FieldComm Group announces that Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical Limited (MRPL), located in Mangalore, India, is the FieldComm Group 2018 Plant of the Year. The annual award is presented by FieldComm Group to recognize the people, companies and plant sites around the globe that are using the advanced capabilities of FOUNDATION Fieldbus, HART and WirelessHART technology in real-time applications for improved operations, maintenance and asset productivity. This is reportedly the first time that a process facility located in India has been awarded this prestigious award – illustrating India’s, and specifically MRPL’s, growing strength in the world market, according to FieldComm. The culture of “doing things better” is reportedly an integral part of MRPL. Close coordination between disciplines enable the company to use the information provided by smart devices well, leading to their selection as the 2018 Plant of the Year.

"FOUNDATION Fieldbus technology provided a 50% savings with I/Os, cabling, maintenance utilization and installation costs when compared to conventional installations – saving $6,600,000 in project costs alone. In terms of maintenance, FF and HART provided on our instruments, valves and positioners provide an average savings of 55 man days per month,” says B. Sudarshan, chief general manager of instrumentation and electrical at MRPL.

In addition to hard cost savings in infrastructure and maintenance time, MRPL reportedly continues to receive savings in averted shutdowns and interruptions. In one instance where an unexpected shutdown would have occurred due to valve fault, valve positioner diagnostics identified an issue that allowed MRPL to avoid shutting down hydrogen generation – saving $60,000 in startup and shutdown costs associated with fuel and energy loss, according to FieldComm.

“Open standards have enabled us to derive value in many different scenarios throughout the entire plant. For example, HART is enabled in our safety systems that allow for partial stroke testing – avoiding the necessity to completely shut down,” says B. Sudarshan. “Control in the Field provided by FOUNDATION Fieldbus allows MRPL to operate even in the event of critical hardware failure – giving our team peace of mind. In 2016, thanks to Control in the Field, we were able to keep our refinery processing running during a DCS upgrade that otherwise would have required a shutdown resulting in a production loss of $800,000.”

For more information, visit: www.fieldcommgroup.org