Improving Sampling Accuracy in Crude Oil Refineries

Sampling in an oil and gas refinery has to be convenient for engineers to design and implement, safe for the operators, and render exactly what is required at the lab for quality testing.

Standard manual sampling procedures, often do not meet these three criteria with consistency. Engineers face budget and time challenges. Operators are exposed to possibly harmful chemicals during these sampling processes. The quality assurance lab gets liquid or gas samples that may cause wrong operational decisions based on the results that are unreliable. Incorrect sample analysis creates a considerable risk for the whole refinery.

Implementing a representative sampling method with the right sampling equipment such as a fast loop sampling system ensures that the process samples are repeatable and reliable.

When samples are not available for testing in the lab, engineers are often needed to be reactive instead of being proactive in giving a sample for the lab. This time crunch compels them to find solutions that are effective in the moment, but not exactly the best long-term solution.

With the use of representative sampling equipment designed explicitly for refineries, aids engineers in implementing sound practices from the outset, reducing any quality assurance concerns. In the unlikely situation where a quality issue arises when samplers are used, engineers do not need to scramble for a solution. They can merely troubleshoot the root of sample irregularity starting at the specific equipment of the sampling system.

It is crucial that during sampling the products are not contaminated by handling and are an accurate representation of the process stream that they were captured from. Samples are used to ensure that products are in accordance with the specification standards, and to monitor the process and the condition of their equipment.

Using representative crude oil sampling system, as opposed to other sampling methods, is the one way to ensure accuracy. With this method, the labs receive an accurate “snapshot” of what exactly is happening in the refinery and can gather relevant data with confidence.

Refinery operators can be exposed to a number of harsh and dangerous volatile gases and chemicals on a daily basis, especially if they employ an open-air bottle or bucket sampling method in which the chances of accidental splashing and volatile vapor inhalation is exceptionally high.

Manual low-emission samplers help in taking operators out of harm’s way by isolating them from any contact with high temperatures, pressures, and volatile gases. Moreover, separating the operator from the sampling method also helps in maintaining sample integrity by avoiding any unintentional human contamination.

Report this Page