Oil Refinery Uses RFID To Eliminate Rework And Reduce Data Entry By 70%

Integrator SAT (Systems Automation Technology) Corp. proves the advantages of using RFID (radio frequency identification) over bar codes for a California oil refinery.

Processing 160,000 barrels of crude oil per day into gasoline and other petroleum by-products requires fail-safe equipment. A broken part can not only halt production, it can be dangerous. That's why a California oil refinery decided to improve the maintenance process for the plant's pressure relief valves. An integral part of any refinery operation, these valves are required to be tested and re-certified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Petroleum Institute (API). At refineries, this testing usually takes place annually during what is known as a maintenance turnaround. A maintenance turnaround is a proactive effort designed to prevent equipment failure during normal operations. It is similar to rotating or replacing the tires on an automobile to prevent uneven wear or flat tires. During a maintenance turnaround, an oil refinery is shut down for approximately 30 to 45 days. The valves are then removed and tested at a separate location with special testing equipment.

During the maintenance turnaround, a refinery needs to keep track of all relief valves to meet federal regulatory compliance tracking requirements. Furthermore, this process provides positive equipment identification for asset tracking.

RFID Instead Of Bar Codes
SAT (Systems Automation Technology) Corp. (Houston) is a data collection integrator that focuses on markets such as the oil and chemical industries. SAT contacted the California refinery and suggested a radio frequency identification (RFID) system for the plant's pressure relief valve tracking process. "The RFID system was intended to replace the plant's existing system that involved manual data entry of all valve maintenance records," explained Don Frieden, president at SAT. After seeing that the RFID tags could withstand harsh environments (up to 200° F) that bar codes could not, the refinery agreed to SAT's solution.

First, SAT placed Texas Instruments' TIRIS 134 kHz (kilohertz) RFID tags at the location of each relief valve and on the valve itself. The relief valves were then removed, RFID information read and recorded (using Telxon [Milford, OH] handheld computers), and sent to the off site maintenance facility. Once there, the tags were read using an IntelaTrac Data Acquisition Portable Reader (DAPR) plugged into stationary computers using RS-232 communications.

Saving Time By Eliminating Rework
During re-certification, any information changes made to a valve were simultaneously written to the tag and recorded in the maintenance facility's database using the same IntelaTrac DAPR. Both the readers and the computers used SAT's Universal Tag Formatting Protocol and Active X Controls to manage data storage and compression on the RFID tags. SAT's Web-based Universal Tag Formatting Protocol enabled both companies to read data from the tags and write data back to the tags in a common name-plate format.

Upon completion of the valve inspection and rebuild process, the maintenance facility transmitted all information electronically to the refinery's database. The valves were returned to the refinery with the RFID tags populated with the new certification information in the same common format.

The RFID solution enabled the refinery to reduce manual data entry by 70%. Furthermore, the RFID tags provided positive valve identification during the reinstallation process. "Since all the valves look very similar, previously a valve would occasionally be installed in the wrong location. This scenario would cause rework (removing the valve and reinstalling it in the correct location)," Frieden said. "Because the refinery has a limited number of days for the turnaround process, this kind of mistake was costly. The RFID solution eliminated that problem."