Digitalising oil and gas measurement and custody transfer.

Bedrock Automation has introduced full integration of flow computer functionality into the OSA platform. The new OSA ⁺Flow family embeds industry-leading Flow-Cal measurement applications into the high performance, security, and simplicity of the Bedrock Automation platform. Flow-Cal’s software has long been the industry’s choice for flow measurement and production-accounting data. Affirming Flow-Cal’s stature is the fact that the American Petroleum Institute (API) has selected them to develop, support, and distribute its standard flow measurement calculations.

“Flow computer users are at a critical juncture. The measurement and control technology they have been using are mostly at the end of life and many of the incumbent new offerings are built on technologies and ideas that are already out of date. We approach the application differently by integrating the world’s best measurement software directly into the Bedrock® OSA automation platform. The result is the most flexible, powerful, and easy-to-use solution. With one automation platform and a single zero-cost engineering environment, users can configure measurement and custody transfer applications, program all field I/O and control strategies, and deploy industrial connectivity protocols such as HART, Ethernet IP, and Modbus alongside OPC UA and MQTT. The cost savings and performance improvements are simply incredible,” said Bedrock Automation Founder, CEO, and CTO Albert Rooyakkers.

Shawn Bellamy, president of flow control panel builder G&C Optimization is incorporating OSA Remote ⁺Flow controllers into lease automatic custody transfer (LACT) solutions he is building for clients: “The LACT unit is the cash register for oil and gas exchange. It must accurately flag any change that could influence measurement. Even a half-degree difference in temperature could impact the transfer by hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Bedrock solution improves accuracy by bringing industry-leading measurement functionality into a high-performance control system, eliminating the need for a separate device. And it does this with end-to-end cyber security protection, unlike anything else in the industry. There is really nothing else like it.”

The OSA ⁺Flow software has been incorporated across all Bedrock controllers providing unlimited scalability for PLC, RTU or DCS flow control requirements at custody transfer stations, separators, and other oil and gas production facilities. These solutions include full support of multi-drop serial, Ethernet, and HART for Coriolis, ultrasonic, and smart transmitters.

The Bedrock OSA +Flow Family
The OSA +Flow family consists of two products: the OSA ⁺Flow platform and OSA Remote +Flow. The OSA +Flow is installed in the standard Bedrock OSA pin-less backplane with unlimited scalability for PLC, RTU or DCS flow control at custody transfer stations, separators, and other oil and gas facilities. The OSA Remote ⁺Flow is designed for applications requiring only 10 or 20 hard I/O, such as most custody transfer stations. Flow computing functionality of both the platform and remote version includes the following:

• Highest-performance flow computation with integrated process control and built-in Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) cyber security capabilities
• 64 GB secure Flash memory, 512 MB Program memory and multicore ARM Cortextm processors
• Embedded industry-leading Flow-Cal measurement algorithms
• American Petroleum Institute (API) Chapter 21.1 (natural gas) and Chapter 21.2 (liquids) compliant calculation library
• Free configuration and maintenance software based on Inductive Automation and Bedrock IDE IEC 61131-3 software tools, with unlimited seats and tags, embedded simulation, and online training
• Software-defined, analog and discrete input/output and per channel selectable serial, Ethernet, and HART communications for field devices
• Embedded OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) and Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT)
• Industry-leading -40o to +80o C (176o F) temperature operating range
• Extreme galvanic isolation for EFT and EMP
• Sealed all-metal construction to prevent physical damage and ingress of dust and moisture
• Eliminate cyber security costs for measurement and custody transfer

Industry-leading cyber security is intrinsic to the OSA ⁺Flow Controllers and comes at no extra cost. Securing a system without intrinsic security — which is the case with all other flow computers — requires add-on firewalls, intrusion detection, and other devices which are costly to implement and operate, and of questionable value. All Bedrock technology integrates the same types of authentication and encryption technology used by the military, aerospace, and eCommerce applications.

The Bedrock OSA ⁺Flow and the OSA Remote ⁺Flow solutions will ship to first customers in the Spring of 2020.