DCS Migration Lessons Learned

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DCS Migration
Lessons Learned
Presented at the 2015 Process Control and Safety Symposium
Houston, Texas, USA, 9-12 November 2015
Copyright 2015. All Rights Reserved. www.isa.org

2
Presenter
• Randy Conley is DCS/ SIS/ APC Implementation Supervisor for TOTAL’s
Port Arthur Texas refinery. He is currently architect for PAR’s multiyear
refinery-wide DCS and SIS migration projects. He also supervises the
advanced control group. Randy’s previous employers include Profimatics
and CITGO’s Lake Charles Louisiana refinery.
• Randy is a Registered Professional Engineer (PE), Project Management
Professional (PMP) and TOTAL’s AFPM Decision-Support committee
member. He holds BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from
Lamar University.

DCS MIGRATION:LESSONS LEARNED
TOTAL – Port Arthur Refinery (PAR)
• PAR is a 174MBPD transportation fuels, merchant refinery
• The site began in the 1920s as an Atlantic Refining oil terminal. The terminal
shipped crude oil from the nearby Spindletop oil field to Atlantic’s New
Jersey refinery
• PAR has operated as a fuels refinery since 1936
• The site has been owned and operated by Atlantic (1920s), ARCO (1938),
BP (1969), FINA (1973) and TOTAL (1999)
• Major processing units include an FCC, Reformer, and Delayed Coker
• Most products are shipped east of the Rockies via pipeline

What I will cover
• Program Background
• Selling the Program
• Project Staffing
• Handling Scope Discovery Items &
Discrepancies
• Current Program Status
More detail is available in the
Hydrocarbon Processing article (“DCS
Migration: Lessons learned”, Jan 2015,
pp. 75-80.
For other control migration issues, I
recommend…

Control System Migrations
• Published in 2013 – Daniel Roessler
– Project Justification/FEL (Front End
Loading)
– Bid Specification/ Vendor Selection
– Scope, Schedule, Budget
– Project Staffing/Training
– Progress Monitoring/ Change Orders
– High-Risk Areas/Cutovers
– Project Closeout/Lifecycle
Management

Program Background

Where We Were
• Our DCS (Distributed Control System) migration program began in 2005
• Existing Honeywell TDC-2000 DCS systems were at/ over capacity
• 80% TDC-2000, 20% TDC-3000
• 8 Data Hiways, 2 LCNs (Local Control Networks), 18,000 I/O
(Inputs/Outputs)
• Manufacturer announced a 2016 TDC-2000 end of support
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
Year Installed
Points
TDC-3000
TDC-2000

Program Plan
• Eight project steps were planned – one per Data Hiway
– Modernizing by Hiway allowed us to apply lessons-learned to future
steps
– Program steps were ordered according to system capacity, equipment
age and maintenance history
– Schedule was to begin a new step every 12 months to distribute capital
commitments and comply with Honeywell’s 2016 end-of-support date
– Each step took 18-24 months to complete, resulting in overlap
• Hot cutover (HCO) at Junction Box was our chosen approach
Month
Issue RFP, Select Contractor
Front End Loading
Project Kick-Off
Field Engineering
DCS Engineering
Factory Acceptance Test
Site Acceptance Test
Hot Cutover
Construction
Demolition
2421 22 2319 201 2 3 4 131211109 185 6 7 8 17161514

Hot Cutover (HCO)
• Pros
– Minimize risk of upset (one loop at a time)
– Easier operator transition to new system
– No critical path or start-up issues for
turnaround
– Schedule is decoupled from turnaround
• Cons
– Requires footprint and electrical power
sufficient to handle both systems
– If required, RIE (Remote Inst Encl) adds $1M
– HCO somewhat complicates field-input
wiring

Developing the Scope
• Used industry contacts to get recommendations for MAC (Main
Automation Contractors)
• Narrowed list of 12 recommended MACs to 5
• Awarded an FEL (Front End Loading) study (±10%) to three MACs
• Used FEL results to prepare the capital request for the first step
• Presented factored total program estimate in first-step management
review

Selling the Program

Our Audience
• Senior management (Houston/ Paris)
• Information needs are different than for a technical presentation
– Stakes are higher - $77M multiyear program
– Avoid unnecessary acronyms – use terms familiar to the audience
– Use common language – money (you need it, they control it)
– Anticipate questions, be prepared with answers – but don’t volunteer
info
– Speaking to persuade as well as inform
– Make no unsubstantiated claims
• Practice, practice, practice

PAR Uses the Dossier
• Dossier vetted by local management, delivered to senior management a
week in advance for review by their technical staff
• Pre-sell (answer corporate staff’s questions before formal review, if
possible)
• In-person or videoconference formal management presentation
• Executive Summary
– Two or three slides - summarize the dossier (some managers may not
read past the Executive Summary)
– Include scope, justification, project schedule
– Solid wrap-up/ conclusions
– Specific ±10% funding request
• Dossier Body:
– 7-12 slides
– Benefits (not features) – explain assumptionsPresented at the 2015 Process Control and Safety Symposium

Dossier
• Body (continued):
– Provide functional scope description (fit-for-purpose, not state-of-the-
art)
– Emphasize project results, not details
– Include a major milestone schedule
– Acknowledge lifecycle costs - framed in a positive manner
– Include resource demands as well as costs
– Focus on justifying the project
• Appendix – place supporting detail here –
use only to address questions

Project Staffing

Operations - key role in project
success
• Have a Console Operator (CO) assigned
early-on
– CO will sell other operators on project
• Determine cable-tray routing, RIE location
• Approve graphics updates
• Help develop operator training
• Develop hot cutover order/risk analysis
• Maintain operations punch-list
• Participate in FAT (factory acceptance
test), SAT (site acceptance test)

Hot Cutover (HCO) team
• Two outside teams, each having
– Systems hardware specialist
– One TOTAL & two contract instrument technicians
– Shared outside operator
• Construction coordinator – directs both outside
teams
• Inside team (Central Control Room)
– DCS systems manager–directs inside activities
– Extra console operator
– Two contract configuration specialists
– Two MAC engineers

HCO Execution
• With daily HCO contractor cost approaching
$10,000 - important to be efficient
• Decide on cutover order
– Back to front of unit
– Simple to complex loops
– If HMI upgrade is part of the step, attempt to cut over all points on a
graphic before moving to next one
– If issue arises, skip that loop and come back
• Supply lunch for efficiency
• Schedule: Four-10 hour days, target 35 points/day cutover. Reserve
Fridays for rain-out and to address issues identified earlier in the week

Handling Scope Discovery Items & Discrepancies

Scope Discovery Items (Lessons Learned)
• First phase generated 170+ items not identified in the FEL
– Some are hardware-based
– Some are to meet PAR Engineering Standards
– Some to meet preferences/ best practices/ improve efficiency
• Supplied this list to MAC, FEL contractors for future steps

Discrepancies found during HCO
• Develop an explicit plan and system to handle these before the HCO
• Don’t allow these discrepancies to slow down the HCO
– Log all discrepancies (loop sheet errors, range changes, questionable
configurations, graphic errors)
– A separate group addresses high priority issues immediately using
expedited MOC (Management of Change) process
– Hand-off other issues to process support engineer for later follow-up

Current Program Status
• We have completed 4 of 9 steps, on schedule and within budget
• Fifth step approved April 2014
• With the TDC-2000 support extension to 2025, beginning in 2012,
we lengthened our program schedule by planning a new step every
18 months
• This extended schedule will complete our TDC-2000 conversion by
2025

Recommendations
• Read the book “CONTROL SYSTEM MIGRATIONS”
• Choose your MAC and MAC Project Manager carefully – rely on
customer recommendations
• Develop detailed, comprehensive RFPs (Request for Proposals) for FEL
development and Detailed Design/Engineering/Commissioning.
Comprehensive RFPs will pay for themselves in reduced change orders
• Consider using a configuration/graphics specialty contractor - with their
own licensed DCS hardware and software – get maximum benefit from
new technology
• Maximize your local staff’s involvement for long-term success

Thank You

DCS Migration Lessons Learned

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