MechChem Africa May-June 2025

⎪ Maintenance and asset management ⎪

sure integrity, reliability, functional safety and compliance across complex industrial environ ments. “Flagship users now include major ener gy operators such as Shell, Borealis, PTTGC, Thai Oil, Basrah Gas, Brunei LNG, Motiva, Equinor, HF Sinclair and many more. We proudly sup port these organisations in safeguarding critical infrastructure across upstream, midstream and downstream operations,” Rugebani adds. When asked to highlight the key innovations that make Cenosco IMS a go-to solution, he says: • The solution combines risk-based and condition-based (RBI and CBM) intel ligence, enabling interventions to be prioritised where and when they are most cost effective and impactful. • It centralises integrity management and removes data silos by integrating across pressure equipment integrity (PEI), reli ability-centred maintenance (RCM), and pipeline and subsea integrity management (PLSS) domains for a unified view. • Plug-and-play global compliance frame works are embedded to align with API, ISO and local regulatory standards. • Cenosco IMS is asset-agnostic and can be tailored to FPSOs, refineries, chemical plants, renewable and mining facilities and a host of other plants, all with minimal configuration. • Open architecture supports interoper ability and integration with enterprise asset management (EAM) and computer ised maintenance management systems (CMMS) such as SAP and Maximo, along with real-time sensorised IIoT, AI, machine learning or digital twin platforms. Cenosco’s forward looking IMS platform is now being connected to digital twin technology to enable comprehensive remote oversight of assets, especially in challenging environments such as offshore and unmanned platforms. By creating a virtual replica of physical assets and mapping it to IMS, relevant data, such as maintenance schedules and remaining life, can be visualised on the digital twin, enabling informed decision-making, without the need for a constant on-site presence. Rugebani cites a case study in the Gulf of Mexico involving an unmanned platform opera tion, where Cenosco IMS plays a central role. Here he says, through digital twin technology, the asset health is being continuously monitored via data feeds into a virtual model of the plant. The model is integrated with IMS to leverage inspection, maintenance and analytics data for forecasting potential issues before they become critical, while insights from the digital twin help shape inspection and maintenance strategies to improve efficiency. “Remote oversight is also built into the IMS Remote access and digital twin technology

through its AIR3D functionality, which includes visual observation scans using drones that en able 3D data to be uploaded into the system for analysis. 2D images and point clouds are also used by machine learning algorithms to detect integrity issues,” he explains. A solution for Africa Describing why Chempute is excited by the new partnership with Cenosco, Andrew Taylor says that many of the oil and gas, petrochemical and minerals processing plants on the African con tinent are getting quite old, most notably the oil refineries. “At Chempute, we have been looking for an inspection and maintenance solution to improve the reliability performance for clients for some time. A solution that enables these old facilities to operate reliably and safely, without unexpected shutdowns is exactly what plants now need,” he says. “While we were looking, Omar contacted me and asked Chempute to have a look at the Cenosco IMS Suite within the context of the facilities that exist in Africa. We found the soft ware to be very well suited to our continent and our country. The oil and gas facilities in Africa used to be owned by the large multinational corporations, but many have now been sold off to smaller operators,” he says, citing Glencore’s purchase of the old Chevron refinery in Cape Town as an example. “The new teams coming in desperately need to get a handle on how reliable the facility was, how they can get that reliability back and what they need to do to maximise their output and return these plants to their former glory,” Taylor explains. “To achieve this at any ageing plant in Africa, a very effective maintenance regime is essential, and Cenosco IMS offers a full insight solution, highlighting the integrity and reliability of every aspect of the plant and making the full equip ment condition history (ECH) readily available. This gives operators the opportunity to move away from traditional reactive approaches and towards forward thinking, transparent and more intelligent plant management strategies focused on maximising uptime,” says Andrew

Taylor. Citing his view of what success might look like in Africa, Rugebani says he hopes the partnership between Cenosco and Chempute in South Africa and Nigeria is defined by the widespread adoption of Cenosco’s IMS Suite as the preferred asset integrity management solution across key industries such as oil & gas, chemicals and mining. “This includes delivering impactful imple mentations and building strong local compe tency through Chempute’s training team. We hope to foster awareness campaigns, align with local regulations, and position both companies as long-term digital transformation partners, ultimately contributing to safer, more reliable, and efficient industrial operations in the region,” he says. Andrew Taylor’s view of success is more per sonal: “When a client company adopts Cenosco IMS, we train the plant operators, get it running smoothly, and then months later, when we come back and they tell us this is the best thing they've ever done: they have had no unplanned shutdowns; everything is working exactly as expected; the information they're getting from the system is relevant and useful; and they are very happy with Cenosco and Chempute’s roles in transforming their plant operations: for me, that is the ultimate measure of success for our partnership,” he concludes. www.chempute.com

The Dynamic Forms feature within IMS replaces paper forms with a mobile-friendly solution that captures real-time data.

Cenosco’s pressure equipment integrity (PEI) solution defines when and what to inspect and repair, while retaining a full audit trail.

May-June 2025 • MechChem Africa ¦ 27