The Application of RFID Monitoring Technology to Patrol Management System in Petrochemical Industry

• Published in: Wireless personal communications Vol. 79; no. 2; pp. 1063 - 1088
• Main Authors: Chung, Yu-Fang, Hsiao, Tsung-Chih, Chen, Shu-Chen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.11.2014; Springer
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Communications Engineering; Computer Communication Networks; Computer information security; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Industrial metrology. Testing; Management; Management systems; Manpower; Mechanical engineering. Machine design; Networks; Organizing; Patrols; Pipings, valves, fittings; Radio frequency identification; Radiocommunications; Resource management; Signal,Image and Speech Processing; Software; Steel design; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Petrochemical industry; PDA; Patrol system; Preventive maintenance; Radio frequency identification; Measurement; Process improvement; Competitiveness; Electronic document; Maintenance; Risk analysis; Petrochemical plant; Processing equipment; Research and development; Efficiency; Production capacity; Safety; Cost lowering; Monitoring
• ISSN: 0929-6212; 1572-834X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11277-014-1918-5

A lot of manufacturers tend to enhance the management efficacy and reduce the management costs by investing large resources in the research and development of radio frequency identification (RFID). For petrochemical industry, an effective, reliable, and secure patrol management system is primary. Nevertheless, traditional patrol management focuses on labor patrol that the field staff master in the corrosion, leakage, and pipe aging of production equipment. Although equipment inspection and patrol items are scheduled every day, some problems still need to be overcome. After completing traditional patrol tasks, extra time and manpower are required for organizing the patrol records and filling them into electronic document. In the process, it is likely to key in wrong data because of the numerous patrol items. Apparently, without systematic management, supervisors and shift leaders can hardly find out data errors and analyze the abundant data for complete risk evaluation and process security improvement. An RFID-based patrol management system suitable for petrochemical industry is proposed in this study. The system corresponds to the field environment requirements and regulations for petrochemical plants, integrates operation procedure and information procedure, and evaluates and includes various dimensions and variables through interviews and technological analyses to enhance the process security. Active processing equipment monitoring could enhance the preventive maintenance efficiency and promote the production capacity and industrial competitiveness.