OTC Spotlight on New Technology Awards Laud Industry Innovators

This is the teaser.

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) announced the 15 technologies it has selected for its 2013 Spotlight on New Technology Awards. The annual awards program showcases the latest in advanced technologies in offshore exploration and production (E&P). The awards are applicable for hardware or software technologies. The criteria are as follows:

  • New—The technology must be less than 2 years old, dating to the first time it was introduced to the marketplace, or was announced or advertised in a conference, press release, or trade journal.
  • Innovative—It must be original, groundbreaking, and capable of revolutionizing the offshore E&P industry.
  • Proven—It must be proven either by full-scale application or successful prototype testing. For example, proposed software still in the development phase would not qualify for an award.
  • Broad interest—It must have broad interest and appeal for the offshore oil and gas industry.
  • Significant—The technology must provide significant benefits beyond existing technologies, with environmental impact given strong consideration.

Recipients

ABB – Onboard DC-Grid

The Onboard DC-Grid uses direct current (DC) as a means of transporting power and energy to different clients on seaborne vessels, enabling variable speed operation of the generator sets.
Compared with alternating current (AC) distribution systems on vessels, the DC system gives advantages such as significantly reduced fuel oil consumption, improved emission reduction, reduced maintenance, and new operational modes with a more responsive vessel system. The Onboard DC-Grid also allows a more flexible vessel outline with minimized electrical equipment layout in order to affect and use new space prospects for larger fuel or gas tanks, or increased workspace.

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The ABB Onboard DC-Grid, right, can be retrofitted on existing vessel configurations or integrated with next-generation equipment such as new propulsion systems or renewable energy sources.

The system conforms to existing vessel configurations as well as new generations of equipment such as renewable energy sources or new propulsion systems. The technology is based on an open standard that gives ship owners and operators a more competitive option than AC distribution, while enabling new and improved operational modes and conditions.

Baker Hughes – FASTrak LWD Fluid Analysis Sampling and Testing Service

The FASTrak logging-while-drilling fluid analysis sampling and testing technology enhances critical decision making about the reservoir by combining three distinct services.

The Baker Hughes FASTrak Logging-While-Drilling system combines real-time in-situ fluid measurement, downhole capture and retrieval, and real-time formation pressure tests. 

The system incorporates accurate real-time in-situ measurements of the reservoir fluid, downhole capture and retrieval to the surface of representative fluid samples, and real-time formation pressure tests for accurate mobility and permeability information.

FASTrak provides the information while drilling, and is a safer and more cost-effective alternative to a drillstem test. The service has several closed-loop control systems for pressure testing, mobility determination, and for pumping during sampling and cleanup operations. Sensors perform the in-situ fluid analysis, measuring the optical refractive index, sound speed, density, and viscosity of the reservoir fluid. Downhole fluid samples are retrieved by single-phase tank technology. The ­fluid’s physical properties are then used to determine the reserves of a reservoir, and to help predict its performance and economics. Pressure-volume-­temperature properties, such as bubble-point pressure, gas/oil ratio, viscosity, oil formation volume factor, and detailed composition are important for various reasons, including analysis of well performance, material-balance calculations, reservoir simulation, and production-engineering calculations.

Dow Oil and Gas, PIH, Trelleborg Offshore, and Bayou Wasco Insulation – Dow Neptune Advanced Subsea Flow Assurance Insulation System

The Neptune Advanced Subsea Flow Assurance Insulation System is an end-to-end flow assurance solution that protects and insulates subsea equipment, line pipe, and field joints across a wide application and in-service temperature range. As validated in laboratory and field testing, the system may be installed and used in temperatures as low as –40°C (–40°F) and has been tested at operating temperatures of up to 160°C (320°F). It is impervious to hydrostatic compression to at least 400 bar, or 4000 m of water depth, and achieved K-factor of 0.15 W/mK in a simulated service test (160ºC, 300 bar, 28 days) performed on pipe that successfully completed a simulated reeling test. A single, robust, and easy-to-apply homogeneous layer of proprietary Neptune subsea flow assurance insulation over Neptune Fusion Bonded Epoxy (for line pipe and field joint only) eliminates the need for multiple and adhesive tie layers, contributes to a thinner coating profile, and maintains a consistent low K-factor from tree to line pipe to field joint, thus reducing potential risks associated with bonding dissimilar and potentially incompatible materials.

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The Dow Neptune Advanced Subsea Flow Assurance Insulation System protects and insulates subsea equipment, and has been tested at operating temperatures of up to 160°C.

FMC Technologies – Condition and Performance Monitoring

Condition and Performance Monitoring (CPM) is a software system and service developed by FMC Technologies to meet requirements for operational and maintenance excellence for subsea applications.

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FMC Technologies’ Condition and Performance Monitoring combines continuous monitoring with a historic database for the identification of trends and deviations.

A subsea system is a complex arrangement of components where the effect of faults may be difficult to trace back to the root cause. With the added complication of remote location, any fault may be difficult and costly to rectify. Also, subsea systems provide much information through instrumentation, flow, and response during operation. The CPM system presents an opportunity to monitor and assess component health throughout the life of the field.

The CPM combines continuous monitoring of the system with a historic database that will enable trends and deviations to be identified. It provides the operator with early warning when components start to deteriorate, enabling fault-finding, proactive response, and the ability to plan required maintenance resulting in minimal disruption to production.

FMC Technologies and Sulzer Pumps – High Speed Helico-Axial Multiphase Subsea Boosting System

In the effort to develop high-performance, reliable, and cost-effective boosting solutions, FMC Technologies and Sulzer Pumps have developed a new, high-speed 3.2-MW, 5,000-psi Helico-Axial Multiphase Subsea Pump. The pump uses hydraulics from Sulzer paired with FMC’s advanced permanent magnet motor technology from its Direct Drive Systems.

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The Helico-Axial Multiphase Subsea Pump is a new, high-speed 3.2-MW, 5,000‑psi pump that uses hydraulics from Sulzer Pumps and advanced permanent magnet motor technology from FMC Technologies.

The high-power density permanent magnet motor drives the pump, providing higher speeds, high efficiency, and greater capacity compared with conventional induction motors. This unique motor opens new possibilities, enabling multiphase pumping to take place in deeper waters and with longer stepouts. It also allows the use of a single pump in place of multiple pumps.

The pump itself operates on a rotor-dynamic pumping principle and is a cross between a centrifugal pump and an axial compressor. It consists of multiple stages of impellers (helico-axial-type rotor) and circles of guide vanes (diffuser-type stators).

GE Oil & Gas – RamTel Plus and ROV Display Panel

The blowout preventer (BOP) is a critical piece for drilling operational safety on onshore and offshore wells. When closing in a well with a BOP, knowing exactly where the shear and/or sealing elements are positioned is important. Using hardware and software installed on the BOPs, the ram block’s exact location and the pressure to close and/or shear can be displayed on surface while the stack is submerged in deep water. The RamTel Plus provides operators with a direct method of determining the ram position in addition to the standard method of using indirect flowmeter calculations. By adding cylinder pressure to a ram position location, the system can also display when it has sheared/sealed the tubular and will report the corresponding pressure to shear.

Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) can now access critical information when the main BOP communication path is disrupted. GE’s ROV Display allows the ROV to read stack sensor data, such as wellbore temperature, wellbore/accumulator pressure, and ram position subsea indicators. The panel is battery powered, as it is trickle charged from the multiplex pod during normal operation or directly by the ROV during emergencies. The ROV light activates the panel gauges to provide digital readout.

Deepwater BOP Blind Shear Ram

GE Oil & Gas has developed the next-generation technology for shearing and sealing wellbore tubulars. The Blind Shear Ram (BSR) is designed for use in its ram blowout preventers (BOP) used in offshore drilling. The BSR provides an industry-first capability to shear some 6⅝-in. drillpipe tool joints while achieving a wellbore seal holding up to 15,000 psi pressure differential.

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GE Oil & Gas’ blind shear ram provides the capability to shear 6⅝-in. drillpipe tool joints while achieving a wellbore seal holding up to 15,000 psi pressure potential.

The BSR allows drilling rigs to use current BOP stack arrangements without having to manage the spacing between rams or create operational methods to avoid drillpipe tool joints or thick walled tubulars. It is designed to eliminate nonshearable sections, allowing for greater shearing flexibility.

Extensive testing witnessed by representatives from several leading oil companies has proven the BSR’s ability to both shear and seal, and testing has shown its capability to successfully shear buckled or off-centered tubulars. These features enhance the overall capability of the BOP when needing to close the BOP in a well control situation.

Reelwell – Reelwell Riserless Drilling Method

Reelwell has developed the Reelwell Drilling Method (RDM) with support from Shell, Total, Statoil, Petrobras, and RWE.

The method comprises a dual drillpipe, top drive adapter, flow control unit, and a dual float valve, and has a number of applications including riserless.

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The Reelwell Riserless Drilling Method includes dual drillpipe, and a top drive adapter, flow control unit, and dual float valve.

The RDM-Riserless configuration omits the riser, thereby dramatically reducing fluid volumes and enabling drilling operations in ultradeepwater from third- and fourth-generation drilling units. Omitting the riser is possible because the cuttings are transported to the surface inside the dual drillstring, so the dual drillstring acts as the riser. The system also enables managed pressure drilling or underbalanced drilling operations from floating drilling vessels with two independent active barriers. The design eliminates the risk of a blowout being routed back to the rig as occurred during the Macondo and West Vanguard blowouts.

RDM-R represents a step change for the drilling industry as it will enable drilling in ultradeepwater with less costly rigs than are being used today.

SBM Offshore – Drilling Riser Trip Saver

A floating offshore drilling and/or production platform is equipped with a rail-mounted transport system that can be positioned at a plurality of selected positions over the well bay of the vessel. The transport system can move a drilling riser with a tensioner system and a surface blowout preventer (BOP) from one drilling location to another without removing them from the well bay of the vessel. Using the transport system, the drilling riser is lifted just clear of a first subsea wellhead and positioned over an adjacent, second wellhead using guidelines to restrain the disconnected bottom end of the riser during transfer.

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The Drilling Riser Trip Saver method and apparatus developed by SBM Offshore allows the drilling of multiple wells from a single platform.

The system does not require that the drilling rig be used to lift off the suspended drilling riser from the subsea wellhead prior to transfer or to land the suspended drilling riser once the transfer is complete. The liftoff is performed with the drilling riser tensioning system. The transport system may then move the upper end of the drilling riser (together with its attached tensioner and BOP) to a second drilling location without the need to recover and redeploy the riser through each individual well slot.

The system also allows for the drilling riser to be parked on a subsea wellhead, while the drilling rig is skidded and positioned over another well slot, in order to deploy the production riser, run the completion string, and install the surface production tree.

ShawCor – Mobile Robotic Cutback System

Bredero Shaw has developed the Mobile Robotic Cutback System, an innovative end machining technology for insulated pipe. Offshore pipe is often insulated with specialized polymers to meet demanding thermal performance criteria. When individual lengths of pipe are welded together, insulation must be removed in a controlled way to allow welding. This removal is called a “cutback.”

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Bredero Shaw’s Mobile Robotic Cutback System solves manual cutback challenges such as exposure to high-speed cutting devices, excessive noise, high labor costs, inconsistent profiles, and nonrecyclable waste generation. 

Some of the manual processes used to form the cutback in the past included wire brushing, grinding, and scraping. The most significant disadvantages of these methods are safety risks of exposure to high-speed cutting devices, excessive noise, high labor costs, inconsistent cutback profiles, and the generation of large amounts of nonrecyclable waste. The Mobile Robotic Cutback System addresses all these issues.

The system has been integrated into two specially designed shipping containers, allowing it to be transported and erected quickly without the need for concrete foundations. It is faster, safer, and produces consistently higher quality cutbacks with a greatly expanded ability to deliver new geometries, thus allowing pipeline engineers to optimize the design of the joint protection system and deliver a uniform coating over the field joint, which ensures a consistent U value over the pipe length.

Statoil – Remotely Welded Retrofit Subsea Hot Tap Tee

In August 2012 the world’s first remote-­welded retrofit hot tap tee connection was successfully completed in a 265-m water depth at the Åsgard field in the North Sea. It is a cost-effective method for new branch pipelines, and an important step toward more efficient use of existing transportation infrastructure in the development of oil and gas resources.

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Statoil’s Remotely Welded Retrofit Hot Tap Tee connection is a cost-effective method for new branch pipelines.

Remotely controlled hyperbaric welding is combined with a reinforcement clamp structure and a branch pipe design that allows a welded pressure barrier. The new concept avoids the use of seals and thereby can result in higher robustness and reliability throughout the design life of 50 years.

The new retrofit hot tap tee technology is a continuation of the first phase of the project in which a remote hot tap cutting machine was developed and qualified. The hot tap cutter has now performed four offshore operations and is proven at water depths down to 1000 m. The technology was first used as part of the Åsgard subsea compression project to tie in the subsea compressor station to existing pipeline systems. Since 1999, Statoil has worked systematically on the development of new remotely operated hot tap technology for offshore pipelines.

Superior Energy Services – Complete Automated Technology System

Complete Automated Technology System (CATS) is an onshore and offshore completion services rig that uses remotely operated or preprogrammed robotics to control various completion components, including a snubbing unit, blowout preventer/well control stack, pumps, circulation tanks, top drive, closing systems, and pipe handling systems as part of one unit.

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Superior Energy Service’s Complete Automated Technology System uses remotely operated or preprogrammed robotics to control completion components.

With minimal crew sizes and integrated, cutting-edge software systems, CATS allows for a safer, more precise operation, and streamlined data collection of operations, which draws the petroleum service closer to a manufactured well design that allows for consistent repeat performance of completion designs.

Wärtsilä – Wärtsilä GasReformer

Associated gas or volatile organic compounds (VOC) cannot normally be used as flexible and efficient sources of energy because of variations and inadequacies in gas quality.

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Wärtsilä’s GasReformer solves the challenge of low methane number gas quality related to compression in combustion engines.

Gas quality involves uniformity and the ability to withstand compression in an engine (methane number, MN). All combustion engines based on the Otto cycle, including Wärtsilä’s Dual Fuel (DF) engines, need fuel gas of a high MN (>80) to operate at full performance.

Hydrocarbons of a higher molecular weight such as ethane, propane, and butane decrease the MN of the fuel gas. When the MN is too low, the gas will cause self-ignition, a phenomenon widely known as knocking, and the engine would need to be derated. Derating means less power output and a decrease in engine performance. In the offshore environment, these gases recovered from separation processes or crude cargo handling are typically either flared or vented.

The GasReformer solves the low MN problem with a technology that is based on steam reforming. Steam reforming is a catalytic process in which heavier hydrocarbons are converted into methane, thereby improving the MN to 100±5. Regardless of the initial gas quality or variability, high MNs in product gas are obtained. With this technology, associated gas and VOC can be used, thus improving Wärtsilä DF engine performance and fuel flexibility.

Welltec – Well Cutter

The Well Cutter is a tool that enables efficient and safe drillpipe and casing recovery operations without the need for explosives. It is self-centralizing and removes pipe incrementally so no shavings are generated, and a smooth, polished surface remains after the bevel cut.

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The Welltec Well Cutter uses a rotating head to remove pipe incrementally, preventing fine debris shavings from the cutting operation that could impede well completion and hardware.

The tool uses a rotating head to remove pipe incrementally, and the fine debris from the cutting operation cannot therefore cause any issues with completion or wellbore hardware. Also, the resulting cut is a smooth surface that could preclude the need for a “polishing” trip with drillpipe. It is conveyed on electric line for accurate depth control and incorporates a “fail safe” mechanism that prevents the tool from getting stuck in case of power failure.

As an important health, safety, and environmental improvement, the tool eliminates the need for explosives required by most industry alternatives. Explosives can pose an operational risk, especially when simultaneous operations are being conducted. Transfer of explosives may also cause additional logistical requirements and significant operational delays. Considering the cost of rigs, complex logistics, and exposure of workers, the Well Cutter offers a safer, faster, reliable, and more cost-effective approach to cutting drillpipe and casing.

West Drilling Products – Continuous Motion Rig

The Continuous Motion Rig (CMR) is a fully robotized rig and provides continuous drilling operation. CMR substantially reduces the overall time of drilling operations (up to 50%), and eliminates downhole problems associated with differential sticking and pressure fluctuations. The rig also reduces safety risk by removing all workers from the rig floor.

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The Continuous Motion Rig is fully robotized, eliminates downhole problems associated with differential sticking and pressure fluctuations, and reduces the overall time of drilling operations.

The CMR offers a continuous movement of up to 1 m/s (3600 m/h), which equates to maximum tripping speed. The continuous drilling and circulation unit enables the rig to drill and circulate continuously, and facilitates managed pressure drilling.

The CMR technology has the potential to reduce drilling time up to 50% and drilling costs in the range of 25% to 35%. The main principle in this new technology is the ability to run jointed drillpipe and casing continuously, drill continuously with jointed drillpipe while maintaining circulation, and robotize the drilling process. This means that the CMR technology facilitates underbalanced drilling and managed pressure drilling, and has full snubbing ­capabilities.