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Condition monitoring and remote diagnostics are the convergence of the digital and the physical in the industrial world. They combine sensors, advanced analytics, and people at work in ways that dramatically

improve operators’ productivity and industrial plants’ efficiency.The oil and gas industry is experiencing a tremendous

transformation with the rise of remote monitoring, diagnostics and advanced analytics. The industry is experiencing up to 10% downtime, so there is a strong need for improvement in the reliability and maintenance of facilities, equipment and processes. Downstream oil and gas applications are no exception to this trend.

Everything starts with critical or complex machinery, communicating continuously and automatically through a network of sensors, relaying key operational data to operators and experts

with the final objective of enhancing operational efficiency, reducing downtime, and preventing and minimising failures.

Allowing access to real time machine data through networked sensors and software is critical to keep pace with competition in the modern business world. Real time predictive analytics allow infrastructure heavy industries to become more efficient by helping operators to make informed decisions regarding their assets. A wide array of cost effective sensors installed on industrial machinery can continuously monitor all aspects of their functionality. Advanced analytics then interpret the collected data, identifying what normal asset activity is and alerting operators when the data deviates from predetermined specifications.

Data aggregation and dedicated visualisation tools allow operators and diagnostic experts to quickly and efficiently

Marco Salvemini, GE Oil & Gas, Italy, explains how condition monitoring and remote diagnostics can help to connect people, data and machines in the oil and gas industry.

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analyse a complete snapshot of asset activity or inactivity. Using this approach problems are detected faster, which could result in substantial cost savings for an operator by avoiding downtime, allowing maintenance to be scheduled at a convenient time, and potentially averting a forced shutdown.

Analytics and diagnosticsThe industrial world is being digitised and reshaped by software and big data analytics, opening up new levels of productivity for oil and gas companies. GE Oil & Gas plays a key role in supporting customers and companies to optimise their assets and operations, and is achieving better outcomes as a result of its iCenters.

Three state of the art diagnostic centres based in Houston, Florence and Kuala Lumpur work in an integrated manner and deliver round the clock service on the remotely monitored GE Oil & Gas fleet around the world. More than 300 customer line up trains are monitored worldwide, as well as 700+ rotating machines, including heavy duty and aeroderivative gas turbines for power generation or mechanical drive applications, centrifugal compressors, steam turbines, reciprocating compressors, pumps and other critical plant equipment.

As part of the GE iCenter services, the Advisory Monitoring & Diagnostics program provides continuous unit monitoring to detect anomalies and deliver notifications and corrective action recommendations to operators. Trip avoidance, optimised running conditions, quick troubleshooting and expert advice are the key

benefits of the service, resulting in improved reliability and availability of the units.

GE diagnostic experts can leverage internal product design and service expertise, developed as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), to improve the quality of recommendations and notifications. Data is collected from the site using a tailored proprietary hardware and software infrastructure to better cover a specific operator’s requirements. Data is acquired continuously from all available sources (e.g. the unit control system, monitoring and protection panels, customer plant DCS, PLCs, etc.), locally recorded and stored on a dedicated server and transmitted to remote iCenters. If available, higher frequency data (e.g. trip log and/or analog raw data) can be also transferred on an on demand basis for specified time intervals, enabling the analysis of specific events with the highest data resolution.

Data collected from the fleet is transmitted to the iCenter using proprietary digital infrastructure where it is processed, organised, and lastly stored. It is then made available to GE’s proprietary analytics and diagnostic engineering crews for analysis.

GE analytics, both physics based as well as data driven (to ensure maximum probability of detection), is integrated in the digital platform where process data is used to identify anomalies and optimisation opportunities. Examples of such algorithms include diagnostics rules and performance estimation routines, which run automatically on real time data from the fleet.

The diagnostic engineering crew, which operates within the iCenters, is dedicated to data analysis and drill down, root cause analysis, preparation of notifications and reports, and communication with other teams (engineering, project management and resident operations) and customer operators.

Data is also available in real time to customers through a dedicated web fleet portal (also accessible from mobile devices) where they can navigate across covered units, locate diagnostics information and service insights, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) from GE iCenters. There is also the potential to set up a collaborative environment to share mutual experiences.

Through this application, the Advisory Monitoring & Diagnostics service can display the following:

n Fleet overview: A set of views will provide users with different perspectives of fleet navigation, all with an intuitive and logical/hierarchal view on asset information.

n Alarms and events overview/management: A set of dashboards will provide users with the capability to see alarms at fleet level as well as at site and machine level. Various filtering options are available to compare statistics (e.g. severity level, event category, rule and component, time occurred).

n Analysis and KPI trends: A set of analysis views providing sophisticated capabilities to the analysts to carry out deep investigations against the data.

n Performance estimations for various customer assets, such as a gas turbine, a process compressor, an axial compressor, etc. The performance engine typically runs at one minute intervals.

n Notification management: To navigate, filter and search the notifications received from the iCenters. It also collects customers’ feedback and the scheduled reports received.

n Collaboration among experts: Authorised users can cooperate with each other by sharing information on key items or specific topics.

Figure 1. GE pump type BB5 Model 6 x 15 DDHF 6 stage: service water injection.

Figure 2. GE pump type BB3 Model 10 x 16 MSN/6 @ 3000 rpm: desalinated water pump.

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The GE Advisory Monitoring and Diagnostic service overview illustrates how oil and gas companies and operators can leverage the power of condition monitoring to achieve better outcomes. It can influence cost control and efficiency at refineries and petrochemical plants, as well as in other downstream operations.

Regardless of the current cost of oil and gas, the reduction of operating and maintenance expenditures is always an important target for industrial operations. When a machine goes down, it can be expensive to fix it and the cost of downtime can have a significant impact on a company's financial performance.

Case study: CLH GroupThe importance of advisory monitoring and diagnostics as a key tool to optimise operational costs is demonstrated by a recent CLH Group project in Spain, where the company has recently signed a new contract for the GE Advisory Monitoring and Diagnostic service.

The CLH Group, which comprises Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos and its subsidiary CLH Aviación, is the leading company in Spain for oil product transportation and storage and is one of the largest private companies in its sector at an international level. It has one of the largest, most efficient integrated oil product transportation and storage networks in the world, with over 4000 km of oil pipelines and a vast storage capacity.

Deviations from required operating specifications can critically impact centrifugal pump performance and, left unchecked, can damage both machines and entire systems. CLH Group believes that early detection, management systems and the ability to remotely monitor equipment can dramatically reduce downtime and costs associated with machine damage.

CLH operates a large fleet of centrifugal pumps, with over 100 GE units pumping oil through its pipeline network or supplying jet fuel ‘into plan’ in the main Spanish national airports. All critical measurements gathered from the sites and collected through the CLH monitoring network will be recorded and transferred to the GE iCenters through a tailored data infrastructure and processing system. Dedicated analytics and expertise will be adopted to assure an effective and proactive 24/7 real time advisory service and actionable recommendations, helping CLH to optimise the performance of its assets to increase availability and extend asset life, minimise costs, and reduce operational risks to drive profitable growth. Anomalies and events notifications will be provided, as well as required maintenance action recommendations based on continuous data analysis and trending. Events will be tracked and reported to support and optimise outage preparation. All the above will result in a continuous monitoring of pump functionality and performance through the analysis of key parameters including flow rate, pressure, vibration amplitudes, axial displacements and temperature.

Through the iCenters' digital infrastructure and analytics, actual unit performance will be continuously compared with expected results, anticipating potential issues, mechanical faults or degradation of the performance itself. Correlation between each single parameter will allow CLH Group to detect specific operating condition issues. The connection to the iCenter will introduce expertise and analytics into the operations of CLH Group’s plants, by providing it with monitoring and diagnostics services to keep systems running efficiently, and for longer periods.

Effective asset managementAdvisory Monitoring & Diagnostics can provide operators with highly detailed information to work with when managing their assets or processes. Personnel can spend more time analysing data and responding to problems ahead of time and less time responding to emergencies and unplanned downtime, saving operating and maintenance costs. With early warnings, it is possible to determine when equipment needs maintenance or will fail, allowing operators to effectively plan shutdowns, equipment repairs or parts replacements.

Figure 3. GE pump type BB2 Model 8 x 16 DSTHF 2 stage: lean amine.

Figure 4. GE pump type BB1 Model 200 x 500-DVE @ 1500 rpm: water firefighting.

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Downstream companies, driven by the challenge to optimise their operations, are now looking at the advantages of remote monitoring, control and diagnostic service for installed centrifugal pumps, especially considering the large number of such equipment and its usage in critical applications in the plant. Even

a single piece of advice to assist in troubleshooting or to avoid an unplanned event could have a direct impact on overall plant efficiency and availability.

By slightly increasing the level of instrumentation for new and existing installed equipment, and through the latest technological developments, pumps can be connected to the GE iCenters in order to take immediate advantage of the various services provided, such as spare parts management, efficiency improvements, and reliability, availability and maintainability optimisation. Data acquired can also help to identify opportunities to upgrade existing machines using state of the art OEM conversions, modifications and uprates.

ConclusionIt is the unique combination of intelligent sensors, advanced analytics and skilled people that can provide the optimal performance and operational excellence required by the oil and gas industry. Separately, the three pillars cannot help operators to achieve the expected outcomes. By adopting the full power of the iCenters' services, users are able to proactively manage their operations.

The new challenges the industry is facing require a solid collaboration between suppliers and operators to ensure higher quality outcomes, driving excellence, reducing complexity and making plant operations efficient and profitable. GE partners closely with oil and gas companies to understand their needs and identify the right solution to meet their goals, helping to fuel the future of the next industrial era.

Figure 5. GE pump type BB2 Model 4 x 13-DS-THF2 @ 3000 rpm: condensate pump.