What are the advantages and disadvantages of installing a central control room in large petrochemical plants?
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Large petrochemical plants (refineries with a capacity of tens of millions of tons) have many production workshops, each of which contains numerous internal control rooms (comprising DCS, SIS, GAS, CCS operation stations, SIS auxiliary consoles, AFM systems, etc.). These internal control rooms are separated from the external control rooms by just a wall, and they are located in the same building as the field instrument cabinets and power distribution rooms. Now, it is necessary to carry out renovations to consolidate all the internal controls in these workshops and plants within a CCR (Central Control Room) for management and operation. 1. Which standards require such renovations? 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages after the renovation? Manager Discussion Group
Advantages and disadvantages of installing a central control room in large petrochemical plants: The control systems are located in the on-site cabinet rooms of each plant. All operation stations are located in the plant’s central control room. Easy to manage and facilitates centralized information. But once something happens on site, especially in an emergency, the response there can be a bit slow.
This post was last edited by ylb913 on 2016-1-23 06:55. For the new plants built over the past decade, I have seen them all use centralized control systems; in Hainan, Qingdao, and Dushanzi, some old plants have also been converted from decentralized to centralized control, but I have not seen the specifics of such cases. Our factory had to be modified twice; the control center was built, and several workshops were set up as well. The first modification lasted for one and a half years before everything was taken back again. Later, the control center was demolished and rebuilt. At first, the management was full of confidence regarding this new construction, but it was halted after just a few days. In the end, only those new installations that did not have control rooms were put into use. 1. Centralized control requires fewer staff, and communication between various units is facilitated. 2. Switching from decentralized control to centralized control is really difficult to adapt to; some of the older employees in the old factories have low technical skills – there are those who did not even finish elementary school, and others who graduated from high school but cannot even do basic arithmetic operations. There are also many demobilized soldiers among them.
Centralized control has many advantages, as it enables timely communication of information. The main issue at present is ensuring smooth information flow; in fact, operational skills can be developed and improved. However, the phone call cost is a bit higher.
There shouldn’t be any specific regulations regarding this. I’m not entirely sure about the requirements in this regard either; it depends on one’s needs. Different devices and different manufacturing processes have different operating procedures. For some devices, it’s necessary to have someone on site to monitor them, while for others it’s not so essential. So it depends on the actual situation – if it can be placed in a control room, then put them there together; if it’s not necessary, then there’s no need to insist on it, to avoid accidents caused by delayed operations
This standard does not explicitly require the establishment of a centralized control room; centralized management facilitates unified coordination and control across various workshops and sections, and it can significantly reduce the need for repeated communication between different departments and sections in the event of emergencies. This helps to shorten response times. Meanwhile, a centralized control room makes maintenance and operation easier. The downside is that the additional fiber optics and control systems are located at considerable distances, making it difficult for operators to go to the site to assess the situation firsthand; they can only rely on remote operations. Furthermore, in the event of a fire or other accident in the control room, it is possible that many workshops and sections will be affected
Our plant established a central control room in 2008; all new units built after that year were incorporated into this central control room. Currently, it includes units for atmospheric and vacuum distillation, catalysis, hydrogenation, coking, sulfur processing, and reforming. The control room has many advantages: it facilitates centralized management and makes coordination among various production units easier. The downside is that communication between the internal and external operations is somewhat affected; currently, the means of communication include internal phones and explosion-proof walkie-talkies, which are quite convenient. We implement **-style management: employees from each production unit arrive at the facility 10 minutes early every day to conduct inspections and take roll calls. The on-duty supervisor for that day together with the shift handover supervisors organize the handover process, passing on all tasks and relevant precautions. After disassembly, the main operator goes to the control room, while the assistant operator stays in the outdoor operation room; each person is equipped with a walkie-talkie.
In the calcium carbide production plant, there are separate control rooms for each workshop; different control rooms can also be controlled from other control rooms (this requires appropriate permissions). Communication is carried out through explosion-proof walkie-talkies and internal telephones