Tribune News Network
Doha
Pearl GTL – one of the jewels of Qatar’s world-leading energy industry –has been recognised on the world stage for being at the forefront of adopting the latest digital technologies to improve safety and production performance.
Pearl GTL, the largest gas-to-liquids facility in the world, received the Digital Asset of the Year at the annual Shell.ai Awards, a competition Shell runs across its global assets.
The award recognised usage of modern technologies such as AI, ‘digital twin’ and RealWear. Pearl GTL has made substantial investments in digital technology such as the digital twin, which creates a digital replica of a physical asset.
This allows significant improvements in maintenance and operations by providing powerful, real-time insights into every aspect of operations.
Pearl GTL has also significantly reduced reliance on paper and manual procedures on the frontline by introducing iPads in the field to capture data, which was previously done on paper.
They are also using a technology known as RealWear in the field, which are head-mounted smart devices with camera functionality used to communicate with and deliver real-time data across Qatar. These devices significantly improve efficiency and safety performance.
AI for predictive maintenancePearl GTL also uses artificial intelligence to predict when equipment needs maintenance, or a vital component needs to be fixed or replaced. This allows for increased reliability and reduced costs as it gives more timely insights into the integrity and degradation of equipment.
Accepting the award on behalf of Pearl GTL at the ceremony in India was Misfer Al-Bidaiwi, Vice President, Pearl GTL: “Pearl GTL has been on an exciting, multi-year journey to improve safety, reliability, and operational excellence, and digitalisation and digital technologies have enabled us to excel in this journey.
This award is a testament to Qatar’s energy industry and what can be accomplished by through innovation.”
Rick Tallant, Managing Director Qatar Shell, added: “Digitalisation is a key enabler in developing the sustainable, affordable, and lower carbon energy products the world needs. This award is a testament of QatarEnergy’s well-developed technology infrastructure and to the culture of embracing technology at Pearl GTL.”
This recognition adds to numerous recent accolades received by Pearl GTL. The asset has been recognised as Shell’s leader in operational excellence and safety performance two years in a row, and it received Shell’s CEO Award in the Goal Zero category for successfully executing the company’s largest turnaround event.
The turnaround saw up to 15,000 people perform maintenance and equipment replacement work over a two-month period to ensure continued reliability and performance of Pearl GTL.
