New view for crane operators
Claxton's new EEx-rated crane boom rig camera helps rig crane operators monitor the area beneath the crane boom, where loads can often be moved into 'blind' areas not visible from the crane's cab.
Claxton, an Acteon company, is offering the EEx cameras for drilling rig cranes and CCTV safety monitoring offshore. They use the same components as Claxton's field-proven subsea cameras but in combination with high-quality, explosion-proof housings, according to the company. It can auto-switch day/night from color to high-res mono and can operate in light levels to 0.12 lux. The units feature 312:1 zoom capability. Its straightforward interface to existing crane design means minimal installation complexity, Claxton says. The system is field-proven in the North Sea.
Having offered subsea camera systems for over 12 years, Claxton pioneered features such as high-intensity LED lighting, high-quality housings and plug-and-play installation. Its camera range includes the CamScan, a featured-packed LED pan-andtilt downhole camera, and the MultiCam, a high-quality disposable camera for subsea installations.
The company launched the new camera at April's North Sea Cranes & Lifting conference in Aberdeen.
J-LAY PLAY:
A 2000t J-lay system left the IHC Engineering Business manufacturing facility at Teesside in early June, bound for the Saipem FDS2 (Field Development Ship). EB's engineers will work with Saipem and Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje, South Korea, shipyard to install and commission the system on the newbuild vessel.
The system represents EB's largest project to date and is the first J-lay tower to be built in the UK in many years. EB, part of the IHC Merwede Group, won the contract in 3Q 2007. EB managing director Toby Bailey said the DNV issuance of design approval for the innovative J-lay tower is proof of the company's engineering and production abilities.
The new system, one of the world's largest and most versatile, is able to accommodate pipes from 4in to 36in and is rated at 2500t hang-off capacity. By adjusting the angle of the tower from 45° to 96°, the system is capable of laying pipe in deep or shallow water. Key design drivers have been optimization of pipe handling operations to ensure low cycle time, highly constrained working envelopes, and ensuring safety in all aspects of operation.
The system is 65m tall and 14m wide. 'There are 25km of cable, 60,000 lines of software code, and over 5km of welding. Designing and building this first of a kind system has been a remarkable achievement that we are very proud of,' Bailey says.
RGB rings in riser work
RGB has won a contract to build two risers for Apache North Sea. The contract, worth over £500,000, is scheduled for completion at the end of this month. The pair of 130m-long risers, which will be deployed into an installation vessel before hook-up, will replace existing risers at Forties Bravo and Forties Charlie.
RGB will build the risers at the company's Invergordon facility in north Scotland; the Invergordon team worked with Apache in 2009 to manufacture the Forties Charlie spool replacement. RBG's new marine & subsea division will deliver the project from fabrication to deployment, with a complete subsea support package including construction support and maintenance.
Triton XLX on order
Australian marine contractor Total Marine Technology has contracted Perry Slingsby Systems to provide a Triton XLX ROV system. The system comes with a 650m excursion tether, ICE net controls, a heavy-weather launch and recovery system, and has a depth rating of 3300m. Delivery of the 3000kg ROV is planned for August this year, with PSS, part of the Triton Group, providing interface and installation services from its base in Singapore.
The ROV will deploy in the global operations of Total Marine and SapuraCrest, which holds 80% of Total Marine; Perry will provide support from service centers in Aberdeen, Singapore, Houston, and Brazil.
Spill response simulation
Reality Mobile recently completed a successful marine spill response simulation with a major oilfield services company using the company's RealityVision software platform. The system is designed to give operators a better way to respond to unplanned events ranging from equipment breakdowns and HSE events to production shutdowns and marine spills.
The software platform provides a tool for managing remote operations and maintenance, and functions as a dynamic video and data collaboration network that allows any number of field operators, contractors, employees and subject matter experts in disparate locations to securely share information in real time.
When an event occurs, RealityVision can be used to create a shared view of the incident immediately, often without the need for extensive conversations to explain the event or expensive travel by key subject matter experts to diagnose the problem firsthand.
In the spill simulation, first responders and off-site experts tapped into the RealityVision network to immediately get a true, real-time visual perspective of the spill. Using only the cameras available on existing devices to shoot images and video, field personnel could rapidly transmit data to off-site subject matter experts who could then diagnose the severity of the spill, make informed decisions based on a higher level of understanding and send back key data to inform actions on the scene.
RealityVision is built on industry-standard infrastructure, sits behind the company firewall, and connects users to the network with commercially available devices, such as smartphones and laptops, already in use by oil & gas companies. Existing fixed cameras and other assets can also be tied into the network and monitored remotely.
Managing a well's lifecycle
Petris Technology released PetrisWinds Well Lifecycle Manager (WLM), an addition to PetrisWinds Operations Management Suite, that gives easy access to a well's entire history from prognosis and construction through abandonment. With WLM, oil and gas industry now has reliable data required to make quick, optimum drilling workflow decisions that maximize revenue and minimize costs, while avoiding costly errors in judgment due to insufficient information.
'Well Lifecycle Manager enables drilling departments to capture large amounts of accurate data both at the rigsite and in the office while providing processes that ensure the quality of the data,' says Edgard Castillo, WLM product manager. This gives managers the ability to make knowledge-based decisions to optimize well construction and operations workflows.'
Eikos spotlights time use
AGR Petroleum Services has launched Eikos software, which helps maximise time use during projects and encourage better, more efficient interaction between teams. AGR teamed up with software developers Codify to deliver Eikos. Staff around the world can log into the web-based Eikos to receive a current activity report.
The software identifies periods of downtime so that managers can take action to reduce it, saving them both time and money. It also allows users to see each layer of the project as it progresses enabling them build an accurate picture of the activity each team is involved with.
Eikos works by asking each key person involved in a project to regularly log their activity and provide an insight into any lessons learned. An accurate and real-time picture of how the project is progressing is built up, allowing managers to compare this to their estimated schedule and make any necessary adjustments.
Clients have access to the system, providing full transparency during projects. By compiling a detailed and interactive log of the project, companies can review activity and use it as a reference for future projects.
Individuals can see where each task fits into the bigger picture and, as a result, Eikos encourages employees to suggest innovative approaches. Managers can assign tasks and set deadlines, helping to effectively monitor activity. Reports on progress can be easily produced and distributed by email to recipients.
MOOR WORK:
A flurry of work is going on at the Peregrino field offshore Brazil in anticipation of its FPSO's arrival. First Subsea says the installation of its mooring line connectors for the submerged turret production (STP) buoy has been completed. The STP buoy mooring system, moored in 100m of water in block BM-C-7 in the Campos Basin, comprises 10 mooring lines arranged in three clusters anchored to the seabed.
The buoy mooring lines consist of a driven pile and bottom chain attached to a spiral strand wire segment and a male Ballgrab mooring line connector. Each of the male connectors were connected to female Ballgrab connectors mounted around the side of the STP buoy. All subsea connections to the buoy were performed quickly and trouble-free by use of ROV, according to the company. BW Offshore division Advanced Production & Loading (APL) supplied the Peregrino STP buoy and mooring system.
When the Maersk owned and operated Peregrino FPSO arrives at the field, the STP buoy will be pulled in using a male Ballgrab buoy pull-in connector tool. It is lowered into a female connector integrated within the top of the STP buoy and used to pull the 600t buoy into the vessel integrated mating cone module. Once the STP buoy has been pulled in and locked, the FPSO is permanently moored at its location.
Analyzing reservoir risk
Petrel 2010 provides more comprehensive risk analysis for exploration workflows, Schlumberger says. 'Until now, most of the effort in exploration workflows has focused on assessing trap and reservoir. This latest release of Petrel will enable our clients to improve their exploration success by providing tools to systematically analyze risk associated with trap, reservoir, charge and seal,' says Tony Bowman, president, Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS).
To more effectively define trap, Petrel 2010 adds the modeling-while-interpreting functionality to automatically create a structural framework while interpreting. This capability allows geoscientists to rapidly test structural uncertainty and pass a high integrity structural framework directly into the modeling realm.
With Petrel 2010, the knowledge of the interpreter is preserved in modeling workflows, and interpreters and modelers can easily iterate to refine velocity and property models.
Additional capabilities enabling improved reservoir characterization include enhanced geobody capabilities facilitating better definition of reservoir bodies, and enhanced seismic attribute analysis to better understand lithologies and fracture characterization.
In addition to handling regional datasets supporting multi-basin to prospect analysis, Petrel 2010 features fault seal analysis capabilities powered by bestin- class science from Rock Deformation Research. The Petrel Petroleum Systems Quick Look module lets geoscientists perform charge modeling for scouting evaluation and ranking of plays and prospects. This creates a connected workflow for generalists and specialists. Petroleum systems experts can perform full analysis of charge risk with the advanced functionality in the PetroMod software.
In addition, the Ocean development platform allows geoscientists to further customize Petrel workflows to rapidly solve localized exploration challenges.
TRACKING PIGS:
The final component of TDW Offshore Services' SmartTrack remote tracking and pressure monitoring system has been received DNV ATEX certification for use in Zone 1 hazardous locations. The SmartTrack system communicates through oil and gas pipelines. Based on EM technology using extremely low frequency (ELF), the SmartTrack product family consists of different types of receivers and transmitters. Both receivers and transmitters can send and transmit information, and so are known as transceivers and transponders. Transponders are typically mounted on a pipeline pig, given an identification code, and transmit a unique signal pattern so that the location of each individual pig in a multiple pig train can be identified. The transceivers are placed on or near the pipeline, and receive the transmitted signals. The SmartTrack system tracks pigs, whether they are subsea, topside or inside underground pipelines. The strength, frequency and identification of each signal can even be changed while the transponder is in the pipeline. The Topside Transceiver and handheld personal digital assistant use intrinsic safety, while the Transponder D116 uses flameproof enclosure protection. All three are ATEX-certified for use in Zone 1, gas group B. With this certification in place, clients can use a fully ATEX- certified SmartTrack system.
Using a PC, the system can communicate with and activate, deactivate and change all parameters of the SmartPlug pipeline isolation tool.
Optical reservoir monitoring
Tendeka completed the first installation of its optical reservoir monitoring system in a platform well offshore West Africa. Tendeka installed its Sentinel distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system combined with four SmartCell optical pressure and temperature gauges in a well offshore the Congo Republic.
When integrated with DTS, the gauges provide a complete real-time pressure and temperature profile of the reservoir, enabling the operator to optimize well performance. The pressure gauges enable a more accurate interpretation of the inflow profile and analysis of phase contributions along the horizontal interval, increasing efficiency and passing on cost savings.
The 900m horizontal openhole was completed using 65/8in sand screens with external swell packers for zonal isolation of the three reservoir sections. The upper completion conveys the monitoring system on a 23/8in stinger inside the sand screens. The stinger is suspended from an ESP system and a high set production packer. DTS provides monitoring across the whole reservoir section while each of the three zones has a single point pressure gauge. A fourth pressure gauge is located above the reservoir to provide co-mingled pressure and temperature data.
Tendeka's DTS systems can measure temperatures to 0.01°C at every meter along a fibre optic cable up to 30km long. The SmartCell optical pressure/temperature gauge technology deploys multiple gauges on a single string, to monitor more zones of a well. Optical technology eliminates downhole electronics, providing greater reliability, particularly at higher temperatures compared with conventional gauges.
Major metocean milestone
For the first time in the history of the company, Fugro Geos has reached a record total of 100 simultaneous deployed oceanographic moorings and real-time metocean monitoring systems, which means there were 400 recording instruments on contract in the water simultaneously around the world.
'The hundred moorings were a combination of 70 underwater moorings and 30 rig based systems with recording instruments measuring mostly currents,' says Fugro Geos operations director Garry Mardell. Data was being collected for 50 clients, around the world stretching from Perth, Australia to Houston, US, and covering all oceans.'
Depths ranged from 10m in Australia and the UK to 3500m in East Africa and India. Some of the moorings are highly complex and provide 1000m current profiles in real time in remote ultra-deepwater locations.
Raising the bar for riser management
SeaFlex Riser Technologies, a business unit of Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies, has developed a new Riser Management System, which, says the company, is a highly flexible advisory and monitoring system for optimum operation of drilling risers and completion/ workover risers.
The RMS enables users to quickly and easily configure operational parameters for a new well location, such as tallies and operational limits. The new configuration and riser planning tool substantially increases the flexibility of the RMS, according to the company. The introduction of automated calibration and verification testing reduce the risk of error and the time required to perform calibration.
A number of add-ons have been developed for the RMS, including a forthcoming riser joint tracker, which tracks the usage of each individual riser joint. Already available is an advanced riser shape and clearance tool including optimum vessel heading advice, which improves parallel operations for rigs operating with a drilling riser and top-tensioned production riser by monitoring both riser strings in real time during various operations. By installing cable-free, hydro acoustic instrumentation along the riser, RMS keeps track of the actual shape and clearance between the risers from the surface to the seabed. Based on the data from the position transponders and resulting riser shapes, optimum vessel heading advice, maximizing the clearance between the two riser strings will be calculated, displayed and continuously updated.
Laser scan survey
Babcock is to provide advanced engineering survey services on the Acergy Borealis, a deepwater pipelay and heavy lift construction vessel under construction at Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore. The company will conduct laser scanning and 3D modeling to ensure dimensional accuracy and interfacing for various parts being manufactured in separate locations around the world.
Laser scanning technology will be used in surveys at locations in Asia, Europe and West Africa; the captured geometry then allows Babcock engineers to analyze, monitor and flag any potential issues
prior to delivery. The DP3 Acergy Borealis is scheduled for delivery 1H 2012. OE
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