Decarbonisation Technology - February 2022 Issue

Case studies: DCP Midstream

more holistic approach must be taken to ensure the stability, cost, and operation associated with electrification. As an example, in the design of an e-LNG plant with electrification of large, traditionally gas-fired generators, the power generation unit (PGU), which is also traditionally fuelled by natural gas, the implications of optimal overall efficiency and operational scenarios, such as startups, shutdowns, and upsets, must be taken into consideration (Adams, 2021). Smart solutions: new digital tools for new tech Other measures to limit emissions orbit specific, data-driven technologies. Namely, innovators in the oil and gas industry must make blue and green hydrogen with strategic use of the produced furnaces, and other environmental point sources through its PI Asset Framework and PI Vision solutions – were easily expanded to include environmental and carbon streaming analytics and events, as well as real-time decision support. This trove of data, which enabled more robust compliance and reporting, included under-the-hood data such as raw data aggregation, period totals, and associated statistics such as Min/Max/Average. DCP validated the quality of its environmental and carbon data to substitute for data gaps. It extended its streaming analytics within the asset templates to include rule-based and formulaic forecasting of environmental and carbon limit excursions with events and notifications. The self-serve PI Asset Framework templates allowed SMEs to extend the base level asset data. This data, traditionally used for asset performance and conditioned-based maintenance, allowed for environmental and carbon data management and analytics. DCP’s transformative approach significantly improved the accuracy and timeliness of its environmental compliance reporting. By integrating carbon management into its operational data management infrastructure, the company empowered its front-line operators to drastically reduce emissions.

implications, so companies must upgrade their hardware and infrastructure simultaneously with the electrification process. Fuel producers must likewise diversify their energy sourcing in tandem with this turn to electrification. To do so efficiently, companies must diversify and optimise their electricity sourcing by purchasing renewable electricity from grid suppliers or installing renewable energy generation technology directly on refinery premises. Given the nature of renewable energy production, which is often reliant on DERs, companies need precise digital tools to manage these tasks. Furthermore, in the design of new or the modification of existing electrical systems, a carbon compliance reporting was done manually in a separate system, a process that was not only inefficient but difficult to streamline. To transform its environmental and carbon data management and compliance reporting, DCP expanded its smart asset templates referenced above to include environmental and carbon analytics and real-time decision support. The templates – which the company previously used to provide asset performance management using steaming analytics for compressors, Over the course of five years, DCP Midstream (DCP) deployed advanced digital tools in conjunction with its forward-thinking business strategy. It installed an operational data layer with real-time operational data management and decision support across its entire midstream value chain. DCP tasked its SME with developing smart asset templates with streaming analytics, events, and notifications to initially focus on improving asset performance such as compressors and the portfolio of assets used in the gas plants. Once the streaming analytics were largely in place, DCP expanded to capture benefits where there was optionality in their gathering and processing systems, or super systems. Together, this layered approach generates on average $2500/day per gas plant, amounting to over $50 million annually. Historically, companies’ environmental and