Integrated Informatics and Chromatography Software Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics and Chromatography Software Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry thermofisher.com/IntegratedInformatics Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics and Chromatography Software Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry thermofisher.com/IntegratedInformatics Introduction Professionals across all aspects of the oil and gas and The foundation of Thermo Scientific Integrated Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics can help today’s petrochemicals industry – from lab and IT management Informatics is the SampleManager platform – with oil and gas and petrochemicals companies deliver the and quality control to regulatory affairs and senior comprehensive lab and data management functionality safest products, using the most sustainable process, management – are more and more faced with data for laboratory information management (LIMS), while delivering superior value to all stakeholders. management challenges that span the scope of their Chromeleon chromatography data system (CDS), organizations, from exploration and extraction to refining, scientific data management (SDMS) and procedural rigorous testing and real-time monitoring. ELN/lab and method execution. This comprehensive informatics solution is further supported by mobile and To help our oil and gas and chemicals customers web access. With Integrated Informatics, lab managers manage the most complex data management can consolidate their lab software investments, saving challenges, we’re introducing the latest evolution time and money in software licenses, implementation of our integrated laboratory software platform – costs and ongoing service contracts. Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics, the center of lab data acquisition, management and storage. Integrated Informatics represents an essential development in laboratory software designed to help p The Age of Informatics In and Out of the Lab David Leitham, Vice President & General Manager lab managers and scientists move more efficiently Informatics and Chromatograpphy Software, Thermo Fisher Scientific through their workflow – from ‘sample to knowledge’ – delivering data integrity, compliance, productivity and enterprise-wide data sharing. 2 Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics and Chromatography Software Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry thermofisher.com/IntegratedInformatics Contents 3 Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics and Chromatography Software Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry thermofisher.com/IntegratedInformatics The Power of Fully Integrated Informatics By Ajith Kumar, Senior Business Analyst, Shell, Pearl GTL, Qatar As seen in The Analytical Scientist Shell’s Pearl GTL brings in the big The Challenge Data management was a major priority. To maximize guns to tackle its vast data-handling The unprecedented scale of the world’s largest gas production and allow rapid decisions, we needed to liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar – Pearl GTL – creates a consolidated, accurate information available at our requirements with an integrated massive business and technology challenge: how can fingertips – at all times. laboratory information management quality be maintained and productivity maximized while Established by Shell and Qatar Petroleum in 2006, and managing huge volumes of critical data? system. onstream at the beginning of 2011, Pearl GTL is the Background world’s largest GTL plant and cements Qatar’s position As a senior business analyst for Pearl GTL, I was as the GTL capital of the world. The GTL process responsible for managing the laboratory informatics converts natural gas to liquid fuels and other products, components of a project of unprecedented scale, which including gasoil, naphtha, kerosene, normal-paraffin required billions of investment dollars and created and lubricants. Pearl GTL captures the full value tens of thousands of jobs during peak construction. chain, from offshore development and onshore gas 4 Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics and Chromatography Software Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry thermofisher.com/IntegratedInformatics stream of 34,000 transmitted measurements. These We chose Thermo Scientific’s SampleManager LIMS measurements, which include well content, volume, to manage our state-of-the-art testing laboratories, emissions, equipment condition and hundreds of other standardizing it across all laboratory equipment data points integral to the plant’s operation, needed to and production systems. SampleManager offered be mapped onto the data generated by the laboratory unparalleled support for all of Pearl GTL’s stringent operations. In addition to collection and storage, data requirements. also needed to be organized, integrated and analyzed constantly to ensure plant safety, product quality, Despite our complex quality, regulatory and interface environmental protection and production efficiency. requirements, we worked with a strong team of people Furthermore, our solution needed to ensure that Pearl from Thermo Fisher. Rolling out the solution across Pearl GTL’s labs remained in compliance with requirements GTL was seamless, despite some of the LIMS interfaces processing to the refining of finished products in one such as ISO 17025, an accreditation that sets an that were implemented being the first of their kind in any project. The project provides the platform for the growth international benchmark for running a testing laboratory. Shell facility. of an entirely new industry with GTL fuels, in particular by It lays out qualifications for suppliers, training, record- opening up opportunities for new markets. keeping, equipment calibration and much more. In the One of our principal reasons for choosing event of an audit, Pearl GTL would need to quickly SampleManager was its ability to integrate with other When it comes to illustrating the enormous scale of retrieve and present data proving compliance. systems. At Pearl GTL, the LIMS is integrated with an the project to build the world’s largest GTL plant, the operations management system (known as OTTER), statistics paint an impressive picture. Some two million With so many prerequisites for success, we needed a process historian (OSI PI), an oil movement and batch tons of freight were shipped into a dedicated berth at proven solution: a Laboratory Information Management tracking system, laboratory instruments and other Ras Laffan port adjacent to the plant site. More than System (LIMS). The right LIMS should present accurate, production systems. Now, communication between 750,000 cubic meters of concrete were poured during unbiased information necessary for maintaining the all systems is seamless and bi-directional. And all construction. And enough steel was being used during highest standards of safety, regulatory compliance and information necessary to manage complex sample the peak construction period to erect the equivalent of environmental commitment – all without sacrificing scheduling and stringent safety, quality and regulatory two and a half Eiffel Towers a month. financial performance. But clearly, given the operation’s requirements is readily accessible. complexity, not just any LIMS solution would do. In Initially, my major challenge was finding a resilient addition to organizing sample results, Pearl GTL’s LIMS The way SampleManager integrates with PI delivers software solution that supported all of our stringent would need to be fully integrated with the ability to notable efficiencies for Shell and Qatar Petroleum at data and integration requirements – something that communicate with a variety of other systems, including Pearl GTL. While some other labs manually send could help drive success from the very beginning. operations management, batch tracking and enterprise test results to operations, technologists and process resource tracking systems. Without such integration, it engineers, the Pearl GTL laboratory results are The Solution would be almost impossible to achieve success with a available to all relevant parties within the PI system as From the start, we knew that we needed a highly project of this size and scale. soon as they are authorized in SampleManager. If high sophisticated software solution to manage the interface accuracy sampling data is important to your job, you of a quality control system that receives a constant can access it through the system in real time. 5 Thermo Scientific Integrated Informatics and Chromatography Software Solutions for the Oil & Gas Industry thermofisher.com/IntegratedInformatics Other important consumers of lab data within Pearl Using the OTTER system, all sample points in the flexible environments, laboratories responsible for GTL are users of the oil movement and batch tracking field are marked with radio frequency identification quality, safety and efficacy of finished products must system. When panel operators need to move oil to new tags. When field operators perform sample rounds, be equally flexible, which is no simple task. tanks in preparation for shipping, for example, they a handheld computer guides them to each sample don’t need to wait to be notified of test results, and this point and then automatically records the required In the chemical manufacturing lab, LIMS isn’t just minimizes demurrage charges for loading delays. As information, such as sampling time, and whether the the first step, it’s the most important step towards soon as the results are available from the lab, the LIMS sampling task is routine or non-routine. The LIMS achieving the agility required to meet more precise notifies operators