New products

Vol. 226 No. 8

Fiber-based frac technology

FiberFRAC fluid technology from Schlumberger creates a fiber-based network within fracturing fluid, providing a mechanical means to transport, suspend and place proppant. This decouples proppant transport from fluid viscosity during hydraulic fracturing operations and prevents proppant settling, which occurs when the fluid viscosity falls below the critical threshold required to suspend proppant. Since proppant transport no longer relies on frac fluid viscosities, it can be tailored to reservoir conditions to optimize fracture geometry. The retained proppant pack permeability can be significantly increased because of the lower polymer loading required. Testing has shown that decreasing the polymer loading by 40% can increase retained permeability by 24%. When less polymer is used, more of the propped fracture contributes to production, yielding a longer effective fracture half-length.

Fail-safe valve actuators

A new line of quarter-turn and linear Skilmatic SI electric valve actuators from Rotork Controls, Inc., provide both modulating and two-position control for fail-safe operation in a wide variety of oil and gas applications. They are compact, integrated units that are electrically operated and have a precise, hydraulically powered internal spring-return mechanism to provide proper valve positioning in a safe condition. They can be set to fail-safe in either the closed or open valve position, or to lock-in-position on power or system failure. A quick-closure option is available. The Skilmatic actuators provide reliable closure for emergency shutdown and partial stroking capabilities for slow opening applications in harsh operating environments. They are available in both watertight and explosion-proof models, and can be supplied with appropriate electronic cards to interface with virtually any process control system. The Skilmatic SI actuators have a minimal number of moving parts and can achieve an accuracy of better than 0.5%.

Battery-powered barrier

The Battery Operated Barrier (B.O.B.) is designed to enhance site security, eliminate unauthorized vehicles and increase personnel safety by minimizing exposure to dangerous traffic, hazardous environments and emergency situations, and to protect equipment. Deployable by one person in under 90 seconds, the B.O.B. is able to operate as a radio-controlled or manned, left- or right-hand access gate, roadblock, checkpoint, flagman, detour and closure device. With its remote transmitters, authorized personnel can enter or egress secure areas without having to exit their vehicle. B.O.B. weighs 70 lb and is constructed of rugged powder-coated laser cut steel. The unit is capable of up to 10,000 rapid open-and-close cycles on a single charge.

Integrated fracture modeler

Roxar launched its new fracture modeling software, FracPerm, an integrated package that enables geologists and reservoir engineers to incorporate fracture modeling into mainstream 3D modeling and simulation activities. With the company’s IRAP RMS 3D modeling software together with FracPerm, users are able to assess complex fracture settings using both a four-step, straight-to-grid route and a full DFN (discrete fracture network) model. 

High-pressure screw pump

A new mid-size screw pump, DOP-200, has been introduced by DESMI. The pump can move mixtures of oil, oil and water, or water, alone, while generating up to 188 psi in the discharge hose. This is particularly suited for transferring oil from stricken ships and spills, as the pump can generate high discharge pressure and handle almost any oil that will flow. When pumping oil and water mixtures, the positive displacement design means that the oil is not emulsified. The high pressure is achieved by special discs that fit into the screw as it rotates, like spokes in a wheel. Also, a special knife is fitted to the screw’s leading edge to cut up rope, weed and other contamination. The DOP-200 is fitted with dual discharge ports, for horizontal and vertical connection of the hose. It has an 8-in. inlet, 4-in. discharge coupling and weighs only 128 lb.

3-D visualization facility

Landmark, a part of Halliburton’s Digital and Consulting Solutions Div., has developed the world’s fastest and largest advanced visualization computer system in the oil and gas exploration field, utilizing the new Silicon Graphics Prism platform. Landmark, working with Silicon Graphics and Intel, will offer real-time, 3D interactivity on multiple volumes of seismic data at a newly designed facility in its Houston headquarters. The Prism visualization system will allow customers to quickly explore large numbers of deepwater offshore blocks using massive regional surveys. Also, they will be able to interactively plan optimal well paths using all of their geological and geophysical data. The system uses 64 Intel Itanium 2 processors, eight ATI graphics pipes and 640 GB of memory in a 64-bit Linux operating system. Landmark will port its GeoProbe Volume Interpretation system to the Prism platform. The system can work with multiple volumes and run interactively on extremely large data sets. This system will enable customers to visualize seismic data sets at close to a terabyte in size.

Instrumentation CD catalog

FCI’s CD Catalog Release 9.0 contains mass flow instrumentation product data and informative case studies based on the company’s 40+ years of gas and fluid flow experience. The CD also includes product user manuals and guides, along with a comprehensive FAQ library. With a no-moving-parts sensor design and no orifices to plug or foul, FCI’s thermal mass flow and level instruments offer accurate, low maintenance measurement over a wide range. They feature a fully temperature-compensated design that ensures long-term, drift-free measurement, regardless of fluctuations in fluid temperature.

Flow measurement software

Emerson Process Management has released Flowel 4 flow measurement software. To optimize production, accurate flow measurement is essential, and the potential losses from inaccurate measurement can be serious. Flowel is a tool for instrument engineers who need to obtain accurate design calculations, manage project costs, and store and retrieve tag data for a variety of devices and fluids. The software includes current flow element standards and calculations and offers innovative features that improve cost-effectiveness. Upgrades from version 3 include new flow equations, true multi-user capability, and new reporting options.

Analyze hydrocarbons in drilling fluid

Datalog Technology Inc. has introduced the GC-TRACER, which stands for Gas Chromatograph Tool for Real-time Analysis, Characterization and Evaluation of Reservoirs. The GC-TRACER can distinctly identify, quantify and analyze hydrocarbon components in any drilling fluid. This allows the user to make knowledgeable, fast decisions by providing accurate petrophysical and geosteering data. The system provides a direct gas-in-mud analysis at the extraction point by using a semi-permeable membrane probe, coupled with high-speed thermal conductivity detector chromatography. The tool provides a full chromatographic breakdown within 70 seconds. The closed-flow system does not introduce gases, such as CO₂ or nitrogen, allowing an accurate measurement of free and dissolved hydrocarbons from C1 to C8, along with aromatics, sour gases and nitrogen. This gas data allows the user to pick casing points, formation tops and pay zones with precision. The semi-permeable membrane probe is mounted in the drilling flow line. The versatile probe can be immersed in any fluid type including oil, water, nitrogen and foam. Free and dissolved gases entrained in the mud permeate the membrane. The probe is continually swept with carrier gas that pushes the extracted gas sample to the chromatographic columns for immediate analysis, preventing ambient conditions from influencing the sample composition.

E&P software upgrade

Paradigm has released the latest version of its software solution for log management, correlation, geosteering and petrophysics. Geolog 6.6 is used by over 70% of the world’s oil companies and oilfield service providers for petrophysical analysis, well data management and geological interpretation. The newest release includes many enhancements providing high levels of interactivity and automation efficiency, including: native Windows support; automation of seismic facies classification and interpretation of wellbore images; geosteering and horizontal well support; and interoperability with external and internal data stores. Complementing its Linux and UNIX operating system, the native Windows version can be run with full interoperability between the three platforms. Based on technologies licensed from Total, the newly designed Facimage solution for electrofacies analysis, log prediction and core data modeling reveals stratigraphic facies detail quickly. Using the wellbore image processing capabilities of GeoImage, geologists can perform manual interpretation as well as the automatic detection of a variety of formation properties. The software also plays a key role in Paradigm’s Epos integration framework, providing a common well data model and repository accessible to all the company’s applications. Geologists and petrophysicists can visualize and model sparse well log data in three dimensions