Oil and Gas Producer Reduces Emissions With MPC

Petroleum companies around the globe are seeking ways to meet increasing customer demand while also achieving aggressive sustainability goals.

In 2019, Rockwell Automation began a project with a leading Latin American petroleum company whose leadership believed that the answer to this riddle lay in improving water management.

The company injects pressurized water into reservoirs to increase overall oil recovery and maintain a consistent oil production rate. How much oil they produce in a certain amount of time is directly related to how much water they’re able to inject into the reservoirs. And we’re talking about a LOT of water. For every 100 barrels the company extracts, 98 are water and 2 are oil.

Although the field in question had a high level of automation, there were still opportunities for process control improvements because there were no control loops in place. There was also an outstanding issue with instability in the water transfer and injection process. In the face of any operational disturbance, the injection or transfer pumps were turned completely off, which led to significant oil production losses.

The company approached Rockwell Automation looking for a solution that would increase water injection, reduce the variability of the injected flow and energy consumption, and create a stable system. As one company executive shared, “We knew it would be a win for us to use Rockwell Automation technology, since our entire installed base is supplied by them and we have a history of working together.”

“We wanted to design this project in a way that would give our customer the same level of confidence we had in the solution we were providing.”, says Rockwell Automation engineer, German David Gonzalez Gonzalez. “The contract was subject to a performance indicator: 1% increase in water injection. We divided the risk between the company and ourselves.” And so, Rockwell Automation and the company joined forces to take on a two-part goal: increase water injected by 1% and reduce energy consumption per barrel injected (kW-hr/barrel).

Solution

After a thorough analysis, we decided to implement PlantPAx® MPC technology on 35 water injection pumps and three pool transfer units and pads. Model Predictive Control technology (or MPC) reduces process variability and increases efficiency by simulating process control needed in future operating conditions and taking control action to make those conditions a reality. MPC leads to a reduction of process variability, allowing the operation to be carried to the limits of the operational restrictions, without exceeding their maximums.

Rockwell Automation can deliver MPC technology in two ways—hardware and software. For this company, whose installed base includes Logix hardware, we chose the embedded version of MPC technology. However, MPC technology can also be installed ‘on top’ of any existing system using the server-based model predictive control software solution.

“Model Predictive Control is one of the most used and advanced control technologies worldwide. Most of the time this type of MPC module requires the implementation of a server and a large infrastructure. In this case, the platform is a small controller that can be installed anywhere and is easy to implement.” highlights a company executive. "Most of our control system was from Rockwell Automation already, which made integration as easy and quick as it could be, and that too during a pandemic," he adds.

That’s right. This whole project was implemented remotely to maintain worker safety during a pandemic. Solution configuration, testing and commissioning were all done virtually – and in a way that maintained compliance with cybersecurity best practices.

Benefits

The increase in water injection exceeded all expectations, reaching 2.4%, which is equivalent to an increase in injection of close to 36,000 barrels of water per day. This water injection increase meant an additional 548 BOPD (Barrels of Oil Per Day) could be extracted from the site.

In addition to these results, the company achieved greater stability and operational continuity – and was able to eliminate losses associated with low pool levels and low suction pressure in the pads. They were also able to reduce energy consumption and lower CO2 emissions.

“Rockwell Automation knows our field infrastructure in depth and therefore it is much easier to develop a project like this, especially with the levels of innovation that this MPC solution presents in the business of crude oil production. Clearly, with another company we would have required more time and money”, says a company engineer.

This initial project was completed in April 2021. In light of the results achieved, the company now plans to expand the use of advance process control to additional areas of the company.