Weir Oil & Gas, a leading upstream provider of pressure pumping and pressure control equipment and services, today announced it is achieving significant success in the field with intelligent sensors designed to accurately communicate mud gas liquid levels in real time to prevent overflows and maximize safety while providing active kick management, reducing cleanup costs and lowering non-productive time.
The sensor has been used in the Wyoming region in nitrogen-aerated drilling operations in which overflow is a constant risk. Where operators previously had less than 20 minutes of response time, they now have 3.5 hours to prevent overflow and eliminate liquid in the secondary containment vessel – thus reducing downtime and direct costs. This technology enhancement has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for installed sites over the course of a few years.
Mathena™ Mud Gas Separator Intelligent Level Sensor, part of the Mathena™ Mud Gas Separator Intelligent System (MGS-ISC), accurately measures the liquid levels within the mud gas separator for managed-pressure drilling and underbalanced drilling operations, providing accurate kick control and real-time data on-site. This gives operators much more time to avoid gas carryover to the active mud system and prevent an overflow scenario creating a fluid spill from the igniter system.
Control valve automation can be added to enable intelligent active discharge control that further improves kick-handling capacity. With this capability, the mud discharge can be completely closed to maintain the liquid seal needed to prevent gas from reaching the shale shakers while reducing the risk of vessel overflow and ensuring an ideal gas velocity for liquids and solids separation. The control valve automation also helps optimize labor efficiency.
Intelligent level sensors can also be applied to the secondary containment vessel for comprehensive monitoring with Weir’s proven systems approach.
“Manual event recognition and response time is insufficient for today’s operators to prevent overflows and spills,” said Matt Green, Pressure Control Engineering Manager of Weir Oil & Gas. “Providing real-time data prevents incidents and maximizes uptime.”
The Mathena™ Mud Gas Separator Intelligent Level Sensor and Mathena™ Mud Gas Separator Intelligent System (MGS-ISC) can be integrated with Weir’s Pressure Control Intelligent Systems as well as other modules of the Mathena system including the Mathena™ Vent Gas Analyzer and Intelligent Flow Meter System (VGA-ISF) and Mathena™ ECO-Tank Intelligent System (ECO-ISL.) All modules are available for rent. The core technology has been adapted from the Mathena™ Frac Flowback Intelligent System (FFB-ISL).
Weir’s line of intelligent systems is supported in every major basin in North America and integrates with other drilling rig data management systems, allowing drilling engineers to aggregate their data in one place.
Drilling operations in the area frequently experience drilling fluid overflow into the MGS gas vent line. Manual event recognition and response time is often insufficient to prevent fluid from entering the flare system and creating a spill incident. To improve recognition and response, Weir installed its Mud Gas Separator Intelligent System (MGS-IS) for continuous monitoring of real-time fluid levels in the MGS. The data enabled faster and more informed decision making. By taking a systems approach, Weir applied its Intelligent System Level (ISL) technology based on wave radar level measurements to monitor the MGS and secondary containment vessels, and communicated the information via WITS to the local EDR, local physical alarms, and remotely via the Cloud.
The system eliminated vent overflows. Projection of MGS drilling fluid fill rates dramatically increased manual response lead-time from approximately 15 minutes to nearly 2.5 hours. Along with lessening the associated HSE risk, the system mitigated approximately a dozen overflow incidents per month to save thousands of dollars in cleanup costs and non-productive time. The value is multiplied by the ability to extend the Mathena™ IS technology to many other wells in the area.
Success of the monitoring application sets the stage for adding valve automation to enable intelligent active discharge control that further improves kick-handling capacity. With active discharge control, the mud discharge can be completely closed to maintain the liquid seal needed to prevent gas from reaching the shale shakers. The control also reduces the risk of vessel overflow and ensures the ideal gas velocity for liquids and solids separation.
The additional drilling fluid flow data and control achieved with the WM-IS provides new opportunities for improving safety and understanding drilling operations.Delivered to the rig’s electronic drilling recorder, the data can inform pump rates in coordination with valve automation for enhanced fluid system control. The WM-IS platform establishes a choke and kill system monitoring and control system, expandable to include vent gas flow monitoring and choke performance monitoring and control. In addition, Weir’s Synertrex™ condition monitoring, process efficiency and production optimization initiative can provide cloud-based reporting of MGS data directly to the drilling engineer or data center. Long-term data evaluation offers new insights with the potential of additional safety and efficiency improvements.
Modular and flexible
The MGS-ISC can be deployed as a single product or integrate with multiple IS products, such as the Mathena™ Vent-Gas Analyzer (VGA-ISF). The system also offers integration capability with Pason, MD Totco, and other EDR platforms via WITS communication protocol.
Features
- Active kick control and liquid seal protection, with total valve open-to-close actuation in less than 18 seconds
- Ideal for high-pressure formations and environmentally sensitive areas
- Wave-radar technology to monitor MGS fluid levels and can be integrated with additional sensors to monitor secondary containment vessels
- More accurate MGS liquid-level sensing and real-time liquid-level change analysis and performance monitoring
- MGS conditional analysis and alarms
- Automated MGS liquid-discharge control
- Local and remote performance monitoring, connecting customers with data via text, email, or Cloud-based portal
- Real-time data that can be stored, shared, and reported for future reference
- Optional sensors and software integration package that establishes the MGS-ISC/F as a wellbore return flow meter.
- Electric-actuated control system to optimize performance and minimize actuator cycles
- Manual actuator override
- Simultaneously ensures MGS vent-gas separation performance, integrating with the Mathena™ Vent-Gas Analyzer ISF
- Simplified diagnostics and troubleshooting
- Available for rent, with service centers in every basin; fully inspected and recertified after every job
- Two-to-four weeks lead time for installation and deployment
Processes
- Drilling
- Low pressure flow control (Industrial)
石油圈
