(48g) Tutorial – Redefining Ethylene Turnarounds Using Technology

Anyone involved in planning and executing turbomachinery turnarounds understands the importance of developing a solid plan and having an experienced team to execute that plan. Though there have been many advancements throughout the years positively impacting turnaround safety and quality, the execution duration of a turbomachinery overhaul has been relatively unchanged. Over the last decade, however, vast improvements in technology have enabled engineers and technicians to reimagine how quickly a turbomachine can be overhauled.

Advanced precision metrology is one of the tools being used to reduce turbomachinery downtime durations by up to 75%, while improving quality and safety. Turbomachinery can be virtually assembled to identify and address assembly issues prior to physical assembly and eliminates traditional, manual, and iterative techniques. Internal clearances and component positioning can be optimized virtually, enabling the precise physical assembly of spare components. Virtual assembly allows us to reimagine the execution sequence for overhauling turbomachinery, enabling the rotor, bearings, and seals to be worked in parallel to the compressor casing, diaphragms, and other stationary components. Virtual assembly enables an innovative, modular approach to maintenance.

However, there is a significant amount of detailed planning required to successfully utilize precision metrology to make real-time decisions. Detailed pre-turnaround planning is necessary to optimize the execution sequence for turbomachinery overhauls, especially when there are multiple equipment bodies needing to be worked in parallel. By integrating precision metrology with large area laser scanning, maintenance digital twins can be developed, enabling a realistic simulation down to a very granular level.

Maintenance digital twins can highlight special tooling, rigging plans for complex lifts, and technical hold points for taking critical measurements. These detailed simulations can be leveraged for training engineers, technicians, and supervision prior to a downtime to ensure everyone understands the equipment layout, pieces and parts within the machine, and methods for overhauling the equipment. Digital twins can also be used for training new employees that may not have an opportunity to see the equipment open for many years and for knowledge retention of more experienced employees, capturing and incorporating their vast experience collected throughout their careers.

Virtual assembly and maintenance digital twins enable a novel approach when overhauling turbomachinery. Downtimes in this industry typically result in huge monetary losses, costing some customers millions of dollars per day. By leveraging advanced technology, assembly issues can be identified in advance of causing schedule delays, and execution sequences can be optimized, shifting the paradigm for how maintenance has been conducted for the past 75+ years. Leveraging precision metrology and scanning, complete digital replicas are created for each machine down to the smallest components. This data is then stored for future downtimes, driving even more efficiencies and insights for those subsequent outages.

This tutorial addresses how precision metrology, virtual assembly, and maintenance digital twins are changing the way the industry plans and executes turnarounds. An example ethylene train is considered in this tutorial with emphasis on all typical phases from start to finish, involving pre-turnaround, turnaround, and post-turnaround activities. Technology integration is discussed in detail to explain how such a vast reduction in execution duration is achieved on a complex, large, multi-body train.