New products
Accurate flow measurement
Biodegradable dispersant for oil spills EcoClean Dispersant 600 is a biodegradable, non-toxic dispersant-emulsifier for use on seawater that is contaminated with petroleum products. The product dissipates thin petroleum films from the water surface, and should be used after most of the contaminating petroleum is already removed. The remaining oil usually forms a film that prevents absorption of the oxygen/ air into water and can damage coastal and sea life. EcoClean Dispersant 600 has the hydrophilic/ hydrophobic balance that allows it to be emulsified in water and dispersed in oil. EcoClean prevents the oil from forming a film on the water surface by breaking the oil in 500 – 700 µm sized separate droplets (micelles). These separated micelles disperse in the water and do not affect the oxygen/ air exchange on the water-air interface.
Flexible cement system Schlumberger has introduced Flex-STONE HT flexible cement, which is an extension of the FlexSTONE advanced cement system for permanent zonal isolation of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Both the temperature and flexibility range of the set cement system have been increased with the HT formulation, which provides excellent mechanical properties at temperatures ranging from 40°F to 482°F. Deeper, hotter, more complex wells can be sealed for life to achieve maximum production. The cement system is designed to endure dynamic downhole conditions, such as variable pressures and temperatures, some of which can be caused by downhole testing and treatments or formation loading. By using flexible and expansive materials (up to 2% expansion), FlexSTONE HT cement can be prestressed, enabling the sheath to close a microannulus several hundred microns in size, potentially sealing fluid leak paths. Coupling the system with advanced job design, including the ability to model downhole properties and conditions expected during well operation, ensures its long-term performance in the field.
Potable water from sea water
Space-saving flow meter
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Emerson Process Management’s Rosemount 3051S Ultra for Flow can support up to 14:1 flow turndown with better than 0.5% reading accuracy. Performance is specified as a percent of reading, instead of the traditional percent of span. This method eliminates the performance degradation inherent in the nonlinear relationship between flow and differential pressure. (Because a 10:1 flow turndown results in a 100:1 DP turndown, a DP pressure transmitter specified as 0.075% of span will only be 7.5% accurate over the entire flow range.) Emerson’s approach is based on its SuperModule platform, the foundation of the Rosemount 3051S transmitter, which optimizes transmitter performance over wide flow turndowns. The hermetic, all-welded SST housing enables the performance to be maintained in harsh environments. Coplanar process isolators allow the sensor to float freely, eliminating installation-induced errors.
The single-stage evaporator system from Westfalia Separator produces fresh water by desalination of sea water. This is simpler and less expensive than storing large quantities of drinking water on ships or offshore rigs. Sea water is initially coarse-filtered, and is then evaporated. Salts and impurities are precipitated in a group of titanium heat exchanger plates, and then a second package of plates condenses the steam into fresh water. A salt measuring cell monitors the residual salt content, which is normally less than 4 ppm. When salt content is below this level, the fresh water is pumped to a storage tank and treated by UV sterilization. A re-hardening filter returns sufficient minerals to the water to make it palatable for human consumption. The system can produce between 10 and 65 tons of fresh water per day. 
The Wafer-Cone Flowmeter from McCrometer provides accuracy and repeatability in a space-saving instrument. It requires almost no maintenance. The flowmeter is designed for liquid or gas service in line sizes from 0.5 to 6 in., making it suitable for small process lines. Applications for the Wafer-Cone include chemical injection or filtering in process lines and lines for natural gas. The flowmeter relies on differential pressure sensing technology. Its DP flow sensor is designed with built-in flow conditioning to achieve an accuracy of +0.5%, with a repeatability of +0.1%. It operates over a flow range of 10:1. With the ability to self-condition flow, the Wafer-Cone eliminates the need for extensive up/ downstream straight pipe runs required by other DP technologies, such as orifice plates and venturi tubes. It can be installed virtually anywhere in a piping system or be retrofit into an existing piping layout. The design is inherently more accurate than traditional DP instruments such as orifice plates and venturi tubes, because the flow conditioning function is built into the basic flow sensor design. 
Flow assurance requires management of a range of factors from hydrates, waxes, paraffin and asphaltenes to scale, corrosion, sand/ erosion, etc. Management methods fall into three categories: mechanical (pigging, depressurization), chemical (inhibitors, solvents, and dispersants), and thermodynamic (passive or active heating). PIP systems are a passive thermodynamic route to overcoming flow assurance problems, providing high thermal efficiency under both normal flowing conditions and during shutdown or shut-in. The systems are thermally efficient, with extremely low U-values, reliable, and a proven technology for both shallow and deepwater systems that require a low overall heat transfer coefficient (OHTC), but their increased cost and weight is a significant penalty in deep water. DeepSea has developed an ‘inside-out’ design process that optimizes each layer from the internal bore outwards, to minimize thickness and weight. The design focuses on the actual required pipe diameters for flowline and carrier, rather than API standard sizes. Thermal and mechanical design are integrated to ensure the project requirements for production rate and steady-state thermal performance are met, while minimizing cost. In waters 3,000 ft or deeper, and particularly with flowline lengths of 6 miles or more, substantial cost benefits can be achieved. Also, for pipe-in-pipe SCRs, top tension savings of over 20% are achievable.
