Automation Solutions Designed to Optimize Oil and Gas Well

Production
Written by Michael Smith, R & M Energy Systems
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Automation Solutions Designed to Optimize Oil and Gas Well Production
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Sensors and automation passively participate in our everyday lives to improve comfort, add
safety and reliability, and increase the efficiency of needed products and services. As the use
of sensors and automation has proliferated throughout various industry sectors, these
products have become reliable, economical and easy to maintain and service. Experienced
personnel and suppliers can create, adapt or integrate their products and services for almost
any application. The challenge becomes how we collect, correlate and translate this data into
actionable information.
The oil and gas industry is no stranger to the advanced uses of sensors, automation and data
collection, especially in the discovery process, high volume producing wells, regulatory
reporting and custody transfer. However, lower producing wells and older, more established
producing regions have not been as willing to make these critical investments for the
following reasons:

Economics does not justify the expense and support of these technologies
Entrenched policies and procedures are hard to adapt to new technologies

Bad prior experience when poor implementation caused more problems than it
solved

These barriers to implementation need to be resolved by addressing the real costs of inaction
and overcoming entrenchment and prior experience. The alternatives to doing nothing are
not attractive and lead to greater regulatory involvement, higher insurance costs, lower
productivity and lost production. Perhaps the greatest risks from reckless behavior are the
loss of good will and a community's willingness to permit operations in an area. For
instance, consider a sensor installed to prevent a leaking seal from polluting a well site. The
real cost of a single cleanup operation would cover the cost of installing the sensor and
automation systems deployed across a significant portion of the operating area. The cost of
lost production and employee productivity are significant costs to include in the total
equation. Operators too often believe that the impact is minimal and accept the risk.
However, the risks are often much larger than realized; once an incident occurs, it will curb
growth and new opportunities.
Overcoming Barriers
When approaching the described barriers, operators should start with a small project. Some

good steps include:

Understand what problem or solution needs to be solved

Consider the current needs and what might be needed in the future

Resist the urge to over-engineer the requirements

Setup a timeline as to how long the pilot should last to receive a good assessment

Define what will be understood as a success

Suppliers are often willing to conduct no obligation trials where the system can be tested in
a real world environment. The operator gets a chance to experience a system in operation
and know the supplier's ability to deliver, support and service the equipment. Pick a project
or site with a reasonable chance of success that the supplier and operator personnel can
easily access. If successful, pick a challenging second pilot site that will let the supplier
showcase his solution and help justify the system's deployment. This second site should also
replicate conditions like weather, power condition, pumping fluid properties and pumping
pressures characteristic of a large sample of wells in the field.
Even the best systems often require some adjustment and tuning to receive the full benefit of
the implementation. However, if the supplier has to continue working on implementation
problems or operations personnel have to repeatedly return to a site, the chances of success
in full deployment are slim. Be willing to accept failure and start with another supplier or
solution.
Location and Types of Sensors
For oil wells, there are several key locations for placing sensors, including:

Downhole at Pump Depth

Temperature

Pump intake pressure

Pump discharge pressure

Fluid level

Vibration

Pump rotation direction

The Well Head

Flow line pressure

Flow line flow

Casing pressure

Packing/seal pressure and temperature

Rod temperature and vibration

Rod load

Rod torque

Primary Mover

Motor temperature

Motor RPM

Rod RPM or Strokes Per Minute (SPM)

Rod Location

Variable Frequency (Speed) Drive

Cabinet temperature

Heat sink temperature

Incoming service power voltage

Internal DC Bus voltage

Motor current

Motor torque

Energy consumption

Each of these data points can be valuable in understanding the health, operational status and
pump optimization levels of each site.