Title: Instrument and Process Control Engineering Consultants
1Instrument and Process Control Engineering
Consultants
End users are driving plant performance to levels
that would be impossible to achieve without
current process control engineering technologies,
procedures and Best-In-Class practices. Market
demand by investors requires high performing
process units capable of maximising unit
production and decreasing energy and associated
emissions. Knowing how to support and achieve
Best-In-Class is a constant pursuit to stay
ahead, i.e, If we do not innovate, we stagnate.
Industry trend-getters and benchmarking seek the
best-performing companies, but often miss what
makes one plant perform better than another and
often indicate relative differences without
causal details. Our approach is the constant
pursuit of optimal unit performance while
recognising what worked yesteryear may not be
Best-In-Class today. We start from a
first-principles approach to both technology and
plant unit market economics. Then, we seek out
opportunities to be prioritised with clients. We
do so via our specialist consultants and
practitioners, which are able to first scout
out then execute until a complete outcome is
achieved operationally. Specialist Process
Control Engineering Consultants and
Instrumentation engineering Consultants are in
high demand in Australia and globally. Our
Process Control Engineering Consultants and
Instrumentation Engineering Consultants are
versed globally in a broad range of
multidisciplinary aspects of Industrial
Engineering. In order to seek the optimal
solutions, SAROM GLOBAL covers Process
Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering. Too often are production problems or
optimisation looked at from a single discipline
approach. When investigated and studied
multidisciplinary, both interim triage control
and equipment improvements can be made to address
priorities and also once time and funds are
available justified then medium to long term
improvements can be executed.
2There are mixed views, opinions on where the
Process Control discipline stops. Often it is
within the site or plants PLC (Programmable Logic
Controllers), DCS (Distributed Control Systems)
or APC (Advanced Process Control Systems or
Model-Based Controllers. Our application of
Process Control extends to all the thermal fluid,
energy and economic functions concerning the
business any associated businesses. e.g. a
pipeline or shipping supply and demand scenario
may benefit from Process Control improvements
when managed holistically. This may require
improvement to hardware or control algorithms,
our job is to find out where to and how to
address it. Process control systems receive data
from field equipment that measures physical
characteristics such as level, temperature,
pressure, flow, speed (RPM), product qualities
and composition etc. The process control systems
also output commands to regulate the processes
required to be controlled, these can be analogue
modulation (0 to 100) or discrete signals (On /
Off). Process control and automation rely heavily
on field instruments, analysers and the
performance of the output commanding elements or
final elements. Often the fidelity and response
of the final elements be it valves or turbines
etc, may be limited by their sub-control systems
e.g. valve positioning and control or speed
governours respectively. SAROM GLOBAL is able to
identify if there are innate Vs superimposed
final element behaviour limiting Process Control
and are able to work through the multidisciplinary
issues with OEMs and clients to improve or
remediate.
- Applications of Process Control and Instrument
Engineering Include - Monitoring and protection of important
infrastructure via plant Central Control Rooms
(CCRs) or remotely - Field sensor data are inputs to PLC/ SCADA/ DCS
associated Process and Event Historial
(trending) systems in oil and gas facilities,
mineral processing, chemical processing
industries. Real-time and historical process data
analysis requires specialist knowledge to
interpret data or to develop monitoring
algorithms in order to decipher process data
that may only be effectively be analysed via
multivariable analysis. Similarly, the analysis
of final element behaviours is equally important
as the final elements control the plant. We can
help with - Process Historian System (trending systems) and
Sequence of Events (SOE) Functional
Requirements. - Incorrect specification of Historians and SOE
systems is a common problem and leads to poor
data quality that can result in the inability to
accurately assess the plant and past scenarios. - Supervising, the Surveillance and manual
graphical interpretation of the process and
equipment conditions. - Optimisation of processes based on past patterns
in process and equipment performance.
3- Recording of the process deviance from expected
process conditions and providing guidance on how
to manage. - Diagnosing the health of equipment and processes,
as well as planning their overhaul/repair and
preventing any breakdowns. - Triggering of process alarms and shutdowns for
safely operating the facility.
Power Plant Grid Stability Due to Renewable on
the increase
- The energy grids stability is progressively
being impacted by the increasing effects of
Renewables as their connected capacity increases.
The instability is a result of decentralised
large scale generator supply being paralleled
with Renewable sources with their outputs not
being coordinated with traditional generators.
There is practically no synergy to coordinate as
there is a conflict in the business objectives,
ie. the Renewables need to transfer their energy
when nature provides and the traditional power
plants would like to run at maximum constant
load 24/7. - Some consequences are
- Market supply and demand rapid cost variations,
where in Australia spot market prices can exceed
5,000MWh and then swing negative MWh. This
variation has massive market effects on
end-users, generators, traders and business
investment decisions for new power plants and
upgrades. - Power grid voltage, frequency and current
disturbances, resulting in partial/complete grid
tripping. - Dynamic response of traditional power plants as
Renewables output swings. - This is a multivariable process control problem.
The major challenge is how to coordinate
conflicting business entities. Some dampening can
be attained by storage technology be it
batteries, hydroelectric associated pumping,
flywheels etc. However, any time another storage
technology is applied, this results in losses and
requires capital investment. This does not mean
storage does not have a place, rather the
question should be asked, what else can be done
with the current hardware. This is the role of a
Process Control Engineering Consultant and
Practitioner. - Control opportunities exist, where hardware and
control improvement can be made within a plant
to improve the dynamic response and range.
Additionally, major consumers can be Control
Coordinated with Generators synergetically
improve overall grid stability. Doing so is a
complex control, hardware and economics problem
where SAROM GLOBAL can assist.
4Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
and Human Machine Interference (HMI)
CCR / Panel Operators and Engineers all look at
real-time and historical data which can be from
a SCADA, DCS, HMI or other similar systems. The
usability of graphical HMI (interfaces) is
cardinal as this affects the real-time
interpretation of the plants state and any
possible imminent actions required. During
adverse events, HMI and data quality is important
in order to rapidly comprehend what to do next.
There have been major incidents in an industry
where operators have been overloaded by poorly
defined process alarms or alarms where the
quality was poor and difficult or impossible to
interpret. Process Control is more than tuning a
PID control loop, it requires a thorough process
unit knowledge along with how to manage the
respective equipment technologies. Should you
require additional help with your project or
existing asset, we recommend contacting
us. References https//www.saromglobal.com/inst
rument-and-process-control-engineering-
consultants/ Sarom Global HQ Australia,
supporting EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa),
Asia Pacific, Americas https//www.saromglobal.com
/ info_at_saromglobal.com 61283175089
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