Debottlenecking: Ethane and Natural Gas Liquids Unit
Implementing Allen-Bradley ControlLogix PLCs for C2 and NGL Units at an Oil and Gas Facility.
Overview
InnoTech resolved the critical risks of the client’s C2 and NGL units by segregating their PLC systems, previously sharing a single unit. They installed separate Allen-Bradley ControlLogix PLCs, enhancing reliability with new devices, junction boxes, and remote I/O chassis. This upgrade streamlined operations, improved safety, and set a standard for future projects, ensuring scalability and autonomy. Despite challenges from concurrent projects, InnoTech’s expertise and site knowledge ensured smooth implementation, culminating in fortified operational resilience and comprehensive project documentation.
Situation
The client’s Ethane (C2) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) units underwent a Hazard and operability (HAZOP) analysis, which is used to identify areas of risk and the requirements to reduce these risks. The HAZOP revealed a severe single point of failure; both units were sharing the same PLC. If the NGL unit was to fail, it would bring the C2 unit down with it. The C2 unit lacked an independent PLC control system to provide safe control of the unit, and all the unit’s I/O was not kept in its own cabinet but was overrunning the NGL cabinet. Because of this, the NGL unit lack the required amount of spare I/O.
Why InnoTech?
Years of project history between InnoTech and the client has established trust and grown familiarity and efficiency for the InnoTech team with the client’s plant. At the time, the client was preparing for their upcoming total plant shutdown, and had multiple projects being conducted by third-party companies on-the-go. The client looked to InnoTech to manage this project as this allowed InnoTech to be, to a degree, an overseer of the other projects, since many of the periphery projects depended largely on this one.
Actions Taken
There were many other projects underway at the client’s site, so to kick-off the project strong, InnoTech and the client devised a plan in order to keep the teams organized throughout and help the project roll out smoothly.
The total plant shutdown was a year away, so the team had a long runway to work on the project. Though because of the long lead time, stopping and starting was frequent throughout the course of the project, presenting a challenge in keeping scopes and schedules separate.
This was largely due to the number of concurrent project dependencies; many of them used the same cables, terminals, and panels as this project. When one stage of the project was complete, before moving onto the next, a stage of another project would need to be completed.
Some of the third parties did not have extensive knowledge of the client’s site, so there were sections delivered that were insufficient to the overall project standards. Because of InnoTech’s experience and knowledge of the site, the team stepped up to rework these parts to keep all the projects moving forward.
Operational Technology (OT) Integrations:
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NGL Pumps:
NGL PLC:
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C2 PLC:
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BOTH PLCs:
- Junction boxes
- Homerun cables
- Bypasses to allow for testing without causing frequent shutoffs.
- 55 DCS I/O
- 78 PLC I/O
A total of 340 devices were connected.
After implementing the devices and tying all the existing I/O to the PLC racks, the team refined and improved the standard logic and finished the project by delivering up-to-date as-builts.
Results
Reliability |
By segregating the NGL and C2 units’ I/O in their separate cabinets, the dependencies between the two of them is eliminated. This ensures that the failure of one will not result in the failure of the other. |
Visibility |
The remote I/O chassis in the NGL unit and the HMIs in both units allow the operators to easily oversee the system operations. |
Organization |
The isolated unit controllers make them much easier for the operators to access and work on, increasing efficiency and functionality. |
Standardization |
Now that the logic is standardized, the process will be simpler and nearly autonomous when conducting future projects. |
Safety |
By automating the instrumentation, the work environment becomes safer by adding a layer of safety protection for people and operations |
Expandability |
The team accounted for future projects by adding enough spare I/O to last 3 to 4 years worth of projects! |
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Are your plant’s I/O units grouped according to operational areas or are there inefficiencies that can be solved by segregating the units?
At InnoTech we want to fuel our customer’s success by having a customer focus. We seek to understand client expectations for standards and implementation, and this enables our team to work efficiently and maximize value to our customers.
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