Yokogawa to automate Fractionation Research lab at OSU

December 5, 2010 - Fractionation Research (FRI) and Yokogawa will collaborate on automating procedures and data acquisition for the FRI research facility at the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater, OK. The staff of FRI will work with Yokogawa consultants and implementation experts to automate and optimize procedures that are used in startup, shutdown and transitions in the distillation columns at the facility, utilizing Yokogawa’s Modular Procedural Automation (MPA) methodology.

“Implementation of procedural automation combined with improvements in the collection of process historian data will enable FRI to conduct research for member companies more efficiently” said Pete Parker president of FRI. “We look forward to sharing the results of the automation with our member companies.”

Modular Procedural Automation is Yokogawa’s consultative methodology that documents and automates procedural operations in continuous processes. The modular design approach facilitates standardized implementation that enables facilities like Fractionation Research to rapidly and efficiently make design and configuration changes which is critical for their research mission. The solution helps to assure that different operators start, change and stop operation via identical steps, thus facilitating the attainment of safety goals. Additionally, Yokogawa is a founding member and strong participant in ISA106, the newly formed standards committee. This committee is focusing on defining procedural automation standards and best practices for the continuous process industry.

”Yokogawa has a proven track record for implementing procedural improvements in continuous applications globally” said Maurice Wilkins V.P. of Global Strategic Marketing at Yokogawa. “With the implementation of Modular Procedural Automation at FRI we are combining those best practices to deliver procedural improvements that will enable FRI to conduct their research more efficiently”

About Fractionation Research-
Fractionation Research, Inc. is a non-profit research consortium supported by memberships which include the largest petroleum and petrochemical companies in the world. It was founded in the 1950's to engage in research that was too expensive for any one company. That research includes the only commercial scale experimental program operating with hydrocarbon systems at pressures ranging from deep vacuum to 500psia. Thirty-seven member companies completed the organizational framework that has now grown to over 70 members including the leading companies in the field of distillation, of which more than 60% are international.

About Yokogawa Corporation of America
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North American division of $ 4 billion Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture and supply of instrumentation, process control and automation solutions. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Yokogawa Corporation of America offers a variety of clients with leading products on the market as analyzers, flow meters, transmitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition products, measuring instruments, distributed control systems, and more.