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Automation are having to look at how advance capabilities offshore, but it you have laid out those always comes down to people and how wells, how you have laid quickly, or slowly, they incorporate these out your process equipment, new skill sets.

how you are doing your “I am talking to one operator and they well fow tests so you know are doing a platform and you talk about a where you are getting water different way to do things about inte- breakthroughs, all your grated process control, safety, electrical ratios between gas, oil and and telecoms and how that can stream- sediment and which well line interface management and reduce is doing what,” Oyen says. risk. The guy said, ‘this is my last project “Pretty much you are getting before I retire, I don’t want to do anything an aggregate of your main different. I want to do it the way I have separator, so you know how always done it.’ Hard to get past that one,” much gas you are produc- Oyen says. “It’s all about the personalities ing, how much oil you are and who wants to learn or who wants to In subsea production, as operators get into deeper producing, how much sedi- head into retirement.” water, they will need higher levels of automaton to ment you are producing and However, with newer people coming achieve greater efciency.

Photo from ABB.

how much water. It is a lot of into the industry, they will see and use of the pressures, because of the tempera- guys working in concert with each other. technology much differently. But, with tures, because of where it is where you It is a lot of data from a lot of different more established companies, with the are operating.” systems, so it is how do you pull that bigger players like ExxonMobil, BP and

Add in working with different systems data in a meaningful form so the engi- Shell, they have their own way of doing that must talk to one another and you neers can take action?” things and you will follow their guide- need a system that can bring all the data lines, Oyen said. “But you have some of

Technology and Collaboration together for engineers and operators to the smaller guys and they need to rely use for their purposes. Technology is there for companies to on their engineering partners to do the “You may have a programmable logic use and take advantage of, but the big design and give them a platform that will controller (PLC) running your process question remains as to whether they are meet some criteria,” he said. Since they control, you are going to have lots of little using it to gain as much insight into their don’t have the staff, and are not as big, skids that have some modular areas that operation. There are the people doing they can look at new and different ways will have some form of a PLC,” Oyen data analytics to get the right informa- of doing things.

said. “The same thing goes from the elec- tion about the various processes and then Whether big or small, thinking new upstream capital investment, optimiz- tric side. With your power generation, report on it, but the next level up will and different may be a bit of a risk, but if ing production effciency is essential. your generator controls could be a GE, or be a collaboration from the platform to the calculations are correct, the rewards

Automation creates several opportunities they could be Siemens or Wartsila or a experts on land. will truly beneft the user. That is the case to that end: Maximizing asset and well GE turbine, then you need the repository That could be where the digital oilfeld with the FPSO off the coast of Angola. In integrity, increasing feld recovery, and for all the data related to how that plat- comes into play. Data can come from the that case, the user was also able to build improving oil throughput.” form is operating from the equipment for platform and go to a remote monitoring another video viewer into their distributed “With the substantial production vol- process control. Also, you need to know center onshore that could be working control system (DCS) workstations based umes of offshore production platforms, the fows and how well your separators with half a dozen to a dozen assets, plat- on open platform communication, Nuth even small improvements in production are running and your tank level. As we forms, production areas in a region. They said. That allowed for greater levels of effciency will have meaningful fnancial go forward, as the capabilities become can have experts look at the data and put communications from different systems. impact, as additional throughput trans- greater and greater so do the HSE require- it into context and assist the engineers When the DCS receives an alarm noti- lates directly into more revenue,” the ments and compliance which used to be and operators on the platform to help fcation, it sends an event trigger to the company said. voluntary now becomes mandatory.” them keep the platform up and running, surveillance server, and the video surveil- avoiding any unplanned downtime as a lance system immediately retrieves video

Making the connection Levels add up result of a process upset. streams from the relevant unit and initi-

With operators facing more challenges in But the layers of the levels of effciency “You have a lot of companies that ates recording and playback functions. At subsea production as they get into deeper continue to mount as production ramps have their wish list of what they want to the DCS control center, a built-in viewer water, they will need higher levels of up. To keep the production fowing, there occur,” Oyen said. “They are watching allows engineers to review event logs and automaton as they run into connecting are reservoir management systems for the the companies and will take advantage of corresponding video, which enhances with disparate systems. subsea wellheads the production side has what feel comfortable with for the project alarm response and overall safety. “It is getting more complex,” said John to interface with via the control system. they are developing. There are some com-

Oyen, business development manager So whether the control system is a panies that move along, some take more Gregory Hale is the for ABB’s North America Oil, Gas & Rockwell, Emerson, Honeywell, Siemens, risks than others, and some that don’t Editor and Founder

Petrochemical business unit. “It is a Yokogawa, GE or ABB, the user also want to take any risk at all. The costs of Industrial Safety simple process you are controlling, the will contend with data from systems by to operate offshore are tremendous, the and Security Source fuid fow from the well head, to the Schlumberger or Halliburton on what is rewards are great, but the risks are great.” (ISSSource.com) and separations, and what goes on at a plat- going on from below the wellhead. is the contributing

People power form, in theory, it is relatively simple, but “That becomes key when you get into Automation Editor at complex because of the volume, because a well management system because you Technology shows great potential to Offshore Engineer.

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