INTECH recognized for outstanding services on a Dehydration Plant upgrade project in West Africa

INTECH Process Automation was recognized for its outstanding services on a hot cutover – upgrade project at a dehydration plant in West Africa enabling vastly superior process and safety control at the facility.

The client, one of the major oil and gas companies in the world, boasts a long and successful presence in Africa. INTECH was awarded this project based on a burgeoning list of excellently executed automation projects with the client as well as years of successful business operations in the African continent.

The project was successfully completed last year (reported on these pages) and the client’s statement recognized “outstanding contributions and good synergy with other stakeholders in the successful completion of the Dehydration Safety and Control System Upgrade Project” appreciating “commitment to safety and team spirit” as highly commendable.

The dehydration plant, where the project was executed, was set up to remove water content from the crude oil before shipping to mid-stream and down-stream facilities and customers. The said facility has evolved over time starting from a crude oil heater and a water knockout vessel to having extended processes of multiple heaters, chemical injection and separation units. Owing to this evolution, the control and safety systems are split into various packages (WashTank PLCs, Ground Flare PLCs and Gas Tech PLCs) and main process control PLCs.

INTECH team proceeded to firstly split the main process control PLC, which was a single PLC5 based control, into separate Process Control PLCs and the Safety Shutdown System PLCs and as well as to upgrade the PLC5 based system to full ControlLogix based system. Secondly the new object functionality was to be implemented into the packaged PLC systems, essentially changing the way operations were performing their day to day functions on the HMI and making them consistent for all PCS, SSS and Package systems.

The biggest challenge was that the client could not afford any downtime and therefore the system had to be kept live at all times. INTECH was therefore to perform a Hot Cutover of the main PLC into a split PLC and SSS. INTECH came strong in the ICSS design and package systems engineering phase conducting a successful FAT. Then exhaustive planning works and SAT preparations provided excellent stepping stones in planning and executing the Hot Cutover of the main PLCs into a split PCS and SSS. The project lifecycle was immaculately executed; to our client’s immense satisfaction; from Engineering phase to FAT. SAT was done on the Dehydration Site followed by the Hot Cutover of the Safety Systems; upgrade of the package PLCs, converting the PLC5 based Process Control IO system to ControlLogix IO systems and decommissioning activities.

The baseline FAT-ed package system applications became online smoothly when downloaded to their processors and not only were the client’s alarm management objectives achieved but to its utter delight; the solution enabled vastly superior historical trending and monitoring than before.

About INTECH’s Integrated Control Systems (ICS) Solutions

INTECH’s Integrated Control Systems offer a complete array of vendor neutral control automation and integration solutions ranging from basic Process Control, Safety, F&G and Power Management applications to data networks, site security, instrument management and fully integrated control and safety systems. Our third party start-up and commissioning services ensure minimum downtime and accelerated glitch-free execution. INTECH’s ICS is a “One-Stop Automation Solution” that improves plant safety, reliability and efficiency while lowering costs and increasing returns.

For more information visit: https://www.intechww.com/automation/integrated-control-systems/

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About INTECH

INTECH Process Automation  is an international Control Systems engineering and Systems Integration company delivering reliable automation solutions to the Oil & Gas sector since 1991. INTECH has done projects in 31 countries across 6 continents with regional offices in 13 countries, equipping it with 2000+ engineering man-years of experience. INTECH’s vendor-neutral approach and extensive experience help serve both regional and global customers with the highest standards of quality and reliability.

INTECH covers all traditional asset classes (upstream, midstream & downstream) as well as shale and buoy automation. Its wide range of solutions covers traditional control system automation as well as hydraulic (surface and sub-surface) control system automation and advanced software solutions for operations and asset management. Customers benefit from INTECH’s lump-sum turnkey solutions to save costs and increase plant productivity.

For more information visit: www.intechww.com