The Industrial
Internet of Things
Drive IIoT success with advanced analytics
Refineries, petrochemical and other
process plants face similar challenges in
daily operations, as each facility must
mitigate risk, anticipate maintenance,
optimize operations and minimize opera-
tional expenses. To achieve these goals,
plant personnel rely heavily on data to
drive decisions.
The excitement around the Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT) is its ability to
deliver this data at lower cost and in great-
er volumes than ever before. This is ac-
complished when IIoT implementations
take advantage of advancements in the
areas of wired and wireless sensors, net-
working and data storage technologies.
The driving forces for these innova-
tions are declining costs and increased
connectivity options, enabling plants to
measure far more parameters of inter-
est, many of which were too expensive to
monitor with older solutions.
Most of these sensors will be connect-
ed to a plant’s existing regulatory control
or asset management system. Wired sen-
sors with 4-20mA outputs require spare
inputs on these systems, but many newer
sensors and instruments will use fieldbus
digital communications, simplifying wir-
ing and lowering costs.
Wireless sensors can be connected to
a plant’s control or asset management sys-
tem via a gateway. The sensors connect
to a gateway that is hardwired to the host,
usually via an Ethernet connection, elimi-
nating the need for additional input points.
Access to this data by engineers and
plant management may be enabled world-
wide to anyone with intranet or internet
connectivity and proper security creden-
tials. The proliferation of high-speed Wi-Fi
and cellular networks has made this type
of connectivity ubiquitous and reliable.
However, collecting, storing and dis-
seminating data is just the starting point
J. ZINSLI, Seeq, San Leandro, California
FIG. 1. Advanced analytics software simplifies and speeds the execution of the steps required
to analyze data and share insights.
for IIoT implementations. Process and
reliability engineers, often referred to as
subject matter experts (SMEs), must ana-
lyze this data and derive results to provide
operational guidance.
This is best accomplished by using ad-
vanced analytics software to connect to
the myriad of data sources. The right soft-
ware is a very effective tool in the hands
of SMEs, enabling them to create and
share insights using a workflow process,
as shown in FIG. 1.
The following examples show how
advanced analytics software can be used
in refineries and petrochemical plants to
improve operations.
Preventing vessel brittle fracture.
Vessels in refineries and petrochemical
plants require scheduled inspection and
maintenance because many different fac-
tors can cause degradation of vessel integ-
rity. A major risk requiring attention dur-
ing transient operations is brittle fracture.
Brittle fracture occurs when a vessel
experiences high stress, such as elevated
pressure, without being sufficiently pre-
heated. The minimum temperature at
which a vessel can withstand pressure is
often represented by a minimum allow-
able temperature (MAT) curve plotted
on an x-y diagram, with pressure on the
x-axis and temperature on the y-axis.
Awareness and careful monitoring of
pressure and temperature during vessel
heat up and cool down can mitigate risks
of brittle fracture.
Plant personnel often use the MAT
diagram appropriate for a piece of equip-
ment given its metallurgy, and transpose
these as limits, particularly for startup and
shutdown procedures.
A better approach is to use advanced
analytics software to convert the relation-
ship between pressure and temperature,
as depicted on the MAT diagram, to a
new signal based on the vessel pressure.
This allows a desirable operating range to
be established and used to closely moni-
tor operations based on live pressure data.
MAT diagrams differ based on a ves-
sel’s metallurgy and other factors, and the
new signals created for comparison must
also be unique to each vessel to align with
operating pressures and temperatures.
The left side of FIG. 2 shows a MAT
vs. pressure diagram applicable for a ves-
sel.1 This diagram represents operating
Hydrocarbon Processing | JULY 201959
 The Industrial Internet of Things
conditions as one focused point on the
trend. During startup or shutdown con-
ditions, that point may vary significantly.
To maintain integrity, it is important to
ensure that this point will always remain
above the MAT line.
As shown on the right side of FIG. 2, a
SME can use advanced analytics software
to create a piecewise function for this line,
which now becomes an inferred variable
calculated as a function of the vessel’s
pressure. This allows plant personnel to
track operation in real time by observ-
ing—and alarming, as required—this
inferred signal, which varies based on the
measured pressure variable.
Protecting coke drums. Like vessels,
coke drums experience temperature fluc-
tuations on a regular basis. Metallurgists
or vessel vendors can identify acceptable
FIG. 2. Advanced analytics software was used to create an inferred variable (blue line on chart
on the right) based on pressure, which can be tracked to ensure it stays within acceptable limits.
FIG. 3. This analysis uses cleansed data to predict the end of run for a heat exchanger,
allowing maintenance to be scheduled only as required.
60JULY 2019 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
heat-up rates that are potentially separate
from brittle fracture pressure require-
ments. This data can be used along with
advanced analytics software to identify
drum cycles, calculate the rate of tem-
perature change for each cycle and trend
those aggregated rates to determine when
and if they change over time.
This same approach can be used to
immediately identify when a heat-up or
cooldown was faster than recommend-
ed. Identifying these deviations can
dictate what operational adjustments
must be made to meet desired vessel life,
and to drive inspection schedules in re-
sponse to deviations.
Analyzing coke drum cycles is an area
where reliability and process engineers
must often collaborate. Reliability engi-
neers may be interested in the heat cycles,
while process engineers may be interested
in target temperatures or the duration of
coke drum cycles.
With traditional analytics tools such as
spreadsheets, reliability engineers usually
rely on process engineers to identify the
times/durations of each cycle. As new cy-
cles occur, someone must be responsible
for documenting each cycle and its associ-
ated parameters, and then disseminating
that information.
Rather than passing off spreadsheets or
updating spreadsheets manually with new
information, advanced analytics software
can be used to facilitate ongoing documen-
tation and sharing of cycle information.
Predicting heat exchanger perfor-
mance. Process engineers are often re-
sponsible for justifying maintenance on
fixed equipment. In advance of a planned
outage, these engineers are tasked with
identifying the heat exchangers to be ser-
viced. The goal is to minimize maintenance
costs and outage time while ensuring that
successful operations can be carried out
until the next planned downtime.
To do this, process engineers must
transform historical data into a forecast of
reasonable expectations. This is usually
done through the application of first-prin-
ciples equations to calculate heat transfer
coefficients based on historic temperatures
and flowrates. Fluid properties from equip-
ment data sheets or historical lab data may
also be included in these calculations.
The result of these calculations is a
model representing how the heat trans-
fer coefficient is expected to change over
time. This usually requires the data and
raw calculations to be filtered first to cre-
ate an accurate model, often referred to as
data cleansing.
SMEs can perform data cleansing with
traditional spreadsheet tools, but this is a
cumbersome and time-consuming pro-
cess. For example, a SME may need to re-
move data if an instrument was out of ser-
vice for some time, or if an earlier process
outage occurred where the calculations do
not apply. Using advanced analytics soft-
ware to perform this cleansing can sim-
plify and streamline the task of refreshing
a heat exchanger end-of-run forecast.
Once the appropriate data is identified
and cleansed, the decay of the heat trans-
fer coefficient can be accurately modeled
based on time in service and other appli-
cable variables, such as target temperature
or anticipated flowrate (FIG. 3).
 The Industrial Internet of Things

This model can be used to project the
heat transfer coefficient decay into the
future to determine when the exchanger
will fail to meet its required heat transfer
rate. This information can then be used to
predict heat exchanger performance and
schedule maintenance only as needed.
Modeling success. Process engineers
are actively engaged in monitoring prod-
uct quality and yields, so they must closely
observe operating conditions. Many pro-
cess units can produce different grades of
products when parameters are adjusted.
For example, increasing reforming sever-
ity can result in lower liquid volume yield
but high-octane product, and these types
of operations will sometimes be neces-
sary to meet product specifications.
To anticipate how much an operation-
al target must be adjusted, a SME is often
asked to create a model for the process.
Carrying this reformer example further,
it is possible—but not likely—that one
model for reformate yield can encompass
the wide array of inputs.
In most cases, the most accurate mod-
els will instead be based on narrower
subsets of data. For example, the process
engineer will likely create low- and a high-
severity models, and use each model as
needed to meet operational goals.
Advanced analytics software empow-
ers engineers to create multiple models
and then combine them into one model
representative of operations at any point
in time. While process engineers will gen-
erate these models and use them to un-
derstand specific situations, such as how
the catalyst may be degrading over time,
others in the organization can also benefit
from their detailed efforts.
Since this new model will be of inter-
est to many different experts within an
organization, collaboration and knowl-
edge sharing help increase efficiency. For
instance, operations planning personnel
must understand these models to provide
appropriate guidance to meet product
requirements, or to evaluate the plant’s
capability to make new products (FIG. 4).
Using advanced analytics software with
built-in sharing functionality allows others
within the organization to access the mod-
els developed by SMEs, supporting data-
driven decisions across the enterprise.
Cutting operating expenses. Ad-
vanced analytics software can also be used
to reduce operating expenses. Most pro-
cess plants have a planning engineer or
other individual responsible for communi-
cating intermediate or utility requirements
to service providers on a routine basis.
These are often referred to as nominations
and can be applied to electricity, natural
gas, hydrogen or other utilities or interme-
diates purchased by the plant from a third-
party provider, such as an electric utility.
These nominations are necessary for
service providers to plan and adjust their
operations appropriately. For example, a
natural gas utility must plan pipeline op-
erations and supply to allow for required
amounts of natural gas deliveries. Com-
mercial contracts typically require a pro-
cess plant to consume some percentage of
the nomination, with a penalty charged for
either over or under consumption of the
nominated volume.
To minimize operating costs in envi-

48 TH TURBOMACHINERY &
35 TH PUMP SYMPOSIA
REGISTER TODAY!

SYMPOSIA & EXHIBITION: SEPT. 10-12

SHORT COURSES: SEPT. 9

T P S .TA M U . E D U | # T P S 2 0 19 # T U R BO P U MP 1 9

Hydrocarbon Processing | JULY 2019 61

 The Industrial Internet of Things
ronments where production, and there-
fore utilities consumption varies widely,
planning engineers must combine their
knowledge of planned operations in the
short term with current and historic ac-
tual consumption.
This can be done by using advanced
analytics software to create a model for
intermediate consumption, using process
historian data from past operations. Data
variables may include flowrates, tempera-
tures and other process parameters from
many units. Much like the reformer mod-
el mentioned here, multiple models must
FIG. 4. This model was created by an SME and then shared with others across the organization
to achieve various goals.
FIG. 5. Engineers and other experts can use advanced analytics software to directly interact
in a visual manner with the data sets of interest.
62JULY 2019 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
often be combined to more closely rep-
resent operations and produce the most
accurate results.
While the model is based on historical
data, it must be applied to current and ex-
pected future data to provide an appropri-
ate look ahead to anticipated operations.
Traditional tools would require manually
copying and pasting both recent histori-
cal and planned data into a spreadsheet as
part of this analysis. Using advanced ana-
lytics software that can connect to various
data sources, an SME can skip these data
access steps to quickly and simply view
historical and planned data.
Another advantage of creating the mod-
el with advanced analytics software is the
highly visual nature of reviewing the results
and determining when to retrain or adjust
the model (FIG. 5). While this kind of activ-
ity can be carried out with traditional tools,
model refinement is more complicated
with those approaches and can lead to lag-
ging when adjusting for error.
Depending on the size of these lagging
corrections and the accuracy of the tradi-
tional models, these lagging nomination
errors can cost operators millions of dol-
lars annually. Advanced analytics software
improves the quality and timeliness of
models, allowing plant personnel to more
accurately predict utility requirements.
Takeaway. For each of the examples
discussed here, traditional tools such as
spreadsheets can be used, but these gen-
eral-purpose tools require much more
effort than using advanced analytics soft-
ware specifically designed to create in-
sights from time-series process data.
Many of these examples involve ad-
vanced modeling. An important aspect
of effective predictive models is the in-
corporation of subject matter knowledge,
and this expertise must also be shared to
produce maximum benefit throughout a
company. Advanced analytics software
simplifies sharing and collaboration, al-
lowing engineers to invest their time and
knowledge in activities driving their orga-
nizations to higher profitability.
As data provided by IIoT implementa-
tions continues to increase, correspond-
ing demands on SMEs will only increase,
driving the need for advanced analytics to
find more insights faster.
LITERATURE CITED
1
Benac, D. J., N. Cherolis and D. Wood, “Managing
cold temperature and brittle fracture hazards in pres-
sure vessels,” Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention,
Vol. 16, Iss. 1, February 2016.
JOANNA ZINSLI is a Principal
Analytics Engineer at Seeq Corp.
She enjoys helping engineers
across verticals discover value in
their process data and simplify
their routine workflows using
Seeq. She received her BS degree
in chemical engineering from the University of
Arizona, and then began her career as a process
engineer in petroleum refining with Valero Energy
Corp. After supporting several units, she transitioned
to refinery economics as an optimization engineer.
Just prior to joining Seeq, Ms. Zinsli managed the
refinery’s planning and economics team.