Oil and Gas Applications

The applications summarized in this document have been implemented by Remote Automation Solutions Representatives for customers in the Oil and Gas Industry. Each application uses one or more of the ROC306, ROC312, ROC364, or FloBoss products. For additional information on any of these applications, contact your RAS representative.

Production SCADA System Uses CDPD Communications

This application uses FloBoss 407s to monitor, measure, and control gas production and manage the produced oil and water. It is also one of the first applications to use Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) communications between the FloBoss 407s and the Intellution host. CDPD communication was selected to help minimize start up costs. The cellular carrier charges a flat rate per site for communications while the modem, antenna, and coax are purchased by the customer.

Compressor Control

In this application two sites are automated using ROC364s and Genesis host software. Initially, ROCs were performing only monitoring and valve control functions with compressor control to be added.

Fuel Switching on Industrial Boilers

This application involves remote monitoring and control of dual fuel boilers at customer sites by a gas company. A ROC306 is used at the customer site to monitor boiler temperature and other parameters to determine when to switch from gas to oil for the most cost-effective fuel usage. The ROC communicates to an Intellution host at the gas company through a phone line.

Gas Lift Oil Production Monitoring And Control

This application uses a Wonderware Host with MDS radios to ROC364s on a offshore platform. The three ROCs supports nine injection choke controls, 11 meter runs, and a well test separator algorithm. The well test algorithm required flexibility in the feed rate, duration, and number of intervals. Well test reporting provides complete documentation for each interval of gas injection rate.

The Wonderware application uses indirect variables and graphic templates. Input variations were handled by mapping the I/O through user templates. Several performance curve charts were designed to show oil recovery versus gas injection rates.

Liquid Hydrocarbon Flow Rate Correction

This liquid hydrocarbon correction program corrects the measured flow of liquefied petroleum gases and crude oils back to standard temperature and pressure. The program monitors the current flow rate, temperature and pressure and, based upon either a live density or an operator entered value for density as well as entered values for sediment & water, vapor pressure and the meter factor, calculates a corrected flow value for standard conditions. In addition to converting flow rates, the program will also accumulate the volume since contract hour and a running total. The program was developed according to API and ASTM standards.

Meter Station Package

This package allows FloBoss to accomplished gas flow ratio control. Two producers, sharing the production of a single well, required a system that could monitor and control the flow split from this well. The ratio of the flow split is known, but the total flow rate is not. The system must flow each customers share of the well even if the other producer is off line. The package is implemented using FSTs.

Natural Gas Compressor Control Systems

These systems use a ROC364 in conjunction with an Amot Microguard/Scanner to create an economical remote compressor control package. The ROC allows the operator using a remote USDATA FactoryLink host to start, stop, and vary the speed of the compressor. Shutdown for fire and gas detection is also provided. Remote capabilities for inlet suction, compressor governor speed control, and bypass valve control are provided. The ROC uses custom C code software for this application.

Natural Gas Compressor Monitoring and Control

This application uses a single ROC364 to monitor two compressors and two meter runs at a remote, unmanned natural gas compressor station. Parameters monitored include cylinder temperature, upstream pressure, engine temperature, manifold pressure, suction pressure, oil pressure, and engine RPM. The ROC measures differential and absolute pressure, and temperature to calculate AGA gas flow and provides a remote setpoint to two pneumatic pressure controllers. An FST is used to determine the sample interval of a gas composition monitor. The ROC communicates to a GV101 "host" at the field office.

Natural Gas Compressor Horsepower Control

This application uses four ROC364s to calculate fuel brake horsepower for four 2,000 horsepower compressors. Each ROC364 automatically loads and unloads pockets to maintain maximum engine horsepower and torque. A user C program calculates horsepower and torque, loads and unloads pockets, ambient-rates the unit, operates the governor, provides engine alarming and shutdown, and uses the local display panel as an operator interface to each compressor. One ROC312 provides discharge pressure station control for the four compressors.

Natural Gas Distribution System

This system is in use at a gas utility in Alberta. It uses ROCs situated throughout a city to perform a variety of tasks. The system is divided into two main areas, production and distribution. Gas produced from city wells is metered, then compressed to pipeline pressure at one of four compressor stations where it is monitored by ROC364s before it enters the distribution system.

In the distribution system, ROC312s control the injection of odorant into the gas at two odorant injection stations. From here, the odorized gas is moved throughout the city in low and medium pressure pipeline systems where ROC306s are located at each regulator station to monitor pressure drops and notify operators of any problems.

Natural Gas Flow Measurement and Control

This application uses ROC364s to measure and control gas flow at pipeline sales stations, district stations, and industrial customer sites. In addition to gas flow, odorant injection is controlled by ROCs at pipeline sales stations. The ROCs communicate to a GV110 host at the company's control center.

Natural Gas Flow Measurement and Control

This application uses a ROC312 at each of two main gas delivery sites to give a small city gas utility the ability to select which gas provider they purchase gas from. The city can manually control flow and/or pressure at each site, or use an automatic control scheme where one site controls flow based on a daily nomination and the other site provides makeup gas based on pressure should the demand exceed the nomination. A GV101-based host is communicates to each ROC through a dial-up modem.

Natural Gas Processing

This application involves remote monitoring and control of a gas processing plant and its associated trunk lines. A ROC364 monitors ten process points in the plant and communicates to a Valmet host by radio. Three FloBoss units measure gas flow and are linked to the ROC364 by an RS-485 bus.

Natural Gas Production SCADA Systems

These systems monitor, and can control, the amount of gas produced at a wellsite, a compressor station, and a sales station where custody transfer takes place. At a typical metering station located near a wellhead, a ROC performs one or more AGA calculations. In operations which require control, FSTs have been developed to provide a variety of control schemes at a single site.

Net Oil Computer Package

This package allows a ROC312 to perform net oil calculations. In addition to the ROC, the package consists of a local display panel and a 24 VDC power supply if required. A printer is optional. Inputs to the package can be from a coriolis flow meter for net oil measurement or a meter run with pressure and temperature transmitters for gas applications. Data can be displayed locally or sent to a SCADA system. Software available with the package includes the net oil application program, the gas application program and a printer program. The ROC can run the programs simultaneously. All programs are implemented using C code.

Plunger Lift Control

This application involves remote monitoring of flows from a dual-completion gas well and plunger lift control of one side of the well. A ROC312 is used to calculate gas flow for two meter runs, monitor pressure on a water injection well, monitor plunger lift, and provide valve control. The ROC communicates to a Wonderware host through a trunked radio system.

Propane Peak Shaving Facility Control

This gas utility company uses a ROC364 and a Intellution host software to monitor natural gas flow, and remotely start up, operate and monitor a propane peak shaving facility. The facility is designed to augment natural gas with a propane/air mixture during peak usage periods. The system also provides the operator with emergency shut-down capabilities, fire protection alarm and security alarm monitoring.

Steam Rates Using ISO 5167

Water/steam can be the measured fluid with the ISO 5167 program. Using the measured values of pressure and temperature readings, the vapor-liquid equilibrium curve is real time simulated and automatically switches between hot water and steam. Steam (or water) density, enthalpy and dynamic viscosity are calculated using IFC correlation with an average of 0.05% error when referred to "Steam Tables, Thermodynamic Properties of Water Including Vapor, Liquid and Solid Phases, John Wiley & Sons." Calculations and results are metric, method is ISO 5167 for differential devices and ISO 9951 for turbine meters.

Truck Loading/Unloading System

This system is designed to measure produced fluids trucked into oil batteries and meter the product shipped from the battery either by truck or pipeline. The system employs as MicroMotion RFT9739 mass flow meter connected to a ROC. The ROC performs an accounting function, storing up to 800 deliveries, 250 well locations, and densities for each well. Options include a ticket printer and ID card reader. The entire system is housed in a custom enclosure.

Truck Loading and Oil/Gas Measurement

This system uses a ROC364 at a storage facility where oil is loaded onto trucks, production gas and liquids are piped to a central tank battery, the liquids are separated, gas is treated, and individual wells are run through a test separator. The ROC-based solution lets the customer keep track of their oil production without the high cost of a full blown LACT unit.

The ROC364 measures the gas and liquids at the facility in combination with liquid level probes for the production tanks and a Brooks positive displacement meter installed on the main load line for the transports. The transport drivers insert a standard load ticket into the mechanical printer and, after completing the load, the printer records on the ticket the total barrels pumped. The pulse output of the Brooks meter is monitored by the ROC364 using an FST to keep track of total barrels hauled along with a time and date stamp. The ROC364 is polled by a WonderWare Host which prints out the total daily volume.

Volumetric Data Management System

This application uses over 100 ROCs to monitor gas pressure and measure flow at industrial facilities. The ROCs are part of the first phase of a large utility company's volumetric data management system project that is designed to provide daily usage totals to their top industrial accounts.

The ROC units are polled daily by a PC-based software package called MV90 from Utility Translation Systems (UTS), Inc. This data is gathered by MV90 and placed on an electronic bulletin board (written by the gas company) to allow customers access to it. Customers use the bulletin board to make their daily nominations for gas consumption.

Small City Gas Control and Measurement System

This application gives a small city gas utility quick access to gas flow data at two main delivery points entering the city. By using the flow measurement and control capabilities of the ROC312, the city is better able to choose which provider they purchase gas from. The city gas controller can manually operate both sites or can employ an automatic control scheme where one site controls flow based on a daily nomination, and the other site provides makeup gas based on pressure should the city demand exceed the daily volume. If the demand rises above the delivery site volume setpoint, the city pressure drops and the second site, which is on pressure control, maintains pressure on the city system.

Cathodic Protection Monitoring and Control

This application uses 15 ROC364s and ROC312s to monitor and control the cathodic protection system on an 800 Km natural gas pipeline in southwest Queensland. The ROCs are part of a SCADA system that uses Intellution FIX-DMACs software at the host. Operators have the capability to adjust cathodic protection setpoints along the pipeline and, more importantly, can remotely carry out periodic tests such as CP off, pipeline CAT and running tests. They can isolate each 100 KM section of the pipeline remotely and, by setting start times, number of tests and test period, can run the test, upload the data and export it to Excel for analysis. Each ROC uses several FSTs to achieve this capability which includes high speed database writing at 200ms rates for the data being stored over the test period, allowing analysis of the tail-off profile of the pipe-to-soil voltages.

The contents of this publication are presented for informational purposes only. While every effort has been made to ensure informational accuracy, they are not to be construed as warranties or guarantees, express or implied, regarding the products or services described herein or their use or applicability.  Emerson reserves the right to modify or improve the designs or specifications of such products at any time without notice.

For information, contact Remote Automation Solutions:
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