Data Integration and How It Affects Workflow for Control Valve Maintenance

Collecting data and integrating it across multiple protocols and standards allows for insight into  workflow and control valve maintenance needs.

Data Integration

No matter which technology is used, it is crucial to aggregate the data collected and with analytical software, transform the data into actionable information for real-time asset management.  The data also must be presented not in its raw state, which requires interpretation by plant personnel, but as information that can be readily used to assess the vital signs of a control valve’s health.

The integration can be done using digital communication protocols such as HART^™, FOUNDATION^™ Fieldbus or PROFIBUS^™, or using wireless signals such as Wireless HART or ISA100.11a.  Because these protocols and signals are open standards and are omnipresent within a plant’s infrastructure, they allow valve diagnostic information to be seamlessly integrated into the facility’s asset management software.

Workflow

Einstein said “The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”  When it comes to control valve maintenance, technology can certainly make a difference, but work practices must also simultaneously evolve.

For plants that have traditionally followed reactive maintenance practices, this requires a paradigm cultural shift.  Personnel must move from a mindset of waiting for problems to occur to one of proactively monitoring asset health.

Recent technological advances have made this cultural change easier.

At Setpoint IS we harness these technological advances everyday in our Integrated Technology Center. For more information on how we develop our expertise click on the Vimeo player to the right, or click here.