William Vickers, Ionix Advanced Technologies, UK, explains the contribution that corrosion monitoring technology can make towards increased industry sustainability.
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ownstream refinery operators face an existential challenge with a range of critical pressures facing the industry. With the drive towards a low carbon future, the coming period requires refinery operators to adapt their business strategy and operations if they want to secure their future. On top of everything, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic bring both business and operational challenges to maintain the safety and health of the business operations and staff. All of these challenges require operators to put sustainability front and centre of their strategy, and to look at all aspects of their long-term operations in order to meet emissions targets, minimise the risk of unplanned outage, maximise production availability and rates, and reduce operational risk. Industrial plant digitalisation is spreading across a wide range of sectors, including oil and gas, energy and nuclear, and process industries. Plant digitalisation is increasingly seen as a key element to enable long-term sustainability of a refinery or upstream operation, with a range of monitoring applications including corrosion monitoring driving towards digitalisation. Automating thickness measurements can allow for an increase in the data collection frequency providing up-to-date measurements to feed into both asset integrity programmes and to guide process control and productivity optimisation. This approach can underpin long-term sustainability by
HYDROCARBON 75
ENGINEERING
August 2021
