American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017 - 100

SpecialReport: Artificial Lift Technology
Most traditional management programs
gather and deliver well data for incorporation
into an offline report, with action orders
then distributed to the workforce. Emerson's
IIoT system provides data directly to the
DLO software that helps operators allocate
artificial lift resources where they will
deliver the highest production, Zornio indicates. He says that software system and
a new low-cost multiphase meter provide
operators with continuous online optimization of artificial lift activities.
"The IIoT comes into play in that the
PI System has data transfer mechanisms,
such as PI-to-PI or PI-to-cloud connectivity, that enable Emerson to actually
run the software for the customer, if the
operator wishes," he offers.
Emerson uses the term "relevant time"
to describe how fast its lift optimization
software reacts to changing conditions-
both in terms of collecting the well data,
and making adjustments to field equipment, he says.
"These adjustments can be made continuously," he offers. "The latest test data
are collected and a model is built, and
the well operator can look continuously
at current operating conditions. That
allows very quick and dynamic adjustments to be made as conditions change.
If a compressor fails and lift capacity
suddenly is lost, or a well site runs short
of water processing capacity, the software
very quickly reallocates whatever lift capacity or water processing capacity remains, to continue to achieve the optimal
amount of production."

Optimization Equipment
Another Emerson innovation-a multiphase meter inexpensive enough to be
deployed broadly across a range of field
applications-supports the company's DLO
and IIoT developments, Zornio says. Released late last year, the Roxar MFPM
2600 M™ flowmeter eliminates the setting
time needed for traditional test separators
for well monitoring, he describes.
"With this multiphase meter, you get
a continuous reading of oil, water and
gas production and composition coming
out of the well," he says. "It provides a
great input into the DLO software."
According to Emerson, through its
ability to immediately react to changing
conditions, the DLO suite can increase
well production by as much as 10 percent.
In response to well data, DLO software
dynamically adjusts lift gas flows or electric submersible pump speed. In addition
to its IIoT-ready infrastructure, the company says DLO has a new graphic user
interface that allows operator intervention
from any location with a secure Internet
connection.
Once well data are collected, Zornio
points out the data can be deployed in
several ways. Customers wanting to keep
everything in house can use the PI System
on internal servers or their intranet system,
running it like any other technology application, he says.
"The data are protected by all of the
normal practices operators use to protect
their computing networks from virus, hackers and intrusions," Zornio lists. "The cus-

The dynamic lift optimization software dashboard
from Emerson Automation Solutions is enabled
to work with the Industrial
Internet of Things. The
company says this allows
production engineers and
site operators to visually
see actual versus optimum production at each
level of the hierarchy,
from ﬁeld to platform.

100 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

tomers have their own IT departments do
the security measures, keeping patches up
to date, scanning for intrusions and maintaining firewalls. They just run the software
in their computing environments."
If an operator prefers to use a remote
application, Emerson can host the application, and the data can be accessed either
through a software-to-service model or
as a full-connected service model through
a cloud connection, Zornio says. He adds
the PI System has several features to
protect the data transfer, including builtin security, encryption of the transmission
data and authentication of the systems
on each end. "The software was literally
built for high-security data transfer between computers," he concludes.

Wireless Rod String Monitoring
A new wireless device from Bright
Automation allows operators to monitor
rod pumps for load and position with a
single unit. Carlos Kenda, the company's
chief executive officer and president,
says the integrated wireless load cell/accelerometer measures and monitors both
a rod string's load and position. He adds
the savings on the installation of the
device will pay for most of its costs. In
addition, he says the unit's solar cells
and battery backup reduce operating expenses, as well as the need to replace
damage-prone cables.
"The load cell accelerometer provides
information on the rod string's load and
position in the pumping cycle. That allows
the operator to develop a downhole card,
which is used to analyze the performance
of the well. It uses a 50,000-pound, Utype load cell, which fits around the
polish rod," he describes.
The unit has been tested in the United
States and China, and has been installed
in South and West Texas sites, Kenda
notes, with similar devices installed in
facilities from the Arctic Circle to Punta
Arenas in Chile. It is effective in operating
temperatures ranging from -4 degrees to
140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Kenda points out the unit has an effective range of 98 feet, although an increased coverage area cuts into the backup
battery life available. He adds that because
of its wireless feature, the unit reduces
the amount of cables required at a production site, and also cuts downtime associated with cable failures.
"It uses a standard Bluetooth connection," Kenda says. "Each device has a
unique address, so an operator can have

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017

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