down with data is likely not acceptable.

In this case, a federated data model might be considered where data consolidation occurs with Historians and Web-based visualization tools as key portions of a comprehensive SCADA versus consolidating at the distributed control system. The performance gained does have the downside of enforced vigilance in tag name usage and methods, but it allows each responsible party to manage the data required to execute a piece of the overall operation for success. It also allows a comprehensive approach to SCADA empowering operations with information from process condition measurement, mechanical condition monitoring, financial systems and CMMS systems.

Secondly, consider what data is required to empower each class of position operating a facility.  Document this and develop a plan for moving that data to the individuals required. Some individuals will require real time visibility either through a SCADA station or power management station. Others will require role-based information utilizing web based tools (some delay in this type of data should be acceptable). This particular piece of the project planning effort is an iterative process and should involve willing collaboration between the project design/implementation team, operations or facilities representatives and potential equipment vendors.

Third, consider where the data is required. This will further define the type of data and tools utilized to display it. Once you have considered role-based access to the data, what data is required, where it is required, who needs to view it and how they will view it, you have fully detailed the basics of an effective data strategy.

Dashboards make a difference

Empowering decision-makers with timely, clear and context-rich information presents a number of technical challenges. First, the information is often fragmented, residing in multiple systems scattered across the enterprise. The second challenge is that different proprietary user interfaces may only be presenting part of the picture, making it extremely difficult to interpret the data. Collaborative dashboards, combined with powerful analysis software, allow users to access specific data pertinent to them. For example, new applications can bring data from motor control centers (MCC), drives and the process control systems into interface dashboards where advanced analysis software can convert the data into business intelligence. Powerful data preprocessing tools allow data from multiple sources with different frequencies to be synchronized into a single data set for modeling, providing better models faster.

In this APM approach, a role-based reporting engine gathers data from existing control systems and business applications, making it actionable by presenting a coherent picture of the production operation through familiar Internet browser and personal computer interfaces. This data can provide a foundation for a range of manufacturing analytics, including real-time executive dashboards, automated production reports, key performance indicator (KPI) monitoring and alerts, downtime analysis and reports, and process verification and optimization. As a result, users can gain insight into the business using analytic applications and data-analysis tools to access comprehensive business information from portals via browsers.

Implementing an APM solution

The next step in building a comprehensive APM program involves documenting the most valuable assets within the network. Compressors and pumps are critical elements in every oil and gas process, as they allow the movement of fluids through pipelines and terminals. As each asset is linked to the next, even the smallest outage on the tiniest motor can be costly – causing major loss of production and costly unexpected repairs.  Role-based visualization implemented through comprehensive SCADA provides the glue connecting the disparate systems.

Applying the ideals

A pipeline network along the Gulf Coast utilizes current signature analysis to improve rotating equipment uptime through a 20% reduction in unplanned downtime. This operator has established operating conditions for pumps and fans in normal operations and stressed operations. Predictive modeling tools continuously compare current measurements on individual loads with process conditions. When current conditions are seen as rising too fast for a given set of operating conditions the operations personnel are notified and corrective actions implemented.  In most cases the system helps them identify which drawings to review and what equipment is required to implement the required repair.

Conclusion

According to the Aberdeen Group survey cited earlier, companies are successfully utilizing APM to obtain maximum output from equipment and significantly control maintenance expenditures. In the study, 27% of the companies that implemented an APM solution saw a 10% or better reduction in maintenance costs. Companies that weren’t using APM tools averaged only 81% for on-time deliveries and just 58% for OEE.

One oil and gas company that implemented APM solutions reduced its annual maintenance costs by more than 60%, while simultaneously increasing the average life span of its equipment from six months to more than five years. In addition, some of the company’s production facilities that were operating at partial capacity are now completely operational and running at full capacity, enjoying a large production increase.