The impact of digital instrumentation at Oxea Netherlands

Chemical company Oxea Nederland is busy preparing the instrumentation in its Amsterdam factory for the digital transformation. David van der Werf, technical manager at Oxea, tells during the I&A event how these steps are being taken and expresses the desire for reliable wireless signals.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

According to Van der Werf, Oxea is currently working on gradually using digital instrumentation in its current production facility. He outlines the current situation at the chemical company: “We are getting a new control system, DeltaV from Emerson. And we are in the phase where most transmitters and instruments are about twenty years old. That is a normal time to replace them. That is the wave we are on now. What you see happening is that all the instruments we are buying now offer added value in the form of extra signals. That is often in the diagnostic area: how am I doing, am I measuring something strange?”

The question is how the Asset Owners will deal with this new data. Van der Werf: “You can adopt two attitudes: you can say, I have been letting the production come out of the factory for 20 years, what am I worried about, I can do fine without it. You can also have the attitude of I get more data, what do I do with it? Until recently we could not do anything with it, because the current operating system is outdated. DeltaV will soon be able to handle the diagnostic data.”

Benefits of diagnostic data

He continues: “A concrete example is the Rosemount pH meters. They have a sensor tip that needs to be replaced over time. This sensor tip has a shell life, so you can’t buy it in stock. The delivery time is often a month, which is annoying. Now it turns out that by consulting the diagnostic information of the pH sensor via DeltaV, we can tell when it is at 80 percent of its life phase. That means I can order sooner and am less likely to work with a device that is not working properly.”

But there are more developments in instrumentation for industry. For example, Van der Werf has high expectations of technology that can improve maintenance in a production line: “A development that I see, and I am still in the conceptual phase, is that you will also continuously monitor instrumentation for maintenance. You should think of a vibration meter or a temperature meter in an engine or a bearing. And that you then use this data to improve maintenance. The activation of the Delta V system will be an important step.”

Wireless

During the I&A event, the technical manager of Oxea also asked questions about the suppliers of instrumentation: “I would also like to point out the wireless developments in instrumentation. For small modifications, wireless is pure gold. If you receive a request for a change, for example the installation of a new temperature or pressure measurement, the implementation via wireless becomes much easier. In technical terms: You don't have to pull cables. But it is also easier to budget for it.”

Finally, Van der Werf also has questions for his colleagues: “The question I will put to them is: when will the wireless signal become so reliable that I can include it in a control loop? It is now common practice in the chemical industry to use wireless instrumentation exclusively for non-critical systems or for monitoring purposes. In order to control the process, OXEA does not want to start using wireless yet, that is taboo. So give me reliable wireless signals, also for critical applications, that is a wish I have.”

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