Automation technologies & ongoing support in North Sea oil.

Emerson has completed its multi-year, $90 million (€73 million) automation project for BP’s Glen Lyon floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel west of Shetland (GB).

The company is now providing ongoing operational support services to help BP achieve its goal of producing 200,000 barrels a day from the North Sea by 2020.

Photo courtesy of BP

Emerson has served as the main automation contractor (MAC) for the Glen Lyon, which is expected to produce 130,000 barrels of oil a day at plateau.

“By leveraging our project certainty model through expert partnering, we collaborated to achieve a truly world-class mega project that will help BP remain a North Sea energy leader,” said Mike Train, Emerson Automation Solutions executive president. “With first oil from the Glen Lyon accomplished, our focus now turns to helping BP achieve operational certainty, with maximum asset reliability and uptime, reduced risk of safety incidents and optimised production.”

Its construction and commissioning were central to BP’s multi-billion-dollar Quad 204 project, which involved the redevelopment of the Schiehallion and Loyal fields to target 450 million barrels of oil and allow production from the hub to be extended to at least 2035.

As part of an additional five-year contract, Emerson will provide ongoing operational support services, remote monitoring and predictive maintenance technologies for the Glen Lyon and BP’s other North Sea mega project Clair Ridge, which is due to come on stream this year.

Emerson’s lifecycle services will help BP ensure ongoing safety, improve reliability, maximise availability and reduce operating costs.

BP uses Emerson’s automation technologies including the DeltaV™ and DeltaV SIS integrated control and safety systems to help optimise production and yield, avoid environmental impact and operate safely.

BP also uses the Emerson high-fidelity dynamic simulator to train its operators and engineers in real-world scenarios before system changes go live.

In addition, BP has selected Emerson to manage its fiscal metering systems on all North Sea assets, which is essential for fiscal accounting, custody transfer and taxation purposes.

Their metering consultants, engineers and specialist metering experts will validate and report measurement data, sampling, analytical and test equipment, as well as plan and carry out offshore metering maintenance and verification activities. In addition, the company will provide comprehensive auditing services for BP’s North Sea pipeline operations.

#Oil @EMR_Automation #PAuto @BP_plc

Automation contractor services contract renewed.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced the renewal of a global agreement with BP to supply main automation contractor services (MAC services) to BP's upstream entities. With the renewal of this agreement, BP and Yokogawa have reaffirmed their shared commitment to achieving mutual success and securing the delivery of superior long-term value through the provision of MAC services.

Yokogawa first signed a global MAC services agreement with BP in 2007. By providing reliable products and demonstrating its engineering and project execution capabilities on prior BP projects, Yokogawa is integral to BP's drive for capital efficiency. The renewed agreement is for a period of ten years.

The Yokogawa products and services covered by this global agreement include the CENTUM® VP integrated production control system, ProSafe(R)-RS safety instrumented system, STARDOM™ network-based control system, Plant Resource Manager (PRM®) plant asset management package, FAST/TOOLS SCADA software, Exaseries productivity solution software, field wireless and other types of field instruments, analysers, project management and system integration engineering services, and operation and maintenance services.

Shuji Mori, a Yokogawa vice president and president of Yokogawa Electric International, a subsidiary that oversees Yokogawa's IA and control business outside Japan, had the following to say about this agreement: "BP has been a Yokogawa customer for many years, and this agreement takes our relationship to a new level and underscores BP's commitment to safe and reliable operations. This long-term partnership with BP will increase our presence in the oil and gas industry, which is one of the main sectors we are targeting under the Transformation 2017 mid-term business plan."

Training system for BP's Quad 204 North Sea FPSO

A €5.11 million (US$7 million) contract to provide its DeltaV™ Operator Training Solution (OTS) for BP’s Quad 204 North Sea FPSO replacement project has been awarded to Emerson. Training provided through the OTS will help BP personnel achieve safe, efficient operations and take full advantage of the integrated control and safety system (ICSS) that Emerson is providing under a separate contract.

“The OTS will provide a high fidelity dynamic simulation of the Quad 204 facilities,” said Carl Slatter, Quad 204 Project OMS Manager at BP. “It offers a safe environment for operators and others to learn the best ways to deal with situations they may face in actual operations.”

Emerson will install a fully operational training replica of the Quad 204 Project in Aberdeen, BP’s regional production centre, with the longer term aim of relocating it to the BP Upstream Learning Centre at Sunbury (GB). The OTS will include a virtualised DeltaV digital automation system for process control and DeltaV SIS™ for process and emergency shutdown and for fire and gas detection. High fidelity modelling of the topsides process and of an Olga subsea process will be provided by engineering contractor KBR and integrated into the virtual ICSS using SEEDS (Standard Entities for the Engineering of Dynamic Simulators) to ensure consistent implementation.

By providing an engineered, hands-on, process-specific learning environment, the DeltaV OTS will expose operators to what they will experience in their actual control room so they can gain experience in an off-line, non-intrusive environment. Personnel will learn both DeltaV operating concepts and the actual process, preparing operators to effectively handle abnormal situations and process upsets, as well as providing decision support.

“Operator training is an important part of any large project, especially offshore installations where onsite training is difficult to schedule and could delay the start of production,” said Larry Irving, vice president for oil and gas at Emerson Process Management. “The dynamic simulation provided by Emerson’s OTS makes training more realistic – ultimately helping BP to achieve safer and more efficient operation of the Quad 204 facilities.”

Pic: BP

The North Sea Quad 204 project will access the remaining hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, which are located approximately 175 kilometres west of Shetland.  As part of this project Emerson Process Management has been awarded a $21 million USD contract to provide integrated control and safety systems for the new BP FPSO. The new vessel, which will replace the existing Schiehallion FPSO, will be 270 metres long by 52 metres wide and able to process and export up to 130,000 barrels a day of oil, and store in excess of 1 million barrels. Investment in this new facility will enable production to be extended out to 2035 and possibly beyond.

Major contract for control & safety for floating production platform

Hot on the heels of being named BP’s automation contractor of choice for offshore oil and gas operations in the North Sea, comes news that Emerson Process Management has been awarded a $21 million contract to provide integrated control and safety systems for a new BP floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. The new vessel, which will replace the existing Schiehallion FPSO, forms part of the North Sea Quad 204 project that will access the remaining hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, located approximately 130 kilometres west of Shetland, (GB).

In addition to serving as the main automation contractor for the Quad 204 FPSO, Emerson Process Management is also BP’s preferred supplier of integrated control and safety systems for five offshore fields in the British continental shelf, including the new Clair Ridge platforms. BP relies on Emerson’s offshore expertise, technologies and services to help it get to first production more quickly and easily, optimise production and yield, avoid environmental impact, and operate safely.

Larger than the existing Schiehallion FPSO, the new 270-metre Quad 204 FPSO is designed to produce 130,000 barrels of oil a day and 2.2 million cubic metres per day of gas. This increased processing and storage capacity will enable optimum reservoir recovery, extend field life and also allow for any future expansion.

The integrated Emerson solution will use Emerson’s PlantWeb™ digital plant architecture, including its DeltaV™ digital automation system and DeltaV SIS™ process safety system, and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software. The DeltaV system will control and monitor platform operations using FOUNDATION fieldbus and HART® communication technologies. Advanced process control software functionality within DeltaV will optimise facility performance, production and yield. The DeltaV SIS system will perform process and emergency shutdown functions, if needed, plus control fire and gas detection systems to enable secure control of oil production on the platform.

AMS Suite predictive maintenance software will be used for commissioning, configuration and to monitor field device diagnostics. A real-time performance management system, delivering information to executive level decision makers will be supplied by Emerson’s METCO Services. Emerson’s operator simulation-based training programme will be used to train operators before start-up.

"We are pleased that Emerson has been chosen to design and implement the integrated control and safety systems for this new FPSO," said Steve Sonnenberg, President, Emerson Process Management. "This is another large-scale project that we have been awarded and is a continuation of the long-standing and trusting relationship that exists between our companies."

Additional contracts have been awarded to Emerson to supply its Rosemount® pressure, temperature, radar level transmitters and magnetic flowmeters; Rosemount Analytical gas chromatographs; and Daniel™ venturi and ultrasonic flowmeters.

Emerson provided the front end engineering and design (FEED) on the FPSO and with the vessel builder, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Limited, is responsible for design, configuration, build, acceptance testing, commissioning, installation and start-up support.

Automation contract in North Sea

Automation services and technologies will help manage offshore facilities safely and efficiently

Following hard on the heels of the announcement of the adoption of Rosemount Guided Wave Radar off the west coast of Africa, comes news that BP Exploration has selected Emerson as automation contractor of choice for offshore oil and gas operations in their North Sea Region. Emerson will be BP’s preferred supplier of integrated control and safety systems for five offshore fields in the British continental shelf, including the new Clair Ridge platforms and the Quad 204 floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

Platform support vessel

Emerson’s selection as contractor of choice builds on an earlier agreement in which the company was named a Main Automation Contractor for BP projects globally. By standardising on a single contractor for its North Sea region, BP expects to gain significant benefits including efficient project execution, training, maintenance and support.

"We are already working together on several North Sea projects," said Steve Barber, BP Exploration program lead for major automation projects. "This closer relationship will help us make the most of Emerson’s technologies and expertise across the region."

Emerson will provide a wide range of services for control and safety systems, from front-end engineering and design to installation, testing and support. The integrated systems – which will help BP run its North Sea operations safely and efficiently – include Emerson’s DeltaV™ digital automation system, DeltaV SIS™ process safety system, and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software.

"Becoming contractor of choice is a major milestone in our long and productive relationship with BP," said Steve Sonnenberg, president of Emerson Process Management. "We appreciate this vote of confidence in our oil and gas automation capabilities, and we look forward to adding even more value as we help BP meet the challenges of North Sea operations." 

The North Sea Region is part of the Exploration and Production segment of BP, encompassing oil and natural gas exploration, development and production, related pipeline transportation, processing activities and decommissioning.

Hydrogen monitors in refinery

Quantitech launched a new hydrogen detection technology in Britain towards the end of 2007 and Managing Director Keith Golding is delighted to report, "the technology is proving popular in a wide variety of applications and has recently been chosen by BP for process analysis at its Cherry Point refinery in Washington, USA."
The unique hydrogen monitoring instrumentation is manufactured by H2scan Corporation, based in California, and is distributed exclusively in Britain and Ireland by Quantitech Ltd.

Founded in 2002, H2scan Corporation has been built around a hydrogen specific sensor technology that was originally developed in the U.S. National Laboratory at Sandia. Since that time H2scan has developed a range of advanced portable and fixed monitors for the specific measurement of hydrogen in mixtures, without interference from other gases.

In-line process hydrogen monitoring versions of the technology, the HY-OPTIMA 700 analysers, have been ordered by the BP facility after a successful trial which resulted in good performances in a high percentage, harsh contaminant (H2S) and multi-component process gas in comparison with traditional process analysers.

Explaining the reason for H2scan's success, BP’s Analyser Engineer, Ryan Holgate said: “H2scan participated in a competitive bidding process with gas chromatographs and was selected based on a number of factors including performance, cost and maintainability.”

The H2scan analysers will provide real-time measurement without the need for valve switching, frequent calibrations and is designed to save considerable retail space in BP’s analyser shelters. H2scan’s success with BP provides a good example of widespread acceptance of H2scan’s miniaturised and advanced analyser technologies in oil refineries.

Keith Golding added: “H2scan’s hydrogen specific solid-state sensing technology is able to detect hydrogen against virtually any background gases without false readings or expensive support equipment. These instruments are able to detect hydrogen concentrations from 15 ppm to 100% over a wide range of temperatures without cross-sensitivity to other substances.

"We are pleased to hear about H2scan's success in the USA and look forward to bringing the benefits of this technology to the UK petrochemical industry."