In the oil and gas industry, which is a complex and highly demanding industry in terms of safety and accuracy, the pressure instrumentation is like a faithful “guard”, guarding every key link, and its application is carried out in the whole process of exploration, mining, transportation and storage.
Exploration stage
Oil and gas exploration stage, drilling operations thousands of meters deep underground, facing extreme high-pressure environment. Take the ultra-deep oil and gas exploration in the Tarim Basin of China as an example, the drilling depth often exceeds 8,000 meters, at this time, high-precision pressure instrumentation are installed near the drill bit and in the drilling fluid circulation system. The pressure gauges at the drill bit provide real-time feedback on formation pressure to help engineers determine whether the drill bit is drilling properly.
For example, during the construction of a key exploratory well, the pressure gauge detected a drastic increase in formation pressure within a short period of time. With this critical warning, the engineers quickly determined that they might encounter an abnormally high-pressure formation, adjusted the drilling parameters in a timely manner, and prepared heavier drilling fluids in advance, thus preventing catastrophic accidents such as jamming and blowouts due to the sudden change in pressure.
Pressure monitoring in the drilling fluid circulation system is also indispensable to ensure that the drilling fluid can stably carry the rock chips from the bottom of the well to the surface and maintain the smoothness of the entire drilling process. When abnormal pressure fluctuations occur, such as a sudden rise in pressure, which may indicate an influx of fluids from the formation, the crew can take quick action, such as turning on the blowout preventer, to protect personnel and equipment.
Mining
In the extraction process, the wellhead pressure gauge is the most important. The pressure gauge at the top of the tree indicates the pressure at the bottom of the well when the oil and gas mixture is coming out. In the Middle East, some high-producing wells can produce thousands of barrels of oil per day, and operators rely on this pressure value to precisely adjust the size of the nozzle and control the oil and gas production. For self-injecting wells, a stable wellhead pressure is a key indicator of efficient extraction; too high a pressure can lead to equipment strain, while too low a pressure means insufficient production.
For example, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar oil field, as the world's largest onshore oil field, has many self-injecting wells that have been producing oil steadily and consistently for decades through the fine control of wellhead pressure instrumentation. While in the gas well mining, due to the natural gas has a strong compressibility, pressure fluctuations and other sensitive characteristics, pressure instrumentation precision requirements are higher, the slightest pressure changes may affect the recovery rate of natural gas as well as the subsequent treatment process. Like the shale gas mining in the United States, with high-precision pressure instrumentation for real-time monitoring, optimization of the mining program, to achieve the efficient recovery of shale gas.
Oilfield Wellhead Pressure Monitoring
Due to the problems of large number of wellheads, wide distribution and difficult management, an oil extraction plant adopts Siemens' wireless pressure transmitter to replace the traditional pressure gauge. The transmitter features explosion-proof design and multiple wireless network communication methods, realizing real-time on-line monitoring of oil casing pressure at the wellhead. The staff can view the data at any time through cell phone or configuration software, which can keep abreast of the production dynamics of the wells, reduce the production and operation costs, and ensure the production safety of the oilfield.
Transportation Process
Oil and gas transmission process, stretching thousands of kilometers of pipeline as the human body's blood vessels, pressure instrumentation distribution in the pipeline along the pumping stations, valve rooms and other places. China's west-east gas pipeline project, for example, this energy artery through the east and west, along the route of the many pumping stations.
In the pumping station, the pressure transmitter will transmit the real-time pressure data in the pipeline to the control system, through automated algorithms to regulate the speed of the pump, to ensure that the oil and gas to a stable pressure forward. If the pressure of a section of the pipeline suddenly drops, it is likely that the pipeline leaks, the control system will immediately issue an alarm, locate the fault point, and arrange for emergency repair by maintenance personnel to avoid oil and gas leaks that cause environmental pollution, waste of resources and security risks.
In one inspection, a pressure monitoring point in Gansu found a sudden drop in pressure, and the staff quickly investigated and repaired a tiny crack in the pipeline caused by geological subsidence to ensure safe transportation. The pressure instrumentation in the valve room provides a key basis for valve opening and closing operations, ensures the pressure balance of the pipeline system when the valves are switched, and prevents damage to the pipeline caused by the water strike phenomenon.
Storage Stage
In the oil and gas storage stage, whether it is the towering large tanks on the ground or the underground hidden gas storage, pressure gauges are indispensable. The pressure gauge on the top of the storage tank closely monitors the pressure inside the tank to prevent over pressure from causing tank rupture and other accidents.
Especially when storing liquefied petroleum gas and other volatile, flammable and explosive media, the stable control of pressure is a matter of life and property safety. In the liquefied petroleum gas storage base in Tianjin Port, the pressure instrumentation monitors the pressure 24 hours a day, and has given timely warnings when the tank pressure is close to the critical value many times, thus guaranteeing the safety of the surrounding area.
Underground gas storage reservoirs use pressure changes to achieve seasonal peak, pressure instrumentation to accurately record the pressure dynamics of the reservoir, providing data support for the rational arrangement of gas injection, gas extraction plan, to ensure the stable supply of natural gas during the winter peak. For example, an underground gas storage reservoir in North China has met the gas demand of millions of households during the winter peak season based on the accurate scheduling of pressure instrument data.
Conclusion
In short, the pressure instrumentation with its accurate measurement, real-time feedback characteristics, in the oil and gas industry to weave a tight safety and production network, help the industry smooth and efficient operation, and constantly escort the energy supply. With the progress of technology, the future pressure instrumentation will move towards intelligent, miniaturized, high-precision direction to further enhance the development potential of the oil and gas industry.
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