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Vol. 58 No. 9
September 2006
Dennis Denney, JPT Technology Editor
Smart Intervention
Baker Oil Tools’ Smart Intervention technology adapts intelligent-completion concepts and methodologies to provide process control with real-time decision-making capabilities while performing well-intervention work. By knowing what is happening at the bottomhole assembly, teams can operate well-intervention equipment with more consistent reliability. Real-time decision making will help optimize intervention operations and avoid nonproductive time. The process-control-loop elements enable the intervention operator and surface team to make decisions on the basis of accurate downhole information. First, the surface crew operates the workstring according to the type of intervention operation; then, when the downhole situation changes in response to input at surface, the intervention performance subassembly (IPS), equipped with an array of sensors, registers the changes downhole. Next, information relevant to the intervention operation (static data and diagnostics) is transmitted to the surface by use of measurement-while-drilling (MWD) mud-pulse telemetry, and the downhole information and relevant surface data are presented to the intervention operator on a rig-floor display and, if connected, to an intervention support team at a remote data or operations center. Finally, on the basis of downhole feedback, the team and the operator can make an informed decision on how to advance the intervention operation (e.g., parameter changes in a milling operation, pulling out of hole after confirming successful connection to a “fish,” or working the pipe to overcome a weight-transfer problem). The IPS is used in conjunction with a base MWD tool used in drilling operations. The IPS sensors include an accelerometer, strain gauges, and magnetometers. All sensors are sampled simultaneously at a data rate of 1,000 Hz. A digital-signal processor in the tool continuously analyzes the incoming data stream and provides static parameters plus diagnostic characterization of the downhole-vibration environment. Available output parameters include weight-on-mill and mill-bounce diagnostic, torque, downhole rotary speed and stick/slip severity, bending moment, continuous estimation of dogleg severity and bottomhole-assembly whirl, differential-pressure determination from equivalent circulating density, and downhole temperature. The output parameters are forwarded to the MWD tool for uphole transmission. The IPS records all output parameters in the onboard memory, where periods of high-frequency raw sensor data also can be stored and retrieved later at surface for details evaluation.
For additional information, e-mail info@bakeroiltools.com.
New Land Wireline Unit
The AlMansoori Specialized Engineering
land wireline unit destined for Saudi Arabia.
AlMansoori Specialized Engineering has launched its new land wireline unit. Designed for desert conditions and high temperatures, the double-drum unit has three compartments—winch, operator cabin, and workshop—and is mounted on an MAN 4x4 18GVW chassis. The slickline-winch unit uses closed-loop hydraulics, providing good acceleration and deceleration for jarring operations and the ability to run smoothly at very low constant speeds for memory-logging applications. The unit uses power from the truck engine, thereby reducing costs and eliminating the need for a separate power pack, which in turn reduces maintenance costs. The unit provides computerized data recording, variable-speed drum-motor control for the hydraulic system, hydraulic-driven generator and compressor, blowout-preventer control system, and a hydrostatic testing system. The new unit was commissioned by Saudi Aramco for the Damam field in Saudi Arabia.
For additional information, visit www.almansoori.biz.
Sampling/Analysis Systems
Jiskoot Ltd. has supplied three sampling and analysis systems to check platform multiphase-metering systems on a North Sea platform. The systems are installed downstream of the primary separation, allowing increased production with existing facilities while meeting the additional measurement requirements of bringing different wells in with potentially different partners for the same platform. Each system uses a Coriolis meter and a water-in-oil monitor and allows manual extraction of a sample for pressure/volume/temperature calibration of the multiphase meter. The system achieves higher accuracies in liquid than a full multiphase meter, and it can provide a reference to validate the multiphase-meter measurements in situ. To handle the application’s very light crude oils and need for considerable mixing, the system uses the JetMix and Co-Jetix powered mixing to ensure sufficient mixing of the condensate and water to maintain representative measurement without introducing a pressure drop that can disrupt the platform by causing cavitation or gas breakout in the main process line.
Jiskoot sampling/analysis system on a North Sea platform.
For additional information, e-mail jmoreau@jiskoot.com.
Cleanup and Oil Recovery
EnviroMop LLC manufactures Maximum Oil Pickup, a hydrophobic, cellulose-based sorbent material. Cengroup Petroleum Corp. plans to use the material to clean up and recover the approximately 250 million bbl of spilled oil lying on the water and on land in Azerbaijan, with nearly 1 million bbl additional oil leaking to the surface each year. The cleanup will recover and return the spilled oil to productive use while restoring the land, sea, and shore. Clean oil can be recovered from the oil-saturated materials simply by squeezing. Up to 95% of the absorbed oil can be extracted, salvaged, and reused because the absorbent can clean the oil so that it is not contaminated by water or debris. The remaining absorbent material can be burned to recover 100% of the available energy, leaving as little as 0.1% ash. A bioremediation option allows the oil-saturated absorbent to be gathered in drums for remediation by oil-digesting microbes and nutrients. This material absorbs up to 30 times its own weight in oil, without absorbing water. It restores traction on slippery surfaces, biodegrades oil, and safely restores the natural environment. The absorbent can be treated to be fire retardant. It is noncorrosive, nontoxic, nonirritating, and is safe for plants and animals.
For additional information, visit www.enviromop.com.
Asset Tracking
Fitiri RigMS handheld
wireless input device.
The RigMS rig-management-system software developed by Fitiri enables oilfield companies to manage and track assets worldwide by use of a handheld wireless device, radio-frequency identification-device (RFID) tags, bar codes, and a service provider’s central database. The drilling-equipment maintenance and management system manages and tracks assets, maintenance procedures, equipment inspections, overall cost, hours used, lubrication schedules, and oil analyses. For work orders, it tracks cost; creates, schedules, views, and edits the work orders; and initiates action from alarms, all by use of a handheld wireless device or tablet PC. The automated solution works as follows. It tracks all assets, manages asset maintenance and costs, interfaces with the laboratory conducting analyses, analyzes data to improve maintenance, enables project management, reports on assets, manages vendors, and interfaces with external feeds directly from field equipment. By maintaining a full electronic record of RFID-tagged-equipment repair and maintenance, companies avoid repeated “buying already-owned equipment.” The process itself is simple and works in adverse climates. Special temperature-resistant RFID tags are affixed to equipment, with a bar code added for redundancy, for reading either by RFID or scanner for instant transmission to the central database. Subsequently, all data are Web-accessible anywhere with online analytical data processing available. The database provides repair/maintenance history and specific repair procedures.
For additional information, visit www.fitiri.com.
Automated Density Measurements
Mettler Toledo has introduced its PSU-DE density-meter sampling unit. This automated unit allows cleaning and drying the measuring cell, ensuring that possible measurement errors are detected automatically. Most digital density meters give accurate measuring results only if the measuring cell is free of air bubbles, contamination, or residual cleaning liquids. Potential sources of error are not always obvious, even for experienced users. These density meters are equipped with this automation unit and can automatically detect measurement errors caused by the above factors and warn the operator accordingly. The key advantage is the system’s separate pumping system: a peristaltic pump that is dedicated to sampling and cleaning, and a diaphragm pump that is used for drying. Samples for measurement can be taken directly from different types of containers such as beakers, sampling bottles, or vials. The unit is suitable for measuring low- to medium-viscosity samples (viscosity less than 3000 mPa•s) that do not tend to degas. A heating device enables measuring of samples that are solid at room temperature.
For additional information, visit www.mt.com/density.
