We all have seen a movie or show in which a troublemaking student sneers, “The teacher’s got eyes in the back of their head!” The desire, but human inability, to constantly monitor real-time conditions has existed for millennia, but oil and gas tech is creeping closer to making it actually happen.
This week, we will cover a company problem solving for shifting and challenging conditions in the CCUS space and look at how Petrobras is effectively deploying digital twins to have eyes... on the back, front, and sides of their rigs. Let’s go!
Sarah Compton
Editor, Enspired
How Expro is Addressing Pain Points in CCUS Tech
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that, despite increased momentum for CCS, the current deployment rate is still significantly below what is needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. So, how do we address these challenges? (Hint: Geoscientists will play a key role!)
Expro, a service provider with U.S. headquarters in Houston, executed a CCS flagship project called Northern Lights in the Norwegian North Sea, and its leaders identified and addressed several issues that could help further the budding field.
Problem: Drill stem testsneeded to be designed for an under-pressured formation that would not flow naturally to the surface. There also needs to be a way to manage the produced fluids on the semisubmersible rig ahead of the injection test.
Solution: Expro designed a solution that included downhole/DST tools, a fluid sampling and analysis apparatus, surface well testing equipment, and subsea well access capabilities, thus incorporating design flexibility for evolving objectives and operational challenges as the project progressed.
Problem: The mechanical integrity of the casing and cement would be challenged in numerous ways, including accelerated corrosion, cold thermal cycling, and increasing pressure over time.
Solution: Corrosion-resistant alloy tubulars can combat the potentially corrosive and acidic downhole environment, but they must be handled and run carefully, so the company’s Fluid Grip Tong and Collar Load Support tools are designed to eliminate surface impressions that can accelerate failure.
Problem: Continuous monitoring of reservoir conditions is required to ensure there is no migration and leakage outside of the confining zone.
Solution: Traditional cased hole logging services will be standard, but distributed fiber optic sensing tools—such as distributed acoustic and temperature sensing logs—will also be key.
These are just examples of some of the opportunities CCS presents, and as one of the few climate solutions that doesn’t require the complete phase-out of fossil fuels, the upside seems like an easy sell, but it will require the expertise of us geoscientists to upscale quickly and effectively.
Geoscientists have an abundance of opportunity here to apply the knowledge and skills we’ve gained in petroleum such as exploration methodologies and reservoir management to optimize the full life cycle of a project.
Register now to join AAPG Academy December 10-11 in Houston, Texas for the upcoming Generative AI, Machine Learning and Analytics for Subsurface Energy conference. Keynotes and sessions will explore what AI can do for geoscientists, now and in the future, and will be led by industry-leading experts from:
Spring, Texas-based American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has partnered with Petrobras to provide and test a digital twin solution for real-time condition monitoring for their floating production, storage and offloading unit.
ABS Condition Manager is an example of DTs at work. It monitors the structural integrity of an asset, but instead of just saying “sensor five detects a problem,” which might require digging into some obscure spreadsheet to look over readings of a certain timeframe, users can also dive into the fully 3D view of the sensor’s location within that specific part of the ship.
A requirement for good DTs is that they accurately represent the system(s) they’re modeling and have data to support both the building of a model but also any analyses being run.
Data are needed to build the replica of the asset and also to understand the conditions (such as the open ocean) within which that asset operates.
Continuous measurements allow simulations of the environment’s impact on the modeled asset, allowing maintenance schedules to be optimized.
The DT needs to be built-for-purpose to achieve a specific set of goals/answer specifics. They are not one size fits all.
Even as a geoscientist who values visualizations, I have to admit that I didn’t at first understand the value proposition of the DTs ABS (how many anagrams can we fit in a sentence?!) employed, but then, I watched the webinar they had on their tech.
Geospatial reference is key in our work, and their demo showed how you can easily access and view the alerted sensor, but also the other sensors around it to diagnose the issue at hand.
Check out the ABS site here and read World Oil’s news release on this tech here.
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