Pipe Dream to Life: 7 IIoT Modifications for ‘Refinery of the Future’

Pipe Dream to Life: 7 IIoT Modifications for ‘Refinery of the Future’

With 40+ years of a front-row seat in industrial recruiting, our team at Omega Point Partner has seen every industry, from manufacturing to power and energy, jostling to fill growing market demand. One of those industries with an urgent need for transformation is the Oil and Gas Industry.

Many companies in this industry are successfully reshaping their future using the Industrial Internet of Things.

Unfortunately, multiple speed breakers are slowing-down industries from evolving like these O&G companies. Some examples are High-Investment, lack of Data Infrastructure, Skill Gap, and the negative impact of Covid-19.

However, only some people are struggling! Refineries are evolving through networks of physical objects equipped with remote sensors, machine learning, and the cloud. Which makes it possible to gather data, process it, and use it to improve the visibility of their supply chains and optimize and simplify their internal operations. Refineries are becoming future-ready by using insights from this data to make decisions more quickly and effectively.

The question is: How Oil and Gas Industries are using Industrial IoT Infrastructure to make the Pipe Dream of Futuristic Refineries into reality?

In this post, we’ll share 07 use cases we gathered around IIoT through our years of talent hunting by successfully staying on top of respected industry’s needs for today and the future.

Case Studies – Refinery of the Future

• Maintenance Prediction

Asset inspection in the oil and gas industry can provide accurate insights for day-to-day operations, including maintaining current status information for efficient and secure operations. It also helps companies minimize downtime by detecting which components should be maintained. To avoid long downtimes and ensure employee safety, repairs can be scheduled far in advance to prevent failures.

Predictive Asset Maintenance is a technology that significantly helps companies prevent failure and unwanted downtime. Data-driven analytics can assist you in anticipating unexpected results & warns the condition of a binding machine before it breaks. That enables operators to assign timely inspection and repair personnel before any mishap to minimize production downtime and improve asset utilization.

• Intelligence & Operations Risk

Drilling accounts for most of the cost of oil and gas production, accounting for 20-30% of the total cost of production. Implementing IoT devices improves operational productivity while optimizing water, chemicals, and sand use. Intelligence efforts that are optimized give a higher labor and time-effective output. According to research, data-driven analytics can decrease operating time in half.

Similarly, using semi-automated field operations reduces people risk while lowering the cost of employee onboarding.

• Remote Site Monitoring

Upstream oil and gas production requires continuous monitoring of various machinery and aspects for field workers to maximize efficacy and security. Remote site monitoring allows maintenance crews to be less reactive. To ensure worker safety by removing them from potentially hazardous workplaces.

IoT deployment can help replace skilled labor with cost-effective solutions and draw additional recruiting because people can work in comfortable environments rather than regularly going to remote locations.

• Real-time Shipment Tracking

With better demand management, transparent material monitoring, and good logistics operations made possible by IoT, enhanced connectivity can alter end-to-end logistics and the supply chain in the oil and gas industry.

Real-time shipment tracking enables O&G companies to monitor transfer accuracy across supply chain partners via search where the shipment is at any given time. That allows accurate scheduling, reduces loss risk, and identifies all supply chain delays. GPS IoT devices are attached to containers and parts of the shipment to provide real-time updates.

• Worker Safety and Hazard Management

One of the key drivers of IoT adoption in the oil and gas industry is the desire to reduce the risk of accidents and ensure safety. Installing these devices eliminates the requirement for staff to be present in dangerous settings to ensure proper operation. They can operate remotely and supervise mainly automated processes thanks to this technology. It runs a fast trigger for retaliatory measures to protect workers and avert disasters in unlikely emergencies.

• Workforce Productivity

The oil and gas industry intends to use IoT to bridge communication barriers between those working in the field and those working in offices, improving overall safety and employee productivity. Deploying IoT devices like sensors, drones, & robots increases data security and removes the need for on-site staff for seamless operation.

IoT & big data work together to guide & optimize equipment usage through energy management and external support for physical activities. Oilfield personnel may stay connected & work more efficiently thanks to IoT technologies.

• Digital Twin in the Refinery Industry

Digital twins perform dry runs of asset simulation to optimize oil and gas asset value, such as optimizing operational and capital spending tradeoffs. A digital duplicate of a construction asset allows for virtual drilling down to acquire reports and information on the progress of each element from design. The dashboard receives information in real time and compares it to previous data.

That improves project pace and quality while also enhancing design. Likewise, digital twins for assets enhance maintenance operations by detecting potential problems and developing a repair strategy. Digital twins may also compare performance against other investments.

Conclusion

Using the above seven used cases of the Industrial Internet of Things, Oil and Gas Industries are winning the battle of growing demands and challenges of tomorrow. The best part is that other industries can use these case studies to implement IIoT infrastructure more efficiently.

Now that you have seen how IIoT is modifying the future of refineries, it’s time to carve out some time to deliver an impactful blow in your industry by putting at least one of these case studies in action. Like Omega Point Partners have been providing Impact Players to Employers across multiple segments of the US market. A few of our industry specialties include Manufacturing, Automotive, Chemicals / Petrochemical, Metals / Foundries, Engineering, Distribution, Power & Energy.

Also, which of these case studies is most relevant to your industry?

Let us know by leaving a quick comment below.