Saudi Aramco Gets 2nd Patent of 2005
Posted: 11 April 2005
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently granted patent No. 6,862,547 to Saudi Aramco and Fisher Controls International for the invention, "Control Device Test System with a Remote Switch Activation."
The inventors are Patrick S. Flanders of Saudi Aramco's Process and Control Systems Department, and Jimmie Snowbarger and Riyaz Ali of Fisher Controls International.
The invention introduced the concept of a local test push button integrated with a Smart Valve Controller installed on an emergency isolation valve (EIV), that when activated, initiates a functional test of the valve while the system is in service.
The new patent, awarded on March 1, expands on an earlier patent, No. 6,186,167, granted to Saudi Aramco in 2004. That patent, which also named Flanders as an inventor, resulted from the concept he first introduced in 1996, to perform partial-stroke testing of emergency isolation valves (EIV) using smart valve controllers.
Collectively, the two patents allow the critical Emergency Isolation Valve systems to be tested without interrupting normal operations. The idea was to test the EIV periodically while in operation and identify when failures occur that could prevent the valve from functioning in a real emergency. Such online testing was revolutionary in the safety instrumentation business.
The latest patent introduced the concept of a button hardwired to the EIV that, when pushed, would run the valve through a complete online test that had been programmed specifically for that valve.
With the new invention there is no need to make electrical connections in the field to perform the tests. It also eliminates the need for special permits in hazardous areas and the complicated hand-held communicator menus that Operations and Maintenance technicians had to navigate to perform online EIV tests.
The unit is set up one time, and the EIV is put into service where it stands guard, ready to shut down in an emergency.
The local test push button feature has been implemented on more than 1,500 automatic valves in Saudi Aramco and has proved a practical feature in the operating plant. The new technology saves the company about $6,000 per installation over the now-outmoded equipment.
Today, two companies, Fisher Controls and Metso Automation, sell equipment that uses the patented innovation in the global marketplace.
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Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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