Issue 23/2014 - Application and research of LIMS systems in the refining industry

Application and research
of LIMS system in refining and chemical industry□ PetroChina PetroChina Petrochemical Research Institute CHEN Chao LI Chao Xin Hong LI Yao WEI Jing
LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) is the laboratory information management system, mainly with analysis and testing work as the core, sample analysis as the main line, the laboratory approval process, personnel, standard solution, chemical reagents, instruments and equipment, environment, standard methods, documentation, scientific research management and other factors effectively combined into one, through advanced computer network technology, data storage technology, Rapid data processing technology realizes the whole process information management
of laboratory analysis business.

LIMS mainly serves analytical testing laboratories including research and development, process analysis, quality monitoring and commissioned experiments, which integrates various analytical instruments in the laboratory through various interfaces and computers and computer networks, and the original data generated by analytical instruments enters the computer system through the interface, and then processes and stores in a reasonable way and transmits it to the users of
analytical data in a suitable way 。 From the emergence of LIMS systems based on storage and reporting functions in the 70s of the last century, to the 90s when Internet and Web technologies began to be applied in LIMS systems, general-purpose LIMS systems began to dominate the market
.
With the development of network technology, database technology and the continuous expansion of laboratory scale, today's LIMS is no longer limited to simple functions in the traditional sense, but emphasizes the comprehensive and standardized management
of laboratories.

First, the domestic LIMS technology is still in
its infancy in developed countries, LIMS technology has been popularized in the 90s of the last century, the application rate of LIMS in laboratories in developed countries has reached more than 80%, and the application in the refining and chemical industry is more common
.
BASF, BP, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil, Shell and other multinational oil companies have adopted unified procurement of commercial LIMS products for the whole process management
of laboratories.
Shell has developed an integrated laboratory information management system using LIMS products, which directly unifies the analysis and testing business of its R&D departments around the world to the same virtual platform for management, fully realizes the standardization of business processes and the digital unified management of laboratory desktops, and realizes real-time sharing and monitoring
of analysis data in different regions and different departments.
At present, in developed countries, there are hundreds of specialized companies providing LIMS technical consulting services and mature commercial products
.
Among them, the LIMS products of companies such as Lebware, Thermo Fisher Scientific and StarLims account for the vast majority of
global applications.

In the country, LIMS began to be known
only in the 90s of the last century.
The domestic research institute of petrochemical industry first began to use LIMS system for laboratory management
before 2000.
Fushun Petrochemical Scientific Research, Shanghai Petrochemical Research Institute, Qingdao Safety Engineering Research Institute, Sinopec Exploration and Development Research Institute, etc.
have also followed suit, and have successively developed and put into use their own LIMS systems
。 PetroChina began to build LIMS system in its refining and chemical companies in 2005, some petrochemical companies have realized the system integration application of LIMS and MES, in 2010 China Petrochemical Research Institute began to build LIMS system, and in 2013 began to use LIMS for laboratory comprehensive management, the overall operation effect is remarkable, providing strong data support
for production management and product quality control.

The first to launch commercial LIMS products in China is Beijing Taili Chemical Company, which has been successfully installed in petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, and has played an important role
in the quality control of the production process.
Huibo Jingrui LabBuilder LIMS products were introduced to the market in 1999 and have been installed in laboratories in many industries in
China.
In general, although there are some successful experiences in the application of LIMS for laboratory comprehensive management by domestic refining and chemical industry research institutes, they are still in their infancy, especially in business process modeling
.

Second, suitable for laboratory LIMS system design
in the field of refining and chemical In recent years, with the refining industry paying more and more attention to scientific research innovation and scientific research efficiency, the number and equipment level of instruments, equipment, devices of scientific research institutes have been significantly improved, and the scientific research tasks undertaken are becoming more and more heavy, after years of development, many deficiencies in its operation and management process have gradually become prominent.
To a certain extent, it restricts the improvement
of scientific research quality and scientific research process management.
It is mainly manifested in the following aspects:
First, the management model is outdated
.
Instruments and equipment are in the ledger management mode, some scientific research institutes general institutes, branches are distributed in different provinces and regions, regional resources are decentralized management, managers at all levels, scientific research personnel on the number of instruments and equipment, name, each instrument configuration, function, equipped analysis methods, operation, etc.
can not timely and comprehensive understanding of the situation, the use and equipment of the lack of unified allocation and management, directly affect the sharing of equipment resources and the improvement
of utilization rate.

Second, the work efficiency is low, the statistics, reporting, transmission, etc.
of instrument analysis data are still completed by manual operation, the task flow is long, the workload is large, and the efficiency is
low.

Third, the accuracy, authenticity and security of the original data cannot be guaranteed, and the data query, access, transmission, storage, call, and backtracking are limited
.

With its great advantages and experience in comprehensive laboratory management, LIMS system can effectively solve the above practical problems such as scattered laboratory instruments and equipment, low utilization rate, and inability to effectively monitor laboratory instruments and equipment in the refining and chemical industry, and manage the analysis and testing business on the same virtual platform, realizing the standardization of business processes and the digital unified management
of the laboratory's desktop.

Focusing on these key issues, starting from the analysis of the current situation of scientific research and business needs, the basic functions that need to be realized by the LIMS system of scientific research institutes in the refining and chemical industry are shown in Figure 1:
Third, the key issues
that need to be paid attention to in the construction of LIMS system The construction of LIMS system involves the transformation of laboratory working mode and management mode, and a series of technical and management problems
need to be paid attention to in the construction process Instrument connection Most of the data of the LIMS system comes from the analytical instrument, so the connection between the analytical instrument and the LIMS and the automatic transmission of data can reduce the error caused by manual data entry, improve the efficiency of the analysis business, and reduce the labor intensity
.
Therefore, one of the key technical issues in system construction is to connect all instruments that have connection value, need to be connected and have connection conditions to the LIMS system
.
The general principle of instrument connection is to realize automatic data acquisition for instruments with computer workstation or computer connection interface for users, and manually input instrument analysis data and manual analysis data into the LIMS system
without computer connection interface.

Today's mature LIMS systems have dedicated instrument connection modules to support instrument connections for a variety of standard data interfaces, including PC workstations, CDS systems, RS232 and printer interfaces
.
And through this module, the result file in the specified directory is automatically parsed and transferred to the LIMS system
.
For instruments with RS232 and printer interfaces, the instrument connection module automatically collects and transmits instrument data to the LIMS system
by setting parameters.
For some instruments that cannot be connected to the system (the instrument itself does not provide a connection interface), data
can still be recorded by manual entry.

The leadership pays full attention to the construction and implementation of LIMS system involving laboratory personnel, management processes, instrument connections and other aspects, so the leadership's full attention and decisive decisions on key issues will largely determine the progress and implementation effect
of LIMS construction.

Business process simplification and operability Different laboratories of scientific research institutes often have different management processes and ideas, and in the process of building LIMS, on the basis of meeting the needs of research laboratories, in line with the principle of simplicity and practicality, strong operability, try to unify the management processes of different laboratories, and do not complicate
simple problems.

Focus on training Through training, operators should fully understand and master every link of LIMS, so as to provide guarantee
for the smooth implementation and promotion of LIMS.

Fourth, the application prospect of LIMS system The application of
advanced LIMS system will bring great changes to the scientific research management of scientific research institutes in the refining and chemical industry, and promote the management work to a new level
.
After the application of LIMS system, the process, automation and network management of sample analysis business will be realized, which is convenient for managers to grasp the actual process of analysis and supervise
the modification of data.
The laboratory realizes sample retention management, material and reagent management, measuring instrument management, instrument management, personnel management and other laboratories that are closely related to the quality of analytical dataAuxiliary management functions to ensure the traceability and accuracy
of analysis data from all aspects.
At the same time, a large number of high-end analytical instruments to achieve automatic transmission of analytical data, especially physical adsorbent instrument, gas chromatography instrument, mass spectrometry instrument, infrared spectrometer instrument, etc.
, greatly reduce the workload of analysts, reduce the occurrence of manual input errors, thereby improving the automation level
of the laboratory.
A large amount of analytical data stored in the system in the form of "data transfer" facilitates the reuse
of the data by researchers in the future.

In short, the application of LIMS system can comprehensively manage and control the factors (instruments, samples, methods, environment, personnel, etc.
) that affect the quality of the laboratory, and effectively standardize and monitor the workflow
of the laboratory.
The application of LIMS will effectively improve the management status of the laboratory, improve the work efficiency, and provide a good platform
for the standardization, standardization and quantitative management of laboratory work.