Refinery Process Safety
Ensure safe environments by improving process safety
Ensure safe environments by improving process safety
With the increasing complexity of refining, it is difficult to keep your people, facilities, and neighbors safe. Aging equipment and unskilled workers exacerbate operational inefficiencies that may place your environment at risk. However, with Emerson’s expertise and portfolio of safety and security-related products — from SIS with HIPPS to cyber security protection — you can easily integrate technology into your process, avoiding incidents and improving operational certainty.
Marcelo Dultra shares insights on to safely maintain the operational efficiency of pressure relief valves with digital transformation.
Digital isolation solutions are specifically designed for critical refining applications where safety is imperative. As the final control element within the Safety Instrumented System (SIS), each solution is comprised of a valve, actuator, and digital valve controller that have been SIL-certified as a complete package. Accessories, like regulators, volume boosters, and limit switches, round out the solution to provide added security and peace-of-mind to know the valve assembly will perform as desired in your SIS application.
PRVs should never operate. However, undetected PRV releases occur often. Unnoticed releases are unreported, near-miss safety events. Emerson PRV digital technologies can improve process and occupational safety by monitoring PRVs using wireless communication to report when valves are open and the duration of each release event. Plus, RFID tags enable operators to store and retrieve PRV information from a safe distance and Data Analytics with Spare Pool programs can optimize and minimize the service needs for PRVs.
Situational awareness is important for disaster preparedness. Operator error is the leading cause of major incidents and there is a safety challenge when operators are inundated with information because alarm floods lead to unsafe conditions. Implementing dynamic alarm management will eliminate alarm floods and ensure operators receive the correct alarm for all modes of operation, including start-up, shutdowns, and transitions between each state.
SIS failures and false trips often result from using traditional sensors which lack diagnostics, make redudancy difficult to implement due to space and cost, and require extensive impulse line maintenance. Emerson’s uniqely designed, SIL certified multivariable instruments for temperature, pressure, level, flow, and flame detection have been designed to improve the robustness and smartness of devices to eliminate these traditional challenges.
