Multi-Platform Blending

One of our most sophisticated solutions

The Challenge: Deliver A Desired Composition On-Shore

Oil and gas plants produce, well, oil and gas. But oils and gases are not all made the same. The oil and gas company may produce numerous grades with differing compositions, particulary with respect to the mix of hydrocarbons in the products, but also differing levels of contaminants, such as H2S, CO2 and SO2. One way to create these blends is to separate the components and remix them in the proportions you desire, as is typically done with the hydrocarbon aspect, but if you have multiple platforms with numerous wells each producing differing characteristics of oil and gas, perhaps from differing zones, you can orchestrate their production such that the desired blend arrives on-shore according to a schedule. Adding a bit of complexity, these platforms produce with different technical limits and rates and are at different distances, with differing sizes of trunklines coming on-shore.

The Solution

Step One: Control the Individual Platforms

In the production optimization solution we discuss having a setpoint for production for a platform level and each well, maybe even at a zone level if you have multi-zonal wells. We can use this technical capability to control how much production is coming from which well on which platforms. With this, we can transmit one or more cascade control setpoints to the controllers on the platform based on our production plan.

Step Two: Create the Production Plan

The oil and gas handling plant sets the production schedule for what grade they want to produce having the desired compostion of hydrocarbons and contaminants. The production schedule is then broken down into a production plan for each available well/platform including production setpoints.

Step Three: Execute Platform Production

Based on the production plan a timed sequence of setpoints are transmitted such that the desired various productions simultaneously arrive at the appointed time to the slug catcher and onward into the gas and oil plant, who is awaiting and ready to switch grades. The timing planning involves using pipeline models so that trunkline lengths, diameters and other physical characteristics are properly computed.

Benefits

Benefits achieved include:

• Production control of platforms, wells and zones.
• Rates arriving on-shore are controlled.
• Differing product grades are more easily produced.