New Products and Services
Dry additive mix unit uses custom mixer
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) recently launched the Rolligon dry additive mix unit, which uses a custom-designed mixer to pre-mix the gel powder with water on the fly, giving optimum gel quaity even at high rates. It includes onboard bulk gel hoppers that can be pneumatically filled, and a dust collection system to filter the hopper exhaust during the filling process. As frac jobs continue to increase in size and duration, supply logistics become a crucial part of reducing the costs associated with downtime. Since a dry gel transport can carry more product per truck than a truck carrying slurried gel, the new unit enables operators to run longer between transport swaps. This saves time associated with transport swap out on location, and transportation costs of carrying the product to location, which translates to cost savings. The hydration systems also can be set up to accommodate both dry gel and slurry gel on a job-by-job basis. Photo: NOV.
Companies join to create new subsea rentals service
Ashtead Technology and Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. have agreed to form a joint venture, creating a new provider of subsea surveys, ROV equipment rental and associated services. Forum will contribute its subsea rentals business, currently trading as Forum Subsea Rentals. The combined group—with a rental fleet of 19,000 assets, valued in excess of $139 million—will service all major subsea hubs from its bases in Aberdeen, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London and Houston. The business, which will trade as Ashtead Technology, will provide an independent outlet for customers’ equipment requirements. In addition to offering the largest equipment rental capability in the sector supported by a team of 120 personnel, Ashtead Technology will provide advanced engineered measurement solutions and comprehensive asset management services.
New family of shaped cutter drill bits
Halliburton announced the release of Geometrix 4D Shaped Cutters, a line of four distinct geometric profiles to help improve cutting efficiency and increase control, to reduce drilling costs. The company may now have the largest portfolio of shaped cutters in the industry. “The launch of Geometrix cutters demonstrates our ability to collaborate with customers and translate knowledge into solutions that can help lower drilling costs,” said Scott Regimbald, V.P. of the Halliburton Drill Bits and Services business. “Each cutter is tailored for specific applications, so operators have the most complete portfolio to meet their drilling challenges.” In a recent job offshore Mexico, where an operator was drilling a limestone-shale formation, the Geometrix bit doubled the rate of penetration over a 700-m section, saving three days of drilling time compared to offset wells.
Spotlight monitoring system leverages IIoT
Windrock, a Dover Energy Automation (DEA) company, has launched its new Spotlight Monitoring System, an automated, real-time solution that leverages Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) principles to deliver insights into the health and performance of critical assets. The new Spotlight Monitoring System is a plug-and-play solution that utilizes edge hardware, called Spotlight PUC, to acquire high-speed rotating data. The controller then sends this data over to a Microsoft Azure-hosted cloud via gateway, where a proprietary intuitive data visualization software provides actionable insights and uncovers trends concerning the health of the entire fleet of assets. In addition, the new monitoring system allows for tiered services to enable digital transformation. Customers can use the monitoring tier to get complete visibility and then augment it with algorithmic analyses.
New anchor designed for smart well operation
D&L Oil Tools has released a new patent-pending design for hydraulically and mechanically-set retrievable tubing anchors/catchers named Trilobite Anchors. The anchors are designed with three heat-treated steel alloy slips, which can maximize holding in both tension and compression. The anchors are also made with strategic component spacing, to allow increased annular flow and capillary tube bypassing. This allows for operators to increase space for gas while running capillary lines, all without compromising tubing size in the desired 5½-in. by 2⅞-in. configuration. The new anchor also serves as a “catcher,” meaning it does not require upward tension to remain in place. The Trilobite Hydro and Trilobite Quarter-Turn Anchor designs were filed with the U.S. Provisional Patent Office in June of 2017 and will undergo a full patent process over the course of the next year.
Detection system targets unexploded ordinances
Subsea IMR provider N-Sea has announced the launch of Magsense, a vertical gradiometer array, specifically designed for highly accurate Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) campaigns. Developed in-house, the system has been designed to collect and record high-resolution data in magnetically noisy subsea environments and hostile conditions, delivering greater accuracy, greater efficiency and enhanced safety in the detection of UXO. Used in conjunction with a Remotely Operated Tow Vehicle (ROTV), the MagSense frame can be towed through the water in ways previously not feasible, to ensure even the most uneven of terrain is tracked accurately and consistently. Additional sensors provide a better control of the unit, and the 3D steering of the frame decreases the amount of infill to be budgeted for, while its specially-designed launch-and-recovery system keeps manual handling to a minimum and reduces risk to personnel.
Subsea actuator enables incremental production growth
A new high-resolution subsea actuator from Master Flo Valve, Inc. enables operators to increase production by providing three times the number of opening set points of traditional actuators. Based on hydraulic stepping actuator designs that have been proven in subsea applications for more than 20 years, the SL3 is backwards compatible with existing subsea chokes and utilizes the installed subsea architecture. This avoids the costs of modifying the existing subsea electro-hydraulic system. On existing wells, the SL3 provides reliability and precision to safely increase production by opening subsea chokes to the sand breakthrough point in smaller steps. On new wells, the greater resolution reduces the downhole pressure drop and surge experienced at each step when bringing production online. Photo: Master Flo Valve, Inc.
New software leverages industrial data to optimize performance
TrendMiner NV has released a new version of its self-service process and asset analytics solution software, called TrendMiner 2017 R2. The version focuses on leveraging globally connected data sources to unlock insights across a company’s extended enterprise, and for optimizing overall asset performance and profitability. It is based on a high-performance analytics engine for process data, captured in a time series. It can be used to search production data, analyze results and identify trends in processes in order to optimize efficiency and quantify results. It also includes a recommendation engine to help subject-matter experts solve challenging cases. Image: TrendMiner.
Energy Web Atlas provides real-time project information
Gulf Publishing’s Energy Web Atlas (EWA) is a comprehensive source of actionable project intelligence for the international energy industry. Covering every aspect of the business, the ESRI-based GIS platform allows users to interrogate real-time project information, export and manipulate data, and secure the know-how needed to stay ahead. EWA’s flagship map includes detailed information on every LNG project, providing users with a single reference source for global LNG data. An additional map tracking U.S. gas processing plants is available, equipping users with data and contacts for hundreds of facilities across the nation. Further maps covering renewable energy projects, downstream construction projects, and oil and gas pipeline infrastructure will be added to the Energy Web Atlas in 2018.
E&P software updated for 3D geomodeling
LMKR recently released the newest version of its E&P interpretation software, GeoGraphix 2017.1, and GVERSE Geomodeling—a new integrated 3D geomodeling platform. Combined with advanced field planning and petrophysical analysis, the software is a tightly-integrated geoscience system. The latest release provides new features and enhancements with tools derived from customer experience as well as research. “We are continually working on making our products truly integrated for seamless operations through consistent R&D,” said Scott Oelfke, vice president of product management, R&D. The integrated environment incorporates a newly-built 3D View with a map and cross-sections. Working efficiently with larger projects in 64-bit, it gives operators control by allowing them to move and pick virtual inter-well points and commit them to the database and model. Operators can improve workflows by manipulating modeled surfaces, controlling the spread of fault modeling, and adjusting the transparency level of lithology fills. Operators can take interpretations to a new level with advanced petrophysical analysis that allows for incorporation of new curves through importing and merging into existing computed curves sets.
New tool detects oil and gas pipeline corrosion
America’s oil and gas pipelines travel 2.5 million mi through mountains, forests, wetlands and urban areas. Monitoring such a vast network isn’t easy. Nearly half of all pipeline incidents reported in the U.S. since 2002 were caused by malfunctioning equipment, construction flaws and other technical problems—mostly hidden from view, making them hard to detect. Draper addressed this challenge by developing a new sensing system that features a dense array of low-cost magnetic sensors that can sit directly on a metal pipeline, track changes in a pipeline’s integrity and monitor its defects in a local area over time. The system provides passive measurement of the magnetic field, enabling users to identify and assess corrosion defects that disturb the natural magnetization of steel. Data gathered in the field are communicated to a central command automatically and shared across the organization to department personnel in security, system management, incident reporting, supervisory control and data acquisition. The sensors in the system, called WiSense, are designed for a 20-year lifetime and require no battery replacement or calibration during this period.
Coupling designed with curved jaw flange
Indiana-based Guardian Couplings has launched the new curved-jaw flange (JF) K45 Series shaft-to-shaft coupling with a bolt-on disc for use with brake calipers. The new torsionally flexible coupling is designed for industrial applications, including various types of cranes and hoists, winches, and mining conveyors, reclaimers and draglines. Five models are available with bore sizes from 0.87-in. to 4.92-in. diameters and braking torque ratings from 8,310 in./lb to 63,720 in./lb. The coupling’s brake disc and flexible spider element can be replaced easily during assembly. The brake disc must be mounted to the shaft end with the largest mass moment of inertia. Photo: Guardian Couplings.
LED lighting system design improves safety
Apollo Energy Services Corp. has recently introduced its Halo Crown Mount Lighting System in the U.S. The LED lighting system was designed to promote safety by increasing pad site lumens and eliminating blind spots. Such visibility is crucial during night operations. The system is being deployed independently as part of an industrial engineering partnership with Flat Time Reduction, a Houston-based consulting firm. The system runs off of rig power, reducing diesel consumption, and thus, carbon footprint. The new system eliminates light plant usage and handling, and is compliant with the International Dark-Sky Association’s specifications to be classified as dark-sky friendly. Photo: Apollo Energy Services Corp.
www.apollohalo.com; www.ftroilandgas.com
- Coiled tubing drilling’s role in the energy transition (March 2024)
- Advancing offshore decarbonization through electrification of FPSOs (March 2024)
- Shale technology: Bayesian variable pressure decline-curve analysis for shale gas wells (March 2024)
- What's new in production (February 2024)
- Subsea technology- Corrosion monitoring: From failure to success (February 2024)
- Using data to create new completion efficiencies (February 2024)
