PetroSA's business requirements needed to be streamlined in all areas of its operation. This warranted not only optimization but radical ways of thinking. PetroSA's Information Services have only one purpose which is to serve all the business needs. This has led to the use of the PI System in
- Subsea Well automation
- Stock Management
- Real-time procedures
In well automation, engineers spent a lot of time getting information ready before they can analyze it. This is a process that was not only cumbersome but also time consuming. An initiative was put in place to automate calculations of well performance curves with real-time analysis and engineers are notified when the performance of the well is not optimum. In stock management, the supply and operations teams had a torrid time of getting accurate information about stocks. Some will only see the transact view of the world and some just see the operational world. It is important to see the full picture from both worlds. This led to the creation of web services to display data from SAP and the PI Server and now both worlds can be seen. In real-time procedures, Event Frames were used to assist with operations, where process steps are monitored and referenced to previous condition to aid the operator in starting the plant. The implementation of the PI System in these 3 key areas led to the use of one platform across these diverse requirements. Secondly, drastic reductions in operation and data processing time; in one case it was reduced from 4 days to real-time.