Modernize Your Power System, Boost Productivity
June 11, 2019
As an oil and gas producer, you may be feeling the effects of relying on an outdated power-distribution system. You’re facing reduced productivity, increased safety risks or additional stress due to the constant need for troubleshooting.
Traditionally, the “easy” solution was to replace the old equipment with new versions of the same components and controls. But in today’s digital age, relying on a replacement strategy results in a missed opportunity for your operations. A digital solution can take your production much further.
Benefits of a Digital Solution
- Increased access to critical operations intelligence
- Focus on cost containment and asset performance optimization
- Identify patterns that allow for improvement in maintenance plans
- Early and increased visibility into potential failures
With the availability of intelligent devices and the wealth of real-time information they provide, replacing old hard-wired electrical systems with a digital platform that integrates with your process control solution can reap far-reaching business benefits. New intelligent packaged power capabilities can provide unprecedented functionality.
Make the Connection
One of the most beneficial features of this digital switch is increased visibility. Switching to a digital solution will allow you to see the performance of your electrical assets, in real time, speeding up decision making and issue resolution. Before an alarm sounds, your personnel can be alerted of a potential failure and begin the repair process. And the failure doesn’t have the chance to impact productivity or equipment performance.
Additionally, you gain the ability to support remote monitoring, directly improving worker safety. With an intelligent, integrated electrical system, personnel are even able to work from a smart phone, staying a safe distance away from the potentially hazardous conditions power systems can create.
The Strength of One
Unified, real-time data also positions your company to better understand and manage your energy consumption.
These benefits are altering the electrical landscape in heavy industries like oil and gas. According to an ARC Advisory Group study, 67 percent of new plants implemented intelligent devices as part of their overall electrical system.
The more smart devices you have in your electrical system, the more informed you can become. To take it a step further, you should consider combining your electrical and process systems together. The combination of information provides a more productive and integrated power and process control solution.
New digital power solutions seamlessly connect your process control system and electrical equipment, bringing information into a unified network architecture. This creates a centralized information stream, eliminating the need for separate process and electrical control systems. This positions your company to better understand and manage your energy consumption.
The Smart Solution
These intelligent solutions make data accessible from any intelligent electrical device (IED), from any operator control station, making them easier to deploy, maintain and optimize. This also significantly reduces the costs of implementing an intelligent power solution. In fact, deploying an intelligent packaged power solution can require up to five times less engineering time and installation labor.
One oil refinery, for example, tapped unified data to cut downtime related to equipment failures by 27%, and reduced costs related to maintenance troubleshooting by 35%.
When your electrical equipment ages out, it’s not enough to replace it with the latest version. Upgrades provide an opportunity to tap your existing infrastructure and grow your digital capabilities. By integrating power and process control, and digitizing, you can add functionality that quickly pays for itself in productivity improvements.
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