Transform Operations with IIoT-enabled Control Valves

The promise of new technologies that help companies monitor their systems in real time, as well as collect and analyse data that lead to actionable insights, is an attractive one.

With the constant pressure to increase plant profitability, it’s more important than ever to be able to remotely execute the tasks that keep facilities safe and operational.

Skilled resources are limited, expert product support can be difficult to access, unplanned downtime and surprise repairs continue to deplete budgets, turnaround maintenance scope lists always grow larger than planned, and information the team needs to make sound decisions is disorganised or stranded at the component.

The answer lies in digitally transforming your existing systems and resources to enable a safer, more efficient, predictive approach to maintenance that yields both immediate and long-term benefits to operations and ensures you’re getting the most out of the equipment in the plant.

Advanced technologies can deliver actionable information on plant equipment, production processes and personnel health in real-time, anywhere in the world. 

Smart Valves

Manufacturing companies focused on equipment uptime, for example, must ensure their assets–from valves and pumps to heat exchangers–are working properly.

One seemingly simple component in almost every production environment, the valve, can be used to highlight the impact digital transformation can make when the right technology is leveraged, and problems are predictively identified to better manage the entire lifecycle of the valves.

The key is to implement the level of digitalisation that best fits your organisation. At a basic level, digital valve controllers enable valve calibration, positioning, and can perform in-the-field diagnostics.

Take it a step further to connect the digital valve controllers with software that introduces alerts, alarms and gathers data from sensors.

But getting the data is only a start. It is important to make sense of that data to drive real improvement, and if skilled resources are limited, valve digitisation can seem like a waste.

Comprehensive sensor networks can gather rich diagnostics information on plant equipment and deliver it securely to experts in a usable context.

Customers who use these IoT-enabled technologies to dynamically monitor the health of equipment in real-time from anywhere in the world, are getting early insights to prevent unplanned downtime.

It’s certainly not feasible to have valve experts at all sites, but remote diagnostics through valve condition monitoring is key in realising the value of digital transformation projects.

Valve Condition Monitoring

Fortunately, there’s a way to supplement your workforce expertise with an IIoT-based service that strengthens valve reliability programs by collaborating with expert resources as an extension of your team.

Valve experts utilise software packages that leverage empirical data models to guide end-user maintenance decision making. This paves the way for manufacturers to supplement in-house expertise in areas where it’s needed, while also taking advantage of third parties with important domain expertise.

How does it work? Diagnostic data is collected and securely fed to remote experts who can monitor and manage operations at multiple facilities via remote integrated operations centres. 

Often, they can remotely direct on-site crews equipped with video and audio tools, avoiding travel. These valve experts compile a report complete with issue identification and actionable recommendations to work toward resolution.

Plus, with newly implemented technology innovations such as augmented reality, assistance from third-party experts can support operators remotely for immediate support, another part of an overall digital transformation strategy.

Benefits of Valve Condition Monitoring

Monitoring control valves using predictive technologies paired with the appropriate level of preventive maintenance and offline diagnostics offers the most comprehensive solution for complete valve reliability.

In-service valve analysis provides additional insight by collecting data on vibration, acoustics, process variables and in-situ (online) diagnostics. Tools for time series analysis can provide teams with the visibility to see the rapid increase of things like travel deviation before the impact is felt on other equipment or the process.

This provides more time to analyse conditions that can cause travel deviation and allow for customers to capture more incremental value by earlier identification.

This increased access to actionable information enables a reduction on maintenance spend, avoid process slowdowns or unplanned shutdowns, and transforms the maintenance strategy into a predictive approach that helps get ahead of potential problems before they impact operations.

Gain Service Efficiencies with IIoT Technologies

When it comes to maintaining process equipment and repairing valves, a great deal of efficiencies can be realized. Traditionally, plant maintenance crews would spend most of their time scrambling to fix broken equipment.

But today’s monitoring and control automation capabilities, powered by IIoT, provide real-time predictive intelligence. When teams are using this information correctly, they can focus maintenance efforts on identifying and addressing potential issues before they result in break-downs, as well as get early notice of unpreventable failures.

Think of all the tasks that can increase risk to your timeline, budget and, most importantly, people: locating valves in the field or in the stock yard; validating the construction of valve assemblies; reading through written reports to determine work scope; shuffling through papers to find installation manuals; sending personnel into risky areas of the plant to find critical valves; and assembling and disassembling scaffolding to reach valves – just to name a few. Integrating key technologies into these work practices can improve efficiency, safety, and effectiveness.

Asset Management Tags

Data-driven decisions lead to optimised operations planning and better management of your maintenance spend—radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can help you make those decisions.

An RFID leveraged asset management system can give you the ability to store and retrieve critical information about a valve’s construction, service information, and regulatory certification on a digital chip that stays with the assembly.

Using a handheld RFID reader, the tag contents can be read and loaded for further analysis. The data stored on the tag can be exported to your CMMS to give you a full view of your operation.

Using Asset Management Tags, you can identify valves, record maintenance activities, and update re-certification dates more safely and efficiently.

Conclusion

When implementing IIoT-based technology for your operations, information availability to support decisions for shutdown planning or emergency maintenance is greatly improved.

These types of IIoT technologies, including remote monitoring combined with expert consulting, are delivering a new level of ROI to companies.

Valve condition monitoring is effective at helping maintenance personnel focus on the valves that need attention, when they need it.

These focused, flexible technology solutions can be easily deployed into your existing plant workflows and results in lower variability and increased reliability of your valves.

By empowering personnel with data-rich insights, equipping them with the actionable information they need to make informed decisions can lead to measurable performance improvement in the areas of production, reliability, safety and energy management.

The momentum of IIoT remains undeniable; finding the most strategic and flexible path to take advantage of IIOT and gain measurable business improvement is much clearer today than ever before.