Weyburn PLC and HMI Upgrade Project

PanCanadian Energy Corporation (PCX) is one of North America's largest independent oil and gas producers. PanCanadian operates the Weyburn oil field in southeastern Saskatchewan. First discovered in 1955, this mature field had over 1.4 billion barrels of original oil in place, but since 1964 it has been on water flood and is experiencing typical production decline rates. To enhance the recovery of the remaining oil, PanCanadian initiated the Weyburn CO2 Miscible Flood Project. This project allows PanCanadian to inject carbon dioxide into the reservoir. The CO2 acts as a solvent to overcome forces that trap oil in tiny rock pores and helps sweep the immobile oil left behind after the effectiveness of water injection decreases, resulting in increased oil production.

PanCanadian selected Emerson Process Management as their Main Automation Consultant. Our main task was to program the PLC and HMI hardware that was involved in the system upgrade. The PLCs and HMIs were located at the main plant, which included two CO2 compressors (primarily used to recycle the injected CO2), and one battery gas compressor. The majority of the other components were new installations at the five satellite sites. Additional programming included the implementation of automatic and statistical well testing for the satellite sites.

With more than 100 well sites being directly affected, a reliable communications system was essential. Data transfer was completed using Ethernet communications from the PLCs to the client SCADA system and a wireless Ethernet communications system was used to communicate from the five satellite sites to the main plant. The use of the wireless system greatly increased the data transfer speeds. Any additional client support for program changes that may be necessary for system enhancement can be made remotely from our Calgary office. By eliminating the need to be "on site" to make system changes, the cost of implementing these changes has been drastically decreased.

One of the most useful training strategies of the project was the creation of dynamic models of the oil production satellites. Using advanced simulation software, I/O was simulated for testing the programs, as well as for training the operators. These simulations proved to be extremely effective and they greatly reduced the time necessary for the Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) phase of the project. It also provided the operators with a more realistic feel for the operation of the actual field installation.

The life expectancy of the Weyburn oil field, as a direct result of this project, has been extended by almost 25 years and it will produce an additional 120 million barrels of oil. Not only is this beneficial to the client, but it also has significant economic benefits to the surrounding communities.