Web
Enabled
Measurement,Asset Healthcare & Management
This
article looks at the use of such technology and outlines various scenarios,
which will assist in the healthcare and management of measurement assets,
says Gerry E. Inglis.
Introduction
In
today’s increasingly regulated world, the requirement to formally document
the operation and maintenance of measurement systems and assets demands
no justification. It is of paramount importance that actions and events
are recorded as they occur and then shared with others as expeditiously
as possible. Managing liquid and gas measurement assets can be greatly
enhanced using Internet inspired communication techniques which can
take real time data acquisition, control and management to a new level
of performance, reliability and secure accessibility.
This
article looks at the use of such technology and outlines various scenarios,
which will assist in the healthcare and management of measurement assets
including data acquisition & control and web enabled products such
as Log Books, Audit and Equipment Management Packages.
Conventional
Measurement Asset Management & Healthcare
In
the past, measurement asset management has traditionally been a paper
trail with
-
Daily, Weekly & Monthly Production Logs
-
Meter Proving Reports
-
Process Report Charts for Temperature, Pressure & Density
-
Meter Factor Control Charts
-
Mis-measurement Reports
-
Various other associated reports
all
required to satisfy the field operator, pipeline operator, partners,
product sellers / buyers or government authorities since all of these
could have a vested interest in that measurement asset. In addition,
some or all of these reports may be used when the measurement asset
is subject to an audit, either internal, corporate or external by an
independent / third party auditor.
Early
use of computers to improve measurement asset management and healthcare
failed to deliver apparent benefits due to use of inadequate software
technologies. Today, a new breed of packages using advanced Web based
database technologies are not hindered by this legacy.
Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
There
are probably more SCADA manufacturers today than there are papers written
on this subject. However, previously SCADA systems tended to be complex
and typically used communication protocols and graphics technology proprietary
to each individual supplier and end user, most of them being designed
before the Internet revolution, i.e. before many of today’s software
standards existed. Systems were either largely bespoke to give the customer
all that they required and so were consequently expensive or they attempted
to be all things to all men and thus became so unwieldy that they never
quite achieved what was really needed.
Now
using latest generation software based on current Internet standards,
we can have data acquisition for a wide variety of uses, all of which
can be fully compatible with modern LAN, Intranet/Internet and database
technologies. Modern development tools allow implementation specific
to a customer’s real needs much more easily than before. Therefore,
whereas previously customers suffered either from a high cost or a compromise
in requirement, today simple and straightforward solutions can be delivered
at lower cost. Technicians, operators, managers and industry executives
can monitor and even control (with correct access privileges) plant
and process operations from anywhere in the world over the Internet,
just from their Web Browser.
New
Technology
The
implementation described here focuses on the use of these evolving technologies
for flow measurement asset healthcare and management in the Oil &
Gas Industry where a diverse range of smart instrumentation and even
smarter RTU’s are now available for measurement and control of hydrocarbon
products. As measurement and control technologies have evolved, the
requirement to access data, control events and distribute information
world-wide has become a major challenge.
It
is now possible to utilise secure, real time links between process control
instrumentation and the Internet allowing Operations, Management and
Technicians to interact with systems locally on private Intranet networks
or remotely via the Internet. In either case, access is gained using
a standard web browser interface.
Server
products are currently available running on a conventional PC, which
can be connected to RTU’s, flow computers or directly with smart transducers
using their proprietary hardware and software protocols. The data can
be collected and stored in a local database, which can also act as an
Internet server and which can transmit the data on request using secure
Internet technologies, anywhere in the world.....
....contd
