Kuwait Oil Company (Oil & Gas, Kuwait)

Battling a Cumbersome, Complicated System​​​​​​​
When the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) took over the EPF-50 sour field gas and crude plant in northern Kuwait, the organization found that significant changes were necessary if the company wanted to continue its expansion. The programmable logic control (PLC) system installed in the field, with approximately 3,500 SIS signals (overall 6,000 I/O’s equipped), needed to be replaced due to nonsegregation of ESD, DCS, F&G, and HIPPS, as well as non-availibilty of spares for future expansion.
With existing PLC hardware spread throughout the field, management of the upgrade had to be handled very carefully. The risk of unexpected changes during project implementation was high due to the high number of I/O points KOC had to accommodate.
KOC needed an upgrade plan that would protect the organization from cost and schedule overruns due to late-project changes common to complex overhauls.

Complicated Projects Bring Many Changes
Seeking to meet KOC’s desire for flexibility in mid-project change requests, Emerson’s local business partner, Almeer Technical Services, recommended DeltaV™ Electronic Marshalling with CHARMs technology. Confidence in Emerson and Almeer from KOC’s top management led to the implementation of Almeer’s recommendations. As old PLC hardware was removed from the field, the temporary control room was demolished and replaced with a permanent control center. The flexibility of CHARMs I/O allowed the upgrade team to incorporate all field devices into the new control system without concern for signal type, preventing I/O issues from causing delays. Electronic Marshalling made it possible for all changes, including ones that happened after systems were installed, to be accommodated without cost or schedule overruns common in large-scale capital projects.

Stay Flexible, Stay on Target
KOC’s implementation team was able to reduce marshalling cabinet footprint and significantly limit cross-wiring and running new cabling, allowing them to make changes on the fly. Having the flexibility to make these changes saved money and time. In addition, the ability to make changes to engineering while the plant overhaul was in progress has helped the organization to build a system prepared for future expansion. By working with an experienced, flexible local partner, KOC made key choices that allowed for changes on-the-fly, avoiding extra costs and the risk of running behind schedule.