New products
Vol. 229 No. 12 Dry tree units for dee
Dry tree units for deep water FloaTEC LLC has completed Phase-2 testing of its ultra-deepwater dry tree units, the Extendable Draft Semi (E-Semi) and the Truss Semi (T-Semi). The model test programs were conducted at the Bulgarian Ship Hydrodynamic Center in Varna, Bulgaria, and the Offshore Technology Research Center at Texas A&M University, respectively. Both designs are low-motion semis qualified to support dry tree risers in ultra-deep water up to 10,000 ft. A significant feature is the quayside integration capability, eliminating the need for a heavy-lift construction vessel offshore to install the topsides. The objectives of the in-place model tests were:
The design parameters for the model tests were based on a water depth capability of 4,300 ft, suitability for the Atwater Valley of the central GOM and production rates of 80,000 bopd and 100 MMcfd. Eight production Top-Tensioned Risers (TTRs), one drilling TTR and two gas/oil export steel cantenary risers were specified. Operating rig weight was designed for 8,000 tons, with total operating topsides weight of 18,000 tons and total payload of 21,000 tons. The E-Semi was designed for a 115-ft draft, while T-Semi will have a 72-ft draft. Freeboard is 65 ft for E-Semi and 75 ft for T-Semi. The design can be scaled to accommodate payloads in water depths up to 10,000 ft. Both designs use a modified version of FloaTEC’s deep-draft semi hull design and rely on hydrodynamic interaction between the heave plate and the hull to reduce motions. The draft enables quayside integration and provides for maximum flexibility when it comes to construction options. The motions are limited to enable the use of commercially available tensioners, currently limited to under 30-ft stroke.
Extended-range antenna Emerson Process Management has released its Extended Range Antenna, available on Rosemount 3051S, 648 and 702 transmitters with WirelessHART output. For oil and gas industry users and others who operate facilities where measurement points are separated by long distances, making wiring and powering of measurement points expensive, the extended-range antenna option provides a cost-effective way to access this information by increasing the distance between self-organizing points up to half a mile (2,600 ft). Fully compatible with any WirelessHART network, the antenna provides the same HART diagnostic data, 7- to 15-year SmartPower Power Module life, and reliable and secure performance as other devices in the Smart Wireless family.
Valve selection software
Nelprof control valve selection software version 5.0 is available from Metso Automation. It is used prior to installation to predict the performance of the control valve package as a part of the system; thus it is a tool for selecting the right control valve package quickly and accurately. Users can avoid over-sizing of valves and under-sizing of actuators. Version 5.0 includes technical features that enhance control valve package selection from a flow-and-control point of view. Control performance criteria, such as installed flow characteristics, cavitation and noise, are the basis for selection. Other features include: flexible import/export, editing and calculation of multiple sizings with one command, product database and project updates via the internet, an enhanced IEC 60534-8-4 noise-prediction method for liquids, and a control valve sizing coefficients book.
Fieldbus test kit The Fieldbus Foundation today announced the release of its enhanced H1 Interoperability Test Kit 5.1 version. The test kit has been updated from previous versions to support temperature transducer blocks, Device Description (DD) 5.1 functionality, and field diagnostics profiles, enhancing organization and integration of device diagnostics within Foundation fieldbus systems. The test kit verifies the functionality of an H1 (31.25 kilobit/s) device and its conformity with the Foundation fieldbus function block and transducer block specifications. A tool for troubleshooting and debugging devices, the test kit includes all hardware and software required to ensure a manufacturer’s complete device interoperability as specified by the foundation’s official registration testing procedure. Using the kit, device developers can run tests identical to those used by the foundation before submitting a device for official registration. Version 5.1 has been updated with new capabilities, including a cross-block DD, National Instruments Communication Driver 3.2.2 and updated DD viewer. Other updates include support for the FF-904 temperature transducer block specification (single and dual sensor) and FF-912 field diagnostics profile specification. The kit also provides a resource block parameter set to implement the field diagnostics profile, as well as various other software enhancements.
Desktop supercomputing NVIDIA and its worldwide partners announced the availability of the GPU-based Tesla Personal Supercomputer, which delivers the equivalent computing power of a cluster, at 1% of the price and in a form factor of a standard desktop workstation. Priced like a conventional PC workstation while delivering 250 times the processing power, the system allows geoscientists to perform complex, data-intensive computations at their desk, processing more data faster and cutting time to discovery. At the core of the GPU-based Tesla Personal Supercomputer is the Tesla C1060 GPU Computing Processor, which is based on the NVIDIA CUDA parallel computing architecture. CUDA enables developers and researchers to harness massively parallel computational power through industry standard C. Tesla Personal Supercomputers are available from leading HPC OEMs, systems builders and resellers.
Filler metals catalog
As a resource to support its line of Hobart and Tri-Mark brands of low-alloy filler metals, Hobart Brothers offers its new Low Alloy Product catalog. The catalog features information on the company’s low-alloy stick electrodes and solid, flux-cored and metal-cored wires, all of which typically provide over 80,000-psi ultimate tensile strength and have been designed specifically for welding on high-strength materials, weathering steels, materials prone to high heat or corrosion and other similar applications. Along with step-by-step explanations of American Welding Society classifications for low-alloy filler metals, the new catalog also features a Low Alloy Master List to help with product selection. The Master List includes standard low-alloy product classifications (A through W) and descriptions, along with the name of the corresponding filler metals (stick electrode and welding wires) for each of those classifications.
Land seismic system Schlumberger has announced the launch of the WesternGeco UniQ integrated point-receiver land acquisition and processing system. The new seismic system combines extreme channel count point-receiver technology with support for advanced simultaneous source techniques. Building upon the fidelity provided by the broad bandwidth Geophone Accelerometer (GAC) sensor, UniQ can support up to 150,000 live channels at a 2-ms sample interval. With continuous recording capabilities and support for simultaneous source techniques, the system can be used for dense reservoir characterization projects, as well as for sparse fast-moving exploration surveys. It will also provide significant advantages in challenging noise environments and in areas with complex geologies. UniQ is designed to deliver full azimuth surveys with point receiver fidelity. It records continuously so it is compatible with all standard high-productivity vibrator techniques. The system can address land seismic in many different environments ranging from desert to the arctic. The field planning software, source and recording control systems and camp data-processing facilities are all designed to work in an integrated manner, to enable efficient equipment layout and optimized data handling while ultimately reducing the time from shot to processed deliverable. It is designed to work with the newest WesternGeco source technology, including Maximum Displacement Sweep (MD Sweep) and the DX-80 vibrator. The suite of advanced geophysical services includes electromagnetic services and the Q-Technology single-sensor high-fidelity seismic acquisition-to-inversion platform.
Subsurface modeling software Paradigm has previewed SKUA Prospect Architecture, a new module available with Paradigm SKUA 2009. The module is designed to help geophysicists and geologists generate higher quality prospect maps. Prospect Architecture helps enforce structural and stratigraphic integrity using UVT Transform and enables 3D seismic chrono-stratigraphic interpretation. Using the new module, the earth model and the interpretation are quality-controlled and edited simultaneously while synchronously creating a water-tight structural model ready for velocity modeling and time/depth conversion, and a geological model ready for reservoir modeling. SKUA 2009 Suite will connect to interpretation software Paradigm SeisEarth, via the new Epos framework currently in development. Independently, SKUA 2009 and SeisEarth offer unique capabilities in structural modeling and seismic interpretation, respectively.
Severe-duty motor Baldor Electric Company has introduced the Reliance API 547, a new line of large AC industrial motors designed for the petroleum and petrochemical industries. They are the first and only motors in the industry to meet the American Petroleum Institute’s Specification 547 requirements, and the first to receive the API’s monogram of approval. Designed for reliable operation in severe-duty applications, the motors are available from 250 through 3,000 hp in 2-, 4-, 6- and 8-pole speed configurations. These new motors are ideally suited for pump compressor and fan applications. Also, the API 547s can be manufactured to comply with specific customer requirements for critical-duty motors. |
