Control Room Upgrades and Refurbishment
Upgrade the room without stopping the plant
Most control rooms cannot close for an upgrade. We plan the work so operators keep running the plant while the room changes around them.
Every upgrade starts with the same control room assessment we use in our industrial control room design work, and runs through the same four fixed-fee stages.
Assess the room first
We study how the room is used today before we propose any change.
Work in live phases
One operator group or console at a time, with temporary positions in between.
Fit the outage window
Programmes built around the plant’s outage dates, cool-down and commissioning.
Plan for what drawings miss
Designs that can absorb undocumented equipment found during the work.
Plan permits and MOC
Management-of-change and permits are written into the programme from the start.
Upgrades We Have Delivered
Coastal refinery, live upgrade
We upgraded the room one operator group at a time, using temporary operator positions. Night and weekend work kept the plant controlled, with about 5 weeks on site.
Live, phased, night work
Inland refinery, DCS consoles
Four DCS consoles were replaced one at a time with pre-terminated power. No wiring diagrams existed, and one console grew by three bays once undocumented equipment was found.
MOC, permits, surveys
Coal-fired power station
Unit control rooms were upgraded inside 77-day outages while the neighbouring unit generated. Operators worked from a temporary air-conditioned control room.
Outage programme
An Outage, Day By Day
77 days
Total unit outage
5 days
Cool-down
50 days
Implementation
22 days
Hot commissioning
Figures from a completed power station unit outage. A polymer plant refit took about 2.5 weeks on site.
Sometimes a smaller fix is enough
Not every room needs new consoles. Our assessment looks at how operators use the room today. Sometimes regrouping units solves the problem. Sometimes moving overview content to the video wall does it. Fixing glare on screens can matter more than new furniture. When a smaller fix is enough, we say so. When the room needs a full upgrade, the assessment becomes the brief. It records what operators rely on today, so nothing useful is lost in the new design.
Standards Behind Every Design
We design with reference to the standards that matter for people in control rooms. Tap a card to see what each one covers.
ISO 11064Ergonomic design of control centresTap to read more
Layout, workstation, display and environmental requirements for control rooms, from concept to evaluation.
ISO 6385Ergonomics of work systemsTap to read more
The principles behind designing work around people: tasks, equipment and environment together.
EEMUA 201Control room design guidanceTap to read more
Practical guidance on human-centred control room and HMI design for process industries.
EEMUA 191Alarm systemsTap to read more
How to design, manage and measure alarm systems so operators are not flooded.
ISA-18.2 / IEC 62682Alarm management lifecycleTap to read more
The lifecycle for alarm philosophy, rationalisation and performance monitoring.
ISA-101HMI designTap to read more
How operator screens should be structured, from plant overview down to equipment detail.
IOGP 454Human factors in projectsTap to read more
Human factors engineering built into capital projects from the start.
Your site codesLocal and owner specificationsTap to read more
Your own specifications and the codes in force where you build always take precedence.
Frequently asked questions
Can you upgrade a control room while the plant is running?
Yes. We work one operator group or console at a time, with temporary operator positions, and use night and weekend shifts where needed. Where the plant has an outage, we build the programme inside it.
How long does a control room upgrade take on site?
It depends on the scope and the access the plant can give. Recent projects ranged from about 2.5 weeks for a polymer plant refit to about 5 weeks for a live refinery upgrade.
What if there are no drawings of the existing room?
We survey the room before we design and leave room for surprises. On one refinery no wiring diagrams existed, and undocumented equipment found during the work added three bays to a console.
Do we always need new consoles?
No. Our assessment sometimes shows that regrouping units, moving overview content or fixing glare is enough. We tell you when that is the case.