Shell Pernis, with its many chemical plants and installations, is one of the largest and most comprehensive refineries in the world.

Integrated calibration solution contributes to safety and savings at Shell Pernis 

To take advantage of economic and technical benefits, the Pernis refining and petrochemical activities take place side by side on a site (including the Europoort Terminal storage tanks) covering an area of 550 hectares. The refinement plants process both heavy and light crude oil. Some twenty million tonnes of crude is processed annually. Via a network of pipelines, Shell Pernis is linked to Shell Chemie Moerdijk, to Amsterdam Schiphol and to customers in Germany.

Economic considerations are at the root of the significance of the refinery's calibration: even the slightest error in quantities supplied would be financially unacceptable. Calibration is also important for the required permits. Just think of the regulations governing CO2 and NOx emissions. The authorities want the instruments related to safety systems to be calibrated at regular intervals and the results to be recorded in accordance with the IEC 61511 standard.

Ed de Jong is instrument maintenance engineer for various processes at the Pernis refinery. His tasks include maintenance planning, instrumentation, benchmarking and legal compliance, for instance with CO2 emission standards. He is thoroughly familiar with the refinery's processes and has a say in the choice of calibration solutions.

Both Shell Pernis and Shell Moerdijk have opted for an integrated Beamex CMX Calibration Software solution in a network environment and MC5 Multifunctional Calibrators supplied by HPR Techniek. Beamex and HPR Techniek also looked after the training of the Shell employees concerned. Ed de Jong sums up the arguments for the chosen solution as follows: "The choice for the integrated Beamex solution is based, among other things, on quality and the supplier's reputation. Cost savings are also expected to be achieved".