04-10-2016

KBR successfully launches ammonia plant monitoring technology

Ammonia Insite® is an exciting new performance monitoring system developed by KBR's Automation & Process Technologies (APT) group and the first system recently went live at the DynoNobel Purifier Technology based ammonia plant in Waggaman, Louisiana. The break-through monitoring system is currently being used at the plant site and in KBR offices around the world to watch the progress of the startup activities in Waggaman.

This strategic new service expands KBR's Technology and Consulting offerings, according to KBR's Steve Pringle, Senior Vice President of Technology & Consulting. The technology is the foundation and a first step towards delivering compelling and differentiated value to plant operators and maintenance personnel during a plant's lifecycle.

"By monitoring plant performance using Insite®, KBR process engineers will now be able to proactively help our clients improve plant operation in real time which is significant because historically, plant performance has only been measured quarterly or even yearly," said Pringle. "Now we have the capability to deliver value at the point of most impact. Insite® brings huge potential value to our clients by helping drive more innovation and development to stakeholders within the plant and in the clients' enterprise," he continued.

When Insite® is implemented across the all KBR projects, it will provide a true paradigm shift in the way KBR commissions plants and provides technical services to existing customers, with the potential to deliver a significant new annual revenue stream.

At the DynoNobel site, the system will continue to monitor plant performance on a near real time basis after hand over to the client. Insite® will provide KBR's ammonia experts with the ability to proactively advise the customer if the operation is either veering away from optimal targets or if beneficial changes can be made to the plant to improve process performance or equipment reliability.

A unique aspect to the system is the 'operations dashboard' which can be viewed from anywhere in the world through common Internet browsers such as Google Chrome or Internet Explorer. Data is extracted minute by minute from the plant and sent on an hourly basis and is then filtered through various data analysis algorithms including rigorous process models. The data is viewed through trends and tables, and through various visualization techniques such as gauges, meters and indicators. In addition, the system automatically produces summary reports on a daily, weekly and monthly basis thereby reducing the need for manual processing of the data. The system has other capabilities such as 'smart alerts' that can quickly alert designated persons via text messages or email of any potential issues in the plant.

"This kind of technology reinforces KBR's place at the forefront in this field," said Graham Hill, Executive Vice President, Global Business Development & Strategy. "It not only benefits our customers in the short term, but also helps us improve our technology offerings, which further benefits our customers in the long term. KBR will continue to lead by example in this field and deliver to our customers this type of innovative offering." Hill also noted that introducing this new technology aligns with KBR's long term business strategy to expand our Technology & Consulting portfolio.

The initial response to the Insite® technology has been very positive. KBR's Plant Commissioning Manager for Dyno admitted that it will be really difficult to not log-in and see what is happening, especially when away from the site. On the ground experts want to see a plan for this system on all projects in the planning phase because this technology has proven so useful.

Several Insite® systems are being readied for implementation in the next few years. Assuming schedules remain on target, Insite® will be added to two plants in 2016, five plants in 2017, two plants in 2018, and one in 2019. Versions of the system for VCC Technology, Olefins Technology, LNG and Oil & Gas facilities are also in development.