Oil Production Project
OPPORTUNITY / SOLUTION
With the newest of Horner Automation Group’s high-density I/O boards, FlowCore Systems in North Dakota was able to develop a new product that reduces the amount of components necessary for its chemical metering operation in an oil production project.
“The XL4 Model 6 is a perfect solution for us,” said FlowCore Systems President, Chuck Black. The Model 6, or -106 I/O option board, is available for all Horner XL automation controllers the EXL10, EXL6, XL7, XL4, XLT and XLE. These controllers have even more I/O capabilities with the -106, which utilizes 6 analog inputs, 4 analog outputs, 12 digital inputs, and 12 digital outputs. Software configurable, these inputs are universal for such signals as voltage (0-10, 0-60mV), current (0-20, 4-20mA), thermocouples, and RTD (PT100, PT1000).
The -106 I/O option makes connecting various field signals easier because each individual input and output is completely configured within software, reducing the time and complexity of hardware setup.
FlowCore Systems uses a non-mechanical pumping process to treat fresh and salt water used in oil-production wells. The water is either being produced from oil production or flowing into the well bore for desalinization, or it carries chemicals that reduce scaling, corrosion, and bacteria. In the past, the pumps were simple machines that were set to a certain volume per day and left to do their work. In other words, the system was “not smart,” Black said. “That works for a short period until the scenario changes.”
“Fresh water injection volumes can change daily, which requires an adaptive chemical treatment system,” he said. Currently, most production wells are chemically over-treating or under-treating, and often by as much as 100 percent.” Black said his company used the -106 I/O in the XL4 to connect four pressure transducers and a thermocouple for their pumping system.
The XL4 also ties into an existing SCADA system to remotely monitor conditions such as flow, temperature and pressure and send out email and text alerts to workers who can make changes as necessary. Some of these workers have dozens of wells they need to monitor, and that had meant physically driving around to visit each well every day to make sure everything was in order.
Black has used Horner controllers for more than 20 years in various roles, and the products continue to evolve to give him the flexibility he needs to solve problems or to make systems better in oil production.
Upstream, midstream and downstream segments have very similar needs when it comes to automation: Process and control, communication capabilities, environmental considerations, monitoring, repeatability and reliability. So the need for Horner OCS in Oil and Gas is wide ranging. There are emerging markets, as well as established markets with aging infrastructure and technology in an industry that pushes technology to always achieve more productivity.
TESTIMONIAL
“There’s a huge information and management gap between the pumpers and the chemical guys,” Black said. “Our system fills that with automation.”
“We have added significantly to the scope of our company’s use of Horner controllers. We now have 7 systems that use the XL4 and the X4 controllers in a variety of applications. These developments have led to 4 US and Canadian patents.””
~ Chuck Black, Flowcore, Williston, North Dakota
