The HART Communication Foundation has selected the MOL Plc Danube Refinery located in Százhalombatta, Hungary, as recipient of the 2010 HART Plant of the Year Award. The award showcases end users who have demonstrated creativity in the application of HART Communication. Beginning in 2002, MOL engineers made the strategic decision to install HART-enabled devices. This decision was part of a plant-wide refining maintenance strategy with an objective to increase operational reliability.
On-line device diagnostics -- instrument signals going directly to the plant maintenance and control systems -- help to prevent unplanned shutdowns and plant slow-downs by allowing engineers to detect and resolve automation asset problems before they become critical.
According to MOL maintenance engineers, since the introduction of HART diagnostics at the petrol refinery, the number of valves selected for repair during a planned shutdown has dropped from 60% to about 5%. The system works so well and has proved to be so beneficial that the company has set up a separate unit of three people to operate the applications and systems. Using HART diagnostics has resulted in MOL saving an estimated US$2 million in reduced maintenance costs and avoided unscheduled shutdowns.
More than 30,000 of the plant’s 50,000 instruments are HART-enabled with 3,700 of these HART devices (mostly control valves and instruments used in critical control loops) connected directly into computerized maintenance management systems.
For more information, visit: http://www.hartcomm.org.
Photo Caption: HART Communication Foundation Executive Director Ron Helson (2nd from left) presents the 2010 HART Plant of the Year Award to MOL Danube Refinery, Százhalombatta, Hungary, (l-r) László Galambos, Refining Director; Gábor Bereznai, Head of Instrumentation and Electrical Department; Gergely Nádasy, Head of Maintenance Management; and József Bartók, Automation Engineer.
