Emerson and Saudi Aramco have agreed to codevelop a corrosion management system aimed at creating a unified, scalable, end-to-end process across Aramco’s operations.
Built on the two company’s long-standing relationship, the new partnership—announced on 27 May—is Aramco’s first joint research and development (R&D) program with Emerson focused on digital corrosion management that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict failures and optimize maintenance to extend the life span of critical assets.
“Emerson, with our complete technology stack, is uniquely positioned to coinnovate the next-generation corrosion monitoring solutions that are cost-effective, scalable, and customized for Aramco,” said Ram Krishnan, chief operating officer for Emerson.
The Cost of Corrosion
Speaking to the 19th Middle East Corrosion Conference and Exhibition (MECC) in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in December, Ahmad O. Al Khowaiter, Aramco’s executive vice president of technology and innovation, said that “corrosion costs roughly $3 trillion per year, representing about 3% of global GDP” across all industries.
“Studies indicate that close to $1 trillion per year in savings can be realized by applying AI and other corrosion control technologies,” he said. “Behind every dollar lost to corrosion is increased risk—risk to the safety of our colleagues, risk to the integrity of our environment, and risk to the reliability of energy supply which billions of people depend on.”
For Aramco, that has led to an investment over the past 3 years of more than $70 million in corrosion management technologies, achieving over $770 million in cost savings and avoidance,” said Wail A. Al Jaafari, Aramco’s executive vice president of technical services, in a speech at MECC.
An End-to-End System
Emerson’s technology contribution to the partnership includes ultrasonic online corrosion monitoring, seamless wireless connectivity for corrosion wall thickness monitors, and real-time and continuous data collection to develop a corrosion management program, according to Emmerson’s release.
At MECC, Aramco announced a separate set of 28 memoranda of understanding, totaling more than $1 billion for proposed R&D collaborations in advanced materials and technologies aimed at developing localized manufacturing and workforce training and development, according to regional business media Mubasher and Sahm Capital.