Retrofitting a Process Plant in an Industry 4.0 Perspective for Improving Safety and Maintenance Performance

Abstract

The transformation from traditional industry to Industry 4.0 can bring many benefits in various spheres, from efficiency to safety. However, this transition involves adopting technologically advanced machinery with a high level of digitization and communication. The costs and time to replace obsolete machines could be unsustainable for many companies while retrofitting the old machinery. To make them ready to the Industry 4.0 context, they may represent an alternative to the replacement. Even if there are many studies related to retrofitting applied to machinery, there are very few studies related to the literature process industry sector. In this work, we propose a case study of a two-phase mixing plant that needed to be enhanced in the safety and maintainability conditions with reasonable times and costs. In this regard, the Digital Twin techniques and Deep Learning algorithms will be tested to predict and detect future faults, not only already visible and existing malfunctions. This approach strength is that, with limited investments and reasonable times, it allows the transformation of an old plant into a smart plant capable of communicating quickly with operators to increase its safety and maintainability.

Machine Tool Transition from Industry 3.0 to 4.0: A Comparison between Old Machine Retrofitting and the Purchase of New Machines from a Triple Bottom Line Perspective

“…For the case study, the "retrofitting analysis" section was based on the study by Di Carlo et al [24], with the addition of an economic evaluation of the proposed solutions for retrofitting machine tools.…”

“…Di Carlo et al [24] considered the smart retrofitting of a process plant for improving safety and maintainability from an Industry 4.0 perspective through the use of artificial intelligence tools.…”

Logistics and Agri-Food: Digitization to Increase Competitive Advantage and Sustainability. Literature Review and the Case of Italy

“…Additionally, in the connectivity field the social cost of the obsolescence of the networks and infrastructures cannot be ignored [81], as it relates not only to the costs incurred in ensuring their extraordinary maintenance (if not their replacement) but to the damage caused by their possible loss of functionality as well. However, this need could be seen as a partially favorable condition for adapting specific infrastructures to the needs of the future, transforming maintenance into a true retrofitting [82] aimed at ensuring new functionality for large parts of the existing network; in this case, efficiency can thus go hand in hand with sustainability and efficient resource management.…”

Learning-by-Doing Safety and Maintenance Practices: A Pilot Course

“…Thus, as described in [53], a test campaign was conducted under normal and abnormal operating conditions to develop the fault detection platform. Manual valves, arranged within the plant, were used to simulate faults, occlusions, and leaks.…”