"Taneko" introduced a domestic solution ServiceVizor based on augmented reality

2022: Implementation of CADFEM ServiceVizor

On September 1, 2022, MCD announced the introduction of a domestic ServiceVizor solution based on augmented reality at the TANECO oil refinery.

"Taneko" introduced a domestic solution ServiceVizor based on augmented reality

According to the company, the TANECO refinery located in Nizhnekamsk is one of the most modern plants in Russia in terms of equipment and technologies that are used in the oil refining process. For him, the continuity and reliability of all production process systems is important. Uninterrupted operation of automated systems controlling plant equipment is due to uninterruptible power supply (UPS ). They provide power continuity through the use of an alternative power source for automated systems responsible for controlling the petroleum processing process. If power is cut off, UPSs take over support for the systems, ensuring the plant continues to operate. At the same time, any power outages can lead to the failure of critical equipment, financial losses and damage to the company's reputation. For example, one hour of downtime of a primary oil processing plant (ELOU AUT) costs the plant 2 million rubles.

Therefore, it is so important to respond quickly and correctly to an abnormal situation and quickly eliminate the malfunction. This is often hindered by the human factor. Despite the fact that specially trained people are responsible for monitoring systems, there is always a risk of missing warning signals about an accident due to the large amount of equipment. And the situation when the equipment is faulty, and the time to solve the problem goes by minutes, is not typical for an equipment maintenance engineer. Under stress, he needs to quickly understand the essence and solve a non-obvious problem with a faulty cabinet under high voltage.

To address these issues and maintain UPS reliability, TANECO decided to implement a system that would minimize production risks and prevent unplanned downtime.

Initially, TANECO specialists considered several technologies, including virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR). However, VR technology did not help in working with real equipment, since interaction with it occurs in virtual space. In addition, it is unsafe to move around the plant with VR glasses on to close the view. AR, in turn, allows you to work with real equipment and receive additional information that is not available to engineers in production premises. Therefore, after evaluating the offers on the market, TANECO specialists decided to dwell on augmented reality technology . The domestic solution ServiceVizor, developed by Modeling and Digital Twins (MCD JSC), was chosen.

ServiceVizor is a solution for automating augmented reality service business processes. It is designed to help technical personnel, create a digital knowledge base on MR, register defects and accidents, as well as analyze the criticality of the consequences of failures on the digital technological model. At the TANECO facility, the technology was introduced for information support and training of engineers of automated process control systems (APCS), automation of critical equipment maintenance processes. With its help, engineers at the site have additional information about the equipment in the form of virtual sensors, mnemonic diagrams with color indication of the readings of instrumentation (instruments) and visual visualization in the form of an accurate 3D copy of the equipment. In AR, specialists can see the internal elements of the cabinet, where power lines are highlighted, along which currents and voltage are currently flowing.

Joint work with TANECO began with the development of a demo project. Specialists needed to select and test such a scenario in which the system would be as useful and effective as possible for the refinery. Refinery employees simulated an emergency in which a failure occurs in the system of one of the UPSs. After that, it was necessary to evaluate the response of ServiceVizor and its contribution to fixing the problem. The test showed that combining augmented reality with interactive electronic technical manuals at ServiceVizor allowed specialists to quickly and correctly respond to this accident.

Preparation for the demo project took 2 months and included, first of all, the development of a 3D model of the cabinet and an assisted environment in augmented reality. The creation of the primary 3D model was carried out entirely by the specialists of MCD JSC on documentation from open sources. In general, according to the specialists of Modeling and Digital Twins, the development period of the model can take from a week to a month and depends on the object, its availability, level of detail and data provided by the customer. When creating a more detailed model, the MCD specialists applied photogrammetry technology, scanned the object, received a cloud of points and based on them recreated the geometry of real equipment.

Specifically for the refinery, ServiceVizor was customized - this made it possible to customize its interface for the specific needs of TANECO in accordance with their business processes and equipment maintenance strategies. Given the fact that the refinery is used, accounting system 1C & R an additional task for ServiceVizor was integration with. 1C The amount of information necessary to transfer data between 1C MRO and ServiceVizor was determined, after which communication was established.

Together with TANECO, the MCD experts worked out various instructions that can be used as first aid for various types of accidents. Previously, depending on the accident, staff had to independently assess the situation, choose an algorithm of actions and spend time making decisions. In ServiceVizor, a separate instruction is responsible for each accident and problem, which immediately gives recommendations on the actions necessary to fix it as quickly as possible. Moreover, in the event of an accident, all responsible persons receive appropriate notifications about the place and source of the accident, as well as a brief description of its possible causes. Based on the experience of the refinery personnel and technical documentation for the equipment, scenarios and measures to eliminate each possible accident are strictly defined in the system configuration. If any fault occurs, the system will quickly warn you of it, thereby reducing the scale of the consequences and providing technical personnel with a clear sequence of actions to fix it. TANECO has already recorded the first results - if without the ServiceVizor system the total time to eliminate the accident was 31 minute 13 seconds, now it takes 16 minutes 29 seconds.

Augmented reality technology in ServiceVizor allows you to see the internal nodes and components of the cabinet during operation, which is usually inaccessible to the eye, and assess their technical condition. For example, by pointing the tablet at the UPS cabinet, the technician sees in the overlay mode the exact diagram of the power lines. In this case, the energized sections are illuminated on the screen in accordance with the current strength on the line in this mode of operation of the cabinet. This contributes to the safety of equipment, extremely important in an emergency situation.

Application of augmented reality when engineers bypass UPS systems. The application shows the exact location of the internal components and highlights the power lines along which currents and voltage are currently flowing. ServiceVizor can run on any mobile solution - smartphones Android and, iOS specialized tablets and 2D industrial and 3D augmented and mixed reality (MR) glasses. At the refinery, a mobile tablet is used as equipment for AR as the most suitable for bypassing and quick decision-making. Unlike glasses, the tablet allows you to display more additional information about measurements, take more readings and record defects.

At TANECO, the system has already been tested by both technical personnel and the management of the APCS operation service. ServiceVizor is now used daily by service engineers. One of the benefits they highlighted is being able to see something that is not available to the human eye. They also noted the ease of use of the solution. It is enough to approach the cabinet, identify the equipment by QR code, compare the model outline on the mobile device with the outline of the real cabinet and load all the elements of augmented reality.

This is our first experience of using AR technologies in production. Although ServiceVizor was implemented not so long ago, we are already seeing positive results. The most important of them are the optimization of the response time to an emergency situation, prompt notification of switches and going beyond the emergency values ​ ​ of significant equipment parameters. With ServiceVizor, engineers can have more information about the current state of the equipment and quickly fix problems. The team of shift electronics engineers is now constantly using this solution for work. commented on Ashrafzyanov Ruslan Talgatovich, Head of the PCS TPE Service, TANECO JSC