Communications/Telemetry
the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) new smart wireless country-wide network. Te network will cover approximately 5000
wells, rigs and drilling units. Te part of the project assigned to MARAC amounts to US$8m. Te two other partners in the consortium which will cover the remaining part of the project’s total cost of US$30m, are Oman Fibre Optics and Redline Communications. Te award was given to the consortium following a tender process in which several international firms had participated. Tis wireless network will provide high capacity
services at all PDO points of presence in the oil field throughout almost the entire Oman territory and at the same time high-quality secure communication which will allow a better management of the oil production. Subsea specialist Flexlife has launched a new
product to market that will help maintain asset integrity and safeguard the environment. Known as FlexGuard, it incorporates Flexlife’s award-winning ultrasonic scanning technology in the form of a collar permanently fitted to flexible risers. Te subsea riser monitoring tool provides the operator with instant, continuous access to the condition of any riser remotely from any location in the world, ensuring a failsafe early warning system and providing major cost and safety benefits. It incorporates the latest ultrasonic and subsea communications technology and is able to wirelessly, either on command or at scheduled weekly inspection times, provide the status of the flexible pipe’s annulus and underlying armour wires (Fig. 1). FlexGuard can be fitted either during installation
or by retrofit to risers already in use in the field offering permanent monitoring for corrosion/ breaches.
Flexlife ceo Stuart Mitchell said: “Tere are around 3000 risers in service at present, with the number forecast to rise to 5000 by 2015. Around 35 per cent of risers suffer some form of outer sheath damage according to recent market surveys of operators. “Once seawater breaches the outer sheath,
corrosion rapidly follows leading to premature failures.”.
Flooding detection FlexGuard can detect specific locations of any flooding and scan the armour wires around flexibles to an accuracy of 0.1mm. Te technology has been accepted by UK Health and Safety Executive and its Norwegian equivalent as helping operators reduce risk of major leakage of hydrocarbons and associated impacts. It can extend the lifespan of flexible pipes and prevent unnecessary early replacement, manufacture and disposal of flexible pipes. FlexGuard is suitable for any size of riser and for depths of 3-3000 metres, meaning it is of particular benefit to deepwater provinces where traditional testing methods pose a major challenge and maintaining the integrity of subsea equipment is increasingly paramount. In retrofit cases, it can be easily deployed either
by ROV or diver, onto any flexible riser asset, via a riser-friendly clamping system that also makes the tool close to neutral bouyancy for ease of deployment. Ultrasonic data collected automatically from the tool is transferred acoustically back to a surface vessel receiver. It is then sent electronically to Flexlife. Flexlife offers a full design, delivery and maintenance service and has bases in the UK, Brazil and Asia Pacific. ●
Next-generation well testing technology H
alliburton has launched its next-generation well- testing technology for deepwater environments. Te technology provides improved economies to operators by enabling more efficient and reliable reservoir testing. DynaLink, the company’s proven, two-way wireless acoustic telemetry system, now has the added capability to control downhole test tools from the surface during drillstem testing operations while transmitting real-time bottomhole pressure and
temperature data. Real-time bottomhole pressure, temperature and fluid data, along with acoustic actuation of test tools, helps to provide operators with the benefit of changing the pre-defined well testing programme based on reservoir response while testing. “When a drillstem test is performed using memory mode devices as the only way of downhole data acquisition, an operator cannot determine if the well testing objectives have been achieved until the drillstem
test string is pulled out of the hole,” said Abdalla Awara, vice president of Halliburton’s testing and subsea product service line. “Te DynaLink high-rate downhole acoustic data acquisition gives the assurance that well-testing objectives have been achieved in real time. In short, this technology delivers efficiencies in optimising rig time while assuring the quality of the test data.” Tis technology was recently
deployed successfully in deepwater wells in Mexico and Brazil. ●
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