Texmark Chemicals deploys IIoT at the edge in showcase Refinery of the Future

Demand for dicyclopentadiene (DCPD), a polymer precursor for everything from ink to boats, is growing worldwide. But DCPD manufacturing processes involve flammable materials requiring stringent safety measures—and as demand increases, so does the complexity of the supply chains that rely on it.

The ink in a printer. The hull of a fiberglass boat. A bathtub. Manufacturing these products as well as many others including insecticides, paints, varnishes, fragrances, and rubber goods, requires the polymer precursor dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) or a derivative of it.

Manufacturers like DCPD because it makes products tough, able to resist heat and corrosion. Worldwide demand for DCPD is growing, driven by the producers of resins and plastics, and the needs of the marine and construction industries. In the United States and Europe, the uptick is coming from recovering economies. In the Asia Pacific region, the product is needed by a growing plastics industry. Demand also is rising in Latin America and Africa.

But manufacturing and supplying DCPD and related products isn’t simple. Its manufacture involves heat—lots of it—and highly reactive chemicals, making safety a top priority. And as demand for DCPD grows, the global supply chain becomes increasingly complex, requiring ever more stringent controls, granular visibility, uninterrupted productivity, and regulatory oversight.

Safety and operational efficiency are essential when dealing with flammable, highly regulated materials.

Texmark’s first business priority is safety. Many of the materials the company works with are hazardous, flammable, or both, and are heavily regulated. Texmark must ensure its workers adhere to Process Safety Management (PSM) procedures at all times, and that its facility is managed in ways that put worker and community safety first.

As a contract manufacturer, Texmark must be prepared to adapt to customer requirements, which can change with little advance warning.

And it must continually drive plant efficiency and productivity. Historically, Texmark has depended on physical inspections of process equipment to ensure all systems remain in working order. However, these plant walk-downs can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Texmark has 130 pumps in its plant, and spends nearly 1,000 hours a year on walk-downs and vibration analysis.

Depending solely on physical inspections also carries risk, because it relies on employees who—based on years of experience—can tell if a pump is starting to malfunction by recognizing slight variations in its noise and vibrations. But what happens if an employee with that skill is out sick, or reaches retirement age? Texmark needs ways to institutionalize that type of intelligence and insight.