Background
A swelling middle class in India has created growing market demand for an increased consumption of petroleum products.
This oil and gas producer is one of India’s largest petroleum product manufacturers and distributors, with a processing capacity of 6.5 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA). The plant must steadily keep petroleum products pumping through the station because any unplanned downtime can cause critical product shortages. Contributing to the ability to reach zero unplanned downtime is healthy equipment, like pumps, achieved through maintenance and monitoring.
The company’s pipeline supplies the interior areas of India. Seven pumping stations along that pipeline already used Rockwell Automation for several years with almost no downtime. The goal is to maintain and even improve that performance.
Challenge
The biggest challenge for this customer is timely distribution and accurate pumping of products 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Any disruption could increase refinery inventory and leave retail units without adequate supply.
To maintain continuous flow, each pumping station uses three pumps: Two are at work at all times to maintain line pressure across the pipeline to the next terminal. The remaining pump is on standby in case one of the other pumps fails.
Oil pump operation is precise. Undetected or unreported wear and tear on the pump is not acceptable because even the slightest shift in pump operating parameters can cause damage. An aging Bentely Nevada 3500 system, installed years ago, did not function, and there was no ability to communicate with the station PLC to identify and rectify system faults.