Refinery Safety: MRPL Brings AI Surveillance Into Turnaround Operations
The future of Refinery Safety could increasingly depend on artificial intelligence as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited introduces digital surveillance for refinery turnaround operations. The latest tender seeks an integrated monitoring system combining AI analytics, live cameras and real-time alerts to improve Refinery Safety during some of the industry's highest-risk maintenance activities. This Indian Petroplus analysis examines how digital monitoring may transform refinery shutdown management.
The project covers crude distillation, diesel hydro desulphurisation and sulphur recovery units using camera networks, dashboards, cloud infrastructure and AI-based detection of unsafe acts. The system will monitor PPE compliance, work at height, lifting operations, welding, housekeeping and other critical turnaround activities while maintaining searchable records of safety violations.
A key feature is the introduction of digital safety passports for contractors, creating long-term behavioural records that could influence future vendor evaluations. The contractor must also ensure high system uptime, India-based data hosting and compliance with cyber-security requirements.
However, the tender does not define AI accuracy standards or acceptable false-positive rates, raising questions over how automated safety alerts will be validated before affecting contractor performance records.
According to Indian Petroplus analysis, AI-driven Refinery Safety solutions could become standard across future shutdown projects, but their long-term success will depend on balancing digital surveillance with reliable field validation and practical operational execution.
