How Have We Improved Oil Rig Technology?

When the technology in consumer goods like cell phones improves, we all know about it instantly, because we all use these gadgets. But truthfully, technological improvements in specialized equipment like oil rigs, is probably just as important, if not as reported.

For instance, in the wake of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, GE Oil & Gas created more advanced blowout preventers that use the water pressure surrounding the well to seal it in case of an emergency. The company also developed a black-box system similar to those used in airplanes. This black box will record data if something goes wrong on the rig or with the well so the problem can be quickly analyzed and corrected. Its function serves a purpose similar to that of an ATEX computer or Zone 1 Computer

Intel, the same company that likely made the memory for your computer, has invented sensors that are housed inside heavy-duty cases meant to be strapped directly to the oil rig. Several of these sensors could be fitted to any oil rig and would feed information to a central computer set up to collect the data. This warning system could tell well workers when it was time to start emergency procedures, which could save lives, oil and the environment, too.

Fossil fuel drilling is even using green energy. GlassPoint Solar has created a system of mirrors inside a glasshouse that generates the steam required to force oil to the surface of the Earth. Normally, this steam is heated by natural gas, but using the sun’s power is cheaper and cleaner. Plus, this glasshouse system produces five times more steam than other solar facilities used for the same purpose.

It will be years before fossil fuels are phased out of our daily lives, but in the meantime, technology is improving to keep workers and the environment safer as oil drilling and exploration expands.

Oilfield Systems - Fracking

The natural gas boom in the US due to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has provided the country with a cleaner burning, inexpensive fuel source that has lowered energy bills for industrial facilities and homeowners alike. The fracking process is still a hot topic of controversy wherever it is used to extract fuel. Environmentalists claim it will ruin watersheds and leave scars on the earth, and other concerns range from flammable tap water to carcinogenic soil.

Fracking won’t set your faucet on fire.

The 2010 documentary GasLand famously illustrates the potential hazards of methane polluted water. In the film, a homeowner holds a lit match up to his running tap water and a burst of flame results. This homeowner’s water is contaminated with flammable methane. The film asserts the pollution is the result of a nearby fracking operation, but actually methane pollution can occur in wells which are drilled into natural methane pockets. This was the situation with the homeowner in the film, but by the time this was established the connection between flammable tap water and hydrofracking had already been made. The fact is, the phenomenon of flammable water depicted in the film is not restricted to areas where hydraulic fracturing is taking place, but occurs wherever water wells encounter methane pockets underground. This could happen literally anywhere, and it is a result of poorly explored and drilled wells, not fracking.

This is not to say that fracking has never caused such an episode. Isolated incidents of pollution to freshwater wells have been caused when drilling is done too close to the surface, and natural gas companies have settled several cases where damage is attributed to the gas wells. This is the case, even with the use of measurement while drilling techniques.

The point is, however, that the horror story of the flammable faucet is extremely uncommon. For one thing, the drilling components used to trap the natural gas are encased in steel and cement to prevent it from escaping. If the casing is done properly, it is nearly impossible for methane gas to escape. Also, fracking is done so far underground, that escaped methane would have to travel through solid rock in order to contaminate aquifers. There are reports that this has happened due to problems like improperly cemented boreholes. 16 families in Beaver County PA were affected by such an incident. As a result, the drilling company was fined over $1 million. Problems like this are rare, and can be completely avoided by constructing and sealing equipment properly.

Fracking won’t cause earthquakes.

There are several claims around the country, and even around the world, that fracking activity has spurred a number of low-registering seismic disturbances. A recent study released April 16, 2013 by Durham University found fracking to be “not significant” in causing earthquake activity. The study explains that seismic disturbances caused by hydraulic fracturing are minimal. So small, in fact, that they would only be detectable by the sensitive instruments used by geoscientists.

It would be nearly impossible for hydraulic fracturing to cause any major earthquakes unless drilling equipment were to come into contact with a major fault line and somehow cause the fault to release any built up energy it has stored. A recent British study concluded exactly this. “The fact is that court case after court case and study after study have shown plainly that fears over earth tremors . . . have no basis in fracking facts,” summarizes Peter Glover of The Commentator.

Fracking fluid isn’t going to give you cancer.

What is that mysterious concoction being shot underground into the shale rock, and how can it not be dangerous? Fears over pollution and contamination of drinking water and the environment from fracking fluid seem to stem from a lack of information about what this rock-shattering mixture actually is. The secret to fracking fluid is water and sand. Those two components make up about 98% of the fluid mix. The remaining 2% is composed of ingredients that are familiar to many of us, such as citric acid, guar gum (a common food additive, used to suspend the sand in the fluid), and even common table salt. Currently, fracking is regulated at the state level, and as such is exempt from the federal Clean Water act, which would require all companies to disclose the chemicals they use. Even so, some states have implemented regulations requiring disclosure, and some companies list their chemicals voluntarily. The information can be found here.

Certainly not all of these chemicals are harmless to the environment or to drinking water. But, the fracking industry has a habit of recovering most of its fluid and recycling it. This does not prevent every drop of fluid from being spilled, but it certainly means that most of the material is recovered. This saves the company doing the drilling money as well as improving its environmental impact.

Like any method of recovering fossil fuels, hydraulic fracturing does do damage to the environment. But, even accounting for methane leakage during extraction, the total carbon cost of natural gas is less than that of coal or oil. The transition to natural gas for power generation in many places has led to a drop in carbon emissions for the United States. Since the world is not yet ready for 100% renewable energy, natural gas could be a suitable energy source to “bridge the gap” in the transition to truly renewable fuel.

Why Do We Need Pipelines?

Everyone knows the location of their local gas station; your home may be warmed by heating oil or natural gas; and many homes use natural gas for cooking. But did you know that these products – gasoline, home heating oil, and natural gas – travel long distances from refineries and natural gas plants to communities all over the nation through underground pipelines? Although everyone knows the local location of their local gas station, they most likely do not know about the functioning of the ATEX Computer; without it, the gas stations would be nowhere near as efficient. A hazardous area computer is something that the general public never gets to learn about, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a useful and important device.

These pipelines are the unsung heroes of many utilities – water, sewer, telephone lines, liquid petroleum pipelines and natural gas pipelines – tucked under our streets. They safely go through neighborhoods and communities, stretch across farms, forests, deserts, and everywhere in between. These same pipelines provide fuel to generate electricity and the building blocks for fertilizers to increase crop production. Pipelines also collect crude oil from many rural areas to deliver to refineries and chemical plants to create all the products that come from petroleum and petrochemicals manufacturing.

Pipelines are the energy lifelines of almost every activity of everyday life. Do you enjoy taking a vacation? Have you had to fly to another state for any reason? You drive to the airport in your car. The gasoline was delivered by pipeline. You fly in an airplane that is powered by jet fuel. Jet fuel travels by pipeline to every major airport. You buy family necessities at the local grocery store, which is stocked by trucks powered by diesel fuel. Diesel fuel is also moved to local supply points by pipelines. You turn on the heater on a cold night, and may be using natural gas, heating oil, or propane, all of which are delivered by pipeline.

A pipeline near you might supply a refinery or gasoline distribution terminal nearby. Even destinations far away can support your community and way of life because of the vast distribution network that gets you the energy you need.

Energy pipelines – oil, natural gas, gasoline, and many chemicals as well – are part of the subterranean world, along with water lines, sewer lines, storm sewers, telephone lines, television cables, and electric lines.

Natural resources, like crude oil and natural gases, are the raw material for energy that the world consumes. These are found in completely different locations than where they are eventually processed or refined into fuels for our lives. They are also in very different locations from where they are consumed. While many forms of transportation are used to move these products to marketplaces; pipelines remain the safest, most efficient and economical way to move these natural resources.

America depends on a network of more than 185,000 miles of liquid petroleum pipelines, nearly 320,000 miles of gas transmission pipelines, and more than 2 million miles of gas distribution pipelines to safely and efficiently move energy and raw materials to fuel our nation's economic engine. This system of pipelines serves as a national network to move the energy resources we need from production areas or ports of entry throughout North America to consumers, airports, military bases, population centers and industry every day.

Where Are Pipelines Located

The map above shows major crude oil, refined products and highly volatile liquids pipelines in the U.S.

Pipelines exist almost everywhere. Natural gas is delivered directly to homes in relatively small diameter distribution lines buried under the street and even your own yard. Larger cross-country transmission pipelines delivering gasoline, home heating oil, or moving crude oil or natural gas are actually easier to find.

Nearly the entire mainline pipe is buried, but other pipeline components such as pump stations are above ground. Some lines are as short as a mile, while others may extend 1,000 miles or more.

Although a large number of pipeline systems cover distances similar to these, not all petroleum markets are as distant from the point of supply as others. Some pipelines start from ports, such as San Diego or San Francisco and serve inland areas in California and the southwestern U.S. region. Each region of the country has some unique aspects. Very few pipelines actually cross the highest parts of the Rocky Mountains since the distances are long and the population centers small. But smaller refineries and regional pipelines serve these areas as well.

The United States has the largest network of energy pipelines in the world, with more than 2.5 million miles of pipe.

The network of crude oil pipelines in the U.S. is extensive. There are approximately 55,000 miles of crude oil trunk lines (usually 8 - 24 inches in diameter) in the U.S. that connect regional markets.

Pipeline companies keep in touch with local emergency responders along pipeline rights-of-way and work with, and sometimes even train with fire departments or hazardous materials units.

A Computer for Oil Rigs

Computers are commonly used in the oilfield today for numerous applications. But for computers to work effectively in the rigorous oilfield environment, they must satisfy certain criteria. They must be certified for hazardous locations, must operate in extreme temperature and weather conditions, withstand severe shock and vibration, have a display that is viewable in bright sunlight and be easy to install and use.

The Model 2850 Class 1, Division-2 / Zone-2 computer meets all of these criteria and more. It features a dual-core Intel Atom processor and uses a solid-state drive for storage, enabling it to withstand severe vibration. The 15-inch sunlight-readable display with auto-dimming, coupled with a low reflection touch-screen, provides a clear and crisp human interface. Interfaces include Ethernet, 900MHz wireless with 1 watt transmission power for reliable use over longer distances, dual USB ports, and serial ports. An Intrinsically Safe (IS) keyboard is also available for applications where required. The Model 2850 runs on 90-260 VAC or 9-36 VDC power. Environmentally, it operates from -40oC to +50oC, is impervious to salt-fog, is sealed to IP-65 standards and can withstand vibration of 3G RMS. Its small footprint and light weight make it ideal for use on the rig floor or in vehicle mounted applications.

How Do Pipelines Work

There are two general types of energy pipelines – liquid petroleum pipelines and natural gas pipelines.

Within the liquid petroleum pipeline network there are crude oil lines, refined product lines, highly volatile liquids (HVL) lines, and carbon dioxide lines (CO2). Crude oil is also subdivided in to 'Gathering Lines' and ’Transmission Lines”.

First, gathering lines are very small pipelines usually from 2 to 8 inches in diameter in the areas of the country where crude oil is found deep within the earth. These gathering lines exist all over the country but the bulk of them are located primarily in Texas, North Dakota, California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Wyoming with small systems in a number of other oil producing states.

The larger cross-country crude oil transmission pipelines or trunk lines bring crude oil from producing areas to refineries. There are approximately 55,000 miles of crude oil trunk lines (usually 8 to 24 inches in diameter) in the United States that connect regional markets. There are also a few VERY large trunk lines. One of the largest in the U.S. is the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which is 48 inches in diameter.

The next group of liquid petroleum pipelines is one that carries refined petroleum products – gasoline, jet fuel, home heating oil and diesel fuel. These refined product pipelines vary in size from relatively small, 8 to 12 inch diameter lines, to much larger ones that go up to 42 inches in diameter. There are approximately 95,000 miles of refined products pipelines nationwide. They are found in almost every state in the U.S. With the help of the driller’s display, these pipelines deliver petroleum products to large fuel terminals with storage tanks that are then loaded into tanker trucks. Trucks cover the last few miles to make local deliveries to gas stations and homes. Major industries, airports and electrical power generation plants are supplied directly by pipeline.

Highly volatile liquid (HVL) lines and carbon dioxide (CO2) lines are also a part of the liquid petroleum pipeline network. These liquids turn to gas once exposed to the atmosphere. They include ethane, butane and propane. Carbon dioxide pipelines allow carbon dioxide to enhance oil recovery, as CO2 has long done in North America.

The natural gas pipeline system is organized somewhat differently. Natural gas, unlike oil, is delivered directly to homes and businesses through pipelines.

The Surface System helps elucidate the fact that natural gas can contain natural gas liquids (NGL) when produced. Processors remove water, NGLs, and impurities from the natural gas stream to lake the natural qas suitable for sale. Natural gas and NGLs then travel on separate pipeline systems. It is determined to be rich or wet if it contains significant natural gas liquids (NGL); by contrast, natural gas is known to be lean or dry if it does not contain these liquids.

The U.S. natural gas pipeline network is a highly integrated transmission and distribution grid that can transport natural gas to and from nearly any location in the lower 48 states. It consists of more than 210 natural gas pipeline systems. This accounts for 305,000 miles of interstate and intrastate transmission pipelines.

The Role of Petroleum Production Engineering

Petroleum production involves two distinct but intimately connected general systems: the reservoir, which is a porous medium with unique storage and flow characteristics; and the artificial structures, which include the well, bottomhole, and wellhead assemblies, as well as the surface gathering, separation, and storage facilities.

Production engineering is that part of petroleum engineering that attempts to maximize production (or injection) in a cost-effective manner. In the 15 years that separated the first and second editions of this textbook worldwide production enhancement, headed by hydraulic fracturing, has increased tenfold in constant dollars, becoming the second largest budget item of the industry, right behind drilling. Complex well architecture, far more elaborate than vertical or single horizontal wells, has also evolved considerably since the first edition and has emerged as a critical tool in reservoir exploitation.

In practice one or more wells may be involved, but in distinguishing production engineering from, for example, reservoir engineering, the focus is often on specific wells and with a short-time intention, emphasizing production or injection optimization. In contrast, reservoir engineering takes a much longer view and is concerned primarily with recovery. As such, there may be occasional conflict in the industry, especially when international petroleum companies, whose focus is accelerating and maximizing production, have to work with national oil companies, whose main concerns are to manage reserves and long-term exploitation strategies.

Production engineering technologies and methods of application are related directly and interdependently with other major areas of petroleum engineering, such as formation evaluation, drilling, and reservoir engineering. Some of the most important connections are summarized below.

Modern formation evaluation provides a composite reservoir description through three-dimensional (3-D) seismic, interwell log correlation and well testing. Such description leads to the identification of geological flow units, each with specific characteristics. Connected flow units form a reservoir.

Drilling (like measurement while drilling) creates the all-important well, and with the advent of directional drilling technology it is possible to envision many controllable well configurations, including very long horizontal sections and multilateral, multilevel, and multibranched wells, targeting individual flow units. The drilling of these wells is never left to chance but, instead, is guided by very sophisticated measurements while drilling (MWD) and logging while drilling (LWD). Control of drilling-induced, near-wellbore damage is critical, especially in long horizontal wells. The ATEX Computer can ensure that those things - that you desperately don't want to go wrong - won't go wrong.

Reservoir engineering in its widest sense overlaps production engineering to a degree. The distinction is frequently blurred both in the context of study (single well versus multiple well) and in the time duration of interest (long term versus short term). Single-well performance, undeniably the object of production engineering, may serve as a boundary condition in a fieldwide, long-term reservoir engineering study. Conversely, findings from the material balance calculations or reservoir simulation further define and refine the forecasts of well performance and allow for more appropriate production engineering decisions.

Petroleum Engineering - An Introduction

Petroleum Engineering is a technical field that deals with exploration of crude oil and natural gas reserves. It is a very diverse field and also very complicated and is hence divided into several sub branches like geological, reservoir drilling (requires a knowledge of measurement while drilling and rig floor display), production as well as construction engineering. The field initially begins with locating mines and determining the site and excavating technique for optimum recovery. For this the Petroleum engineering department works closely with geologists as well as geo physicists for complete evaluation of and completion of the extraction process.

As mentioned there are several specialization fields in Petroleum Engineering hence each department has its specifications. The reservoir engineers along with petro physicists and geological engineers determine the kind of drilling action that needs to be employed. Also they assess the production rate which includes the barrels or the cubic feet of gas that can be excavated in a day. Another important work of this department of petroleum engineering is to estimate the production that can be anticipated form the reservoir.

Next is the job of the drilling engineers who have the responsibility of efficient penetration for maximum recovery of oil and natural gas. A steel casing is generally cemented above the reservoir. They also take care of the fluid that is continuously circulated through the drill pipe. The production engineer solves query of other departments. Their job is to execute plans for completion of the well and optimum extraction of oil and natural gas. They take care of the perforation that is done to the casing and that goes inside the reservoir, along with an appropriate pumping technique and storage facility. The petroleum engineers also need to work along with civil engineers for construction of offshore platforms. Some of the major oil reservoirs of the world are stationed in the middle of the sea and for that a very sturdy platform needs to be made for proper extraction.

Since oil is such a scarce naturally existing commodity and its demand is too high and this leads to regular research for discovering new oil fields and well. Petroleum engineers along with research teams take care of this research work as well. Advanced computing is extensively used in petroleum engineering; graphics are used for determining the exploration. Geological computing helps in determining cross section balancing, installation and modeling. A graphical model of excavation is generated with the help geophysical computing.

Petroleum engineering is a complicated technical field and it's reported to be the highest paid engineering field. The two main areas of this engineering field are oil exploration and processing and secondly refining and distribution. Oil which is the most important economic commodity in today's world and any change in oil price is reflected in almost all the auxiliary fields. After excavation oil is collected in containers where refining takes place, and from there it's transported through pipelines to large vessel chips and shipped to different parts of the world. Each time the processed oil enters and leaves the pipeline it is checked and if there is a problem in the result it is sent back to the reservoir.

Laversab at OTC 2013

Founded in 1969, the Offshore Technology Conference is the world’s foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production, and environmental protection. OTC is held annually at Reliant Center in Houston.

At the OTC Show, Laversab is introducing the Model 4150 MWD Surface System, which is an enhanced version of the popular Model 4100. The recently redesigned Model 2850 Rig-Floor Computer and a special DC-operation version specifically designed for trucks and work-over rigs, are also on display. All models are available with wireless Ethernet.

The Model 3200 DDU (Driller’s Display Unit) is now available with Zone-1 certification for China and Russia. The 3200 has already been certified for ATEX / IECEx Zone-1. The DDU, with its 10.4″ color display, is the ideal means of displaying on the rig-floor, the critical MWD parameters from a “Safe Area” decoding system. It is designed to work seamlessly with popular MWD decoding systems already in use.

Stop by Booth # 5175 for more information.