June - July 2015 Vol. 12 No. 4 ` 150
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Contents INTERVIEW ‘Our goal is to achieve Nil Incident in the entire Oil & Gas Installations’ Vol. 12 | No. 4 | JUNE - JULY 2015 | MUMBAI ` 150 OFFSHORE WORLD R.No. MAH ENG/ 2003/13269 Chairman Publisher & Printer Chief Executive Officer
EditorIAL
Editor Features Writer Editorial Advisory Board Design Team Events Management Team Subscription Team Production Team
Jasu Shah Maulik Jasubhai Shah Hemant Shetty
– Hirak Dutta, Executive Director, Oil Industry Safety Directorate
“We Commissioned our Polypropylene unit in align with ‘Make in India’ campaign” 10 – H Kumar, Managing Director, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited
‘IPOL represents ethos, values, ethics and the ‘Clean & Green’ culture of GP Petroleums’ 12 – K Murali, CEO, GP Petroleums Ltd
Mittravinda Ranjan (mittra_ranjan@jasubhai.com) Rakesh Roy (rakesh_roy@jasubhai.com) D P Mishra, H K Krishnamurthy, N G Ashar, Prof M C Dwivedi Prasenjit Bhowmick, Arun Parab Abhijeet Mirashi Dilip Parab V Raj Misquitta (Head), Arun Madye
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‘Government will have to take reformative measures to accelerate the project implementation for gas distribution’
Guest Column Geopolitical Impact of Iran’s Nuclear Proliferation on Global Oil & Gas Market
SALES
Mumbai Godfrey Lobo / V Ramdas Taj Building, 3rd Floor, 210 D N Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Tel: 91-022-40373636, Fax: 91-022-40373635 E-mail: godfrey_lobo@jasubhai.com, v_ramdas@jasubhai.com Ahmedabad Vikas Kumar 64/A, Phase-1, GIDC Industrial Estate Vatva, Ahmedabad 382 445 Tel.: 91-079-49003636/627, Fax: 91-079-25831825 Mobile: 09712148258 E-mail: vikas_kumar@jasubhai.com Vadodara Vikas Kumar 202 Concorde Bldg, Above Times of India Office R C Dutt Road, Alkapuri, Baroda 390 007 Telefax: 91-0265-2337189, Mobile: 09712148258 E-mail: vikas_kumar@jasubhai.com Bengaluru Princebel M Mobile: 09444728035 E-mail: princebel_m@jasubhai.com Chennai / Coimbatore Princebel M / Yonack Pradeep 1-A, Jhaver Plaza, 1st floor, Nungambakkam high Road, Chennai 600 034 Tel: 044-43123936, Mobile: 09444728035, 09176963737 E-mail: princebel_m@jasubhai.com, yonack_pradeep@jasubhai.com Delhi Priyaranjan Singh / Suman Kumar 803 Chiranjeev Tower, Nehru Place, New Delhi 110 019 Tel: 011 2623 5332, Fax: 011 2642 7404 E-mail: pr_singh@jasubhai.com, suman_kumar@jasubhai.com Hyderabad Princebel M / Sunil Kulkarni Mobile: 09444728035, 09823410712 E-mail: princebel_m@jasubhai.com, sunil_kulkarni@jasubhai.com Kolkata E-mail: industrialmags@jasubhai.com Pune Sunil Kulkarni Suite 201, White House, 1482 Sadashiv Peth, Tilak Road, Pune 411 030 Tel: 91-020-24494572, Telefax: 91-020-24482059 Mobile: 09823410712 E-mail: sunil_kulkarni@jasubhai.com
18
– Dr Ajay Kumar, PhD, Chairman & Managing Director, Fox Petroleum Group
News Features Black & Veatch Plans to Grow Oil & Gas Portfolio in India 20 – G Sathiamoorthy, Country Head and Managing Director, Black & Veatch India Is Gas Pooling the Answer for Fertiliser & Power Sector?
22
– Priyank Srivastava
Features IIoT can Transform the Oil and Gas Industry 26 – Tim Shea Enabling Big Data Benefits in the Oil & Gas Sector 30 – Stephen Sponseller Tracking the Latest Automation Trends in Oil & Gas Industry 34 – Kiran Vyas Long Range Ultrasonic Testing of Offshore Pipelines 36 – Prawin K Sharan Wireless Technology for Automation Industry 39 – Parag Mantri Submarine Pipeline Ball Valves: Technical Features, Selection & Testing Criteria 41
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– Vinod Daftari Energy Commodities Exhibit Range-bound Price Movement 45
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MARKETING TEAM & OFFICES
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– Niteen M Jain & Nazir Ahmed Moulvi
Project Update
51
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49
Events Diary 56 Offshore World | 4 | June - July 2015
Safety valves for Oil & Gas industry LESER India launches Type 526 IC and 459 IC UV Stamp
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Read more about the new safety valve Type 526 IC & 459 IC on the LESER India website www.leser.co.in Head office in Mumbai
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INSIGHT INTO THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOTECH INDUSTRIES
The-Safety-Valve.com
interview
‘Our goal is to achieve Nil Incident in the entire Oil & Gas Installations’ Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), the technical directorate of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is entrusted for safeguarding the safety of personnel, property and machines/ equipment as well as surrounding environment and community for the entire gamut of Indian hydrocarbon sector. Hirak Dutta, Executive Director, OISD, spoke exclusively to Offshore World, on the OISD safety standards and regulations and its implementation towards the safety culture of the Indian Oil & Gas Industry.
Please apprise us regulatory measures of OISD towards the safety aspects of entire value chain of Indian hydrocarbon Industry. Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), the technical directorate of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is entrusted with the responsibility of formulating safety standards, overseeing its implementation by undertaking periodic safety audits to enhance safety and minimise risks. OISD standards cover the entire gamut of hydrocarbon sector i.e. Exploration & Production, Refining, Gas Processing, Storage & Distribution, Pipeline operations etc.
OISD oversees implementation of safety in the Oil & Gas Industry through a series of measures like development of standards, audits, monitoring the implementation of audit recommendations, incident investigation & analysis, organising technical seminars to improve awareness for the entire Oil & Gas Industry.
www.oswindia.com
Our goal is to achieve Nil Incident in the entire Oil & Gas Installations in coordination with the industry. The measures of OISD for enhancing safety are enumerated below: • OISD develops Standards / Guidelines / Recommended Practices for the entire Oil and Gas sector thru a participative process involving all the stakeholders (including the public at large), drawing inputs from international standards and adapting them to Indian conditions by leveraging the experience of the constituents. These standards cover inbuilt design safety, asset integrity and best operating practices in the field of production, processing, storage and transportation of petroleum. As on date, OISD has developed 118 technical safety standards for the Oil & Gas industry. • OISD carries out periodic safety audits of Oil & Gas installations to monitor their compliance with the OISD standards. The main focus during our audits is on Process safety Management. These are very exhaustive audits; each audit spreads over a period of four to five days and is carried out by a team of domain experts. Critical examinations of all the components of the safety management system viz. management policy & commitment, management attitude towards safety, safety training, review of plant layouts, operation & maintenance practices, emergency preparedness plans, usage of personal protective equipment, fire protection system etc, are integral part of these audits. Offshore World | 6 | June - July 2015
interview
• The findings of the audit are shared both at local level i.e. installation incharge and with the Heads of the respective Organisations. Data banks of the audit recommendations are monitored to check the compliance status thereof on regular basis. • Besides, OISD carries out pre-commissioning safety audits of Greenfield projects. These audits are conducted where green-field projects or additional facilities are executed to ensure ab initio compliance of these facilities to the OISD standards to ensure smooth & trouble free commissioning of the projects. • OISD also investigates the major incidents of the Industry to analyse the root cause of the incident. A databank of incidents of the oil industry is maintained. These are analysed to assess the trends, areas of concern and corrective actions to prevent recurrence. The learnings from each of the incidents are disseminated to the industry through safety alerts, advisory notes, workshops, training programmes, website links etc. • Petroleum & Natural Gas (Safety in Offshore Operations) Rules, 2008 were notified in the Gazette of India to regulate safety in offshore oil and gas exploration, production, drilling & related activities; and Oil Industry Safety Directorate was designated as Competent Authority to exercise the powers and functions as stipulated in these rules, 2008 vide Gazette notification issued in June’2008. • OISD, as the competent authority to oversee implementation of the Petroleum & Natural Gas (Safety in Offshore Operations) Rules, 2008 accords ‘Consent to Operate’ to offshore installations including Drilling Rigs. Regular Safety audits of Exploration & Production (both Offshore as well as Onshore) Installations in the country are carried out by OISD. • Annual evaluation of Safety Performance of the Industry is done on specific parameters like complexity of the plant, associated hazards, accident free man-hours etc. Organizations, achieving ‘exceptional safety performance’ during the year, are awarded with the Oil Industry safety Awards. In addition, individuals making exceptional contributions towards the cause of safety in their respective installations are also encouraged and presented with such awards. While hydrocarbon industry is known as highly hazardous & inflammable because of the potential risks involved in it, what are the measures OISD has been taken to safeguard of the equipment or machines, operators & personnel, etc. As mentioned above, the Oil Industry Safety Directorate oversees implementation of safety in the Oil & Gas Industry through a series of measures like development of standards, audits, monitoring the implementation of audit recommendations, incident investigation & analysis, organising technical seminars to improve awareness for the entire Oil & Gas Industry.
Safety is the integral part of Operations & Maintenance. Thus the emphasis is on inherent safe design, achieving operational excellence and development of human resources. Some of the major thrust areas are: • Incorporation of in-built safety aspects in the design phase itself. These include process safety, instrumentation & safety interlocks, safety while design of equipment following the best International Standards, etc. • Review of P&ID for incorporating the Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA)/ Hazard & Operability (HAZOP) studies recommendations. • Mounded Bullets storage for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and construction of Blast Resistant Control Rooms for enhanced safety of personnel and equipment. • Development and implementation of well laid down systems and procedures like work permit system, operating manuals entailing start-up, shutdown down, emergency handling procedures, disaster management plan etc. • Focus on leading indicators rather than on lagging indicators. • Strengthening the Internal Audits. • Organisng periodic mock drills (both on-site and off-site) to ensure effective handling of emergency and preparedness etc. Besides the performance of the safety critical equipment, schedule of preventive maintenance, checking of fitness certificates of the equipment, regular competency assessments of the operational personnel, checking of maintenance records are critically examined during audits. It is also important to safeguard the surrounding community and environment during various activities of Oil & Gas sector. Can you please apprise us the measure OISD has been taken in personnel skill development & training, safety standard audits exercise etc to achieve zero accidents. Proper training and education of the workforce is one of the key factors to achieve NIL incidents in the industry. Training & Retraining of the workforce, updating their skills and developing competency with emphasis in safety in operation is considered paramount. Some of the measures taken are: • Regular release of safety alerts in OISD website, • Dissemination of learnings thru case studies which are hosted in OISD web site, • Providing faculty assistance to improve awareness on PSM, • Sharing knowledge on PSM & latest developments with the member organisations,
Offshore World | 7 | June - July 2015
www.oswindia.com
interview
The Key areas which requires constant focus by every organisation is developing ‘Safety Competencies’ as a part of core competency. Safe production should be the core focus of any operating facility because safety directly affects productivity, morale and image of an organisation.
• Publication of safety articles in journals like Hydrocarbon Processing, Petrofed, Petrotech, Loss Prevention etc. • Presenting papers in various forums viz. ICC, FICCI, CORCON (NACE), AIChE, IITs, NITs, etc. • Organising technical seminars / conferences to discuss the latest technological developments etc. Can you please apprise us the existing measures and future plans of OISD to achieve world–class safety standards and set up global benchmark and procedures in Indian Hydro carbon sector. OISD has entered into Memorandum of Understanding with Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), Govt. of USA, Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) under the aegis of AIChE, USA, and American Petroleum Institute (API), USA to share knowledge, data base on incidents and participate in the standard development process etc. Through these mutual collaboration processes, our aim is to intensify the process safety management standards in the country. Towards this, we had organised technical seminars with API on Implementation of PSM for the members of Oil Industry Organisations. We would be taking part in APIs standard making process, thereby enriching our safety standards. With BSEE, we have jointly undertaken audit of upstream oil installations and identified thrust areas in E&P business. Our aim is to benchmark the Leading Indicators/Key Performance Indicators and we continually strive to achieve our objectives. Technological upgradation & frontal technology are also play major role to accomplish the goal of zero accident. What is your view on it? Yes, we agree that technology plays a major in enhancing the safety of this vital sector and more and more use of technology would propel us to achieving our ultimate objective of making this Industry as ‘Incident Free’.
maintenance and for earning revenue for future growth. Building an asset is easy but challenge lies in its proper maintenance & upkeep. The Key areas which requires constant focus by every organisation is developing ‘Safety Competencies’ as a part of core competency. Safe production should be the core focus of any operating facility because safety directly affects productivity, morale and image of an organisation. Thus it is imperative, we focus on learning; learning from the past mistakes; reduce the knowledge gap through dynamic learning processes. According to you, what should be safety culture to be adopted by the all stakeholders of oil and gas industry to ensure safety, loss of life and property? The culture of an organisation makes the greatest contribution to its health and safety performance. Unfortunately culture is not an easy concept to understand or measure or manage. Safety culture is usually described in terms of concepts such as ‘trust’, ‘values’ and ‘attitude’. It can be difficult to describe what these mean, but you can judge whether a company has a good safety culture from what its employees actually do rather than what they say. I firmly believe that creating a positive safety culture requires commitment from top management. Leaders must ‘Walk the Talk’. I am a strong votary of the school of thought that the Safety Culture of an Organisation must be ‘Top Driven’. The need of the hour is that we need Leaders who can live with a chronic sense of unease; who can spot the warning signals of complacency creeping in; who are willing to sit with peers, subordinates and understand the process safety issues; who are willing to go out on plant visits and conduct safety tours, audits or inspections. Besides, the Leaders who actively work to remove barriers to the reporting of ‘Bad News’ & promote an open culture for communication are the ones who earn respect of their stake holders.
While we feel that acquisition of Technology might be an easy task but the main challenge lies in assimilation of the technology. It must be borne in mind that knowledge & competency is the key in any sphere of activity right from choosing appropriate technology & design, operation and www.oswindia.com
Offshore World | 8 | June - July 2015
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interview
“We Commissioned our Polypropylene unit in align with ‘Make in India’ campaign” With the successful commissioning of Phase III expansion and Polypropylene unit, MRPL has improved the Gross Refining Margin (GRM). H Kumar, Managing Director, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), spoke exclusively to Offshore World about the expansion and future plans of MRPL. Excerpts…
How do you evaluate India’s current refining capacity? India is certainly recognised as one of the emerging refining hubs globally as the sector has itself been established since few decades. With the current refining capacity of almost 215 MMT (4.4 million barrels per day), the footprint of India on the global refining map as a major player is worth taking note of. From a modest refining capacity of 62 MMT in 1998 to current 215 MMT is really a good journey. The rapid proliferation of refining capacity is not only for the domestic consumption, but we are also able to export a substantial quantity of petroleum products since few years. From 2001, India has been a net exporter of petroleum products; and last year, the country exported almost 63.92 MMT of petroleum products worth of USD 47 billion. This makes us a major player in the refining products exporter in global arena. Please apprise uson MRPL’s last year export portfolio (both the quantity and product list).
MRPL has increased the stake in ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd Aromatic complex to 51 per cent making it a subsidiary and has also sought Board approval from the promoter company for its complete merger with MRPL.
www.oswindia.com
In 2014-15, MRPL exported almost 5 MMT petroleum products; include 147.1 TMT of Gasoline (MS), 970.59 TMT of Naphtha, 903.94 TMT of HSD, 1075.23 TMT of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), 1730.58 TMT of Furnace Oil (FO), 10.45 TMT of Mixed Xylene, 119.55 TMT of Vacuum Gas Oil (VGO) and 27.22 TMT of Sulphur. MRPL supplies the entire fuel requirement of Mauritius and in FY 2014-15, MRPL supplied around 1.1 MMT of petroleum products include HSD, Furnace Oil, Aviation fuel, gasoline, etc. MRPL Products Exported (TMT) (Y-o-Y) Year
MS
Naphtha
HSD
ATF
FO
Mixed Xylene
VGO
Sulphur
Total
2014-15
147.1
970.59
903.94
1075.23
1730.58
10.45
119.55
27.22
4984.66
Mauritius FY 14-15
147.1
-
272
261
403
-
-
-
1083
2013-14
186.5
1362.31
1023.76
1639.69
2215.56
174.16
125.25
6727.23
2012-13
254.86
1342.07
1503.1
1352.05
1954.56
139.54
291.78
6837.96
Offshore World | 10 | June - July 2015
interview What are key drivers that make India as net exporter of petroleum products and refining hub? I would put three valuables for that. One is the proximity of demand sectors for refining products that put the logistic cost low. Similarly, proximity of crude availability from the Western Gulf and West Africa is another advantage. The easy accessibility for both import and export route due to our long costal line is being the key driver for the sector. Conducive policies are also imperative in getting investment into the sector. Low manpower cost in Indian refinery that brings down the operational cost is another key driver for the industry. High Gross Refining Margin (GRM) both from private players as well as public players in last few years is an additional advantage in this direction. How has the fall in crude oil prices impacted the profit margins of MRPL over the last year? Contrary to the common belief, falling crude price is not always profitable to refiners like ours. For example; while price came down sharply USD 107 to almost USD 47-48 since January last year, MRPL registered an inventory loss of ` 2750 crore. Last year, the sharp decline over a period of six months on a monthly average of almost USD 10 per month, MRPL’s realisation was affected badly and registered a loss of ` 1750 crores. But at Q4, we could manage a net profit of around ` 1170 crores and operating GRM of USD 8.56/bbl. Generally refiners don’t worry of the crude prices. Their main concern is whether the product cracks will able to protect the fluctuation in crude prices (Product crack is the difference between feed stock price and product price). Any refinery will do well if the product cracks are reasonably good. What are the new projects of MRPL in pipeline? The government of India has mandated the implementation of BS VI emission norms by 2022. While most of the Indian refiners are moving towards BS IV and targeting to achieve BS VI by 2022, MRPL plans to invest in that direction by adding couple of units to upgrade diesel & petrol qualities. Along with this, MRPL is looking for debottlenecking its existing units where we can expand our refining capacity from current 15 MMT to 18 MMT. While we are planning to complete the fuel quality requirement in a very short time span, we also intend to go for capacity expansion.
with an annual capacity of 914 KTPA Para-Xylene and 283 KPTA of Benzene in Mangalore Special Economic Zone will be a value chain integration for MRPL. With this integration we are evaluating growth in petrochemicals like Linear Alkyl Benzene, Benzene based petrochemicals viz; Ethyl Benzene with the availability of Benzene and Kerosene from OMPL and MRPL complex. What are the future plans of MRPL? With the successful commissioning of Phase III expansion and polypropylene unit, MRPL has improved the Gross Refining Margin (GRM). Now we are looking at small revamp of our CCR unit which will give us more gasoline production. The deregulation of HSD pricing has opened up opportunities for recommencing the retail business. MRPL has commissioned its first dealer operated Retail Outlet at Mangalore in Dec, 2014 and is in the process of setting up large number of retail outlets in its refinery zone. We are having license to setup 500 retail outlets and planning to set-up around 100 Retail outlets in the short term. Please elaborate the future challenges that Indian refinery will face from the Middle East region as the region is gearing up more refineries and expansions. How are you gearing up to address the same? The biggest challenge is surplus product in the market. As more Refinery expansions and new refineries will be coming up in the Middle East regions, marketing of petroleum products is going to be a challenge in future – both internal and export also. Opening of more retail outlets as mentioned above will be one of our immediate plans for product evacuation to tide over the challenge. At MRPL, we are focusing on more value-added products and the products which are in demand. The pivotal emphasis is on recovering value from low value Hydrocarbons. For example the processes of the Phase-3 units has low value added products, viz; Pet-Coke, off gases generated from PFCCU, MRPL is contemplating the recovery of valuable Ethylene and Butenes from PFCCU off gas and producing downstream petrochemicals. Another area is bringing in operational efficiency that can bring down the fuel consumption and improve the overall distillate yield. We are according top priority for reducing energy consumption through various energy conservation measures and reduce overall Energy intensity index of the Refinery, are the major areas of focus for the future challenges of Indian Refinery.
For Greenfield capacity expansion, we need extra land and have applied to the Karnataka government for the additional land. Once all the necessities are in place, we will go ahead for debottlenecking and expansion along downstream petrochemicals. In petrochemicals space, today we have successfully commissioned and commercialised our polypropylene unit in MRPL.
Please elaborate more into your statement on Feb’15 that the Polypropylene unit set up with an investment of ` 1,803 crore, is a fitting response to the Prime Minister’s clarion call to ‘Make in India’ and it will give a competitive edge to India through forex savings and exports.
At MRPL we produce significant amount of pet coke, which we are currently selling to the cement plants, we are thinking of utilising this pet coke for producing Syn gas through Pet Coke gasification. This Syn gas has various opportunities for making downstream Chemicals, Fertilisers and Petrochemicals. MRPL has increased the stake in ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd Aromatic complex to 51 per cent making it a subsidiary and has also sought Board approval from the promoter company for its complete merger with MRPL. The Aromatic complex
Today, 40 per cent of the polypropylene in India is imported and the successful commission of the unit at MRPL is certainly a step towards ‘Make in India’ campaign. Polypropylene has been growing at 6-7 per cent per year almost at the same rate as our GDP forecast. The polypropylene unit at MRPL is the only one of its kind unit in South India to cater almost 5 lakh tonne of polypropylene demand in the southern market. The commercial production from the unit has been started and the product has been well received by the consumers in the market.
Offshore World | 11 | June - July 2015
www.oswindia.com
interview
‘IPOL represents ethos, values, ethics and the ‘Clean & Green’ culture of GP Petroleums’ GP Petroleums Ltd, subsidiary of Gulf Petrochem Group - a UAE-based leading player in the oil sector, has formed a strategic partnership with Spain’s No 1 petroleum company ‘Repsol’ to exclusively manufacture and market Repsol’s superior and comprehensive line of premium quality lubricants across India. K Murali, CEO, GP Petroleums Ltd, spoke exclusively to Offshore World on the company’s strategic partnership with Repsol and the significant of GP Petroleums’ flagship brand IPOL. How do you evaluate the current scenario of India’s lubricant industry and what are the key growth drivers for the same? Indian lubricants market is the third largest market in the world in terms of consumption volume. We see a very potential market in India for lubricants with rising opportunities. The Indian lubricant industry is one of the fastest growing lubricant industries in the world. In absolute terms, the volume consumption was 1.9 million kilo litres during FY13. The lubricants usage can be divided in two key segments – Automotive and Industrial. The Automotive segment is 52 per cent and Industrial segment is 48 per cent on volume terms.
IPOL has one of the widest ranges of products carefully designed to suit various applications & deliver high performances. The products have several latest national & international performance specifications & approvals to their credit such as API, JASO, ACEA etc, other than OEM credentials. www.oswindia.com
With reference to the forecasted growth in the auto industry, we feel that the lubricant industry in India is likely to benefit from this growth. The overall lubricants industry in consumer segment in India is expected to grow at 6.6 per cent per year. Hence our strategy fits with the overall growth in the coming future. Strong demand from power generation, automotive manufacturing sector, higher investment in infrastructure division and project execution by construction companies generate excellent demand in machinery manufacturing and other core industrial segments. These trends are shaping the Indian lubricants industry. Oil marketing companies are shifting focus from urban region to the untapped rural market. Today India is moving towards a horizon of new technology. Change and improvement in engine & machinery technology frequently opens a new challenge & competition in the lubricant industry. Please give us a lowdown on GP Petroleums lubricants business in India and more into the significance of IPOL Brand of the company? GP Petroleums has a strong presence in industrial lubricants with its flagship brand IPOL. IPOL has been present in India for over four decades and more than 70 per cent of our business is from the industrial lubricant sector. Offshore World | 12 | June - July 2015
interview GP Petroleums has the production capacity of 70,000 MT/year. As on today, around 50,000 MT/year is being produced from our plant. Our plan is first to put efforts on marketing to increase the sale to full capacity level and plan for expansion thereafter. IPOL has one of the widest ranges of products carefully designed to suit various applications & deliver high performances. The products have several latest national & international performance specifications & approvals to their credit such as API, JASO, ACEA etc, other than OEM credentials. It represents ethos, values, ethics and the ‘Clean & Green’ culture of GP Petroleums Limited. Can you please throw some light on the latest GP Petroleums association with Repsol and how would the association help the company to strengthen its portfolio in automotive and industrial lubricants business in India? GP Petroleums, in order to tap the growing potential in the Indian automotive market, partnered with Spain’s No 1 petroleum company ‘Repsol’ to exclusively manufacture and market Repsol’s line of premium quality lubricants across India and to expand our footprints in this ever growing economy. As mentioned before, GP Petroleums has well equipped manufacturing facilities with hi-tech blending facility, quality-control test labs and automated filling and packaging stations. The group’s in-house base oil storage facility of 17,000 KL is one of the largest in the industry in India. GP Petroleums and Repsol together are targeting on achieving 5 per cent automotive lubricant market by the end of the decade. Understanding the present market scenario if we successfully achieve our target then India will be the second largest lubricant market for Spanish lubricant maker with a production of 50,000 metric tonne in India. Please apprise us the marketing strategies that GP Petroleums has been adapted to compete with NOCs like; IOCL, BPCL and HPCL which hold almost half of market share in lubricant segment? Yes, I do agree with you that the lubricants industry in India is dominated by national oil companies namely IOC, BPCL and HPCL that account for almost half of market share. Apart from them, the market comprises of private multinationals like Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total, IPOL and numerous smaller and loyal players. As demand in the sector is expected to rise in the recent future, foreign companies are keen in investing in India. Looking into this growing opportunity even Gulf Petrochem made an opportunistic move in investing in Indian lubricant market. GP Petroleums will consolidate its position in Industrial Segment by taking the brand IPOL (the industrial lubricant) international. And recently GP Petroleums, partnered with Spain’s No 1 petroleum company ‘Repsol’ to exclusively manufacture and market Repsol’s line of premium quality lubricants across India and to expand the footprints in this ever growing economy. Repsol in automotive segment comes with some differentiated
GP Petroleums and Repsol together are targeting on achieving 5 per cent automotive lubricant market by the end of the decade that will lead India the second largest lubricant market for Spanish lubricant maker with a production of 50,000 metric tonne in India.
benefits which will give a choice to Indian consumer. It will make the product available and generate awareness in the 1 st phase. As the country gears up for new changes, GP Petroleums plans to expand its footprints in the country and provide better facilities and services in its prevalent sector. India has already achieved BS IV emission level and is likely to graduate directly to BS-VI. As a lubricant company, what role does GP Petroleums have in bridging the gap? What is the total market size you are targeting for the lubricant business in India and what is your strategy grow the same? GPPL can offer lubricants to meet these norms and which are available as per current norms. It is Auto OEMs who would be involved in developing technologies to meet these emission norms by designing engines accordingly. Refiners/Marketers would produce/make available, Fuels meeting these norms. As I mentioned before, GP Petroleums along with Repsol is targeting on achieving 5 per cent automotive lubricant market by the end of the decade. If we are successful in this mission then India will be the second largest lubricant market for Spanish lubricant maker with a production of 50,000 metric tonne in India. As part of our strategy, GPPL / Repsol would focus on (a) Motorcycle segment (fastest growing population – across the World) ; (b) Diesel Engine Oils : Highest potential in terms of volumes. What are the GP Petroleums’ future expansion plans in India (facility expansion, products portfolio expansion, diverse of offering services to industry segments expansion, new investments, etc)? As you are well aware of, GP Petroleums has recently started expanding their operations. We made our first strategic move by partnering with Repsol. This gave us an opportunity to tap the automotive segment. We do have furthers plans lined-up for the company. We are in plans to take our reputed industrial lubricant brand-IPOL international. But right now we are concentrating on working on the foundation of the new assignments the company has recently stepped into.
Offshore World | 13 | June - July 2015
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interview
‘Government will have to take reformative measures to accelerate the project implementation for gas distribution’ According to the ‘Vision 2030 – Natural gas Infrastructure in India’ report by PNGRB, demand of CGD in India is expected to reach 85.61 MMSCMD from 15.30 MMSCMD in 2012-13. Sanwariya Gas Ltd, one of the private CGD players in India, successfully commissioned Mathura City Gas Distribution Network with a team of experts and is now bidding for projects in other cities. H P Singh, Executive Director, Sanwariya Gas Ltd (SGL), shared his views on the business nitty-gritties and future plans of the organisation, in an exclusive interaction with Offshore World.
Historically, the business of gas distribution has been dominated by the public sector companies in India. What are the challenges for the private players to operate in this space?
Sanwariya Group ranks nineteenth in CGD business in India. We have commissioned Mathura Gas distribution network at the cost of ` 200 crores. The network includes four CNG stations which are already operational and upcoming two more which will be operational from the month of August, 2015. www.oswindia.com
I do agree with you that while Indian PSUs continue to enjoy the larger share of the CGD business at present, the opportunities in this sector have encouraged many private players to venture into the business of gas distribution despite numerous challenges. In my view, the challenges can be categorised into two critical areas which include building pipeline infrastructure and pricing of gas. PSUs like GAIL and other companies in the business of retailing already have established infrastructure across the country with surplus funds to expand further connectivity. Moreover, PSUs also get support from the Government as far as projects or even gas allocation is concerned. Unfortunately, this is not the case with private players who have to invest in developing the infrastructure and also wait at times to ensure gas supplies to run the projects. What are the key infrastructure challenges? In my view, seeking permissions and funding of the project are two bones of contention. The government has taken noble initiative to reach natural gas supplies for domestic consumption to as many people as possible, which requires building proper pipeline networks across new cities as well as maintaining the existing ones with old infrastructure. Such projects mandate us to coordinate with almost seven to eight different departments for clearances such as environment and forests, pollution control board, fire and safety, municipality, water and telecom, etc to ensure that the existing distribution networks are not affected. Unfortunately, we do not have a single-window clearance system for project clearances to enable fast project execution. Plus, we need to be ready for Offshore World | 14 | June - July 2015
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interview surprise disruptions that are caused by local Corporators which sometimes disrupt the work, thus causing project delays. Securing funds for the projects is another major hurdle since at times it becomes very difficult to explain the CGD project to an investment firm or bank as to how the money is utilised in the project as the pipeline infrastructure is spread below the ground. According to rough estimates, cost of installing 1 km pipeline comes to approx. ` 2 crore for the CGD project and also varies from city to city. For example; SGL have invested almost ` 200 crores for Mathura city gas distribution project out of which 60 per cent of the fund was invested for laying pipeline which is under the land. Another factor is infrastructure development cost for laying pipeline for residential areas in cities and metro compared to its cost in B-class cities like Mathura but the selling price of gas to domestic residents is same in both regions, which has a direct impact on profit margins for City Gas Distribution Companies operating in these regions respectively. You referred to pricing as the second broad category of challenges. Can you please talk a bit more about that? There are only two points that one needs to understand when it comes to pricing of Gas. First is the buying price of gas from the LNG supplier and second is the cost to consumer in any business. For us, the customers belong to one of the four sectors that are: transportation, domestic gas, industry and commercial applications. We have to secure long term LNG supplies from suppliers like GAIL for which we enter contracts for 2-3 years which have their own pros and cons. On one hand these contracts ensure uninterrupted gas supplies but on the other hand it prevents us from taking advantage of the decline in gas prices, which is happening currently in the LNG spot market. Hopefully in the next one or two years, once the contracts are over and if current market scenario continues to prevail, we will be able to optimise our cost of sourcing and pass the benefit even to the customers. Presently there is no uniformity in value added tax (VAT) structure which varies across the states from 5 per cent in Haryana to 26 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and there is no VAT in Delhi which makes a lot of difference in cost to the consumer. Customers pay between ` 39/kg in Delhi to `44/kg in Noida and ` 54/kg in Mathura, which is not fair. In fact, we have been lobbying with the Government of Uttar Pradesh to reduce or waive off the VAT to make usage of natural gas more viable for the customers of Uttar Pradesh. Can you please share the hiccups Sanwariya Gas faced in receiving gas supplies based on administered price mechanism (APM) price allocation? During the regime of the last Government, it was decided to allocate gas based on APM to CGD players, both from the public sector and private undertakings. While the PSUs continued to get supplies from the Government, we were not www.oswindia.com
given any supplies even after our unit was commissioned in the October 2011. Our detailed feasibility report (DFR) was prepared taking APM as the base. It was only after the verdict of Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat which stated gas as the national property and that any entity in the business could not be discriminated on the basis of state or capital or on basis of Government or Private entity. Pursuant to this verdict supply of APM Gas commenced in January 2014. During the period when we were not receiving any supplies, we incurred heavy losses as we had to forcefully purchase RLNG which is almost 4 times expensive than Natural Gas, but we are hopeful to recover the price in the next one or two years. Tell us about the some of the ongoing projects and future plans of company. Sanwariya Group ranks nineteenth in CGD business in India. We have commissioned Mathura Gas distribution network at the cost of ` 200 crores. The network includes four CNG stations which are already operational and upcoming two more which will be operational from the month of August, 2015. We have established the network for supplying domestic gas to 30,000 houses in the city and are trying to expand it. Right now, around 3500 households taking gas from us. We target to set up a network of eleven CNG stations in Mathura by March 2016. As I have already mentioned, we have submitted bids for three more cities and intend to expand the network in three to five cities over the next few years. Internationally, we had carried out studies for the project in Egypt but are not going ahead because of prevailing political crisis. We are trying to focus on the Middle East market and have opened a facility in Dubai. One of the major international projects is to develop Gas Distribution network in Ghana, which is our forte. We are also exploring the potential in Brazil to enter the South American market. What kind of opportunities exists for the private players in CGD in India according to you and expectations from Government? At present there are a total of 21 players in CGD in India. This is a huge market and opportunities do exist. PNGRB has been inviting bids for setting up CGD networks in several cities and we have recently submitted bids for three cities outside Uttar Pradesh. However, the Government will have to take reformative measures at the Central as well as State levels to accelerate the project implementation and set up proper mechanisms for gas distribution, address the grievances like tax structure disparity, etc to encourage more companies to come forward and invest. For me and most of CGD players, the issue that needs to be taken as the topmost priority is non-uniformity in tax structure across different states in order to encourage investments in this area. Recently, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia called a meeting of Finance Ministers of five states of Delhi, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand to discuss uniformity in policy on petroleum products as the five states are interconnected to each other by borders. These discussions are in the nascent stage right now and though all the states principally agreed to work in this direction, nothing is finalised yet. Second is single window clearance for faster project execution. We are just being optimistic and waiting for the final outcome.
Offshore World | 16 | June - July 2015
guest column
Geopolitical Impact of Iran’s Nuclear Proliferation on Global Oil & Gas Market
Dr Ajay Kumar, PhD Chairman & Managing Director Fox Petroleum Group
The historic deal between Iran and the United States and its partners in the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany – at Vienna has created optimism to solve one of the region’s most enduring problems by drawing Iran into greater international cooperation, especially Iran’s more oil & gas participation into the global market. In the back of falling crude price, it is expected that the oil price will decrease ever more with the increase crude production and export from Iran in near future. This column talks about the potential impacts of the Iran Nuclear accord to the World Powers to the global oil & gas industry.
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he historic deal between Iran and Global powers i.e. actually, the historic nuclear accord between Iran and the international community unveiled in Vienna to curtail Iran from making a nuclear weapon and in return lifting the financial sanctions to the country — is likely to be positive for Iran to become the Middle East new power center, shifting partial US interest from Israel, Kuwait & Saudi Arabia and it is positive for India and companies here. Iran’s finances working capital will improve and at the same time India’s finances will improve because of a possible drop in oil prices and easier & cheaper availability of crude oil & gas for India with effect on the rupee may become less volatile even as the US Federal Reserve gears up to tighten monetary policy. But on India side, various Indian companies with business links to Iran, which has the world’s fourth-largest oil reserve and second-largest gas reserves, may get cheer up node too. In anticipation of the deal and its likely impact on crude prices, the share prices of Indian public sector oil marketing companies witnessed a jump in its share prices and so far as I know, like the American companies will make first move, and already they have prepared their mind for expansion with already existing roots of their companies in Middle East towards Iran oil & gas business. Retrospective View of the Deal History of the deal is of 23 months old, but since last week’s State of the Union Address, USA President Obama threatened to veto new legislation affecting five issues sealed the deal of Iran, four of them in the domestic policy arena and just one covering foreign policy. The foreign policy issue in question involved the prospect of new sanctions legislation targeting Iran. Correspondingly, the administration has recently ramped up efforts to conclude a nuclear deal with Iran. Should the United States and its partners in the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany -- strike a deal with Iran, the global oil and gas markets would no doubt be affected. Indeed, several leading oil and gas companies are already preparing for a return to business in Iran in the event sanctions are lifted. Such jockeying would only intensify once the Iranian oil and gas sector became fully available to international markets. Crude Impact After 23 months of negotiations, Iran finally entered into a historic nuclear deal with six world powers that paves the way for ending sanctions imposed by the US and Europe and also opens business prospects for the various countries including India in Iran. This is also expected to further lift the supply of Iranian crude oil into the global market that in turn will keep the oil prices lower. But the entry of India will upset China, this deal has made China upset, and it will go
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closer to Russia. Chinese companies were working during the sanctions on Iran but with monopoly. It will block China’s aggression in energy market interest of Middle East. But already made investment will make the first beneficiary of profit; at the same time, India is also making a renewed pitch for rights to develop 12.8 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves that ONGC Videsh had discovered in 2008. This deal is not uniform - it is good for America and Europe, fruitful for India and difficult for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait & Israel to digest the USA breakfast in Iran. Fear is that - most immediately, lifted sanctions on Iran’s oil and gas industry could shoot tensions with other energy producers, such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. It is going to make bad impact on oil price, Europe dependency on Russian oil & gas; and cheap gas from Iran will impact qatarisation of LNG. The sinking oil prices will sink more and will make a profitable monetary rain in Iran - it will be huge for them to come up from dry to flood. How it will work for Iran? But it is not easy to come up from Iran to pre-sanction level of oil production. Just to remember, when in mid-2012, sanctions were imposed against Iran’s oil exports, precipitating a drop from 2.5 million exported barrels a day to close to 1.4 million a day. If sanctions will be lifted now, Iran might need a full year to bring its production to pre-sanctions levels and will impact crude oil price up to USD 38-42/BBL, but it will start impacting from the next financial year with huge drop and rain in stock exchange. Moreover, given current market conditions, only limited international investment will likely be available to help restart its production where the major players as buyer - will be India and China. For one thing, Iran has not offered particularly attractive terms to investors, and at today’s oil prices, investors are cutting back everywhere. Such realities cast major doubt on Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh’s recent claim that if sanctions were to end, Iran will double its oil exports within two months. So, far Iran’s Oil Minister’s statement can be analysed in different sense, the minister didn’t say – it will double its production, rather the meaning is double the export, and it is due to already explored and stored and bunkered crude oil in Iran. However, the announcement alone of an agreement with Iran that removes international sanctions would accelerate the current steady downward trend Iran’s nuclear proliferation is a gain for Iran and rain for Oil & Gas Market; this will dry some Platts too, it will fry some stock and some will swim and enjoy Crude Holiday.
Offshore World | 18 | June - July 2015
guest column of the global oil price for some days or may be 150 days. Thus, the oil price would be affected even before increased physical supplies of Iranian oil reached the market. And more oil would gradually return to the market, helping keep global oil prices low and perhaps depressing them even further. Burdened by sanctions, Tehran has offered discounts to regular buyers such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey. The end of sanctions would most likely mean that such consumers would pay a price more in line with global prices. Accordingly, this could create an opportunity for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers to increase their market share. This may happen too if those are not willing to go with Iran due to diplomatic crisis between them has to go with Saudi Arabia and with further more recent prices. Impact and Aspect in Natural Gas As we know the Russian gas is the major source of energy development in Europe and after the Russia-Ukraine crisis erupted last year, Tehran has tried to position itself as a reliable alternative to Russia as a gas supplier to Europe and there American interest was quite vital to go with Iran side. Indeed, Iran is the only state close to Europe’s borders that possesses enough natural gas to rival Russia’s dominance in most European gas markets. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani even stated recently that ‘Iran can be a secure energy center for Europe’ whereas America due to policy hurdle was not able to keep happy the European partners with gas supply in past. Also Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Ali Majedi, boasted in official Iranian media that ‘Iranian natural gas is Russia’s only competitor for Europe’. He continued that European countries could import Iran’s gas through three separate routes - Turkey, Iraq, or a pipeline running through Armenia and Georgia, and then under the Black Sea. The idea of Iran as a future alternative gas supplier for Europe is acknowledged by European officials as part of their recent drive to lessen dependence on Russian imports. In April, the EU’s foreign policy arm -- the Directorate-General for External Policies -- published a study of the EU’s natural gas import options in light of the Ukraine crisis and concluded that ‘Iran is a credible alternative to Russia’. However trustworthy an option Iran might be for supplying Europe, two major and main obstacles would dawdling Iran’s entry into Europe’s gas markets are one, the need to produce more gas and, two, the need to build infrastructure to get it to Europe. To be sure, Iran is a significant natural gas producer, generating 160 billion cubic meters a year, third globally behind just Russia and the United States. Its output constitutes about 35 per cent of annual EU gas consumption. Iran also has vast reserves. The very much interestingly, Iran is a net gas importer, with the country consuming a larger proportion of natural gas than any other country in the world. Iran’s high natural gas consumption rate is due in part to its very low domestic gas prices and thus low energy efficiency. Iran imports gas from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, while it exports a bit less to Turkey and Armenia. In Turkey, energy industry sources have reported that Ankara is preparing its pipeline infrastructure to enable transit of Iranian gas to Europe once sanctions are removed and Oman and Iran have signed the pipeline contract since last some months ago, and another private party who has proposed ‘Oman- India Pipeline’ with 100 per cent private investment, widely known as ‘The Gas Highway” will be for India. Thou Pipeline it will take time but the production of crude & gas to make available in the market will also be taking time and investment; so both side will be hurry and more agreements to follow in news with many views in near future.
The United States of America ending up intense hostile relation with Iran with lifting all sanctions due to the accord happily finalised between Iran and the international community unveiled in Vienna; but it has made anxious the Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Israel.
Oil Diplomacy THE FIGHT is ON not WAR; I mean the diplomatic fight will take place to make or break friends; concluding the geopolitical impact, by lifting of sanctions on the Iranian oil and gas industry would have a number of geopolitical ramifications. Regarding the export of oil in particular, the strongest effect would undoubtedly be heightened tensions with Saudi Arabia, including on OPEC policy. Recently, Iranian President Rouhani explicitly criticised Saudi Arabia for what he views as Riyadh’s intentional policy to keep oil prices low and threatened that ‘[the Saudis] will suffer. On gas, Russia would take steps to block Tehran’s entry into European markets, as it has done in the past. In 2007, when Tehran inaugurated gas supplies to neighboring Armenia, Russia’s Gazprom immediately bought up the pipeline project within Armenia and built it with a small circumference to preempt its future use for transiting gas to European markets. We will see huge competition between Moscow and Tehran, could also find themselves competing for gas market share in neighboring Turkey. Already Russia’s second largest gas export market, Turkey’s role in Russia’s gas export strategy has recently grown with Russia’s proposed route change of the South Stream export pipeline from Bulgaria to Turkey. Largely, cooperation between Russia and Iran rests on a shaky basis, and once Iran is released from sanctions and its conflict with the West, many subjects of strategic competition between Tehran and Moscow will break the surface, including in the sphere of gas markets. Additional potential conflict that may emerge once sanctions are removed and Iran’s natural gas industry revives is with Qatar over the delimitation of their shared South Pars/North Dome field. This natural gas field is one of the world’s largest and the main source of Qatar’s massive LNG exports as well as the main area where Iran has been investing in new gas and oil capacity. Conflict between Doha and Tehran over delimitation has been anticipated somewhat by sanctions and the corresponding lack of investment in Iranian production in the contested field. Finally, the USA and its partners from Europe can reach a deal with Iran, but all players must realise the latent consequences of Iran’s re-entry into the global oil and provincial gas market. Most immediately, tensions could gush with other energy producers, such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The downward spiral of global oil prices would also be reinforced. Tehran, it must be noted, could face serious difficulties finding markets for expanded output and attracting the needed investment in production and gas transit facilities. But in the long term, expanded Iranian output could create more supply options for European and Asian gas markets. The lifting of the sanction from Iran will give many relations and possible good number of enemies for Iran as equals to The United States in capacity; but business will go on. I feel, it is good deal for Iran and its future of economy, and at the same time, a partial profitable beneficiary will be India.
Offshore World | 19 | June - July 2015
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news features
Black & Veatch Plans to Grow Oil & Gas Portfolio in India A consortium led by Black & Veatch has won contract for a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) receiving terminal at Ennore for Indian Oil Corporation Limited. The Ennore LNG project is vital for gas supply and furthers company’s established brand as a proven tier-one global EPC provider, says G Sathiamoorthy, Country Head and Managing Director, Black & Veatch India.
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lack & Veatch, a global leader in delivering proven world class ‘concept to commissioning’ project solutions in the segments of power, oil & gas, water and telecom, announced that a consortium led by it with KSS Petron India, has won the contract for a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) receiving terminal at Ennore, Tamil Nadu. The contract was awarded by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). The turnkey EPC project which is the first-of-its-kind on the east coast of India aims to boost fuel supply to the southern states. Black & Veatch will lead the engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and commissioning work on a turnkey basis and the plant is scheduled to be completed by 2018. IOCL’s Ennore terminal will be the first-of-its-kind on India’s east coast. With a send-out capacity of five million tonnes the regasification terminal paves the way for supply of LNG to high gas demand southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu and some parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. As a result the project is expected to aid further industrial growth in the region. “We are immensely happy to be delivering this world-class LNG project for IOCL, and look forward to working closely with them and other clients in the region in the future. The win reinforces our position as a partner of choice for critical infrastructure projects in energy, water and telecom,” adds Sathiamoorthy. The Ennore EPC project entails designing and building a facility to regasify five million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) of tanker-borne LNG imported by IOCL. Commenting on the new order, Sathiamoorthy discloses that the company will soon start the detailed engineering part along with the procurement activities. India – A New Growth Region Black & Veatch recently expanded its existing Mumbai office space to accommodate additional oil and gas engineers working on the company’s global projects; including multiple industry leading, ground-breaking floating LNG schemes. In an exclusive conversation with Mittravinda Ranjan, Sathiamoorthy further reveals that the organisation has drafted a new strategy for its global growth and India has been identified as one of new growth regions. The company has given immense emphasis on its growth in the country. While disclosing its 2020 vision, Sathiamoorthy comments that the organisation aims at increasing its revenue to USD 7 billion and about 5 to 7 per cent of the total revenue is expected from India. By the end of the current fiscal, it is expected to reach USD 3 billion. The organisation will be expanding in all its core areas ie, Energy & Power, Oil & Gas, Water and Telecommunication. Black & Veatch will be celebrating centenarian year this August; however, its headquarter in Mumbai was opened in the year 2003. “We have added about 200 people over the last 12 months and will be appointing about 2000 people by 2020. “The current strength of the employee is working majorly for oil and gas division, however, as we move ahead, we will try to have all the wings working under one roof,” he adds. Sathiamoorthy expresses disappointment over the sluggish growth in the oil and gas industry and the refining sector, but underscores that the next 3 to 4 years will see satisfactory development and companies like Black & Veatch will have enough www.oswindia.com
projects. He explains that the dramatic decrease in the oil prices has created the lowspirited situation and affected the new investment within the region. He, however, believes that the oil prices will stabilise and the market dynamics will change for good. Infrastructure for LNG is Crucial According to Sathiamoorthy, LNG terminal will be crucial for energy security of the country and will be the allied infrastructure for LNG projects. “There are many gas plants in the country which have been stranded or working with part capacity. We don’t have gas and as far as these international gas pipelines are concerned, it will take several years to materialise cross border agreements. The best way to bring gas to India is LNG and hence we need regasification terminals – both onshore and offshore,” he elucidates. Besides, the terminals, the country also need pipelines to supply the gas to the units. There is an urgent need to develop pipeline network at a rapid speed. Sathiamoorthy feels that the Ennore plant will be a boon to a number of units in the region including couple of fertiliser plants. Technologies and Prestigious Projects Technology and Innovation have helped Black & Veatch excel in its operations enormously. During this conversation, Sathiamoorthy talks about some of these technological innovations – including the three original sulfur processing units that the company installed in association with Reliance at its Jamnagar Refinery. Black & Veatch used its proven technology with aggressive execution schedules to meet Reliance’s financial and environmental objectives. The scope of the expansion included a new 3 x 675 metric tons per day (Mt/d) cold bed absorption (CBA) sulfur recovery unit (SRU) and new common 2,025 Mt/d tail gas treating unit (TGTU). The expanded complex has a total sulfur processing nominal capacity of 6 x 675 tons per day. Sathiamoorthy adds that about almost 90 per cent installed capacity for sulfur removal process in India is from Black & Veatch. The same technology has been installed at Paradeep refinery as well. He also mentions about the PRICO Liquefaction Technology and reveals that the technology was earlier installed in on-land projects, but now the company is also installing the same on floating terminals. Black & Veatch worked with Golar in 2012 on the concept and front end design for converting Liquefied Natural Gas Carriers (LNGC) into FLNG production vessels. Golar then negotiated with Keppel Shipyard and Black & Veatch for the EPC contract to convert the Hilli, a 125,000 m3 LNGC, to a FLNG production vessel. This project is the world’s first conversion of an LNGC into a FLNG production vessel. The work combines Black & Veatch’s PRICO technology and EPC capabilities with Keppel’s world ship conversion expertise. He further speaks about the first LNG terminal commissioned by Black & Veatch on North America’s Pacific Coast for delivering natural gas to Mexico and the United States. This terminal is fully self-sufficient and generates its own power, utility air, potable water and service water. Sathiamoorthy passionately speaks about the need to treat waste water. “We are not realising the value of water. We don’t recover any water and there are hardly good waste water treatment plants in the country,” he laments. Apart from Oil & Gas, water is one of the key areas of focus for the EPC player.
Offshore World | 20 | June - July 2015
news features
Is Gas Pooling the Answer for Fertiliser & Power Sector? India needs economically viable and clean fuel supplies for its fertiliser and power sector. In view of the prevailing situation of gas production & supply and the price-sensitive nature of the fertiliser and power sectors, the Indian government has recently came out with policy of gas pooling volumes of various domestic fields and LNG so as to make gas reasonably priced to priority sectors such as fertiliser and power. This article aims to highlight how these policies are expected to have a significant impact on fertiliser and power sector.
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istorically, India has relied on coal to generate power, liquid fuels as feedstock and oil for its transport sector. But for environmental reasons, India needs to focus on cleaner fuels. Natural gas has emerged as the fuel of choice for many industries in India owing to its environmental benefits and higher economic efficiency. However, India’s natural gas market has been witnessing a supply deficit due to its low domestic production. The demand and supply gap has been widened, and there is no reason it would stop. MarketsandMarkets expects that the demand for natural gas will reach about 705 mmscmd by 2029-30, up from roughly 260 mmscmd in 2014-15. Demand for natural gas has been increased significantly due to the demand from the fertiliser and power sector, and cumulatively accounted for more than 60 per cent of gas consumption in 2014. The demand is also driven by its growing usage in the city gas distribution (CGD) sector and industrial sectors, such as refining and petrochemicals. Rising concerns on carbon emission has also contributed to the demand for natural gas in the country.
India: Gas Demand and Domestic Supply Scenario
Sources: Vision 2030, Natural Gas Infrastructure in India and Markets and Markets Analysis
As there is no cross-border gas pipeline available, LNG is the only feasible option, but an expensive one. With a delivered price of USD 12.33/mmbtu, it is not easy for fertiliser and power sector to absorb such high-priced LNG. We are already in a low oil price scenario, had it been high oil price scenario, it will be next to impossible to feed the fertiliser and power sector with LNG as it is oil-linked. Over the past five years, there has been an increase in LNG imports. Currently, India imports around 13.7 million tons of LNG, which accounts for ~33 per cent of the total supply. Future LNG imports will depend on the expansion programme of LNG terminals in India and the international spot price for LNG. If the gray situation of low domestic gas production is allowed to continue, India will have no option but to import more LNG as the fuel source for its fertiliser and gas-based power plants. In view of the prevailing situation of gas production and supply and the price-sensitive nature of the fertiliser and power sector, the government is promulgating gas-price pooling options to meet the sector’s gas shortage.
Pooling of Gas for Fertiliser and Power Sector The Indian fertiliser industry consumes a sizable volume of LNG, which presently accounts ~20 per cent. The Indian Government approved a proposal to pool the prices of domestic natural gas and imported LNG used by fertiliser plants. The necessity for this intervention arose because, at present, the price of gas supplied to fertiliser units differs from plant to plant depending upon the combination of domestic gas and RLNG. Hence, there is no uniformity in the input price. Moreover, there is wide variation in the conversion efficiency of plants measured in Gcal/MT. As the variation in final urea production cost is a result of variation in two factors (gas price and conversion efficiency), it is necessary to separate the two effects. A uniform gas price at the input stage will achieve this objective and will help focus on improving plant efficiency. This pooling mechanism is effective from July 1, 2015.
Installed Capacity by Source, June 2015
Table 1: Cost of Urea Production with Different Rate of Gas
13.0%
Coal Gas
15.3% 2.1% 0.4% 8.4%
60.8%
Diesel Nuclear Hydro RES
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Cost of 200 production ($/MT)
301
343
Cost of gas 5.18 ($/mmbtu)
10.00 12.00
385
427
469
14.00
16.00
18.00
Assumptions: Energy consumption of 6.45 Gcal/MT is assumed, mix of domestic and imported coal is assumed for power and steam generation, exchange rate USD/ INR taken at 60. If gas is also used for power and steam generation than the cost of production would further increase as effective RLNG energy cost is higher than coal. Sources: Care Rating and MarketsandMarkets Analysis
Offshore World | 22 | June - July 2015
news features Table 2: Calculation of Pooled Gas Price for Fertiliser Sector Gas Category
Estimated Supply (mmscmd)
Estimated Basic Price (USD/mmbtu)
Weighted Average
APM/Non-APM
13.74
5.18
1.54
JV/Other Domestic Sources
2.00
5.18
0.23
RIL
11.50
5.18
1.30
R-LNG (Longterm)
8.05
12.33
2.17
R-LNG (Spot)
10.74
8.00
1.87
Total
46.03
semi-annual changes in domestic gas prices and R-LNG prices on a monthly basis. Gas-based installed generation capacity at 23,062 MW accounts for just under ~9 per cent of total installed generation capacity (about 274,817 MW). The power sector accounts for about ~36 per cent of domestic gas consumption, and ~14 per cent of LNG imports. Out of this gas-based installed capacity, more than 55 per cent are completely stranded in the want of gas. The Table below reflects problems with the underdevelopment of infrastructure – for instance, gas-fired power generation in the eastern region of India is extremely low in comparison to the western, northern, and southern regions, despite the fact that the largest offshore gas discoveries have been made in the eastern offshore basin.
7.09
Sources: MarketsandMarkets Analysis
It is anticipated that the cost of production of urea at pooled price would be less than the price of imported urea, which will encourage the existing urea units to produce beyond their reassessed capacity. Currently, there are 30 urea producing units in India, out of which 27 units are gas based and three units are Naphtha based. Out of the total consumption of about 30.0 mmtpa of urea, about 23.0 mmpta of urea is currently produced in the country. Hence, India imported 7.0 mmpta of urea from other countries. The above mechanism of pooling is expected to lower the import of urea in the coming year. The increase in urea manufacturing capacity will also contribute to the ‘Make in India’ initiative. With the price pooling, the price of gas supplied to fertiliser plants could settle at around close to USD 8.0–8.5/mmbtu including transportation cost. The basic weighted average price based on current mix and prices is estimated at USD 7.09/ mmbtu. Adding transportation charges and taxes, etc of USD 1–1.5/mmbtu, the estimated pooled price applicable from June 2015 would be in the range of USD 8.0–8.5/mmbtu. However, these prices may change going forward based on
Natural gas demand in the power sector is influenced by two major factors. System of merit-order dispatch is the first factor, which prioritises cheaper fuels in electricity generation. According to this system, the demand of gas-based power is highly dependent on the price and availability of domestic or imported coal. As per the estimates, for an existing plant, a base-load open cycle turbine can compete with coal at gas prices of USD 5-6/mmbtu, a combined cycle gas turbine at USD 8-10/mmbtu, and peaking power plants combined cooling heating and power plants at slightly higher prices. The second relates the demand for gas in power, specifically for privately owned capacity, and off grid captive generation plants, is the state regulations on power relating to open access to infrastructure, and third party use. Due to lack of transparent regulations, the current scenario is that, in spite of demand for power at higher price (for instance from an industry), the state-level regulations could prevent the gas (Including LNG) to reach the potential consumers. The collective effect of the aforementioned factors is evident in the current situation in the power sector. A drop in domestic gas production has led to a decline in the plant load factors of gas-based plants to around 50 per cent, resulting in a substantial amount of idle capacity. This is ironic given that peak electricity deficits consistently run at 9-12 per cent, and reflects systemic failures. Despite financial problems in the power sector, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board of India envision an addition of 20 GW of gas-based capacity in each five year period between 2017 and 2032 at a plant load factor of 75
Table 3: Regional Distribution of Power Generation Capacity (MW) as on June 30, 2015 Region
Thermal Coal
Northern
Gas
Nuclear
Diesel
40,943.50
Hydro
RES*
Grand Total
Total -
46,274.76
1,620.00
17,796.77
7,156.86
72,848.39
-
77,944.42
1,840.00
7,447.50
12,795.04
100,026.96
36,222.76
2,320.00
11,398.03
15,117.20
65,057.99
28,772.87
-
4,113.12
434.38
33,320.37
36.00
2,008.70
-
1,242.00
262.38
3,513.08
-
40.05
40.05
-
-
11.10
51.15
23,062.15
993.53
191,263.56
5,780.00
35,776.96
274,817.94
5,331.26 Western
67,029.01 10,915.41
Southern
30,342.50
917.48 4,962.78
Eastern
28,582.87
190.00
North Eastern
310.00 1,662.70
Islands All India
167,207.88
% of All India 60.8%
8.4%
0.4%
2.1%
41,997.42 15.3%
13.0%
100.0%
Sources: Central Electricity Authority *RES = Renewable Energy Sources, RES includes small hydro (<25 MW), wind, biomass, waste to energy, and solar power Note: Gas-based capacity in the table is commissioned, and not considering ready to be commissioning Offshore World | 23 | June - July 2015
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news features per cent. The overly optimistic Five Year Plan forecasting that gas demand in the power sector is expected to increase from 32 Bcm at present to 85 Bcm by 2021. In addition to the fact that plan targets have very rarely been met, the materialisation of this additional capacity will depend on the resolution of regulatory problems in the power sector. Genuinely, investment in gas-fired power will not be forthcoming unless higher-priced gas is able to find a market in the power sector – that is, either be able to compete with coal, or find its way to price inelastic consumers. To tackle some of the above problems the Government of India has confirmed the implementation of the scheme for utilisation of gas-based power generation for the year 2015-16 and 2016-17. The present gas based capacity, commissioned as well as ready for commissioning in the country is 27,123 MW. Of this, during the current financial year, the gas grid connected plants with the capacity of 9,845 MW received some limited available domestic gas and operated at an average PLF of 32.2 per cent during this period and are classified as ‘Plants receiving domestic gas’. Further, 14,305 MW capacity is unutilised due to unavailability of gas and is completely stranded. The scheme envisages supply of imported spot RLNG ‘e-bid RLNG’ to the stranded gas-based plants as well as the plants receiving domestic gas, upto the target PLF selected to the reverse e-bidding process. This would help revive 31 gas-based power plants that are on the verge of closing down, and add 75 billion units of power to the country’s network. In order to achieve the target price of power, the following interventions has to be approved by the Central Government, State Governments, power developers and gas transporters collectively. These include customs duty waiver on imported LNG, waiver of VAT, CST, Octroi and entry tax on the e-bid RLNG, waiver of service tax on regasification and transportation of the e-bid RLNG, reduction in pipeline tariff, reduction in regasification charges by regasification agencies on the e-bid RLNG, reduction in marketing margin by GAIL/GSPCL on the e-bid RLNG, and provision of co-mingling and swapping of gas. However, pooling of gas entails multiple risks. With high-priced LNG pooled with low-priced domestic gas, LNG negotiators could enter into unattractive contracts. It would be critical to ensure that this does not become a political issue. What does the Future Hold? Gas pooling to the extent of domestic gas availability would benefit the fertiliser and power sector and would also result in saving in subsidy outgo. The gas pooling mechanism seems to be a worthwhile option for reviving India’s ailing fertiliser and gas-based power sector and can be implemented through collaborative efforts from all stakeholders. Gas pooling can only serve as a short-term solution for current concerns. The exigency is more proactive government policies that will make every effort to find ways and means of attracting more public and private players to the sector and increase the country’s gas production.
Priyank Chris Bredenhann Srivastava Oil andAnalyst Senior Gas Advisory - C&MLeader PwC Africa MarketsandMarkets chris.bredenhann@za.pwc.com Email: priyank.srivastav@marketsandmarkets.com www.oswindia.com
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Features IIoT Technologies & Solutions
IIoT can Transform the Oil and Gas Industry In the back of plunging oil prices where the most of operating companies are reluctant from committing CAPEX, the article urges that there has never been a better time for the oil & gas industry to invest in IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) technologies and solutions for improving operational efficiencies and reduce exploration and production costs. While the industry has already witnessed the beginnings of a complete transformation as the digital oilfield becomes a reality, IIoT can be an empowering solution that helps make the holy grail of petro-technical data integration and smart oil fields a practical reality.
C
urrently, the global oil & gas industry is experiencing an unusually volatile period with oil prices plunging over 50 per cent in six months. While this could discourage some operating companies from committing capital, ARC believes that there has never been a better time for the oil & gas industry to consider targeted investments in IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) technologies to help improve operational efficiencies and reduce exploration and production costs. We are already seeing the beginnings of a complete transformation as the digital oilfield becomes a reality and the Industrial Internet of Things emerges to find its place in production. But even though the technical possibilities are becoming clear, real movement in this direction will depend on business benefits and business cases coming into clear focus. Today, industry problems and potential solutions are too often discussed using dated assumptions, framing, positioning, and approaches. Legacy IT infrastructure and strategies often interfere with progress. Even though business models have had to adapt a bit to support new production technologies and methods, the established practices have been slow to change. This is partly a cultural issue, reflecting the conservative, independent, field-centered mentality that has driven much of the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past success. But it also reflects the reality that potential new solutions are not yet known or trusted. On the other hand, the industry also places a premium on reducing cost and risk. And that opens the door to IIoT, which offers substantial potential for performance improvement. In just one example, data that GE collected from an oil rig off the Scottish coast showed that a seal was about to fail on a water injection pump. GEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s service staff was able to detect this because of deviations in the pressure reading, enabling the customer to transport a new seal to the rig and replace it before it failed. The customer estimated that it saved USD 7.5 million in losses from unplanned downtime. There is a huge potential for a host of other similar opportunities to be discovered, instrumented, and monitored - not only on this rig, but on other rigs and in other oilfields around the globe. Most upstream oil & gas operations must operate with disparate and often widely distributed assets operated by different groups (reservoir engineers, production engineers, etc) each with their own agendas, types of data (structured, unstructured, reservoir data, drilling data, production data, etc) and means of
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accessing and analysing their respective data. Often, a lack of collaboration between these groups and inability to access data in a timely manner can increase non-productive time, reduce efficiencies, delay time to first oil and/or lower than desired production rates. IIoT-enabled solutions can increase operational visibility and collaboration among personnel by enabling real-time data to be transformed into actionable information that can be shared across groups and across assets (wells, vessels, etc) to help optimise production, improve operational efficiency, and increase profitability. IIoT systems offer significant potential to improve asset reliability, availability, and performance in both onshore and offshore/subsea oil & gas industry operations and, in many cases, support business process improvements across the supply chain. Improving Asset Performance Most onshore upstream oil & gas operations are asset-intensive and the IIoT offers significant opportunities to improve overall asset performance and uptime. In this environment, operations tend to be highly distributed, lightly staffed, and downtime costs are significant. IIoT-connected devices enable end users, service providers, and/or OEMs to remotely monitor sensor data (vibration, temperature, pressure, etc) to help improve asset uptime through remote diagnostics, troubleshooting, and predictive maintenance. An alert from a health monitoring application notifies a maintenance planner to have someone inspect the equipment and schedule the repair prior to a failure. Collaboration Platforms With fewer experienced workers on site and typical difficulties effectively communicating situational details to the main office, when problems crop up, it can take far too long to assemble an appropriate team of experts and establish the necessary communication channels. Here, modern IIoT-enabled collaboration platforms can help organisations establish a common, shared space and IIoT systems offer significant potential to improve asset reliability, availability, and performance in both onshore and offshore/subsea oil & gas industry operations and, in many cases, support business process improvements across the supply chain
Offshore World | 26 | June - July 2015
Features communications network as soon as a problem develops. Radio and telephone voice communications and data and video feeds can be shared between a central monitoring and resolution team and remote experts. In addition, all necessary participants can share applications and desktops through the same common space. This enables them to collaborate effectively based on the latest information to be able to rapidly assess the problem and orchestrate the best solution.
IIoT technologies and solutions offer significant opportunities for improvement across both the pre-production/drilling and production/extraction phases. Security Cyber security tops the list of challenges for IIoT. Traditional security architectures have relied on a layered approach of complicated networks and systems defined by industry standards. IIoT challenges the fundamentals of the way we build and maintain networks that support industrial assets. While providing some guidance for field devices, current standards such as the ISA/IEC 62443 family of standards for industrial control systems do not adequately address pervasive IIoT architectures, such as cloud. Since IIoT typically involves a large amount of real-time production or plant data, new approaches â&#x20AC;&#x201C; such as end-point security and cloud data center security are more relevant. Platform and Software Asset connectivity is an important part of any IIoT solution, but nothing useful can result without additional platforms and software systems. Key platforms and software include connected device management (CDM) platform and enterprise mobility management platforms for smart devices, cloud, video, and application and execution software.
Collaboration Platform can Connect Remote Sites to a Team of Experts
IIoT emphasises remote access to connected machines to enable transformative business improvements. This includes field service by original equipment manufacturers (OEM). With IIoT, OEMs can greatly improve the value of their service plans through more uptime and less unplanned downtime for the equipment user. Remote device monitoring coupled with device-level service apps, advanced analytics, and information sharing help manufacturers more rapidly diagnose and troubleshoot issues in the field and dispatch local service providers to address them in a more timely fashion.
Network Connectivity Most IIoT applications will use a variety of technologies for private and public connectivity. Like any outsourced technology, the service levels must be managed to match those of the business and industrial users need visibility into the lifecycle plan of the internet technology. The application requirements for network services vary dramatically depending on location, required data rates, anticipated scaleup, and the available local services and utilities.
Upstream oil and gas production encompasses a variety of processes, activities, and equipment for developing and extracting hydrocarbons. Typically, the preproduction or development phase lasts several months (or weeks for onshore wells). This involves planning and executing a project designed to build the necessary infrastructure at the site and condition the well for extraction. The production or extraction phase can last many years or even decades. Activities can range from simple collection, to artificial lift, to occasional work-overs or well interventions, or even ongoing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or mining and processing (in the case of oil sands). IIoT technologies and solutions offer significant opportunities for improvement across both the pre-production/drilling and production/extraction phases. IIOT SYSTEMS Smart Assets and Devices IIoT starts with intelligent, connected things. In practice, this means deploying assets and devices designed and delivered with local intelligence and communications capability, or adding these capabilities to legacy assets. Smart assets can be remotely monitored and often function as a platform for new applications and services. Examples could include a highly instrumented artificial lift pump or compressor, a multiphase flowmeter, or a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Wearable devices, such as badges, wristbands, goggles, and helmets provide another example.
ARCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Industrial Internet of Things Model for Operations
Analytics As the IIoT emerges, upstream oil & gas operators will have more data to manage than ever before. In reality, many upstream operators faced Big Data challenges well before the term came into common use. Vibration, temperature and pressure sensors; strain gauges; pumps; vehicles, and all kinds of rotating equipment
Offshore World | 27 | June - July 2015
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Features will generate data that oil and gas producers can use to increase production, cut operating costs, and improve health and safety. In addition, operators may have to manage incoming data from third-party services. Ultimately, it will be analytics that liberates the value of IIoT Big Data.
Dear Readers,
IIoT Targets of Opportunity (Onshore)
Application Software The payoff from IIoT comes from the software that takes action or guides users based on information from connected devices and assets, often in conjunction with analytics. This software must be designed to carry out the particular functionality needed for a given IIoT application. The execution software should be capable of securely carrying out business logic, modeling assets, visualising processes and data, managing data storage, and integrating with other systems. Conclusion In addition to helping improve operations and maintenance activities in oil & gas activities, the IIoT can help in improving activities across the supply chain. One of the biggest causes of non-productive time is people not being able to find the right data, inability to integrate different data types and data structures and the complete lack of collaboration among operational groups. Assuming increased standardisation and data type and communications network interoperability, IIoT can be an empowering solution that helps make the holy grail of petro-technical data integration and smart oil fields a practical reality.
Tim Shea Senior Analyst ARC Advisory Group Email: TShea@arcweb.com www.oswindia.com
Offshore World (OSW), a bimonthly publication of Jasubhai Media & CHEMTECH Foundation, disseminates into the entire hydrocarbon industry from upstream to midstream to downstream. The endeavour of OSW is to become a vehicle in making “Hydrocarbon Vision 2025” a reality in terms of technologies, markets and new directions, and to stand as a medium of reflection of the achievements and aspirations of Indian hydrocarbon industry. OSW, the niche bi-monthly publication, has been extensively covered technological advances, reviews & forecasts, new products, processes & solutions, upcoming projects, market trends, R&D, events, products review, book review, industry surveys, environment management, news & views, interviews, awards, outstanding performance by individuals & organisations, case studies and practice oriented and well researched articles and features by industry experts for more than a decade. You can contribute in the magazine with technical articles, case studies, and product write-ups. The length of the article should not exceed 1500 words with maximum three illustrations, images, graphs, charts, etc. All the images should be high resolution (300 DPI) and attached separately in JPEG or JPG format. Have a look at Editorial calnder of OSW - www.oswindia.com To know more about Chemtech Foundation, Jasubhai Media and other publication and events, please our website – w w w.chemtech-online.com Thank you, Regards, Mittravinda Ranjan Editor Jasubhai Media Pvt Ltd Tel: +91 22 4037 3636 ( Dir: 40373615) E-mail: mittra_ranjan@jasubhai.com
Offshore World | 28 | June - July 2015
Features Enhancing Productivity
Enabling Big Data Benefits
in the Oil & Gas Sector The recent falling crude price and product devaluation have created huge revenue loss and business evaluation in oil & gas companies worldwide. When the industry goes through this type of phase, companies must be investing in technology to more effectively monitor operations, save energy, conserve resources, control and protect infrastructure, reduce asset downtime, and accelerate emergency responses as they change the focus from reaction and response to anticipation and prevention. Big Data systems and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are being implemented by companies as solutions to achieve these improved efficiencies in addition to their own limitations and challenges. The article explains more into this and focuses on new information management technologies to tackle challenges while working with these systems.
T
he Oil & Gas industry is constantly changing. Take the recent devaluation in product, for example. Almost overnight, companies were generating less revenue and business evaluation began to suffer. And while circumstances like these are certainly a challenge, they are nothing the industry hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t experienced before. When the industry goes through this type of phase, companies must keep in mind that the best way to deal with it is actually quite simple: priorities must change. For example, when oil is at USD 100/barrel, upstream companies are focused on getting as many new wells online as quickly as possible; inefficiencies are accepted. But when oil prices decrease to USD 50/barrel, their focus shifts to quality performance. Every asset and process can be optimised to result in more efficient operations, from initial exploration to production, transportation, processing, and final distribution to end-users. By doing this, companies can lower business costs and, as a result, help off-set the financial burdens they are experiencing due to decreased product value. One effective approach for enhancing operations involves investing in technology that features analytical tools, modeling, and optimisation components to help monitor operations and expose areas that require improvement. In addition to the short-term benefits of off-setting the aforementioned financial challenge, this approach also enables better long-term positioning. For instance, numerous case studies have shown that these types of technologies can decrease lifecycle costs by approximately 20 per cent, increase asset life by 20 per cent, and decrease energy consumption by 15 to 20 per cent. With maximised operations, companies are better poised for competitive advantage once oil prices increase again and the focus returns to quickly onboarding new wells. Big Data systems and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are being implemented as solutions by companies to achieve these improved efficiencies, which take these concepts even fur ther by applying new information
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management technologies. Big Data systems allow for integrated information flow across all divisions, departments, and operations; and they also provide incredible data indexing and modeling programmes with visualisation capabilities that provide key insight into the current state of a companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s process and identify areas for improvement. Furthermore, the predictive capabilities these tools offer enable companies to anticipate issues before they occur, providing the opportunity to address any potential problems before they impact performance. For example, a recent study from the ARC Advisory Group describes an offshore company that was able to replace a suspect seal on a water injection pump prior to failure, which ultimately saved the company USD 7.5 million in unplanned downtime. By gathering extensive information on assets and processes, Big Data systems enable Oil & Gas operations to more effectively monitor operations, save energy, conserve resources, control and protect infrastructure, reduce asset downtime, and accelerate emergency responses as they change the focus from reaction and response to anticipation and prevention. The Security Challenge Clearly, there are benefits to implementing Big Data technologies; however, companies often face two common challenges when working with these systems, and the first is security. Assuming a company is able to collect and share data, this does not mean it is being done securely. It is understandable why companies experience security challenges since they want to get field data into the enterprise, but they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to expose themselves to manin-the-middle attacks. Also, they may want to share some of their data with partner companies, but not all of it. These difficulties often stem from the previously-utilised Host-Centric model for communications, where data requests go out across a network to the field from a centralised host.
Offshore World | 30 | June - July 2015
Features
This architecture typically comes with bandwidth limitations and high costs due to the significant amount of data it handles. To accommodate low-bandwidth availability, many traditional vendor-specific protocols were developed to the minimum requirements needed to access the data within field devices. At the time, security was not a concern or a top priority. Today, however, these protocols are considered inherently insecure and put data at risk of entering the wrong hands. Enhancing Security with the Distributed C o m m u n i c a t i o n s A r c h i t e c t u r e : Co m p a n i e s can significantly reduce their securit y concerns by implementing the newly-proposed Distributed Communications Architecture, which features enhanced data security and operational efficiency. It removes data collection from centralised client applications, introducing an extra layer of security between vendorspecific protocols and the applications requesting data. In addition, it places the data collector as close to the device as possible, with less requests and responses going over the low bandwidth networks, thus improving communication efficiencies while also limiting the exposure of unsecure vendor-specific protocols. With the Distributed Communications Architecture, companies only need to rely on one secure protocol to connect any and all applications and collectors that need to share data with each other, providing security in addition to efficiency. The Data Collection Challenge The second most common challenge to implementing Big Data technologies is data collection. Many Big Data applications originated in the IT world, where data collection challenges and solutions are much different than collecting data from the field. Industrial data, especially in the Oil & Gas market, is often sent through remote, off-site technologies that feature a variety of sensors, controllers, RTUs, and flow computers that house the data needed by these applications. In addition, some of the equipment in the field is significantly outdated—meaning it wasn’t designed to share data in an efficient manner. Finally, data collecting and sharing is often provided by each of the individual equipment vendors, whose solution works solely with their own equipment and systems, complicating the process even further. Addressing Data Collection with Intelligent Data Aggregation: Ideally, all companies would have the means to start over and upgrade their outdated technologies and architectures in order to develop a model that addresses data collection challenges for Big Data systems. The reality, however, is that this type of investment is not currently feasible for most companies, and so they must come up with an alternative strategy for enabling Big Data systems to interface with their older technologies.
Fortunately, there are some suppliers, like Kepware Technologies, that are creating unique, easy to use, and cost-effective technologies that will allow companies to take advantage of Big Data solutions without making the significant financial investment needed to upgrade their entire system. We refer to this technology as ‘Intelligent Data Aggregation’. It provides a sensible option for organisations that wish to reap the benefits of Big Data solutions and data collection without being forced into a substantial initial investment—which is especially helpful if a company is dealing with financial challenges due to the ups and downs of oil prices. Intelligent data aggregation economically collects and shares data in users’ preferred format, whenever they wish to access it. The technology shares this Big Data systems allow for integrated information flow across all divisions, departments, and operations; and they also provide incredible data indexing and modeling programmes with visualisation capabilities that provide key insight into the current state of a company’s process and identify areas for improvement.
Offshore World | 31 | June - July 2015
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Features
Big Data systems enable Oil & Gas operations to more effectively monitor operations, save energy, conserve resources, control and protect infrastructure, reduce asset downtime, and accelerate emergency responses as they change the focus from reaction and response to anticipation and prevention.
data in a secure fashion directly into the supply chain in an independent and agnostic manner, so users can access the most recent information at the instant they request it. Ideally, an aggregator should provide data to Big Data applications by utilising IT-centric protocols (like SNMP, ODBC, and web services) and secure automation industry standards (like OPC UA). This allows for open connectivity between different systems to share data across remote networks. By working with these types of protocols and standards, companies will not have to deal with the challenges presented by traditional SCADA protocols, such as the transmission of large volumes of events, live unsecure information, and siloed data. Furthermore, these protocols and standards will provide the aggregator with the real-time support needed to ensure consistency in its performance and ability to communicate with existing technologies, which is key to consolidating and transferring data directly to a Big Data solution for analytics, modeling, and optimisation. Benefits of Big Data Analytics Once a company has deployed (or implemented) a proper aggregator and accompanying tools, they can begin reaping the benefits of Big Data solutions. There are a number of ways these solutions can positively impact organisations. Some of the most common benefits for Oil & Gas companies are:
Furthermore, an Intelligent Data Aggregator can be used to provide data not only to the Big Data/IIoT applications previously discussed, but also to traditional control applications like SCADA, Historian, and Measurement software—as well as to reporting tools for regulatory requirements. This ‘one-stop shopping’ approach to an enterprise’s data collection needs greatly simplifies the configuration and management of applications and provides optimal communication efficiencies across a network as it can reduce the number of redundant requests for data from devices by multiple applications that need their data. It also frees up devices to use their CPU processing power for their intended use—process control—and not for servicing needless redundant data requests. Conclusion Big Data and the Industrial Internet of Things are certainly here to stay, and they are demonstrating their value to companies within all sectors of the Oil & Gas industry. Whether a company is primarily focused on short-term or long-term goals, utilising these technologies to analyse and address efficiency issues will put them in a better position to remain a competitive player in the industry, regardless of fluctuating oil prices. With the appropriate intelligent data aggregation technology in place, operators can reap the benefits of secure, optimised data sharing without redesigning a company’s infrastructure.
Measurement: Big Data solutions can compare all process operations across oil or gas transport systems, and when they find an exception or potential issue, users are able to dig down further to examine the process, site, and or instrumentation. Measurement data can also be used for allocation and accounting purposes. Remote Troubleshooting: On a similar note, having instant access to data and operational trends means that staff no longer has to manually collect/compile data and examine it before addressing a situation. This allows potential problems to be addressed sooner and gives staff the freedom to focus on other tasks after the fact, as the Big Data software will continue monitoring that specific issue. Predictive Maintenance: As the aforementioned offshore company demonstrates, recognising and addressing equipment issues well in advance gives users the opportunity to fix them before they become a real problem, eliminating downtime that could cost a company millions of dollars. Safety: Big Data technology can improve warning sign detection and ensure compliance with safety regulations and other regulatory reporting requirements. www.oswindia.com
Offshore World | 32 | June - July 2015
Stephen Sponseller Business Director – Oil & Gas Solutions Kepware Technologies Email: steve.sponseller@kepware.com
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Features Automation Trends
Tracking the Latest Automation Trends
in Oil & Gas Industry
While today’s O&G operations are being more complex day by day due to the weak energy demand, stricter environmental and safety regulations - paucity of global resources, rising challenges of raw materials & energy cost, and deficit of skilled manpower further impact the profitability and overall performances of the industry. But the recent lows in oil prices give opportunity for the industry to embrace towards full automation that can reduce overall expenses and improving margins. The article details on multi-stream automation solutions that can enhance operations to the entire value chain of oil & gas upstream, midstream and downstream.
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epressed energy demand as well as complex environmental and safety regulations are presently making energy-efficient Oil & Gas (O&G) operations even more critical to the world’s energy mix. Moreover, global resource shortages, mounting challenges in raw material prices, rising energy costs and a decrease in skilled employees are further impacting the profitability and overall performances. But with oil prices plunging to less than one-third the all-time high, there can be no better time to test the importance of automation in reducing overall expenses and improving margins. The difference automation can make is best illustrated by an ARC Advisory Group report’s example of how an offshore company saved USD 7.5 million in unplanned downtime by the timely replacement of a suspect seal on a water injection pump before it failed. 1 Challenges and Benefits Although this example seems easy to follow, the issue isn’t as simplistic. There are many challenges in successfully using automation and the data generated from smart systems. To begin with, many systems may be from different vendors, making assimilation and decoding of data difficult since system compatibility is a big barrier. Additionally, some of the equipment may be outdated, further impacting efficiency. Using the latest automated technology from one-stop vendors offers better benefits and avoids software integration issues that arise with multi-vendor systems. The advantage of this approach – it allows O&G companies to swiftly utilise information that can anticipate and pre-empt problems, curb costs and coordinate resources in one efficient process. Such integrated solutions raise efficiency and minimise electrical network disruption. For instance, subsea power distribution and control systems can be cost-effective, highly reliable modular solutions designed to power up to 60 MVA in deep water down to 3,048 metres and long tie-backs of more than 100 km. An Integrated Automation System shall provide Seamless Control, History and Overview of complete asset with availability, safety and integrity of operational data. Maintenance and operational costs reduce by this approach while you can concentrate on managing business not asset only. It also provides platform where business and operational
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applications can be easily adapted as per business needs. Hence makes more in control of investment. Today, every O&G installation has common needs that include optimising capital expenses, minimising downtime and reducing maintenance costs. In an energy-intensive industry, energy management only grows more important with each passing year. One-stop O&G services along with extensive portfolio of Process Safety Validation, Cyber Security, Asset Management (Remote and Local) Operational Efficiencies studies and Modernisation of process automation Services and Full electrical Services including energy management expertise can achieve all efficiency goals, while reducing CO₂ emissions, ensuring regulatory compliances, Safety Validations, Cyber security, and increasing the operational and maintainance team’s performances and business profits. We can utilise Process Simulator Software for enhancing performance of aged asset by simulating different conditions for process improvements or plant modifications before implementing the same in the actual asset. This protects the investment and provides tool to check before actual investment done while avoids process disturbances and safety hazards. This Process Simulator with automation system simulator also can be used as operator training simulator enhances the operator efficiencies by training them for best and safe practices while capturing experienced operator’s skills. Similarly, complete integrated pipeline management solutions boost safety, enhance reliability and increase operational and business performance and profitability. Integrated Automated response centre also reduces response time while providing recorded evidences of overall response for future analysisimprovements and regulatory compliances. In the O&G industry, while safe and reliable operations are paramount, the additional challenge is to have the highest power availability under varying process conditions, which can impact local power generation. The challenge can be more complex when connected to a weak grid. The decades-long low in oil prices could be a blessing in disguise that nudges the industry towards full automation, which can boost margins even in tough times.
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Features
In a nutshell, automated smart O&G field solutions can benefit the industry in all three segments – upstream, midstream and downstream.
Exclusive high-performance solutions from an experienced service provider could reduce both power outages and downtime. With embedded analytics and asset manager support, such tools ensure maximum operational efficiency and productivity. Due to online simulations, there is streamlined decision-making. The enhanced energy quality then ensures longer equipment life, while maximised power improves profitability. For cost-effective, secured power across large sites in any environment, a compact, modular electrical house is the fastest way to promote uptime and safety. For offshore and onshore installations, electrical houses are imperative because an unplanned shutdown due to power loss or equipment failure could bring production to a dead stop and also compromise personnel safety, while causing significant losses. Customisable, prefabricated, and pretested, these complete and modular solutions save up to 20 per cent space and up to 15 per cent in delivery time. Multi-stream Solutions Besides, the integrated security systems with customised solutions for O&G infrastructures enhance operations upstream, midstream and downstream. O&G operations now face numerous security challenges vis-à-vis public, employee and environment safety, fire and gas protection and process risk containment. Additionally, operational safety and security needs are escalating with higher cyber and physical threats. While vulnerability varies by geography and segment, critical infrastructure needs attention 24x7x365 days a year. In such cases, best-in-class technology backed by powerful analytics can continually optimise security and efficiency.
improves process and performance; optimises power quality and operational costs as well as increases equipment life. Smart Integrated O&G Field Solutions also Help: • Maximise field operations and minimise deferred production • Reduce risks to public and environmental safety • Optimise production energy efficiency (steam, CO₂, gas, and electricity) and water management • Reliably measure and manage data, contract allocations, and enterprise data integration (product accounting and reservoir optimisation) • Ensure regulatory and fiscal compliance • Reduce total cost of ownership with highly integrated solutions. Conclusion Though recent lows in oil prices are posing one of the biggest challenges for the industry’s wellbeing, it has also thrown up unexpected opportunities for the industry to innovate and promote automation in all segments, thereby increasing efficiencies and fostering better margins even in tough times. If the industry can embrace automation in all its operations, improved profitability may once again be around the corner of the barrel. References 1. How Big Data Can Benefit Upstream Oil and Gas, Automation World.com, 15 May 2015
There is the question of fuel supply chain automation solutions too, given today’s volatile, highly-competitive petroleum fuels market, whereby businesses deal with increasingly complex processes needing faster, more frequent pricing, distribution, trading and credit decisions. This is where industry-best data management and automation solutions help successfully meet such challenges through highly reliable, real-time information. These include more efficient and integrated terminal operations via centralised control; smarter buying and selling decisions through price optimisation; real-time, automated credit, price and back-office functions; faster billing by improved reporting; and maximised return on investment from proven, integrated solutions, among other benefits. In a nutshell, automated smart O&G field solutions can benefit the industry in all three segments – upstream, midstream and downstream. In upstream operations, optimised power management for oilfields has immense benefits. In midstream, there are reliable and efficient pipeline management solutions. In downstream, energy management and control solutions can help reduce power outages and downtime. The innovative, integrated and automated approach to monitoring, security and other O&G operations ensures continuity of service; Offshore World | 35 | June - July 2015
Kiran Vyas Business Leader - Process Automation Schneider Electric India Email: kiran.vyas@schneider-electric.com www.oswindia.com
Features Pipelines Inspection
Long Range Ultrasonic Testing of Offshore Pipelines Long-Range ultrasonic Testing (LRUT) Technology was useful for integrity assessment of the oil and petrochemical industries for a method to detect corrosion in pipelines and in pipework. The aim of the LRUT inspection is to test long lengths of pipe rapidly from a single test location with 100 per cent coverage of the pipe wall and to identify areas of corrosion or erosion for further evaluation using other NDT techniques. The technique is now widely accepted and used to inspect pipes in inaccessible areas such as tubing, risers, offshore topside pipework, jetty lines, Spiral welded pipe and refinery pipework.
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n important driver that impacts the performance of a production plant, like an offshore oil and gas structure, is the high utilisation of the equipment. This can be achieved effective-efficient inspection maintenance service. While meeting the high performance goals, offshore structure must also satisfy the structural health monitoring. The maintenance of technical integrity comprises of all activities that investigate the extent of decline in performance of equipment and systems take cognizance of the degradation processes and seek to prevent further degradation or, if the level or rate is unacceptable, repair or replace the degraded component (maintenance). Inspection is one of the many dedicated activities within offshore management that contribute to controlling and minimising offshore risks. The role of inspection is to check/confirm whether degradation is occurring, to measure the progress of that degradation, and to help ensure that integrity can be maintained. The degradation of a component can take place externally and internally. The rate at which the degradation takes place at the external or internal surfaces depends upon the combination of the following parameters: Material of construction, product services (for internal degradation), Environment surrounding the part (for external degradation), Protective measures and Operating conditions. Localised damage does not interfere with the load bearing capacity of the equipment wall. Probability of failure refers to a leak at wall penetration. Uniform damage is such a large area that affects the load bearing capacity of the equipment wall. Probability of failure refers to the state when the wall ligament cannot accommodate the loading as calculated using structural reliability analyses. LONG RANGE ULTRASONIC TESTING Guided waves can propagate a long distance and are excellent for screening and
circumferential defect location analysis. Ultrasonic Guided waves propagates along the length of the structure like plates, rods, tubes, Pipelines etc confined by the boundaries of the structure. Long-range guided wave inspection technique is an effective method for rapidly screening a pipe for any service induced defects [1]. Lamb waves are propagated in plates or pipes (made of composites or metals) only a few wavelengths thick. A Lamb wave consists of a complex vibration that occurs throughout the thickness of the material. The propagation characteristics of Lamb waves depend on the density, elastic properties, and structure of the material as well as the thickness of the test piece and the frequency. The wave is guided by the geometric boundaries of the medium; the geometry has a strong influence on the behavior of the guided wave [2-6]. The long range, guided wave ultrasonic technique was developed for the rapid pipe line inspection, to detect internal and external metal loss and also it can find other pipe line defects such as any mechanical damage. The oil and gas industries now use it for detection of corrosion and other metal loss defects and it has gained acceptance as a valid means of assessing the condition of pipes and pipelines where conventional ultrasound test is difficult, expensive and it takes a lot of time. During long range ultrasonic test a series of transducer in form of three or more rings is used to transmit and receive of Lamb ultrasonic wave. Lamb Wave propagation properties in pipe lines are extremely complicated. Lamb wave have several mode of propagation in two modes of wave, torsional, longitudinal and flexural modes, so that related to pipe line diameter and thickness, selecting proper frequency and wave mode with the least dispersion is very important during the practical exam (Figure 1). The state-of-the-art of guided waves utilisation defect sizing is limited. The focusing technique developed by Li and Rose [7] is used to increase the detection potential and to achieve a sizing possibility. Guided waves were performed to detect and study defect circumferential location, circumferential length and depth.
Figure 1: Dispersion curve showing phase velocity verse frequency for the tube of OD 101.6 mm and wall thickness 8.56 mm of carbon steel material. www.oswindia.com
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Features Guided waves can propagate in cylindrical type of structure with three types of wave modes; those are Longitudinal, Torsional, and Flexural modes. The selection of the wave mode will be dependent on the DISPERSION CURVE. A major complication for guided wave systems as distinct from conventional ultrasonic inspections is the dispersive nature of guided waves; that is to say, the velocity of most guided waves varies with their frequency.
Inspection is one of the many dedicated activities within offshore management that contribute to controlling and minimising offshore risks.
How Long Range Ultrasonic Testing Helps – Offshore Pipework Due to limited accessibility and time constraint, on-line and remote inspection is most preferable for offshore pipework. LRUT is being capable of performing online/offline and for a long diagnostic range with single test location. It can be suggested that Guided Waves is a suitable technique for inspection of the pipelines over very long distances, and can be efficiently used instead of conventional ultrasonic methods which are based on point by point inspection. It offers wide inspection capabilities with minimum surface clearance requirements.
S. No. Parameters
Description
1
Sensitivity
3-9 % of “cross-sectional area” change - depends on the background noise ratio
2
Frequency
10 to 100 kHz
3
Wave – operating mode
Longitudinal, Torsional & Flexural
4
Pipe size Tested
2-inch to 48-inch diameter pipe
5
Inspection range
10 to 125 m diagnostic length; the effective range depend on pipeline geometr y (diameter, number of weld joints, elbows, branches) and pipeline state (pipeline above ground or buried, pipeline coated or uncoated)
6
Time required for inspection
A few minutes once the collar fixed on the pipeline
EQUIPMENT The Guided Wave long range ultrasonic testing is a process of rapidly surveying pipelines from a single test location by generating low frequency ultrasonic guided waves through the material boundary. Test Equipment - The Plant Integrity Limited Teletest® MK4 FOCUS system (Figure 2). Multi-Channel transmitters and receivers for controlling the wave propagation direction and the system have Frequency Range from 20 kHz to 100 kHz. Multi-frequency data analysis is used for finding different size of defects. Focusing Technique will give support to defect confirmation and finding the location on the pipeline on the clock wise. Inspection was carried out using Teletest Focus+ diagnostic system developed by PI, UK and based on piezoelectric transducer technology. Tool (collar) installation is possible for the monitoring the pipelines. The features of the system are given in Table 1. Piezoelectric transducer uses the direct and inverse piezoelectric effect that occurs in materials. It is possible to induce ultrasonic wave propagation along the pipeline as the longitudinal and torsional wave modes. The presence of defects due to corrosion and pipe features along the pipeline generates a reflected wave which will be detected by the same piezoelectric transducer tool that were used in the transmission using the inverse piezoelectric effect.
Table 1: Main features of Teletest Focus+ diagnostic system.
CASE STUDY – PIPELINES INSPECTION & RESULTS Inspection of Smaller dia. using Piezoelectric Transducer System The generation of the torsional wave mode is possible for better sensitivity and long diagnostic range. The data acquisition and signal generation part comprises by using Teletest Focus+ system. The output of the inspection will be in terms of cross sectional area (CSA) % reflection and corresponding distance as represented in the scan in Figure 3 (A & B).
LRUT inspection was conducted on CS material Job Details: 4” OD *8.56 mm thickness Test frequency used: 36 kHz Test Wave mode: Torsional Diagnostic length: -24.18 m to 98.89 m
Figure 2: Multi-Mode’ Teletest® Equipment
Figure 3A: Scan plot taken both forward and backward side with respect to tool location and their % of Reflection amplitudes. Offshore World | 37 | June - July 2015
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Features Inspection of Higher dia. using Piezoelectric Transducer System: LRUT inspection was conducted on CS material Job Details: 30” OD *12.65 mm thickness
CONCLUSION Piezoelectric transducer on long range pipelines in-service systems and also their ability for a long range ultrasonic inspection could be used to monitor the offshore pipe network & jetty lines for any damages due to degradation mechanisms.
Test frequency used: 27 kHz ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors express their sincere gratitude to Sievert India Pvt Ltd (A Bureau Veritas Company) for permitting to carry out the investigation and also permitting to publish the results.
Test Wave mode: Torsional Diagnostic length: -48.4m to 46.7m
Figure 3B: Scan plot taken both forward and backward side with respect to tool location and their % of Reflection amplitudes.
The greater the S/N ratio the easier it is to identify and interpret signals from small change of cross-sectional area (CSA) of the pipeline.
References 1. Kwun, H. And Kim, S. Y., G. M. Kight, “The magnetostrictive sensor technology for long range guided wave testing and monitoring of structure”, Mater. Eval. 61:80-84, 2003. 2. M. Redwood, Mechanical Wave Guides, the Propagation of Acoustic and Ultrasonic Waves in Fluids and Solids with Boundries, Pergamon, New York (1960). 3. J.D.ACHENBACH, WAVE PROPAGATION IN Elastic Solids, Elsevier, New York (1975). 4. H.Kwun, K.A.Bartels “Magnetostrictive Sensor Technology and it’s Applications” Ultrasonic 36 (1998) 171-178 5. Hegeon Kwun ,Sang –Young Kim ,and Glenn M.Light “Long Range Guided Wave Inspection of Structures Using the Magnetostrictive Sensor” (2001) 6. “REVIEW PAPER ON APPLICATION OF MAGNETOSTERCIVE SENSOR TECHOLOGY” Glenn M. Light, Ph.D., Hegeon Kwan, Ph.D., Sang Y. Kim, Ph.D., Albert Parvin, SWRI 7. Li, J., and Rose, J.L., 2001, “Excitation and Propagation of Non-axisymmetric Guided Waves Hollow Cylinder,” JASA, 109, pp. 457-464
The signals are represented in distance against amplitude scale. The data analysis and the reporting is done using DAC plot. Since their velocity is influenced by wall thickness, guided waves exhibit their most important characteristic for NDT that of being sensitive to changes in wall thickness.
Prawin K Sharan ANDT Engineer Sievert India Pvt Ltd E-mail: sharanprawin@sievert.in
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Offshore World | 38 | June - July 2015
Features Real-time Optimisation
Wireless Technology for Automation Industry With the advancement of time and technology, wireless technology has replaced by the pneumatic transmission, wired transmission, wired communication method, etc in transmitting signals from control room to remote areas for data processing. While wireless technology has many advantages as well as own limitations, the article urges that it is the responsibility of design centers to choose whether to implement wireless technology towards real time and accurate data processing, and how to overcome its limitations.
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he process industry is predominantly dependent on reliable and accurate measurement, controls and shutdown functionalities for safe and optimum plant operations. Transmission of signals for process control or for safety system applications are critical for centralised processing.
expansions. These are critical steps towards achieving the following: • Flexibility for multivendor interoperability • Integration between the wired instrument systems and wireless instrumentation • Interfacing between field devices and state of the art IT systems
The industry has seen considerable evolution in the types of signal being utilised for transmitting the field data to the control room for further processing. With every technology evolution, a transition of signals has happened, from tubes, to wires and now the new wave, wireless.
Wireless technology has been in existence for quite a long time now. There are various wireless systems today, with applications utilising RF signals, RF ID systems and cell phones.
In the early days, pneumatic mediums were utilised to transmit field signals to remote locations. Tubes were utilised for transmission of these pneumatic signals to the control room, or to a centralised panel in the field. The signal levels were in the range of 3 to 15 psi. With time and technological advancement, the pneumatic transmission was overshadowed with wired transmission by means of low powered electrical signals (mA, mV). As for any new system, acceptance of this step change met with resistance, and the industry took some time to accept this wired communication method. With further development, digital technology started taking the place of low powered electrical signals. The next huge step in signal transmission took place with the establishment of wireless technology. Wireless technology has many advantages, but at the same time has its own limitations. It is the responsibility of design centers to choose whether to implement wireless technology towards real time and accurate data processing, and how to overcome its limitations. Basics of Wireless Technology The ISA100 committee of the Instrument Society of Automation is responsible for the standardisation and generation of guidelines for the implementation of wireless devices and systems for industrial applications. This committee was formed in 2005, and comprises of experts from various verticals of the industry, like manufacturers, technology providers, experts from networking, and end users. The committee developed a set of standards known as the ISA 100 family of standards. The most relevant for our industry is the ISA 100.11a, Wireless Systems for Industrial Automation: Process Control and Related Applications. As the title describes, this standard has been developed considering the requirements for the automation of process control applications. The ISA100.11a standard deals with technologies which ensure high reliability and openness, and enable network
Considering this scenario, the co-existence of an additional set of devices for automation, apart from those already available, did not pose a major challenge in terms of signal. However, wireless devices can only utilise battery power, which therefore requires a shift from direct power usage to operability on portable batteries. Wireless operates in the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) radio band that typically operates from 2.400-2.480 GHz. The exact frequency limitations and RF output power levels may differ from country to country. The ISM radio bands are license-free, but do require approval from governmental regulating agencies. These approvals are typically obtained by the wireless vendor. Since multiple vendors can use the same spectrum for various applications, wireless technologies must be able to successfully coexist. Multiple techniques are utilised to enable the coexistence of various wireless applications: • Network segmentation – Provision of a unique ID • Spectrum isolation – Operations in different portions within the spectrum • Hopping – Self-organising mesh networks can hop on different paths, as required by different RF conditions, thus avoiding the obstacles offered by other RF devices • Utilisation of different channels – Use of 15 channels within the 2.4 GHz spectrum • Data encoding - Transmitting unique encoded data • Scheduled transmission of data – Pre-scheduled transmission of data to reduce interference Applications of Wireless Field Devices Today wireless devices are available for every practical application in process automation environments. The brief spectrum of applications where there are options for utilising wireless instruments is as follows: • Measurement instruments - Available for measurement of pressure flow, level and temperature process parameters • Analytical instruments - PH measurement • Discrete and position monitoring - Valve position indicators
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Features • Machinery health monitoring system - Vibration monitoring devices, corrosion monitoring, winding temperature
Transmission of signals for process control or for safety system applications are critical for centralised processing.
Wireless Network Design Considerations The decision to utilise wireless technology for field instrumentation needs to be taken at the early stage of the project, preferably at the FEED stage. The drivers for utilisation of wireless devices and networks shall be evaluated and analysed from the points of view of reliability, availability, the risk associated, economics, delivery and nature of the project. Once the decision of utilisation of wireless technology is confirmed, then proper planning needs to be embedded in the project execution for implementation of this wireless technology.
• Any special requirements for the conditions to be achieved during loss of power supply to the field devices
The types of process monitoring and control signals that need to be performed via wireless should be considered. This assessment should be based on the criticality of the loops, the acceptance of the delayed dynamic updates at the control system, and the availability and reliability of devices in the market for the selected applications. The current industry practices are more focused on monitoring loops and the extension of certain control loops. An area where a focus shift is visible, however, is with regard to the machinery health monitoring systems, such as motor winding temperatures and vibration devices, as well as applications required for maintenance and accessibility for the lifecycle of the equipment. Once the philosophy for allocation of wireless devices is confirmed, a technical specification for the wireless system needs to be outlined. The wireless system shall comprise of field devices, the wireless gateway and the interfacing between the gateway and the main plant control system. For field devices, the specification should include the technical performance requirements (accuracy, repeatability etc.) based on the following: • Applications • Device battery life, corresponding to the process parameter update time • Type of antenna, material of construction for the device • Certification requirements • Maintenance spares identification • Type of network for communication from the field devices to the wireless gateway • Distance between the location of the devices and the wireless gateway Battery life becomes important from the maintenance perspective, especially when the sites of the installations are remote from the main control rooms, and the cost of each visit has to be considered. The industry is now working towards a controlled maintenance regime, and frequent visits for battery changes would significantly increase the operation cost.Frequent data transmission from field devices to the gateway requires more power and negatively impacts the battery life. Hence, the key is assessing how often updated process data is required from each application. From the data gathering and processing aspect, the technical requirements should identify: • The wireless gateway interfaces with the main control system • The redundancy requirements of communications between the wireless gateway and main control systems • Future expansion needs for the wireless gateway sizing • The type of communication • Software needs www.oswindia.com
All the above requirements along with the plant equipment layouts shall be utilised as guidelines for the lifecycle procurement of the field devices and the wireless gateway. The supplier’s site visit is always recommended to identify: • Mapping of the field devices • The physical obstacles in the path of the field devices and the wireless gateway, to enable early identification of repeaters in the project • Location of the wireless gateway and the gateway antenna • Determining the type of antenna • Identify the cable length between the gateway and the antenna • Any other check points as required by the manufacturer for proper functioning of the entire system Integrated testing of the entire system, comprising of the plant main control system, gateway and random field devices, is highly recommended. The test should be performed as per the functional design specification of the system. This will avoid any delays due to interfacing issues between the two systems. Commercial Advantages Cost benefits are the key driver for adopting wireless technologies. The advantages include the following: • Adoption of wireless networks can create high economic savings as compared to the wired alternative. The installation time is considerably reduced and this facilitates faster mechanical completion and start-up. Engineering costs are reduced as there is no need for generation of deliverables such as junction box schedule, drum schedules, and cable route diagrams. • Availability of remote information - Replacing manual readings with automated measurement results in information that is more accurate, reliable and dynamic. This also reduces visits by the operator to hazardous areas. • Scaling - Engineering the system for future expansion facilitates quick augmentation of the existing system. • Operational savings - Remote data availability will contribute to a quick diagnosis of any issues, as well as swift troubleshooting. This will also facilitate in the prediction maintenance programme. • Migration of existing plant - Upgrading an existing plant to automation wireless system has a considerable economic benefit and minimises the plant downtime. Conclusion Wireless technology has multiple benefits if the system is selected appropriately. Although the current applications are more concentrated on monitoring and controls, the coming years could see further technological developments, such as the extension of wireless technology to safety shutdown systems.
Offshore World | 40 | June - July 2015
Parag Mantri Department Manager – Instruments Aker Powergas Pvt Ltd Email: Parag.Mantri@akersolutions.com
Features
Submarine Pipeline Ball Valves: Technical Features, Selection & Testing Criteria The article explains on the technical features, selection and testing criteria of submarine pipeline ball valves in detail.
S
ubmarine Pipeline Ball Valves are produced by large number of manufacturer worldwide. Valves are of actuated/non-actuated and of quarter-turn valve which uses a hollow, perforated and pivoting ball to control flow. It opens when the ball’s hole is in line with the flow and closed when it is pivoted 90-degrees by the valve. Ball valves are durable, performing well after many cycles, and reliable, closing securely even after long periods of use. The performance criteria make an excellent choice for shutoff applications.
which require pigging. Ball Valve can be reduced port commonly known as reduced bore ball valve. The flow through the valve is one pipe size smaller than the valve’s pipe size resulting flow area smaller than pipe section. As the flow discharge remains constant and is equal to area of flow (A) time’s velocity (V), the velocity increases with reduced area of flow: A1 X V1 = A2 X V2
The ball valve is easy to operate, repair and versatile use portrays to extensive industrial use and withstanding pressure up to 1000 bar and temperature up to 752°F (500°C), depending on design and materials used. The size range is typically from 2 to 48 inches. API 6D / ISO 14313 are applicable standards for material selection, dimensional requirement, design features and testing criteria. Wetted parts metallic, nonmetallic and lubricants shall be suitable for the fluid and services complying project specification. Allowable stress shall comply the requirements of ASME B31.3. Corrosion allowance shall be considered and minimum wall thickness shall not be less than the requirement of ASME B 16.34. Valve design shall ensure repair of stem seals / gland packing under full line pressure. The valves shall sustain internal vacuum of five mille-bar in open and closed positions. Ball valves in sizes up to 2 inches generally come in single piece, two or three piece design. One piece ball valves are almost always reduced bore design and relatively inexpensive and generally are throw-away. Two piece ball valves are slightly reduced (or standard) bore and they can be either throw-away or repairable. The 3 piece design allows for the centre part of the valve containing the ball, stem & seats to be easily removed from the pipeline. This facilitates efficient cleaning of deposited sediments, replacement of seats and gland packing’s, polishing out of small scratches on the ball, all this without removing the pipes from the valve body. The design concept of a three piece valve that it shall be easily repairable and re-usable. Valve shall be designed to avoid bimetallic corrosion between carbon steel and alloy steel parts. Valves shall be provided with anti-static device to ensure electrical continuity between stem & valve body.
Ball shall be of single piece solid type construction & ball mounting shall be trunnion type only. The design shall minimise the possibility of debris ingress into the trunnion. A trunnion ball valve has additional mechanical anchoring of the ball at the top and bottom, suitable for larger and higher pressure valves (say, above 10 cm and 40 bars). Valves shall have double block & bleed feature as per API 6D for complete flush, drain & venting of body cavity. Seat shall be with primary metal to metal contact type. Non-metallic O-rings if used for drip tight sealing shall encased in suitable groove so that it cannot be removed from seat ring and there is no extrusion during opening or closing operation of valve at maximum differential pressure corresponding to valve class ratings. Seat ring design in such a way to ensure sealing at low as well as high differential pressure. The minimum thick overlay of 4.0 mm of corrosion resistant material deposited by welding for the internal surface of valve body in contact with valve seat.
Ball Valves can be full port commonly known as full bore ball valve. This has an over-sized ball so that the hole in the ball is same as pipeline diameter; resulting in lower frictional loss. Flow is unrestricted but the valve is larger and more expensive and only used where free flow is required; for example in pipelines Offshore World | 41 | June - July 2015
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Features Ball valves seals shall be provided on the valve body to prevent leakage from the valve to prevent seawater leakage into valve under as installed conditions. External hydrostatic pressure to be considered in design shall correspondence to a pressure of 1.5 times the hydrostatic head at the installation position, with ball kept in partially open position. Duration of such field test shall be minimum of 24 hours. The valve ends shall be either flanged or butt welded or one end flanged and one end butt welded as per project requirement. Flanges of the flanged end cast body valves shall be integrally cast with the body & face to face / end to end dimensions shall conform to API6D/ASME B 16.10. The Flanged ends if specified shall have flanges as per ASME B 16.5 for valve sizes up to 24’’ excluding 22’’ & as per MSS-SP-44/ASME B 16.47 Series A for valve sizes 22’’ & for 26’’ & above. The valves with butt welded end preparation shall be as per ANSIB 16.25 & thickness of pipe to which valves has to be welded shall be as per project requirement & should not be with transition pups. In case of difference exists in connecting pipe & valve neck end the bevel end for valve shall be prepared as per the standard ANSI B 31.8 or ANSI B 31.4 Testing Requirements: Body casting of valves shall be radiographically examined on the surface of all critical areas as per ASME B 16.34 and all acceptance criteria shall meet the applicable standard. Valves bodies manufactured by forging shall be ultrasonically examined with the acceptance criterial as per ASME B 16.34 Annexure – E. The internal surfaces of all casting shall be met magnetic particle examination as per the method & acceptance criteria with ASME B16.34. All final machining bevel surface shall be inspected by Dye penetration or magnetic particle methods. Valves shall be tested in compliance with the requirement of API 6D & during pressure testing valve shall not have sealant lines & other cavities filled with sealant or any other foreign material. Drain, Vent & Sealant lines shall be included in the hydrostatic shall test or tested independently. The test pressure shall be held for at least 30 minutes & no leakage is permissible during hydrostatic testing & air seat test as per API 6D Appendix C, Para C 3.3 Type II shall be carried out for valves. Bubble tight seal is required without the use of any sealant & no leakage is allowed. This test pressure shall be held for at least 15 minutes.
The ball valve is easy to operate, repair and versatile use portrays to extensive industrial use and withstanding pressure up to 1000 bar and temperature up to 752°F (500°C).
Valve cyclic test shall be carried out at least 500 open – close – open cycles with maximum differential pressure corresponding to the valve rating. Operating Torque Test: For Manual & Actuated operated valves shall be as per operating torque test as per API 6D – Appendix C, Para C.6 under hydraulic pressure equal to the maximum differential pressure corresponding to the ANSI class rating of valve. Torque operational tests shall be performed subsequently to hydrostatic shell test & prior to hydrostatic & air seat tests. Valves with actuator shall be tested after assembly of the valve & actuator at the valve manufacturing unit & at least five open – close – open cycles without internal pressure & five cycles with maximum differential pressure corresponding to the valve rating shall be performed on the valve actuator assembly. Hand operator provided on the actuator shall also be checked for satisfactory manual over – ride performance. Painting and Protections: The surface preparation shall be done by shot blasting to SP-6 in accordance with SSPC– VIS-I. Valves surface shall be cleaned thoroughly free from grease & rust with applied coats of corrosion resistant paint suitable for marine application & also suitable for long term sub-sea service. In addition to corrosion resistant paint, entire valve surface shall be provided with suitable antifouling coating to overcome rapid growth of fouling marine growth during operational life cycle of the valve. Points requiring access during diver operation shall be coated with phosphorescent/radium materials which can absorb the light & retain glow so that points can be identified before operation of valves. Bolts & nuts exposed to seawater environment shall be coated with PTFE or shall be plated with zinc as per ASTM B633 Type II SC3 or Xylan coated. Valves shall be marked as per API6D & water depth to which valve has been designed to be installed shall be indicated clearly on the body. Sealant lines & cavities of shall be filled with sealant. The Threaded & machined area subject to corrosion shall be well protected by suitable material as per manufacturers practice. Protectors for flange faces shall be fitted to the valves & bevel ends shall be protected with metallic or plastic bevel protectors. Packing & shipping instruction shall be as per API 6 D.
Vinod Daftari Dy General Manager – Business Development Bray Controls India Pvt Ltd Email: vinod.daftari@bray.com www.oswindia.com
Offshore World | 42 | June - July 2015
Features Energy Watch
Energy Commodities Exhibit Range-bound Price Movement Price Review May-June 2015 Overall, energy commodities exhibited range-bound price movement in the two-month period of May and June 2015. Warmer weather induced gas demand in US led NYMEX natural gas futures to jump the most among all energy commodities, by 2.94 per cent. On the other hand, NYMEX heating oil, dipped the most i.e. by 4.54 per cent aided by a rise in its stock levels in US.
N
YMEX (CME) crude oil (light sweet) futures started the month of April at USD 59.15 per barrel down by 0.8 percent pressured by reports that Iraq’s crude exports rose to a 30-year high as production from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries stood at its highest level since late 2012. Later, oil prices further moved up as protests at a Libyan oil port fed concerns over supplies. Adding support to oil prices, the European Commission raised its economic growth forecast for the Eurozone, while US data also showed that services activity rose more than expected in April. Subsequently, with weekly government data showing that US crude inventories fell unexpectedly, NYMEX crude oil futures registered its eventual two-month high of USD 62.58 per barrel on May 6. Thereafter, worries over addition of Iranian oil supplies to the existing oversupplied market with possible lifting of sanctions as part of a deal with world powers over its nuclear program, pushed oil prices down. In fact, AFP reported, citing comments from top government officials in Tehran, that a nuclear agreement would allow Iran to become the No. 1 energy player in the Middle East. However, oil prices quickly turned range-bounded as reporting of fall in US oil-rig counts and an upbeat monthly jobs report led to some recovery in oil prices. Later even as market participants contemplated oil demand outlook after China cut interest rates for the third time in six months, contrasting data release kept oil prices range-bounded. While the Energy Information Administration
reported a bigger-than-expected, second straight weekly decline in US crude inventories, the International Energy Agency data showed that the world’s major oil producers continue to ramp up production. Overall though, a global glut of crude supplies and indications that oil producers will continue to boost output kept price movement slightly southbound. Further, clashes in Iraq and Yemen as against disappointing US economic data (consumer sentiment, industrial production etc.) dulling the outlook for energy demand kept oil prices range-bounded. However, in the fag-end of the month of May, strength in US dollar on stronger-than-expected reading on inflation as well as on falling euro over worries about a potential Greek default pushed oil prices down. Eventually crude oil futures on May 28 stooped down to the eventual two-month-low of USD 56.51 on NYMEX platforms. Following the registering of two-month low, reporting of fourth straight weekly decline in US crude oil inventories as well as a drop in the number of active oil drilling rigs in US for a 25th week in a row led to a sharp recovery in oil prices. But then estimate showing strong oil output in May from OPEC and a smaller-than-expected gain in China’s May factory activity - dulling the outlook for energy demand pulled oil prices back. Oil prices then continued to trade range-bounded on upbeat comments by Saudi Arabia’s oil minister that their strategy to defend market share is working as against US production levels
Futures price movement (May - June 2015)
220
63 211 61 202 59
193
184
175
57 NYMEX Heating oil (USd/gal) - LHS
NYMEX Gasoline (USd/gal) - LHS
NYMEX WTI crude oil (USD/barrel)
ICE Rotterdam Monthly Coal (USD/MT)
55
Source: Bloomberg
Offshore World | 45 | June - July 2015
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Features
7.8
Futures price movement (May - June 2015)
3.1
7.6
2.95
7.4
2.8
7.2
2.65 ICE-ECX EUAs (Euro/tonne) - LHS
NYMEX Natural gas (USD/mmBtu)
7
2.5
Source: Bloomberg
failing to decline. Later, while OPEC’s decision not to change its production ceiling pushed oil prices down, a report showing a 26th straight weekly decline in the number of actively drilling US oil rigs helped quick recovery in oil prices. Later, signs of an overall slowdown in US crude production expected later in the year (according to a monthly US government report) helped some rise in oil prices. Subsequently, weekly US oil inventory report showing fall in crude supplies for a sixth straight week and Islamic State’s assaults on Libya’s largest oil terminal, added to rise in oil prices. But again by mid-May fluctuations in U.S. dollar against a backdrop of Greece’s potential debt default kept oil prices range-bounded. Thereafter, while a weekly report showing a sizable increase in crude oil stockpiles at the NYMEX futures delivery hub in Oklahoma, news that US Federal Reserve will be patient in raising interest rates, thus pressuring dollar ensured oil prices stayed range-bounded. Contrasting factors continued i.e. a seventh straight week of falling US crude inventories as against expectations of a further rise in Saudi crude output, worries over energy demand on the heels of Greece’s ongoing debt drama – kept oil prices range-bounded. Overall, oil prices headed down the month largely due to uncertainty surrounding the financial crisis in Greece and likelihood of a potential deal between Western powers and Iran – thus potentially add to a global glut of crude supplies. Finally, NYMEX crude oil futures closed the two-month period a fall of just 0.27 per cent at USD 59.47.
Another energy commodity, ICE Rotterdam monthly coal futures prices traded range-bounded, ultimately closing the two month period with a marginal rise of 0.67 per cent. Initially, weak global economic sentiments especially from China and Europe dulling demand outlook amidst ample supply pushed coal prices down. Later by the end of June, coal prices recovered as a heatwave in Europe buoyed power demand. Finally in the emission segment, EUA (European Union Allowances) futures traded on ICE platform, too exhibited range-bound price movement. Political uncertainty around a Greek exit, kept market participants cautious as Grexit would likely weigh on the euro and wider EU economic recovery which, in turn, could curtail industrial production in the bloc and hence EUAs demand to cover the associated pollution. Earlier in May, EU institutions provisionally agreed to install a buffer mechanism, called the market stability reserve, to tackle oversupply of EUAs. (The views expressed by the authors are their personal opinions.)
Subdued crude oil price movement and rising US heating oil inventory levels pushed NYMEX heating oil futures prices down by 4.54 per cent during the two-month period of May and June. On the other hand, NYMEX (CME) gasoline futures prices moved up by 1.95 per cent helped by strong gasoline demand signals especially with US summer-driving season kicking in amidst a fall in US gasoline supplies. The other major energy commodity, NYMEX (CME) natural gas futures prices moved up 2.94 per cent in the two-month period of May-June. Warmer weather especially in June throughout much of the US, lifting prospects for cooling demand and potential for a storm in the Gulf of Mexico – a key natural gas producing region, feeding concerns over gas supply helped rise in gas prices. www.oswindia.com
Offshore World | 46 | June - July 2015
Niteen M Jain Senior Analyst, Department of Research & Strategy Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd E-mail: niteen.jain@mcxindia.com Nazir Ahmed Moulvi Senior Analyst, Department of Research & Strategy Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd E-mail: nazir.moulvi@mcxindia.com
OSW marketing initiative
McCrometer’s FPI-X Mag Flow Meter Solves Tough Application Challenge for the City of Cedar Rapids
A
fter more than 24 months of analysis, the Water Division operations and maintenance team at the City of Cedar Rapids, IA, reports that McCrometer’s FPI-X™ Mag flow meters have greatly improved accuracy and nearly eliminated maintenance problems experienced with strap-on ultrasonic flow meters at its booster stations. Water plant instrument technicians first installed the new FPI-X Mag meters in January 2012 and have now monitored them for nearly two years. Brian Jess, an Instrument Technician from the City of Cedar Rapids Water Division, said, “We spent some time looking closely at various flow meters, and the FPI-X Mag track record is outstanding as compared to previous meters. The FPI-X Mag is reliable for operations staff, its maintenance is next to nil, it’s easy to take out if needed…overall, you could say I’m ecstatic with the product.” Plant operations and instrument technicians determined in 2011 that they needed to replace under-performing flow meters in two booster stations as well as in their water intake system. Their existing flow meters were strap-on ultrasonic transittime meters. They were susceptible to electrical and radio frequency interference from electrical equipment in the station, such as the pumps’ variable frequency drives.The City of Cedar Rapids Water Division treats and distributes ground water from alluvial wells (Figure 1). The Water Division has over 50,000 metered accounts, including residential, commercial and industrial, and serves a population base of around 128,000 people. The Problem The City of Cedar Rapids water distribution system includes two booster stations: The J Avenue NE Booster Station has eight vertical turbine pumps. The Bowling Booster Station SW operates with three horizontal split case centrifugal pumps. Accurate water flow measurement at the booster stations is critical to maintaining the system water supply and service to its customers.
interference, they were also maintenance intensive. Their ultrasonic transducers required frequent cleaning and re-greasing to maintain measurement accuracy at an acceptable level. When the city’s water division team began the process of selecting a new type of meter, they knew water quality also played a role in their decision-making. The plant technicians were aware that condensation and exterior pipe wall rust could contribute to transducer maintenance if they opted for new ultrasonic flow meters. In addition, the team was constrained by an application with little straight run pipe and an irregular flow profile. Many flow meter sensing technologies require multiple lengths of straight pipe to produce a stable flow profile in order to provide accurate measurement. Full bore meters also were not a feasible option due to space limitations. Measuring flow in booster stations such as those found in the City of Cedar Rapids is both important and difficult. Accurate flow measurement at booster stations can impact both the supply and delivery of water. Challenges can include managing multiple pumps and a variety of line sizes, dealing with interference issues and retrofitting existing piping configurations. The Solution The City of Cedar Rapids Water Division contacted the applications team at McCrometer for analysis of its flow measurement needs. The company’s applications team reviewed the situation in Cedar Rapids and recommended the FPI-X Mag flow meters with dual sensor assemblies (Figure 2).
The clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters in service at the two booster stations were not only underperforming and susceptible to electrical and radio frequency
The FPI-X product configuration is the newest line extension of the successful FPI Mag® product line from McCrometer. As Greg Webster, Sr. Applications Specialist at McCrometer describes, “Our traditional FPI Mag has been on the market for about 3 years now and is seeing wide acceptance in municipal and industrial markets. For the bulk of the applications we see, our FPI Mag is the perfect fit. However, there are specific applications where the FPI-X configuration is best. McCrometer
Figure 1: City of Cedar Rapids Water Treatment System
Figure 2: FPI-X Mag Flow Meter Offshore World | 47 | June - July 2015
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OSW marketing initiative
Figure 3: FPI-X FM Installed At SW Bowling Booster Station
Figure 4: FPI-X FM Installed At NE J Avenue Booster Station
developed the FPI-X to accurately measure flow from multiple pumps in series and can measure flow where almost no other technology can.” Analysis under simulated flow conditions at McCrometer’s Flow Lab determined that the FPI-X Mag meter’s dual sensor assembly provided the best solution to handle the challenging flow variances at the booster stations. In addition, the FPI-X Mag meter’s insertion-style design allowed for easy installation within the city’s tight space requirements. The meter’s unique design features two insertion-style multi-point sensor assemblies oriented at 90 degrees from each other in an “X” configuration. The advantage of the dual sensor “X” configuration is that it averages over the complete 2-dimensional cross section of the pipe, resulting in the FPI-X being less sensitive to major upstream flow disturbances such as the swirling and turbulent flow generated by pumps. Tariq Baloch, Water Utility Plant Manager for the City of Cedar Rapids Water Division, has been impressed with McCrometer’s level of field and factory support while making the purchase and throughout product ownership. “The support received was exemplary, and we’ve worked with a lot of different vendors,” Tariq said. McCrometer’s FPI Mag meter also stood out to the city’s team because of its economical product cost, low total installation cost, low overall cost of ownership and high accuracy. Its multi-point electromagnetic flow sensing design provides accurate measurement under turbulent flow conditions and high repeatability in the city’s demanding water quality environments. Bill Connolly, another city Instrument Technician, says, “The FPI-X Mag is between maintenance free and maintenance friendly. We don’t get any of the interference that occurs with ultrasonic models. The FPI-X Mag is easy to set up and very accurate. “ Cedar Rapids’ new FPI-X Mag dual sensor assembly units have been operational for over 24 months at both of the city’s booster station sites. One FPI-X Mag meter was installed on the single 30-inch line at the SW Bowling Booster Station to measure accurately the flow from its three centrifugal pumps (Figure 3). Two FPI-X Mag meters were needed at the NE J Avenue Booster Station, each measuring the total output of four vertical turbine pumps on two 24-inch lines (Figure 4). Webster also notes, “The FPI-X configuration is well suited for exactly the types of applications found in Cedar Rapids. The FPI-X Mag performs well in situations where you have multiple pumps and pipes coming into a common header. You get all the benefits of our traditional FPI Mag: easy installation, low total installed cost and high accuracy. In addition, the FPI-X configuration allows the sensor to www.oswindia.com
Figure 5: FPI-X Electromagnetic Fields
measure in particularly tough flow profiles. Rather than place a meter on every individual pump, the FPI-X Mag allows you to measure in one location, while still measuring the overall output of multiple pumps.” The FPI-X Mag meters at the booster stations provide operational information through a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system so plant staff can maintain suitable flow rates to fill water storage towers and maintain totalized flow records from each station. The flow meters also provide up-to-date information on the condition of the distribution system in the affected pressure districts. Featuring a next-generation mag meter design unlike anything else on the market, McCrometer’s FPI-X Mag flow meter takes accuracy and ease-of-use to a new level. With its precision multi-point flow sensing technology and efficient hot tap installation method, which eliminates the need for extra labor, heavy equipment, or line shut down, this innovative mag meter delivers superior performance, convenience and total installation cost savings of up to 45 per cent. Unlike any other insertion mag meter which only measures at a single point, the FPI-X Mag meter’s advanced multi-electrode sensor compensates for swirl or turbulent flow profiles (Figure 5). The electrodes, which are placed across the entire sensor body, continuously measure and report the average flow rate across the full diameter of the pipe, delivering accuracy comparable to the performance of a full-bore mag meter. The FPI-X Mag flow meter’s signal converter features an advanced filtering algorithm to support accuracy of ± 0.5% from 1 ft/s to 32 ft/s (0.3 m/s to 10 m/s) and of ± 1% from 0.3 ft/s to 1 ft/s (0.1 m/s to 0.3 m/s) of reading. Built-in dual 4-20 mA outputs offer communication flexibility and additional programmable outputs serve to support the plant’s SCADA system. Conclusion The City of Cedar Rapids is pleased with the performance of the FPI-X Mag flow meters. In contrast to its clamp-on ultrasonic meter predecessors, after 24 months of service the FPI-X Mag meters remain trouble-free. Following years of constant maintenance visits to service the ultrasonic meters, Bill Connolly laughs that, “The mice have returned to the pump stations.” For more information, please contact: Toshniwal Hyvac Pvt. Ltd 267, Kilpauk Garden Road, Chennai 600 010, India Phone: 044 - 2644 8558 / 8983 | Fax: 044 - 2644 1820 E-mail: sales@toshniwal.net | Website: www.toshniwal.net
Offshore World | 48 | June - July 2015
news Trimble Appoints CIT as First Educational Centre of Govt Targets 1-crore PNG Connections in 2 Yrs Excellence in India New Delhi: With aiming to drive using of clean
Nirmalya Chatterjee, Executive Director & COO, Trimble Buildings SAARC
Mumbai: Trimble has appointed Chennai Institute of Technology (CIT) as the first Educational Centre of Excellence in India for the company’s Trimble Buildings business segment. The main objective of this initiative is to educate technology students and ensure that the future engineers are well equipped with technology skills valued by the growing number Indian industry employers.
The Chennai Institute of Technology’s innovative teaching methods combine quality technical education with significant industrial exposure. The institute’s curriculum will include a special certification course on Trimble’s portfolio of Design Build Operate (DBO) technologies. In this course, students will learn about Trimble Buildings’ construction solutions, including the advanced Tekla Structures and Tekla BIMsight software applications. The course is intended to make the students industry-ready with skills in Building Information Modeling (BIM) skills. Moreover this approach is geared toward boosting the adoption of BIM within Indian construction industry. Nirmalya Chatterjee, Executive Director & COO, Trimble Buildings SAARC said “We believe in educating the next generation with the latest technologies, and this partnership will not only benefit the students but also provide the industry with a larger talent pool. Together with CIT we’re ensuring that the best professional education is offered to students keen on joining the industry. This new Centre for Excellence allows enables technology experts to upgrade their skills, which will benefit the industry in the future”.
BPCL to Double Bina Refinery Capacity New Delhi: Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), India’s second-biggest state refiner, unveils plan to invest about USD 4 billion for more than doubling capacity of its Bina oil refinery to 7.8 million tonnes a year from current 6 million tonnes by 2018. S Varadarajan, Chairman and Managing Director, BPCL said that the company will invest about ` 3,500 crore in raising capacity of Bina refinery and will further invest ` 18,000-20,000 crore in raising capacity to 15 million tonnes in the next 5-6 years.
BG Group Begins Production from Mukta-B Installation Mumbai: BG Group, the UK exploration and production giant, has commenced oil production from the Mukta-B installation on the Panna-Mukta and Tapti oil and gas field in the western offshore. BG India, a unit of the British giant, ‘achieved first oil production from the Mukta-B (MB), a 4 legged Wellhead Unmanned Platform in the offshore Bombay basin’, it said in a statement. The British firm holds 30 per cent interest in the Panna-Mukta oil and gas fields. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has 40 per cent stake while Reliance Industries holds the rest 30 per cent.
fuel, the government is targeting quadrupling users of piped cooking gas in the country to 1 crore and create ‘green corridors’ for CNG stations on crucial national highways in the next two years. In the backdrop of Bio-Fuel Conference, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that as of now 26.7 lakh Dharmendra Pradhan, Oil households in India currently use gas received from Minister pipeline in kitchen and we are targeting 1 crore piped natural gas (PNG) connections in two years that will help cut down use of subsidised LPG and LPG thus freed can be used to replace kerosene and forest wood for cooking in rural and remote areas. He said that the government is also looking at doubling the number of CNG stations in the national capital region (NCR) to increase supply of cleaner fuel to vehicles. The proposed plan of CNG stations will be set up on the entire road length from Delhi to Jaipur, Chandigarh, Agra and Haridwar to make available the eco-friendly fuel plying between these cities. Similar corridor is planned between Allahabad, Kanpur, Varnasi and Lucknow as well as in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, he said.
Oil Glut may Help India to Save USD 24 billion in 2015-16 New Delhi: The recent global oil glut, resulted a falling crude price is expected to save India export bill over USD 24 billion (` 1.50 lakh crore) crore in 2015-16. India, which imports in nearly 80 per cent of its oil requirement, will reduce its import bill substantially as global supply exceeds demand for the fifth quarter in a row keeping crude prices down. The savings could swell further because even though fears over Greece and Iran continue to weigh on the oil market, there is no sign oil producers will pull back. The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based inter-government energy tracker, has projected a similar situation for the third quarter too. This will make it the longest glut since the Asian economic crisis of 1997, when the surplus situation lasted for some six quarters.
ONGC to Invest in KG Basin Mumbai: ONGC, the state-owned exploration & production giant of India, is planning to invest over USD 8.8 billion in bringing to production its much-touted KG-basin oil and gas discoveries by 2018-19. ONGC has divided 12 oil and gas finds in the block KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 and gas discovery in an adjacent G-4 block the Bay of Bengal into three clusters to quickly bring them to production, a senior company official said. The 7,294.6 sq km deepsea KG-D5 block has been broadly categorised into Northern Discovery Area (NDA - 3,800.6 sq km) and Southern Discovery Area (SDA - 3,494 sq km). The company plans to develop the 11 oil and gas finds in the NDA together with one gas find in G-4 block at an investment of USD 8.843 billion, he said. “The investment will be for drilling 45 development wells, an array of sub-sea pipelines carrying gas to a fixed platform for processing and a pipeline to carry gas form it to an onshore terminal. Oil will be transported to a floating production system (FPSO) that will transfer it to ships for taking to refineries,” he said.
Offshore World | 49 | June - July 2015
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news A K Balyan to Head RIL’s Oil & Gas Mumbai: Ashok Kumar Balyan, former MD & CEO of Petronet LNG Ltd, has joined the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group as CEO - Oil & Gas Business. With a stint career at public sector giant ONGC followed by a strong stint in Petronet LNG, soft-spoken Balyan’s forte has been business development and human resources. A K Balyan, CEO – Oil & Gas, Reliance Group
According to Reliance Group, Balyan will be leading its efforts towards setting up an LNG terminal and LNG procurement for the Bangladesh power project being implemented by Reliance Power. This is besides looking for opportunities in the oil and gas space. Reliance Power recently announced the setting up of a 3,000 MW LNG-based power plant and an LNG terminal in Bangladesh. The total investment in the project, which will be implemented in phases, is estimated to be around ` 18,000 crore.
RIL to Reduce Investment in USA’s Shale Mumbai: Five years after farming into three shale gas assets in the US, Reliance Industries will reduce investment in two of the joint ventures. Reliance’s shale gas business in America comprises three upstream joint ventures with Chevron, Pioneer Natural Resource and Carrizo Oil & Gas, and a midstream joint venture with Pioneer. Till July 2012, Reliance expected its shale gas business to become a material contributor to the company’s earnings. At the end of the June quarter, Reliance’s capital expenditure in the three shale gas ventures was USD 275 million, down 15 per cent from a year ago. “It was yet another challenging quarter for the business due to strong macro headwinds, characterised by weak benchmark prices and high differentials. Strong operational trends and successful capex management helped to some extent. Overall business performance was stable on a sequential basis, but lower on a year-on-year basis,” Reliance said in its earnings statement. The company added its focus was on growing asset values and enhancing business resilience. The shale gas business has seen a stable quarter-on-quarter performance, but realisations are sharply lower from a year ago.
Sandesara Group to Invest in Nigeria Vadodara: Gujarat-based Sandesara Group, the only Indian company that produces crude oil in any OPEC country, will invest USD 3 billion in Nigeria. The group through its Lagos-headquartered Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) will make these investments for expansion of crude oil production and setting up three new plants including a petrochemical plant, an LPG plant and a fertiliser plant. Besides oil majors like Shell, Exxon, Chevron, Sandesara Group is the largest oil acreage owner in Nigeria on independent side having total 2,000 square km area under its license. Nigeria is the fifth-largest crude oil exporter in the world and a member of the 12-nation OPEC block. SEEPCO has four oil blocks in Nigeria in which Sandesara Group headed by chartered accountant turned entrepreneur Nitin Sandesara has 100 per cent ownership and operatorship. At present, the group has confirmed oil reserves of 350 million barrels and one trillion cubic feet of natural gas. www.oswindia.com
With Iran Nuclear Deal, SAGE Undersea Pipeline Sees Hope New Delhi: While the ease sanction from Iran will surely increase the quantity of Indian crude import from Tehran, it will also help to implement two-three projects we are working on without any shadow of sanctions, an official source said. Among the major projects we are eyeing is the SAGE undersea pipeline to bring gas from Oman and Iran to India,” he said. Subodh Kumar Jain, Director, SAGE The gas pipeline project by South Asia Gas Enterprises Pvt Ltd (SAGE), when implemented, could see over 31 million cubic meters of gas per day delivered to India. The pipeline project, also known as Middle East to India Deepwater Pipeline (MEIDP), was formulated a decade ago, but could not take off due to the Western sanctions and US opposition as well as technological issues. “All that has now been sorted out,” he added. The 1,200-1,300 km pipeline, set to cost around USD 4.5 billion, is the best energy option for India, says Subodh Kumar Jain, Director, SAGE. “We are very excited, the development (Iran nuclear deal) holds a lot of promise for getting the SAGE pipeline project moving forward,” Jain told.
Future LNG Import Terminal to Face Challenges: ICRA Mumbai: While India’s gas demand will increase to 330 million standard cubic meters per day by 2024-25, domestic natural gas production will rise by 60 per cent to around 150 mmscmd. Thus New LNG import terminals will face major challenges due to price sensitive demand, said ICRA in its latest update on gas utilities sector. According to the credit rating agency, the domestic output increase is contingent upon GSPC’s Deen Dayal block and ONGC’s KG basin blocks going on stream along with marginal increase in Reliance Industries’ KG production. “Despite high domestic demand-supply deficit, the demand for Regasified-Liquefied Natural Gas (R-LNG) in the country is critically dependent upon the prices of liquid fuels and global spot LNG prices,” ICRA said. As per ICRA study, the key challenge for the new terminals is their ability to tie up LNG supplies through long-term contracts at competitive prices and the competition faced by RLNG from liquid fuels. “However, the risk related to tie up of LNG is partly mitigated by the fact that the global LNG supply demand balance is expected to ease from FY 16 onwards,” it said.
Need a Stable & Predictable Investment Regime: Cairn India Mumbai: Addressing the 9th annual general meeting of company shareholders, Navin Agarwal, Chairman, Cairn India, has insisted a stable and predictable investment regime and consistency in policy to boost investor confidence. He cited an example of the US where market pricing of oil and gas helped it move from being net importer of energy to a surplus nation now. “Our nation is blessed with significant untapped oil and gas resources. However, the sector needs encouragement to maximise this potential. We need policies that are tailored to reflect and respond to India’s status of an oil and gas importer,” he said.
Offshore World | 50 | June - July 2015
project update
Media Barter with gulfoilandgas.com
Projects Database Petrochemical Plants and Refineries
Major Projects in the Middle East, Africa and Caspian Sea
Project
Country
Value ($)
Status
Bahrain Aromatics Plant
Bahrain
-
Study
Sitra Refinery Expansion Project
Bahrain
6,500,000,000
Execution
Baiji Oil Refinery
Iraq
-
Execution
Basra Oil Refinery Upgrade
Iraq
1,500,000,000
Bidding
Karbala Refinery
Iraq
6,040,000,000
Execution
Nebras Petrochemical
Iraq
11,000,000,000
Execution
Al-Zour New Refinery Project (NRP)
Kuwait
14,000,000,000
Bidding
Clean Fuels Project (CFP)
Kuwait
18,000,000,000
Execution
Salalah LPG Extraction Plant
Oman
-
FEED
Sebacic Acid Production Plant
Oman
62,700,000
Planning
Sohar RFCC Unit Revamp
Oman
-
Execution
Halul Island Master Plan
Qatar
-
Bidding
Ras Laffan Condensate Refinery - Hydrotreater Complex
Qatar
350,000,000
Execution
Ras Laffan Condensate Refinery - Phase 2
Qatar
1,200,000,000
Execution
Jizan Export Refinery
Saudi Arabia
10,000,000,000
Execution
Jubail Acrylonitrile Plant
Saudi Arabia
1,000,000,000
Bidding
Ras Tanura Refinery - Clean Fuels & Aromatics Project
Saudi Arabia
3,000,000,000
Bidding
Yanbu Export Refinery
Saudi Arabia
12,000,000,000
Execution
Chemaweyaat - Petrochemicals Complex Phase 1
UAE
10,000,000,000
Bidding
IPIC - New Fujairah Oil Refinery
UAE
3,500,000,000
Bidding
Jebel AN Refinery Upgrade
UAE
-
Bidding
Petrixo Biofuels Refinery
UAE
1,300,000,000
Bidding
Africa
Country
Value ($)
Status
Sonatrach - Paraxylene Crystallization Plant
Algeria
-
Study
Tiaret Oil Refinery
Algeria
6,000,000,000
Execution
Lobito (SonaRef ) Refinery
Angola
8,000,000,000
Execution
Soyo Refinery
Angola
-
Planning
Middle East
Offshore World | 51 | June - July 2015
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project update
Cameroon Ammonia Urea Fertilizer Plant
Cameroon
1,400,000
Study
Assiut Refinery Expansion
Egypt
135,000,000
Execution
Bio-Ethanol from Molasses Project
Egypt
135,000,000
Planning
Formaldehyde Project
Egypt
55,000,000
Planning
Full Conversion Hydrocracker Complex
Egypt
2,100,000,000
Planning
Propylene and Derivatives Project
Egypt
1,500,000,000
Planning
Gabon Ammonia Urea Fertilizer Project
Gabon
1,300,000,000
Execution
Atwereboanda LPG Storage Facility
Ghana
200,000,000
Study
Equatorial Guinea Fertilizer
Guinea
-
Study
Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited (KPRL) Mombasa Refinery
Kenya
17,000,000
Execution
Mellitah Complex
Libya
-
Execution
Mohammedia Refinery Rehabilitation & Expansion
Morocco
816,000,000
Execution
Zinder Refinery (Soraz)
Niger
980,000,000
Completed
Dangote Oil Refinery
Nigeria
-
Execution
Ibeno Petrochemical Complex
Nigeria
1,500,000,000
Execution
Calref Refinery
South Africa
12,000,000
Completed
Mnazi Ammonia/Urea/Methanol Project
Tanzania
-
Study
Hoima Oil Refinery
Uganda
2,500,000,000
Execution
Caspian Region
Country
Value ($)
Status
Azerikimya Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant
Azerbaijan
-
Execution
Baku Heydar Aliyev (Azerneftyanajag) Refinery Upgrade
Azerbaijan
-
Execution
Oil, Gas Processing & Petrochemical Complex (OGPC) Project
Azerbaijan
15,000,000,000
Study
Abadan Second Refinery
Iran
3,500,000,000
Execution
Arak (Shazand) Refinery Upgrading
Iran
2,500,000,000
Completed
Fajr-e-Jam (Kangan) Gas Refinery
Iran
-
Completed
Hormoz Extra Heavy Crude Oil Refinery (Bahman Geno)
Iran
-
Execution
Kermanshah Refinery Upgrade
Iran
150,000,000
Execution
Kharg Island Second Methanol Plant
Iran
206,000,000
Execution
Lorestan Petrochemical Complex
Iran
-
Execution
Siraf Refining Park
Iran
3,000,000,000
Execution
Tabriz Refinery Expansion (Shahriar Refinery)
Iran
2,000,000,000
Execution
Urmia (Orumiyeh) Petrochemical Complex
Iran
-
Completed
Atyrau Refinery Upgrade
Kazakhstan
1,040,000,000
Execution
Kazakh GTL Plant
Kazakhstan
50,000,000
Planning
Pavlodar Refinery
Kazakhstan
40,000,000
Execution
Nizhegorodnefteorgsyntez Refinery Upgrade
Russia
1,698,600,000
Execution
Novokuibyshevsk Refinery Upgrade
Russia
-
Execution
Omsk Refinery Upgrade
Russia
5,000,000,000
Execution
Syzran Refinery Upgrade
Russia
-
Execution
Togliatti Ammonia and Hydrogen Plant
Russia
350,000,000
FEED
ZapSib-2 Project
Russia
9,500,000,000
Execution
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Offshore World | 52 | June - July 2015
products
INDUSTRIAL PC
RECIPROCATING GASCOMPRESSORS
B&R’s Automation PC 910 has been awarded DNV GL Certification for maritime applications. The industrial PC has been certified in accordance with GL 2010, IACS UR E10. Additionally, DNV GL confirms its compliance with IEC 60945, including the specified Compass Safe Distance. The Automation PC 910 is now available for use in many maritime and offshore applications.
Blackmer offers the NG and NGS Series reciprocating gas compressors designed to optimize operational capabilities in a number of critical oilfield production and storage applications, including wellhead annulus gashead pressure reduction, wellhead vapour control, pressure boosting, tank-battery vapour control and recovery, gas gathering, gas evacuation, gas blanketing, flare elimination, and enhanced oil and gas recovery.
The rugged construction of B&R’s industrial PCs has clear advantages when installed on vessels and in harsh maritime environments. The Automation PC has no internal cable connections and does not require shock absorbers or any other auxiliary installation equipment.
The NG Series compressors, which are available in eight models—NG162, NG172, NG362, NG372, NG602, NG612, NG642 and NG942—are highly efficient and available in heavy-duty single- and two-stage configurations. Their advanced design technology and materials, which includes a standard double seal with single distance piece located between two sets of seals on each piston rod, provide maximum performance with minimum maintenance. This includes leakage control that prevents oil contamination of the compressed gas stream. The NGS Series compressors have been designed for the handling of sour gas that may contain up to 8% dry hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and are also available in eight models—NGS162, NGS172, NGS362, NGS372, NGS602, NGS612, NGS642 and NGS942—and in single- or two-stage configurations with standard double seal. To enhance their compatibility with sour gas, the NGS compressors also feature select parts (that follow NACE guidelines) in all gas-containment areas and steel wrist pins that ride on steel needle bearings for extra life under severe operating conditions.
Typical applications include highly integrated bridge systems, electronic chart display and information systems, vessel information systems and voyage data recorders. It is also used in distributed vessel control systems, offshore monitoring and control applications, and dynamic positioning systems, as well as to provide condition monitoring for power transmission and power distribution systems or serve as the master or SCADA station in integrated automation systems. The Automation PC 910 guarantees exceptional long-term availability. With a selection of processors ranging from Celeron to Core i7, the performance can be scaled to any application. The flexible interface options range from Gigabit Ethernet to USB 3.0, as well as POWERLINK, CAN and RS232/422/485 for use with real-time operating systems. For details contact: B&R Industrial Automation Pvt Ltd 8 Tara Heights, Mumbai-Pune Road Wakdewadi, Pune, Maharashtra 411 003 Tel: 020-414 78947 Fax: 91-020-41478998 Email: ninad.deshpande@br-automation.com Mobile: +918600666352 Website: www.br-automation.com
Both the NG and NGS Series compressors offer a ductile-iron head and cylinders, pressure-lubricated crankcases, air-cooled cylinders and O-ring gaskets throughout, that provide positive sealing under all operating conditions. The NG and NGS compressors can achieve flow rates from 10 to 600 MSCFD at maximum allowable working pressures to 615 psia (42.4 bara). For details contact: Dover India Pvt Ltd – PSG 40 Poonamallee By-pass, Senneerkuppam, Chennai 600 056 Tel: 044-26271020, 25271023 E-mail: sales.psgindia@psgdover.com
NATURAL GAS FLOW METERS
LPG GAS DETECTORS
Bombay Instrument Mfg Co offers natural gas flow meters used for the measurement of gases through pipelines accurately. These meters are compact in size, durable, resistant to abrasion and ensure hassle free operations. Being digital, these are user-friendly as well. For details contact: Bombay Instrument Mfg Co 241/43, 2nd Flr, Maharaja Building Opp: St Teresa’s Church, Charni Road Mumbai 400 004 Tel: 022-23891073, 23891075 E-mail: bimco@mtnl.net.in / bimcoindia@gmail.com / bimcoheenal@hotmail.com
Urrano India Corpn offers LPG gas detectors suitable for combustible or toxic gas leakage. The offered detectors have excellent quality and reproducibility and are known for providing accurate results. It finds application in gas pipe installation, coal mines, chemical industry, oil and gas and steel refinery industry For details contact: Urrano India Corpn 37/17 Meanee Avenue Tank Road, Ulsoor Lake Opp: Lake Side Hospital Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 042 Tel: 080-25554705, 25308086
Offshore World | 53 | June - July 2015
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products
HONEYWELL PROCESS SOLUTIONS
TIGARD
Uniformance Technology Boosts Asset Uptime Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) offers Uniformance Asset Sentinel, which continuously monitors equipment and process health, assisting industrial facilities to predict and prevent asset failures and poor operational performance. The new offering expands HPS’ Uniformance software suite and supports the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in the process industry, enabling companies to collect, organize and analyze data for a specific asset or “thing.” These analytics can transform work processes from reactive to proactive, helping industrial plant operators avoid unplanned downtime and improve plant performance and safety.
Sensoray announces that its Model 2253P A/V Codec with GPS Receiver and Incremental Encoder Interfaces brings incredible performance in the compact design necessary for pipeline inspection, mining, robotics and more. In addition, all operating power is supplied by a single USB port, giving the device the necessary flexibility for these applications. The device can simultaneously encode, decode and preview A/V content and is housed in a rugged, compact exterior.
The technology works by continuously accessing data from a variety of sources, including process parameters, vibration data and alarms. Using a real-time complex event processing engine, Uniformance Asset Sentinel continuously performs performance, health, efficiency and safety-related calculations and compares those results of the current actual performance to an expected performance model. Predicted or detected deviations from these models are used to generate notifications to facilitate investigation and intervention to minimize the cost and frequency of an event. Uniformance Asset Sentinel’s pre-defined best practice templates for more than 100 equipment types, such as pumps, compressors, exchangers, valves and turbines combined with its seamless interface to its process design simulation software (UniSim Design) helps customers rapidly deploy equipment or process monitoring on any plant asset, eliminating the need for complex model development.Several major refining and chemical facilities are now implementing Uniformance Asset Sentinel to help them overcome the challenge of accessing data from multiple sources and turning it into actionable information. In addition to the positive impact on safety, this capability can translate into higher operational efficiency, agility and, ultimately, higher margins. For details contact: Honeywell Automation India Ltd 56 & 57 Hadapsar Indl Estate Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411 013 Tel: 020-66039400, Fax: 91-020-66039800
Senso gas alarm is a kind of wall mounted LPG gas alarm designed for home to detect the concentration of combustible and toxic gases or vapours using high quality air-sensitive component and manufactured with advanced technology. It provide visual and audible signal when the gas concentration reaches the presetting range and reminds you to take prompt action.
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Each of the two multifunction ports included in the device can operate as an incremental quadrature encoder interface or as dual general purpose digital inputs (GPIO). Encoder counts, GPS data, and GPIO states can be monitored over the device’s USB connection, and real-time encoder counts and GPS data can be overlaid onto any video stream. Additionally, the Model 2253 is available as the Model 2253S, which features a sturdy metal enclosure with video, audio, USB and GPIO connectors, but does not include the GPS receiver or incremental encoder. For details contact: Sensoray Embedded Electronics Tel: 617 367 0100 Extn: 148 E-mail: anne@sensoray.com / support@sensoray.com www.sensoray.com/OW06/2253
SINGLE & DOUBLE STAGE GAS REGULATORS
LPG GAS DETECTOR
For details contact: TT Xellence 2, UR Nagar Extn, Anna Nagar West Extn, Chennai 600 101
With the Sensoray Model 2253P device,multiple, independent video processors allow for two different video streams to be produced simultaneously from a single composite input. One of the streams can remain uncompressed so as to be useful for real time previewing, or both streams may be compressed. In addition, image transformations such as resolution, rotation and mirroring are independently configurable for each stream, as are compression type and bit rate.
The ESAB range of single stage regulators are designed to be the most safe and reliable available. They combine rugged dependability with the latest innovations in design and gas flow technology. Different regulators for different gases like oxygen, carbon dioxide, acetylene, argon, toxic gases, special gases and regulators with different working pressures. For details contact: Rupa Enterprises Pvt Ltd 2-2-105 To 108/10, Ganesh Chambers, Ranigunj Secunderabad, Telangana 500 003 Tel: 040-27713714, 66338446, 66486000 Fax: 91-040-27705372
Offshore World | 54 | June - July 2015
products
CONDUCTIVITY METER AND SMART PROBES ILIUM Technology offers its Model 2100 ultra-low, ultrawide range conductivity meter and sample independent smart probes. The Model is capable of measuring the conductivity of liquids from 10-3 S/cm, such as low concentration salt solutions in water, down to 10-15 S/cm, approaching hexane and other highly non-polar solvents. Chemists, material scientists, process engineers, laboratory technicians, and laboratory managers will find the 2100 meter to be ideal for a wide range of applications including: chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, petroleum, semiconductors, electronic displays, etc. There is no need to recalibrate the probe every time a sample with a significantly different conductivity or dielectric constant is measured. The NIST traceable factory calibration of ILIUM’s smart probes covers the full range of use for each probe. This ensures high accuracy over the full range of the probe and eliminates the need to field calibrate the probe over difficult to calibrate ranges. The Model 2100 Conductivity Meter and fully immersible 1020 Smart Dip Probe, covering the range from 2.5 μS/cm down to 25 fS/cm, are available now. The 1021 Smart Flow-through Probe, covering this same range, is planned for release later. The 1010 Smart Dip Probe will cover the range from 1 mS/cm to 5 pS/cm and is scheduled for release this year end. The probe covering the range from 0.5 µS/cm down to 1 fS/cm will complete the product suite, and is expected to be available next year.
These design innovations are beneficial for applications in the mining, sugar processing and marine sectors. Bonfiglioli´s 300 Series is perfectly suited for harsh applications where shock loadings and impacts are more the rule than the exception. The new FDK and FZP versions feature an output hollow shaft that will make the series more effective and suitable for shaft mount assembly. The hollow shaft with the two keys at 120° will allow full rated torque and max torque transmissions. The axial locking ring with threaded holes completes the solution for an easier and more reliable shaft mounting. The keyed hollow shaft is available in smaller sizes, ranging from 300 to 310 and will be included in the designation of the series with the acronym FDK; when the FZP version is available it will come in larger sizes from 311 to 325. The new 300 Series is the splined hollow shaft, which meets the DIN 5480 standard and offers the same strong bearings available in the current FP version. It provides double centering for an aligned assembling of the solid shaft of the machine. Like the keyed hollow shaft, the splined hollow shaft also includes an axial locking key with threaded holes for easier mounting and grants full rated and max torque transmissions. The 399 Series has a torque range of 1,0001,287000 Nm and gear ratios of 3.4-5,234. For details contact: Bonfiglioli Riduttori Spa Via Giovanni XXIII 7/a, 40012 Lippo di Calderara di Reno Bologna, Italy Tel: +39 051 647 3932
GASKET TAPE
For details contact: ILIUM Technology Inc 242 E Border Road Medford, MA 02155-1106 U.S.A. Tel: 781-333-4000 E-mail: rich@iliuminc.com www.iliumtechnology.com
COMBUSTIBLE GAS LEAK DETECTOR Sunshine Instruments offers combustible gas lek detector that easily operate the 720 with one hand while detecting the presence of combustible gases. Pinpoints leak sources with its audible and visual indicators. An adjustable “tic” rate helps eliminate background gas concentration in contaminated environments. For details contact: Sunshine Instruments PB No: 3910, 83, Chinny’s Chamber Dr Nanjappa Road, Nr Sony Service Center Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641 018 Tel: 0422-2393357
PLANETARY GEARBOXES
De Dietrich Process Systems has endorsed and will provide support for GORE Gasket Tape Series 1000, a new sealant product from W L Gore & Associates.GORE Gasket Tape Series 1000 was developed to meet the sealing challenges of glass-lined steel equipment utilizing aggressive media under demanding process conditions such as high temperatures, alternating system pressures, limited gasket loads and deviation of sealing surfaces. The new Gore product incorporates a unique barrier core, which enables it to maintain an extra-tight seal across the full width of the flange even at low loads, and even in the presence of highly-permeating media. Manufactured in the form of a highly-conformable spooled tape, Series 1000 is optimized for use in large (≥DN 600/ASME 24”) or non-standard flanges typically found in columns, mixer vessels, reactors, storage and receiver tanks. With Series 1000, gaskets can be customized on-site, as needed. This eliminates the need for offsite fabrication of large gaskets, and the associated long lead times and complicated logistics for shipping, handling and installation. With Series 1000, gasket inventories can be streamlined, and inventory costs reduced. For details contact: De Dietrich Process Systems Pvt Ltd B-Wing, 807 Sagartech Plaza, Andheri Kurla Road, Nr Saki Naka Junction Andheri (E), Mumbai 400 072 Tel: 022-67424272, E-mail: sales@dedietrich.co.in
Offshore World | 55 | June - July 2015
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events diary ADIPEC 2015 Date: November 9-12, 2015 Venue: Abu Dhabi, UAE Event: The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) is the world’s new meeting point for Oil & Gas professionals. The 30th Anniversary edition closed on the 13 th November 2014 having attracted 1,868 exhibitors and 76,240 attendees from 112 countries during the 4 days of the event. ADIPEC provides an unrivalled global platform for Oil & Gas professionals to do business. The world-renowned conference programme within ADIPEC further educates and provides knowledge transfer and unparalleled network working opportunities. Located in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi acts as a natural cross-roads between the east and the west and is fast becoming one of the world’s most influential energy hubs for the 21 st century.ADIPEC is supported by industry through its unique Executive Committee that convenes to shape the conference content of the event and is supported by many of the world’s leading National Oil Companies, International Oil Companies and key service providers. For details contact: dmg events Jhoanna Kilat T: 02 6970 529 E: JhoannaKilat@dmgeventsme.com
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ENERASIA provides robust platform to energy professionals to connect with new customers and suppliers and build their businesses. The event promises to provide update to all the stakeholders in energy sector including energy professionals, energy producers and dealers with the latest developments and technology. ENERASIA Exhibition participation is considered to be one of the most efficient, effective and successful marketing activities. It provides a platform to meet, interact and share ideas with potential clients in a quality time. It also provides an excellent opportunity to pull together leads, initiate sales, build and strengthen business relationships and much more. For details contact: 102, Shanti Arcade, 132’ Ring Road, Naranpura, Ahmedabad – 380 013, India Telefax: +91 79 27496737, 27494266 E-mail: booking@enerasia.in
SPE Oil and Gas India Conference and Exhibition Date: 24-26 November 2015 Venue: Mumbai, India Event: The SPE Oil and Gas India Conference and Exhibition, taking place 2426 November 2015 in Mumbai, will incorporate a high quality, multi-disciplinary technical conference with an exhibition showcasing state-of-the-art, fit-to-purpose and innovative technologies. OGIC is renowned for its comprehensive technical agendas and enticing exhibitions, hosting some of the most reputed companies in the oil and gas industry in India. An event dedicated to the Indian oil and gas industry has never been more fundamental. The oil and gas industry has been influential in stimulating India’s economic growth; the petroleum and natural gas sector constitutes approximately 15% of the country’s GDP. With the Indian economy expected to continue to demonstrate robust growth going forward, there is an emphasised need for wider and more intensive exploration for new finds, as well as more efficient and effective recovery. Previous editions of this event have been highly successful. Over 800 professionals attended OGIC in 2012, making OGIC the largest SPE event in India, providing excellent face-to-face opportunities to interact and network with regional professionals and experts of the highest esteem. For details contact: Khushbu Rajwani Society of Petroleum Engineers Email: krajwani@spe.org
ENERASIA 2015 Date: 11-13 December, 2015 Venue: Gujarat, India Event: ENERASIA 2015 is the definitive Annual Global Energy Summit to be held in Ahmedabad on 11-12-13 December, 2015. The Event is supported by Energy & Petrochemicals Department, Government of Gujarat. Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), India’s world class University in energy education and research, is the Knowledge Partner of the event.
Oil & Gas World Expo 2016 Date: 3-5 March, 2016 Venue: Mumbai, India Event: Oil & Gas World Expo 2016, the 7 th International will organise by CHEMTECH Foundation, who has been a pioneer in connecting & conceiving international exhibitions & conferences since 1975. The international expo & conference is for aiming to connect, discuss and conclude views of leaders, policy makers, regulatory authorities, service providers of the Indian & Global hydrocarbon industry. Since its inception in 2004, the series of Oil & Gas World Expo has been a big affair of luminaries of global hydrocarbon industry that reflect India’s growing role in the global hydrocarbon industry. The expo will provide a platform to showcase services, technologies, innovations & current & future trends of the entire value chain of hydrocarbon industry ranging from upstream to midstream and downstream. For details contact: Jasubhai Media Pvt Ltd 3rd Floor, Taj Building, 210 D N Road, Fort Mumbai - 400001, Maharashtra, India Tel : 022-40373636 Fax : 022-40373535 Email: conferences@jasubhai.com Web: http://www.chemtech-online.com/
Offshore World | 56 | June - July 2015
HEADING TO WORK 10,000 FEET BELOW? WE HELP YOU GET THERE Your next big opportunity lies 10,000 feet below the sea. To uncover it, you’ll need to navigate harsh waters and cope with corrosion in hot, sour, high-pressure wells. In situations like these, you need to ask yourself: “What is the most suitable material?” Can you afford to take any risks? This is where we at Sandvik come in with our premium corrosion resistant alloys and expertise. For more than 20 years we’ve helped our oil and gas customers enhance their performance and minimize risks with more than 300 million feet of stronger, lighter, corrosion-resistant tubing umbilicals delivered. But that’s just part of our portfolio. As you go deeper, we’re working at your side with a range of subsea solutions to help amplify your possibilities. SMT.SANDVIK.COM/OILGAS
March 3-5, 2016