The components in a control and safety system has an expected lifetime from 5 to 25 years. This means that after just a few years of production, you will find that you might have obsolete components and systems, and that upgrading to the newest solutions might not always the best approach.
A great option to consider instead is lifetime extension of systems, considering that obsolescence comes in many facets:
- No spare parts
- No software updates
- No support personnel available
...and the list continues.
One prime example is ABB Safeguard 3000, which you can read more about here:
Give customers a choice
As many Exploration & Production Companies (E&Ps) and EPCI-suppliers have discovered, support of control systems has been left to the OEMs without any competition.
Therefore, this issue is also relevant for any company wanting to find cost effective ways of maintaining and supporting ABB control systems.
In any case, introducing competition will inevitably reduce costs and create an incentive for new innovation.
Eldor wants to introduce competition and give customers a choice on where and how to buy modification projects and support to the ABB control and safety systems.
Our bold ambition is to ensure optimum lifetime extension of systems, while balancing the risk of a failure versus shutdown, finding opportunities to perform mitigation actions and ensure planned lifetime of the facility is reached.
1. ABB control and safety systems value partner
Eldor is an ABB Authorized Value Provider and delivers cost-efficient control and safety system support, and modifications. One of our specialities is life-time extension of obsolete systems with extensive in-depth expertise in Advant / Master and 800xA systems.
We can provide the entire product portfolio of ABB Control Technology at any given time. Additionally, we can refurbish Power Supplies for ABB ICSS cabinets.
Our proven, in-use, efficient and lean delivery model is tailored for small to medium projects, and we deliver cost-efficient and safe modifications for control and safety systems.
Typical examples are upgrade of controllers, modifications to logic. For minor to small modifications we cover engineering, system changes and documentation (LCI). This is often done for operations directly. We also cover system support contracts with telephone support, spare parts, emergency response, onshore and offshore support, and reference (test) system hosting.
For EPCI contractors we offer a cost-efficient alternative to going to the system suppliers, and we can demonstrate cost savings.
For larger projects, or if the customer wants to run parts of the project themselves, we offer our expert expertise as consultants to follow up deliveries from OEMs. An example is the job we did for ConocoPhillips on JOMP.
We support any delivery model and have got our own in-house 800xA test systems.
2. Life time extension for obsolete systems
Technical systems have a limited lifetime typically in the range of 5-30 years. Support and operation of obsolete systems is a challenge. Keywords are: part failure, lack of expertise and support, and cyber security issues. The best approach is to plan for obsolescence from day one of a development project. However, this is seldom done. Most often this is dealt with too late in the lifetime of a system.
We are experts on developing obsolescence management strategies and recovery for obsolescence projects. When selection a strategy our aim is to avoid re-engineering and testing, and minimise the need for shutdown. It is all about managing the risk. Rip-and-replace strategies are extremely costly and should be avoided.
3. Operational documentation and engineering services
Backlog of red mark-ups can in some cases be a challenge. We help our customers keeping these documents updated with a fast track QA and updated service. Typical documents are:
- Cause and Effect diagrams (C&E)
- Smart Plant Information (SPI) database
- Shutdown Block diagrams
- System Control Diagrams (SCDs)
- Safety Requirements Specifications (SRS) and Safety Analysis Reports (SAR)
We can document a typical update time of 3 days from mark-up until the document is checked, approved and updated.
How can we get started?
Our delivery model is based around our in-house experts on the ABB control and safety system, and the above mentioned Value Partner Agreement with ABB and System Integrator agreement with Honeywell for Alarm Management software. For other systems we have an extensive partner network.
Depending on the scope, Eldor may support any delivery model. From expert consultant to full engineering and system supplier roles.
Our contribution to major greenfield developments or major retrofits are expert consultants that follow-up on deliveries, on behalf of the customers. Our management system is optimised for "single" discipline small projects.
Recommended approach:
- Invite Eldor to a small modification workpack or a study. Why not get a competing quote and see how we compare?
- Delivery model can be anything from system expert consultants, modification workpacks, "single" discipline modifications of feed studies, etc.
- Clients may select how much of the project they choose to outsource.
- An ideal first project may be a feed study, a small modification work-pack, or a system health check.
For more information, talk to an Eldor specialist:
