AM-97-23 OIL LOSS MONITORING USING SITE-WIDE DATA RECONCILIATION

Description:

Oil loss is a controllable financial penalty due to physical losses such as evaporative, liquid and solid losses, and apparent losses due to measurement errors. Loss is inherently a fmancial issue and the quantification of loss begins with the accounting function in the plant. However, engineering methods must be applied to identify and quantify both real and apparent losses. Appropriate operational steps can then be taken to reduce or eliminate the loss. The Sigmafine site wide data reconciliation system has sucessfully been used to monitor oil loss and identify specific loss problems at several refineries. The system performed daily balances to detect input data errors. Measurement models were also balanced on a monthly basis and analyzed to pinpoint specific loss problems. Data analysis using Sigmafine was able to identify problems down to the level of individual measurement devices. The results obtained from data analysis correlated well with results from direct inspection of the refineries during oil loss surveys.