Cosmo Oil Co. and Yokogawa Electric Corporation announce that Cosmo Oil and the Yokogawa Electric subsidiaries Yokogawa Solution Service Corporation (Yokogawa Solution Service) and Yokogawa Digital Corporation (Yokogawa Digital) have joined forces to promote the digitalization of operations at refineries owned by Cosmo Oil.

With a view to having robots perform plant inspections and maintenance in the future, Cosmo Oil and Yokogawa are conducting a proof-of concept test using a quadruped walking robot at Cosmo Oil's Yokkaichi Refinery.

In addition to conducting a performance assessment of the quadruped robot in a temporarily closed plant facility at the same oil refinery, the two parties are identifying challenges for on-site application and selecting points that need to be verified in preparation for on-site use of the robot. Going forward, the companies will accelerate digitalization at refineries through the realization of robot-driven inspection and maintenance, and other such initiatives.

Additionally, as part of these refinery digitalization efforts, workshops on the use of digital tools have been held at the Chiba Refinery from November to improve the sophistication and efficiency of refinery operations.

In the future, the companies will explore the potential introduction of robotics (robots and drones) and use of digital tools, and will work toward the realization of “refineries where humans, robots, and AI can work together” at Cosmo Oil’s Chiba, Yokkaichi, and Sakai refineries.