2005-04-26 - An upgrade at BP’s Lomond North Sea gas production platform is seeing ABB replacing control modules and operator stations with modern equipment that saves space while adding more control capacity.
ABB is replacing five of its ABB Masterpiece controllers with four of its modern equivalent, the AC450. It is also replacing two ABB Masterview operator stations with two ABB Operate IT workstations.
The reduction in controller quantities results from the greater power and capacity of the new AC450s compared with the unit it is replacing. This allows more functions to be run on one unit, cutting the number needed and saving space. The operator stations have also been improved. The new slim line monitors save space and also have much higher resolution graphics than the originals. They are also Microsoft Windows based, making them familiar for operators to work with and reducing the need for training.
BP Project Manager for the Lomond project was Doug Newlands: “The previous controllers were working at 80 percent of their capacity and this did cause us some concerns. The new AC450s will only be using some 40 percent of their capacity so the same issues should not arise.”
Because of the commonality shared by the ABB systems, all the I/O is the same, as is the software, allowing much quicker installation than a completely new system. The new control elements will allow for future expansion of the plant and an additional compression stage is being installed during 2Q 2005
The complete control system, including the AC450 controllers, was tested in a controlled environment at ABB’s St Neots manufacturing facility. The controllers and the new operator stations were successfully installed during a planned production outage in September 2004. Control room staff have been running new operational statistics alongside the old ones, gaining confidence with the new system and checking the accuracy of the graphics. Operators will be able to set up the stations as they want them, arranging the display to suit their working methods and give them the data in formats to which they are accustomed.
Newlands concludes: “We are confident about the support ABB will provide for the system and that the AC450 will continue to meet the Lomond platform’s control needs for many years to come.”