Saturday, 19 August 2006

DHAHRAN: On the long journey from the depths of earth and sea to homes and businesses around the world, energy takes many twists and turns. Pumps, compressors and fans, driven by turbines and motors, convey liquids and gases through their stages and toward their destinations.

This conversion machinery is critical to Saudi Aramco's mission of providing energy to the world - in fact, it accounts for more than 40 percent of power usage in company facilities, as well as a significant portion of operating costs.

Saudi Aramco's Consulting Services, a part of Engineering Services, provides the technical support necessary to purchase, maintain and operate this crucial machinery in the most efficient and effective manner.

A tall order, these responsibilities include ensuring that equipment is constructed according to Saudi Aramco and international industry standards, and uses the latest materials and manufacturing techniques for maximum efficiency and minimum operating and maintenance costs.

Because most of this equipment is custom-designed, engineered and manufactured, each machine must be tested in the manufacturer's facility to ensure that flow, temperature, pressure and other criteria meet the operating codes specific to the facility for which it is intended.

To accommodate this critical step in the manufacturing process, test stands are constructed in manufacturers' facilities, with complex instrumentation connected to a control-room computer.

The tests, which are carried out in accordance with internationally approved test codes, must be witnessed so that a decision can be made about whether a machine meets standards and acceptance criteria. If not, it may have to be modified and retested. The whole testing, evaluation and retesting process can incur high costs in terms of travel and time away from work.

Saudi Aramco is one of the first companies in the world to use a new technology that allows test-stand data to be viewed in real time from a remote location.

The company successfully carried out its first application of remote testing, or online testing, recently when a 25,000-horsepower propane compressor was tested in manufacturer Dresser-Rand's facility in New York State, and the data was simultaneously monitored by Saudi Aramco in Dhahran and the contractor in Spain.

The machine, one of the largest of its type in Saudi Aramco, will be installed in Ju'aymah as part of the Ju'aymah Gas Plant expansion project.

Eric W. Brown, a Saudi Aramco compressor consultant and lead engineer for the initiative, is pleased with the positive outcome - and implications - of this first test.

"With remote testing, we make the most of our technical experts' time and can provide better technical support to the project teams and manufacturing facilities. There is no loss of accuracy or data with remote testing, and we have much greater flexibility since travel and test schedules are no longer issues, although time-zone differences can be inconvenient."

Indications that remote testing can streamline a crucial operational component without compromising quality or security, plus save time and money, call for further use of the technology.

"At the moment, we have two manufacturers who can provide this remote monitoring capability," Brown said. "We are working with our other vendors so that, ultimately, we can utilize this type of technology for all our equipment testing."

© The Saudi Gazette 2006