A centralized control center at the Jeddah Refinery was recently inaugurated, transforming the center from pneumatic and analog to digital. The first two phases of the Saudi project are complete and phase 3 is scheduled for completion in March, when all refinery controls, except the utilities and tank farm, will have been transferred to the centralized control center.
The utilities and tank farm controls will be transferred during Phase 4, which is scheduled for completion in 2007.
A 1998 risk assessment detailed deficiencies in the refinery's control system, which was built mostly in the 1960s and '70s. After extensive study, an solution emerged to merge the control system functions previously contained in separate units inside the refinery into a centralized control center in the refinery's admin building, while at the same time continuing the plant's efforts to achieve higher levels of automation.
The transformation, which primarily used in-house resources, required installation of fiber-optic cabling and new equipment at 1,750 instrumentation points. It also involved renovation inside the administration building, including making the control room walls blast-resistant and installing security entrances.
With the help of several company departments, Jiddah Refinery received approval for the project in October 2001 from the Supreme Commission for Industrial Security.
The benefits of the project included modernization of the refinery's control systems, centralization of control room functions, decreased safety risks for control room operators and a platform for future automation upgrades. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
