A mixture of produced oil, gas, and water passes through many hands before it is ready to be sold as a barrel of crude oil. In onshore production operations, well output is pumped into a storage tank near the wellhead or piped to an offsite tank. These storage tanks can be owned by the well owner, a co-op of producers, or a third party.

Trucking companies get involved in transporting production from the well to larger storage tanks or batteries. The battery separates the mixture and processes oil to a set standard for delivery to a terminal or refinery.

Everyone along this supply chain is either paid or charged based on how much oil is contained in the well's production fluid. Unfortunately, many oil producers are forced to estimate the composition of their well output based on limited information or even guesswork.

While equipment is available to measure the composition, it can come with a price tag of up to US $500,000, which prohibits long-term or permanent installation at all but the largest oil wells. Many companies choose to rent expensive measurement equipment and then limit it to monitoring output for a few days a month. As a result, they are unable to gather conclusive data on a well's production composition on an ongoing basis. This lack of visibility can limit a company's ability to adjust to changes in individual well production and increasing regulatory requirements that can quickly impact the bottom line.

Addressing the issue

The management team that formed Kilo Technologies spent decades struggling with measurement issues while working in oil fields in Western Canada. This familiarity led to the development of the Well Production Monitor-Mark II (WPM- MKII) monitoring skid.

The WPM- MKII is one of the industry's first cost-effective solutions designed to help oil producers measure specific gravity of a well's output directly at the well pad and provide remote access to that data. By continuously measuring the well output, companies can more accurately determine the productivity and profitability of each well.

A compact, self-contained system, the WPM - MKII provides real-time, ongoing measurement and recording of oil, water, and gas volumes. The mixture extracted from a well travels through the monitoring skid on its way from the well pump to an oil battery or remote storage tank. The WPM-MKII separates the gas from the water and oil, measures the amount of water versus oil, re-combines the gas, and allows the mixture to continue on its way. Although the liquid never stops flowing, its composition details are recorded by the WMP-MKII at better than +/- 1% accuracy. These data can be viewed for immediate insight into well performance and are stored in the system for reporting purposes.

A WPM-MKII works on a well pad in Southeast Saskatchewan. (Images courtesy of Rockwell Automation)

The challenge

When the time came for Kilo to take its prototype system to full-scale production, the company needed to upgrade the monitoring skid's control and visualization system. It needed a system that could withstand harsh environments and offer reliable and remote connectivity as well as the flexibility to increase networking functionality in the future. The system also needed to be config- ured easily to provide remote, secure data access.

Oilfield applications see wide temperature swings and need equipment that can function properly whether it is 40°C or -40°C (104°F or -40°F). Well operators and maintenance personnel often support a number of wells spread across vast distances. They need to have confidence that their systems will operate reliably with limited attention and also maximize efficiency during their time onsite. Additionally, a number of vested parties need to have access to different information from the machine.

As a new manufacturer, Kilo wanted a technology partner that was well recognized and trusted within the industry. At the same time, there was an understanding that to be successful, the company also needed to meet a strict price point for the WPM-MKII system. These were the goals being balanced as the company sought an automation control partner.

Solutions

Kilo implemented a control and visualization system from Rockwell Automation that met the company's rigorous reliability standards and provided reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), allowing the machine to go to market at a popular price point.

The Rockwell Automation system is built around the Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1400, a compact programmable logic controller with Ethernet connectivity. The controller measures, calculates, and records specific gravity data and temperature information and runs an actuator valve that manages gas separation and reinjection. Using a fraction of the space of a full-sized controller, the Ether-Net/IP-enabled MicroLogix controller provides connectivity ease, and a built-in LCD screen displays controller status, I/O status, and simple operator messages.

FactoryTalk View Machine Edition human-machine interface (HMI) software provides machine-level data to operators for quick troubleshooting. Kilo uses the FactoryTalk View Studio design environment to create applications using an extensive graphics library, enhanced color animation capability and a multilanguage font library. The server and client run directly on a terminal that allows operators to input commands by touch screen.

The visualization solution enables employees at different operating levels to securely view and analyze real-time and historical data from their unique perspectives.

Operators, for example, can view particular metrics and use certain historical information for each well, while well owners can view individual machines or download an aggregated view of the entire field to assess the overall performance. Third-party vendors involved in transporting the oil have their own access, which provides them with basic information on how much liquid they are offloading and its composition.

The Rockwell Automation visualization solution is an improvement over the HMI used in prototyping because it is more user friendly and graphically impressive. The performance also has been enhanced. Ether-Net/IP connectivity allows remote troubleshooting for improved control and support options. A wireless router allows users to download information from the machine directly to their computer from their truck. Now customers have the option to add a cell phone modem for internet-based status updates and data downloading.

With an easy-to-use and affordable monitoring system, oil producers can accurately measure each well's output. As a result, they can maximize the performance of their wells, improve operations, and meet or exceed compliance requirements.

This visualization solution is an improvement over the HMI used in prototyping because it is more user-friendly.

Results

By working with Rockwell Automation, Kilo was able to build a monitoring skid that provides greater accuracy at a fraction of the cost of other existing solutions.

By standardizing on Rockwell Automation components, the company has reduced the TCO of this machine, providing customers with a familiar, intuitive platform for machine control. The scalability of the control platform gives customers the flexibility to accommodate future expansion.

Kilo was able to complete basic programming in just four weeks – with an additional week to customize each unit to customers' specifications.