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What can BIG DATA Collection and Analysis Do For Your Process Plant Profitability?

What can BIG DATA Collection and Analysis Do For Your Process Plant Profitability?

By Robert C. McCue, PE and Donald Keer, PE MDC Systems® Consulting Engineers

Process Plant profitability depends in large part on operational continuity or up-time. MDC Systems® has recently become aware of a developing technology to detect and then prevent unplanned shutdowns due to up-set operating parameters in process plants. This capability results from the real time collection and analysis of all reportable operating data…“BIG DATA.”

Process Plants typically produce more data than can be efficiently collected and reviewed by the operators. A plant with 320 tags (equipment items with associated data collection points such as pressure, temperature, flow etc), recording at 5 second intervals, will produce 5 million data readings per day. That is a billion data points over six months. Buried in this cascade of information are subtle leading indicators of up-set operating conditions.

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Risk in Construction Estimating

Risk in Construction Estimating

By definition, an estimate is an approximate calculation. This inherently infers that there is a certain amount of risk involved with any estimate. The risk will vary depending on the quality and the detail of the estimate and on the detail of the design information available at the time the estimate is prepared.

The quality and detail of an estimate is usually defined in the requested scope of services. An estimate can be an opinion of cost or a detailed estimate. The opinion of cost is an estimate prepared based on a professional’s best approximation of what a project will cost.

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The Role of a Construction Claim Consultant

The Role of a Construction Claim Consultant

Construction claim consultants provide a crucial role when it comes to standard of care in construction. These specialized experts know every in and out of construction and civil engineering, and can help with project management and legal advice. Because these consultants know the industry well, they can help prevent legal troubles before they start.

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What Is A Premortem

A premortem is a project management strategy in which a project team imagines that a project has failed, and then works backward to determine what potentially could lead to that failure. The technique breaks group-think by facilitating a positive discussion on...

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The Top Ten Documents Your Expert Will Request and Why

The Top Ten Documents Your Expert Will Request and Why

Hiring an engineering expert shouldn’t be an arduous task, although sometimes the process may seem overwhelming.  Usually the claim is at the point where you want answers yesterday but because of resourcing, workloads, or budgets you are in a time crunch to find them.  Even if you are not initially intending to use the services of an expert, gaining access to certain portions of data during discovery is a proactive way to ease trouble or scrambling down the road.  Whether it’s for a third party opinion, an independent design, a mediation statement, or a testifying expert, the engineer you hire will likely need information from the sources discussed below.

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