Document Intelligence for
Refineries & Brownfield Plants
Brownfield digitization, turnaround documentation, and as-built P&ID reconciliation for refineries. Extract decades of engineering knowledge into SAP PM.
TL;DR
What is refinery document intelligence?
Refinery document intelligence is AI-driven extraction of engineering data from refinery P&IDs, isometrics, datasheets, HAZOP studies, and mill certificates. Pathnovo serves IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, Reliance, Nayara, MRPL refineries plus Aramco SATORP / YASREF / SAMREF joint-venture refineries. Brownfield digitisation, turnaround documentation, IBR + OISD 118 + PESO + CCOE compliance, SAP PM / Maximo handover.
Refinery turnaround or revamp procurement? Pair brownfield extraction with Technical Bid Evaluation (TBE) automation to evaluate 3 to 15 vendor bids against MR specs in 24 hours, with ASME / API / IBR / OISD code-clause-referenced deviations.
Brownfield P&ID digitization at IOCL / BPCL / HPCL / Reliance refineries: 30+ years of paper drawings converted to structured asset registers
Turnaround documentation for CDU, VDU, FCCU, Hydrocracker, DCU, SRU: piping MTO, weld schedules, NDE plans from scanned isometrics
As-built P&ID reconciliation: field redline markups consolidated against original design documents, current-state twin data layer delivered
OISD 118 periodic HAZOP re-validation: 5-year mandatory review cycle with action register digitization and P&ID node mapping
IBR Form IV register automation for refinery pressure equipment: boilers, economisers, superheaters, piping above IBR thresholds
PESO / CCOE licence register for refinery storage, flare system, compressed gas, and explosives-scoped equipment
Mill certificate traceability for turnaround material supply: 180,000+ MTR formats with PO line-item matching
Legacy datasheet digitization: 40 years of instrument, pump, exchanger, column datasheets structured into searchable register
MoC (Management of Change) automation: P&ID revision delta to open PO impact analysis during online modifications
Chief Inspector of Boilers audit preparation: 60-120 day manual cycle compressed to days with live IBR register
Day 1 handover data layer from EPC contractor to refinery operations: CFIHOS-compliant SAP PM / Maximo load
HAZOP study consolidation across refinery units: plant-wide action register with closure evidence chain
Pathnovo handles every major refinery process unit type with licensor-specific tag convention preservation. Nine primary refinery process units covered below spanning CDU through aromatics complex.
Crude Distillation Unit (CDU)
Atmospheric crude oil distillation separating crude into LPG, naphtha, kerosene, jet fuel, diesel, atmospheric gas oil (AGO), and atmospheric residue (atm residue). Typical capacity 100,000-330,000 BPD per CDU train. Process scope: crude desalting, preheat exchangers, atmospheric column, side strippers, overhead system, condensate handling. CDU is the largest single process unit in any refinery and the foundation for downstream processing.
Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU)
Vacuum distillation of atmospheric residue to produce vacuum gas oil (VGO), light vacuum gas oil (LVGO), heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO), and vacuum residue. Vacuum operation (40-100 mmHg) enables distillation of higher-boiling fractions without thermal cracking. Process scope: vacuum column with structured packing, vacuum system (ejectors or LRVPs), side strippers, overhead recovery.
Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU)
Catalytic cracking of VGO and atm residue to produce gasoline blendstock, LPG, fuel gas, light cycle oil (LCO), and slurry oil. Process scope: feed preheat, riser-reactor with FCC catalyst (typical zeolite + alumina matrix), main fractionator, gas concentration unit, LPG recovery, sour water stripper. UOP, Axens (R2R + RNew), KBR Orthoflow, ExxonMobil FlexiCracker, ChevronLummus technology licensors common.
Hydrocracker Unit (HCU)
Hydrocracking of VGO under high hydrogen pressure (typical 100-200 bar) and temperature (350-450°C) to produce diesel, jet fuel, naphtha, and LPG. Multi-stage hydrocracking with hydrotreating + hydrocracking catalyst beds. Process scope: feed preheat, hot high-pressure separator, cold high-pressure separator, fractionation, hydrogen recovery. UOP Unicracking, Axens Hyvahl + T-Star, ChevronLummus ISOCRACKING technology common.
Delayed Coker Unit (DCU)
Thermal cracking of vacuum residue to produce LPG, naphtha, gas oil, and petroleum coke. Process scope: feed preheat, coke drums (typical 2 drums with switching), main fractionator, gas concentration unit, sour water stripper, coke handling and cutting system. Foster Wheeler, ConocoPhillips Selective Yield Delayed Coking (SYDEC), and ExxonMobil FLEXICOKING technology common.
Continuous Catalytic Reformer (CCR)
Reforming of naphtha to produce high-octane reformate (gasoline blendstock) and hydrogen. Continuous catalyst regeneration enables sustained high reformer activity. Process scope: feed preheat, reformer reactors (typically 4 reactors in series), catalyst regenerator, fractionation, hydrogen recovery, recycle compressor. UOP CCR Platforming and Axens Octanizing common.
Hydrotreating Units (HDT)
Hydrotreating of distillates (naphtha hydrotreater NHT, diesel hydrotreater DHT, kerosene hydrotreater KHT, vacuum gas oil hydrotreater VGO HDT) to remove sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen, metals, and saturate olefins. NACE MR0175 sour service compatibility required. Multi-stage reactor with hydrotreating catalyst. UOP Unionfining, Axens Prime-D, ExxonMobil SCANfining technology common.
Sulphur Recovery Unit (SRU)
Sulphur recovery from H2S streams produced by hydrotreating and FCC. Multi-stage Claus process with tail gas treating (typical 2-3 stage Claus plus tail gas amine treater). Process scope: acid gas feed, thermal reactor, catalytic reactors (typically alumina catalyst), sulphur condensers, tail gas treating, incinerator. SCOT (Shell Claus Off-gas Treating) or comparable tail gas process.
Naphtha Splitter and Aromatics Complex
Naphtha separation into light naphtha (for isomerisation) and heavy naphtha (for reforming), with downstream aromatics complex producing paraxylene + ortho-xylene + benzene + toluene where petrochemical scope exists. UOP CCR Platforming + Parex separation or Axens Octanizing + Eluxyl separation common.
Refineries operate under multiple concurrent regulatory regimes spanning OISD layout / safety standards, IBR pressure equipment regulation, PESO compressed gas licensing, ASME B31.3 piping code with Category M sour service provisions, NACE MR0175 sour service, API 650 / 653 / 570 tank and piping inspection, and ASME Section VIII pressure vessel code. The seven regulatory codes most directly applicable to refining scope below.
OISD 118 + OISD 150 + OISD 116 / 117 / 119
Oil Industry Safety Directorate standards covering layout, fired heater design, fire protection, and tank inspection at Indian petroleum installations. OISD 118 inter-distance compliance per Petroleum Rules 2002 Third Schedule applies to all refinery tank farms, equipment groups, and unit boundaries. OISD 150 governs CDU heater, VDU heater, hydrotreater preheat, hydrocracker preheat, CCR reformer heaters with SIL 2 / SIL 3 BMS requirements. See the OISD 118 standard reference and the OISD 150 standard reference.
IBR 1950
Indian Boiler Regulations 1950 cover refinery pressure equipment: CDU atmospheric column, VDU vacuum column, hydrocracker reactor (typical 200 bar at 400-450°C), hydrotreater reactor (typical 50-100 bar at 350-380°C), CCR reformer reactor, coker drums, FCC regenerator (typical 2-3 bar at 700°C). IBR Form II / III / IV registration mandatory; Chief Inspector of Boilers sign-off required for in-service equipment. See the IBR compliance page.
PESO Form XIV and Form XV
PESO Form XIV (petroleum storage installation licence) covers refinery tank farms across Class A, B, C petroleum scope. PESO Form XV covers compressed gas storage (LPG, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen) at refinery scope. See the PESO standard reference and the CCOE Tank Farm standard.
ASME B31.3 Process Piping with Category M (sour service) + NACE MR0175
Process piping per ASME B31.3 with Category M designation for hydrogen sulphide streams (sour gas treating, sour water, sour gas oil). NACE MR0175 hardness limits (22 HRC carbon steel, 235 HV low-alloy) apply to all sour service piping and equipment. HIC testing per NACE TM0284 for sour service plate. See the ASME B31.3 standard reference and the NACE MR0175 standard reference.
API 650 + API 653 + API 570
API 650 covers new atmospheric storage tank design at refinery scope (crude tanks, finished product tanks, intermediate tanks). API 653 covers in-service tank inspection, repair, alteration, reconstruction. API 570 covers in-service process piping inspection with Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) per API 580 / 581 increasingly adopted at Indian PSU refineries. See the API 650 standard reference and the API 570 standard reference.
ASME Section VIII (Division 1 and Division 2)
Pressure vessel design code covering hydrocracker reactor, hydrotreater reactor, FCC reactor, CCR reactor, coker drums, sulphur recovery reactor. Division 2 with stricter design margins and 100% radiographic examination for high-criticality vessels (hydrocracker reactor, ammonia converter). See the ASME Section VIII standard reference.
OISD 144 (LPG bottling) + CCOE licensing
OISD 144 governs LPG bottling plant operations within refinery scope where applicable. Chief Controller of Explosives (CCOE) licensing covers refinery petroleum storage, LPG, and explosives where applicable per Petroleum Act 1934, Gas Cylinders Rules 2016, Explosives Act 1884. See the CCOE standard reference.
Seven real refinery project scope examples covering Indian PSU refineries (IOCL Panipat, Reliance Jamnagar, BPCL Kochi, Nayara Vadinar, MRPL, HPCL Visakhapatnam + Mumbai) plus Saudi Aramco refining joint-venture refineries. Each example shows scope and typical engagement profile.
IOCL Panipat refinery expansion (Haryana)
IOCL Panipat refinery expansion scope covering CDU + VDU capacity increase plus new FCC unit plus hydrocracker addition. UOP CCR Platforming + Unionfining + Unicracking technology base. Pathnovo brownfield engagement: 14-20 weeks across 18,000-25,000 drawings covering original 1998-era commissioning baseline plus 2010s expansion plus 2020s capacity addition. CFIHOS-compliant handover to IOCL AVEVA AIM platform downstream.
Reliance Jamnagar Refinery 1 + 2 + petrochemical complex (Gujarat)
Reliance Jamnagar refinery complex covering Refinery 1 (1999 commissioned, ~660 KBPD), Refinery 2 (2009 commissioned, ~580 KBPD), plus integrated petrochemical complex. Multi-licensor scope (UOP, Lummus, Foster Wheeler, ChevronLummus, Axens). Pathnovo brownfield engagement scope across 30,000-50,000 drawings spanning multi-era baseline plus continuous expansion. Multi-licensor convention preservation with Indian private operator delivery model.
BPCL Kochi refinery integrated petrochemical revamp (Kerala)
BPCL Kochi refinery revamp covering CDU + VDU + FCCU capacity expansion plus new petrochemical complex (Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project / PDPP). UOP + Axens + Lummus technology base. Engagement scope: 12-16 weeks covering refinery brownfield baseline plus petrochemical greenfield scope. PESO + CCOE compliance integrated.
Nayara Energy Vadinar refinery revamp (Gujarat)
Nayara Energy Vadinar refinery (formerly Essar Oil) revamp covering CDU + VDU + hydrocracker + delayed coker + reformer capacity expansion. Multi-era baseline (2008 original commissioning) plus 2015-2020s expansion. Foster Wheeler, ChevronLummus, UOP technology base. Pathnovo engagement scope: 10-14 weeks.
ONGC-Mangalore Refinery (MRPL) revamp (Karnataka)
MRPL refinery revamp covering CDU + VDU + hydrocracker + delayed coker + FCC capacity expansion. UOP + Axens + Lummus technology base. Pathnovo engagement scope: 10-14 weeks covering 1996-era baseline plus subsequent expansion phases. IBR Form IV register integration with Indian PSU rate-card delivery.
HPCL Visakhapatnam refinery and Mumbai refinery revamps (Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra)
HPCL Visakhapatnam refinery (1957 commissioned, ~166 KBPD post-expansion) and Mumbai refinery (1952 commissioned, ~75 KBPD) brownfield digitisation + revamp scope. Heritage hand-drawn P&ID archives from original 1950s commissioning plus multiple revamp eras. OISD 118 HAZOP re-validation for full plant scope; IBR Form II / III / IV across heritage equipment. Pathnovo engagement scope: 16-24 weeks given heritage scope depth.
Aramco YASREF / SATORP / SAMREF refining contractor scope (Saudi Arabia)
Saudi Aramco refining joint-venture refineries: YASREF (Yanbu, ~400 KBPD, ConocoPhillips + Aramco), SATORP (Jubail, ~440 KBPD, Total + Aramco), SAMREF (Yanbu, ~400 KBPD, ExxonMobil + Aramco). Aramco SAES-W series engineering specifications and IT-1100 information technology alignment. CFIHOS-compliant handover. AWS Riyadh deployment for Saudi NCA data residency compliance. See the Saudi Arabia regional page.
Global refining industry uses technology from multiple licensors covering reforming, hydrocracking, hydrotreating, fluid catalytic cracking, coking, and sulphur recovery. Pathnovo preserves licensor-specific tag conventions, equipment numbering schemes, and documentation styles during extraction. Seven primary licensors covered below.
UOP (Honeywell)
Process units
CCR Platforming for reforming, Unicracking for hydrocracking, Unionfining for hydrotreating, RxCat fluid catalytic cracking, Selectif olefins recovery, Penex isomerisation, Q-Max cumene synthesis, Parex paraxylene separation, Pacol n-paraffin dehydrogenation
Tag convention handling
UOP tag conventions and proprietary process licensing detail preserved during extraction. UOP is the most-cited technology licensor across Indian PSU and global refining
Axens
Process units
Hyvahl atmospheric residue hydrotreating, T-Star vacuum gas oil hydrotreating, Prime-D diesel hydrotreating, Octanizing continuous catalytic reforming, Eluxyl paraxylene separation, IsoSiv kerosene dewaxing, AxSlate sulphur recovery
Tag convention handling
Axens tag conventions preserved with French engineering documentation style; multilingual document handling supported
ChevronLummus Global
Process units
ISOCRACKING hydrocracking, ISOTREATING hydrotreating, LC-Fining ebullating bed hydrocracking, LC-MAX moderate-pressure hydrocracking, Hydrofining naphtha and distillate hydrotreating
Tag convention handling
ChevronLummus tag conventions preserved with US engineering documentation style
Foster Wheeler (now Wood)
Process units
Delayed Coker (SYDEC variant), naphtha cracking furnaces, atmospheric and vacuum distillation column design, fired heater design across refinery scope
Tag convention handling
Foster Wheeler / Wood tag conventions preserved with US / UK engineering documentation style
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering (EMRE)
Process units
FlexiCracker fluid catalytic cracking, FLEXICOKING flexible coking, SCANfining naphtha hydrotreating, distillate hydrotreating, hydrogen production
Tag convention handling
ExxonMobil tag conventions and proprietary technology licensing detail preserved. Cited at YASREF + SAMREF Saudi joint-venture refineries plus Indian licensing scope
KBR (formerly MW Kellogg)
Process units
Orthoflow fluid catalytic cracking, KBR delayed coker, KBR hydrogen production, KBR ammonia + urea synthesis (for refinery petrochemical integration)
Tag convention handling
KBR tag conventions and proprietary process licensing detail preserved. KBR is a major engineering and procurement contractor across Indian PSU refining
Topsoe (Haldor Topsoe) and Linde Engineering
Process units
Topsoe hydrotreating + hydrocracking catalyst + reactor scope; Topsoe hydrogen production via steam methane reforming (SMR). Linde air separation unit (ASU), hydrogen production, refinery-petrochemical integration scope
Tag convention handling
Topsoe and Linde tag conventions preserved with Danish and German engineering documentation styles; multilingual document handling supported
Why do refineries need document intelligence for brownfield digitization?
Refineries routinely carry 30-50 years of accumulated engineering drawings across expansions, capacity revamps, MoCs, and turnarounds. The authoritative as-built state commonly exists only in paper archives, faded scans, or outdated CAD files. Turnaround planning, IBR Chief Inspector audits, OISD 118 periodic HAZOP reviews, and safety-critical MoC workflows all depend on current-state documentation, which is routinely unavailable without manual reconstruction. Document intelligence automates extraction from these legacy documents into SAP PM / Maximo, enabling modern asset management, predictive maintenance, and regulatory compliance without re-drawing every P&ID. For a typical large refinery (500,000+ tags, 10,000+ P&IDs, decades of documentation), manual digitization is economically infeasible; Pathnovo makes it tractable in weeks rather than years.
What is the typical ROI of refinery document intelligence?
Three quantifiable benefits. First, turnaround documentation cycle time compresses 30-60%; for a typical refinery turnaround where documentation sits on the critical path, that translates to 2-4 weeks of earlier return-to-service at $120,000-600,000 daily production value per unit. Second, regulatory compliance automation eliminates the $360,000-960,000 annual manual cost of IBR / OISD 118 / PESO register maintenance via consultancy. Third, Day 1 SAP PM / Maximo data availability enables predictive maintenance from commissioning rather than requiring 12-24 months of baseline data collection. For Indian PSU refineries running annual capex of $60M-240M on turnarounds and revamps, Pathnovo's commercial footprint is a rounding error against these benefits.
Can Pathnovo process legacy refinery P&IDs?
Yes, this is our largest engagement category. We process P&IDs from any era: 1970s hand-drawn, 1980s-1990s early CAD exports, 2000s PDF, and modern intelligent P&IDs. Faded scans, hand-annotations, handwritten revision markups, and non-standard drawing conventions are all handled natively. Typical brownfield engagement scales to 10,000+ P&IDs with 99.5% contractual accuracy SLA.
How does Pathnovo support refinery turnarounds?
Turnaround workflows benefit from five Pathnovo capabilities: (1) piping MTO generation from legacy isometrics for replacement scope, (2) weld schedule / NDE plan / PWHT tracking per ASME B31.3 and Section IX, (3) mill certificate traceability for incoming replacement materials with PO matching, (4) OISD 118 HAZOP re-validation with P&ID-revision mapping, (5) as-built documentation from field redlines. Typical turnaround cycle shortened by 30-60% on the documentation-critical path.
Do you support brownfield digitization at scale?
Yes. The McDermott reference benchmark processed 10,247 tags across 600 P&IDs with zero QA rejections. Indian PSU refinery brownfield digitization engagements typically run 6-12 weeks and deliver: complete asset register, equipment master with material traceability, IBR / OISD 118 / PESO compliance registers, legacy HAZOP study digitization, and Day 1 handover-ready SAP PM / Maximo load file. Pricing per-page with volume discounts; Indian PSU rate-card compatibility available.
Which Indian refinery operators does Pathnovo serve?
IOCL (Indian Oil Corporation, 9 refineries), BPCL (Bharat Petroleum, 4 refineries), HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum, 3 refineries), Reliance Industries (Jamnagar, world's largest single-location complex), Nayara Energy (Vadinar, formerly Essar Oil), MRPL (Mangalore Refinery, HPCL subsidiary), ONGC Mangalore, Chennai Petroleum (IOCL subsidiary), Numaligarh Refinery (NRL). Each refinery carries concurrent IBR + OISD 118 + PESO + CCOE regulatory obligations; see the Indian EPC compliance bundle for the integrated workflow.
Does Pathnovo support Gulf refining operators?
Yes. Active coverage for Aramco downstream (Ras Tanura, Yanbu, Jazan, SATORP, YASREF, SAMREF), ADNOC Refining (Ruwais), QatarEnergy refining (Ras Laffan), PETRONAS Melaka, KPC / KNPC (Mina Al Ahmadi, Mina Abdulla, Shuaiba), Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO). Data residency configurable in AWS Riyadh or Azure UAE North. See the Saudi Arabia regional page for the Gulf market detail.
How does Pathnovo integrate with refinery SAP PM / Maximo?
Pre-certified connectors for SAP PM S/4HANA and IBM Maximo 7.6 / MAS 8.x. Asset hierarchy, functional locations, work order templates, PM schedules, condition monitoring points, and inspection registers all populated from extracted engineering data. MAS Predict / MAS Monitor initialisation data delivered for Day 1 predictive maintenance activation. See the engineering handover workflow for the full pipeline.
See what your documents actually contain.
Send us 10 documents from your current project. We extract, reconcile, and show you exactly what we find in 48 hours, before any contract.
If the accuracy isn't what we promised, you owe us nothing.