Refinery Technical Service Site

Transcription

1 Refinery Technical Service Site Web Based Access and Analysis of Refinery Data from Legacy Systems A Digital Business Case Study P.O. Box Houston Texas Tel: (281) Fax: (281) info@astroninc.com

2 Refinery Technical Service Site A Digital Business Case Study Web based access and analysis of refinery data from legacy systems Abstract Vital data from legacy systems such as AS/400 are commonly transmitted to users by conventional methods ( , fax etc.). Engelhard Corporation, a Fortune 500 surface and materials science company, sought to provide customers in the oil refining industry with Web based interactive access to time sensitive sample analyses data traditionally stored on its AS/400 system and hence create a valuable customer service tool. Astron International developed and implemented a secure Web based system called Engelhard Refinery Profile using Microsoft s.net technologies, Web services, and XML for Engelhard. Refinery Profile gives a tremendous advantage to the customer in terms of shortening data acquisition cycle times and providing further data processing capabilities through Web based analysis and reporting tools. In addition to accessing their data on the Web, users can generate reports, build custom charts for analysis, track the status of their samples, get technical support, and more. This case study describes the Engelhard Refinery Profile Profile solution built by Astron International. The Problem Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) is one of the major processes in a petroleum refinery for manufacturing gasoline. This process uses a catalyst which is key to the performance of the FCC unit. The properties of this catalyst change rapidly with time, and oil refiners have to constantly monitor them. Refineries regularly send samples of the catalyst to Engelhard, the manufacturer of the catalyst, for laboratory analysis. In addition refiners also send oil samples from the FCC unit for analysis. These samples are quickly analyzed, and the analyses are transmitted to the refinery as Excel spreadsheets attached to s. In some cases the analyses are faxed or even mailed. Figure 1 presents an example FCC catalyst analysis data report. Despite the quick turnaround of the analyses to the refiner, the conventional methods of data transmission gave the refinery limited analytical capabilities and interactivity. For example, refiners had to do significant work to compile and study the data over a custom date range or compare data from different types of reports. Engelhard decided to look for ways to provide customers a more direct and interactive access to the time sensitive sample analysis data. This would also create an avenue for providing additional strategic services to customers. P.O. Box Houston Texas Tel: (281) Fax: (281) info@astroninc.com 2

3 Figure 1: Example FCC catalyst analysis data report The Solution The problem clearly made the case to provide the analysis data over the Web with powerful data storage and retrieval, search, and charting tools to empower the refiner. Once the samples from the refineries are analyzed, the data are stored in an AS/400 legacy system. In the old method of data transmission, an internal application created Excel spreadsheets using the data from the AS/400 and ed them to the appropriate recipients. The new Web based system is centered on an XML based Web application called Engelhard Refinery Profile which the refiner accesses using a Web browser to search, view, chart, and download data. Data from the AS/400 are processed by a modified version of the internal application and sent to an Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) application which securely transmits them as XML documents to the Web Application. The Web Application sends notifications to the appropriate users as soon as new data are available on the site. A powerful administration site lets the Engelhard site administrator manage user and refinery information, set permissions and other parameters, and track the usage patterns of customers. Figure 2 illustrates the solution implemented. P.O. Box Houston Texas Tel: (281) Fax: (281) info@astroninc.com 3

4 Engelhard Corporation EAI AS/400 Mainframe Laboratory XML Web Application (Reports, Charts, Web Services) Catalyst/Oil Samples Internet User Refinery Oil Refining Company Figure 2: Schematic of the solution implemented. The Engelhard Refinery Profile Web application also opened up an avenue to provide additional valuable services such as custom charting, personalization, sample status reporting, technical support and request tracking, order supplies, benchmark analysis, FAQ, Technical Knowledge Base, and more which significantly benefit the customer as well as Engelhard s technical service and sales personnel. Figure 3 presents example screens of the Engelhard Refinery Profile Web application. P.O. Box Houston Texas Tel: (281) Fax: (281) info@astroninc.com 4

5 Figure 3: Example screens of the Engelhard Refinery Profile Web application P.O. Box Houston Texas Tel: (281) Fax: (281)

6 Application Structure Astron developed the Engelhard Refinery Profile Web application using the following Microsoft technologies: Windows 2000 Server Microsoft's.NET Framework SQL Server 2000 Biztalk Server 2000 IIS 5.0 Microsoft Messaging Queuing Service (MSMQ) Active Directory Visual Studio.NET. The Web application uses Astron s A-Net framework based on Microsoft s.net technology. This framework provides an underlying backbone for user authentication and other core services for all applications. Data from the AS/400 legacy system is converted into XML documents by the Enterprise Application Integration tool (WebMethods) and sent to the BizTalk server which validates the data and saves the records on the SQL Server. At the center of the Web Application are Web services for retrieving and presenting the data. The Web based user interface is a consumer of these Web services to allow the user to interact with the application using a standard browser. The advantage of having Web services is that other applications such as Excel XP spreadsheets can be developed to directly retrieve and further process the data. The charts are created using ChartFX incorporated into the A-Net framework. Figure 4 presents a schematic of the application structure. Figure 4: Schematic of the Engelhard Refinery Profile Web application P.O. Box Houston Texas Tel: (281) Fax: (281) info@astroninc.com 6

7 Summary Engelhard Corporation sought to provide its customers in the oil refining industry a more direct and interactive access to vital sample analyses data via the Web and hence create a valuable customer service tool. Astron International designed and developed a Web based system called Engelhard Refinery Profile using Microsoft s.net technologies, Web services, and XML to provide secure access via the Web to the analysis data on a legacy AS/400 system to customers worldwide. In addition to accessing their data on the Web, users can generate reports, build custom charts for analysis, track the status of their samples, get technical support, and more. For More Information For more information about Astron International s services call (281) or visit the Web site at All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. ASTRON MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT. Microsoft, Active Directory, BizTalk, the.net logo, Visual Studio, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. P.O. Box Houston Texas Tel: (281) Fax: (281) info@astroninc.com 7