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December 10 2022

Equispheres Develops Non-Explosible Aluminum Feedstock

k999content News 3D printing, aluminum, manufacturing, productivity, technology 0

Canadian 3D printing powder developer Equispheres Inc. has developed a non-explosible aluminum alloy feedstock for additive manufacturing that reduces the hazards associated with day-to-day handling of materials for 3D printing. Identified as NExP-1, the new material is specifically designed for production printing of aluminum parts. It maintains the ability to produce high-quality prints at high throughput rates, but unlike other metal powders for AM, it is dust-free and characterized as non-explosible per ASTM E1226, Standard Test Method for Explosibility of Dust Clouds. The material is also non-combustible, per the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Part 3, Subsection 33.2.1. for flammable solids.

As metal 3D printer users will no doubt be aware, alloys like titanium and aluminum need to be handled carefully during heat induction bending, as they can combust extremely quickly when exposed to air in an enclosed space. This hazard is particularly pressing in 3D printing considering the dust often created during processing, hence powder management has become a critical (but sometimes laborious) part of users’ workflows. To help put such manufacturers at ease about the risks associated with handling aluminum, Equispheres has launched an innovative new non-explosible AlSi10Mg material.

“We have achieved these key safety properties without altering the quality of our material nor the chemical composition. In printing, this material performs just as well as our other aluminum powders, but it has the added benefit of being non-explosible and non-combustible,” says Evan Butler-Jones, Vice-President – Product & Strategy for Equispheres. Because this new, non-explosible aluminum material significantly reduces the hazards of day-to-day handling without sacrificing the quality of the printed part, it could reduce the barriers to industrialization of 3D printing and make the process more easily integrated into manufacturing facilities of heavy steel fabrication companies.

“It would almost be inaccurate to even call this a powder,” Butler-Jones continues. “It is almost totally free of dust; it flows like water and it is easy to clean off of equipment surfaces. It is a completely unique printing media for production additive manufacturing.” The material is currently available in AlSi10Mg. Equispheres has developed recommended parameters for printing the new material, targeting several end-use applications. “We are applying our technology to empower innovation in additive manufacturing. We anticipate this new safer aluminum material will be embraced by companies using AM in a production setting,” says Kevin Nicholds, CEO of Equispheres. “This new breakthrough is a result of our ongoing efforts to make 3D printing and rapid prototyping more accessible and competitive with other manufacturing methods.”

With a core team of metallurgists actively engaged in R&D, Equispheres continues to develop processes and products to advance the technology of additive manufacturing. The company’s Performance and Precision lines of aluminum powder demonstrate marked improvement in print speed and part quality, resulting in lower per-part costs. NExP-1, an addition to Equispheres’ Production product line relies on a technological breakthrough to address the handling properties of AM powders.

August 30 2022

Internet of Things – the new Oil and Gas trend

k999content Blog automation, oil and gas, sensors, technology, wearables 0

What comes to your mind when you hear the term Internet of Things (IoT)? You may be reminded of fitness trackers, smart watches and other wearable devices or equipment which can be embedded with electronics or software. Applications of IoT have been increasing steadily and now, the oil and gas industry is set to experience its multiple benefits. The advantages of oil and gas IoT applications lie in creating value through an integrated deployment strategy. IoT will allow the industry to digitize, optimize and automate processes that were previously unconnected to save time, money and to increase safety.

Applications of IoT in Oil and Gas

Some of the ways IoT features in this industry are highlighted as follows: –

Acoustic Monitoring: IoT acoustic sensors in the oil field continuously analyze oil composition (oil, water, gas, etc.) within pipelines to determine types of crude oil, while laboratory tests from simulated field conditions and selected sensors exhibiting optimal oil flow performance enhance the readings. In addition, statistical models estimate the composition and flow rates to continuously improve planning for subsequent operations.

Seismic Exploration Sensors: Individual IoT sensors connected by fiber optic cables aid oil exploration by mapping subsurface drilling sites to determine new drilling locations and optimize output of operational sites. An Internet-connected seismic sensor network collects data and transfers it to servers to provide an image of the subsurface site. Comparative data analysis is conducted to select the best drilling site. A sensor-based system improves drilling rig productivity and reduces time required for site-selection data analysis.

Digital Twin for Projects: A fully loaded digital twin–a digital replica of an actual asset being constructed–gives oil & gas companies the ability to drill down virtually to obtain project progress updates (e.g., outstanding issues, bottleneck constraints) increasing knowledge-gathering efficiency. The digital twin also provides a 3D status report that allows management to “look around the platform” and understand the status of each component from design, build and assembly.

Benefits of IoT in Oil and Gas

IoT has led to many improvements in this industry. Some of these advantages are listed below:

Remote Services: Oil typically isn’t found in easily accessible areas. With safety and regulation issues rising, extraction sites in remote locations and the increasing price of equipment maintenance, IoT allows oil and gas companies to be available at all hours to manage issues ranging from spills to emergency shutdowns and remote field operations. For instance, massive amounts of reservoir data can be integrated with near-real-time field data to plan the placement of wells and water tanks and to determine flow rates.

Health and Safety: Oil and gas extraction is characterized by hazardous working environments. IoT allows companies better to predict when mining plant and equipment needs maintenance, to track spare parts on rigs, to know whether contract workers at a refinery are certified to be in certain areas and to determine the exact number of people to evacuate when an incident occurs.

Asset Tracking and Monitoring: Wireless sensor network oil and gas IoT applications are in great demand nowadays. Due to oil’s dramatic price volatility, companies are spending more time analyzing their investments and internal operations to see where reductions or changes can take place while still maintaining the business and maximizing asset utilization.

The Final Word

As a segmented industry with various streams, Oil and Gas would benefit from a seamless framework in which IoT applications and deployments are closely monitored across the ecosystem that comprises upstream, midstream and downstream players. The sector will benefit from the adoption of asset tracking solutions and predictive maintenance and will enhance processes involved in crude oil refining. Those applications may even become a necessity for maintaining a lead over peers in the ultra-competitive global Oil and Gas marketplace!

August 23 2022

3D Modeling & Visualization in Oil & Gas

k999content Blog data, modeling, oil and gas, technology, visualization 0

Oil and gas stakeholders always look to assess the geological subsurface situation before subsequent actions are taken via steel fabrication like drilling, refining, transporting etc. Rapid advancements in technology have enabled development of 3D models of potential oil sources and data visualization, thus providing more insights for making business decisions. Visualization has its own challenges characterized by computationally expensive algorithms, a diverse and large number of data sets and a need for greater collaboration. However, this is a fascinating world with the potential to unlock multiple advantages in the oil and gas sector. Let’s deep dive into this topic in this blog.

Why is 3D modeling and visualization needed?

Building 3D models helps to optimize the exploration and production of oil and gas fields, assess potential and increase yield from oil sources. A higher level of understanding will lead to earlier recognition of problems, reduce avoidable delays and associated substantial expenses. The optimal visualization of 3D geo-datasets is vital for geologists and geophysicists to analyze and evaluate geological and geophysical information components with higher confidence. Recent research has shown that only a limited set of visual cues is necessary to create a convincing representation of reality. These cues can be incorporated into design solutions, providing refiners (for example) with a highly intuitive visualization of the subterranean landscape which will assist in streamlining the processes of crude oil refining.

Factors in achieving modelling and visualization

Data Management

Petroleum engineers and geoscientists spend a substantial amount of time combining 2D and 3D data sets from multiple sources to create interpolated 3D digital subsurface models, thus giving an idea if equipment like pressure vessels are required. These datasets are used extensively over longer periods of time by the oil and gas industry in a variety of formats, with varying resolutions and in very large volumes. Middleware enables interactive navigation of largest volumes even on relatively low-end machines. The user does not have to wait for all the data to be loaded, only the data actually needed is loaded and multiple users can access the same data simultaneously because they use only their own local system memory to load the data.

Computing

For many years applications enjoyed an automatic increase in performance as CPU vendors competed to increase the clock speed in each new generation of chips. The CPU vendors are now competing to increase the number of “cores” in each new generation of chips. Middleware libraries offers the capability which enables the application to take advantage of multiple cores without changing the application code. They also provide building-block algorithms, such as fast Fourier transform (FFT) and convolution that are already highly optimized for new architectures.

Rendering

The rendering of 3D images is a parallel-computing task. The ability to program the GPU results in higher quality rendering, sharper definition of shadows and edges in oil wells, new rendering techniques and new opportunities for interaction by combining computing and rendering on the GPU. Combining computing and rendering in the GPU enables techniques including volume clipping (e.g., against horizon surfaces), volume masking (using values of one volume to mask another volume), and volume warping (e.g., horizon flattening).

Final Thoughts

As the visualization field matures, true oil and gas data integration becomes critical to accurate modelling and subsequent analysis by relevant stakeholders. Some vendors have started offering 4D visualization services in this space, however the correctness of simulation models is yet to be fully determined and its acceptance by industry heavyweights is in progress. Modeling and simulation also needs to take into account advancements in other technologies in processes like drilling so as to provide more precise estimates. It is clear however, that having a clear and concise 3D model of the oil and gas field is an excellent reference prior to commencing operations – however, there should not be sole dependence on these models since they are subject to changes in natural conditions which may alter model dynamics at any point in time!

July 19 2022

Advancements in Drilling Technologies – Part II

k999content Blog drilling, energy, equipment, oil and gas, technology 0

Continuing from the first part of the blog on drilling technological advancements, this blog will discuss a couple of newer drilling technologies. Industry adoption of these technologies is an indicator of success and, while these methodologies are doubtless expensive, they have shown to offer savings in resources and materials utilized to extract energy from oil wells and hence, they are being gradually adopted by the major oil and gas players. So, what are the other two drilling technologies to be discussed and what’s their point of difference compared to horizontal and multilateral drilling? Let’s find out in this blog.

Extended Reach Drilling

An extended-reach well is one in which the ratio of the measured depth (MD) vs. the true vertical depth (TVD) is at least 2:1. Extended-reach wells are expensive and technically challenging as they require the involvement of heavy steel fabrication companies, however, they can add value to drilling operations by making it possible to reduce costly subsea equipment and pipelines, by using satellite field development, by developing near-shore fields from onshore, and by reducing the environmental impact by developing fields from pads.

Extended Reach Drilling allows producers to reach deposits that are great distances away from the drilling rig and this help producers tap oil and natural gas deposits under surface areas where a vertical well cannot be drilled, such as under developed or environmentally sensitive areas. Offshore, the use of extended reach drilling allows producers to reach accumulations far from offshore platforms, minimizing the number of platforms needed to produce all the oil and gas. Similar to horizontal drilling, Extended Reach Drilling uses the technology of the “RSS: Rotary Steerable System” that permit to steer a hole continuing the rotation of the drilling string with an improvement of the safety and the drilling efficiency.

Automated Drilling

Automated Drilling machine

Automated drilling is one of the oil industry’s most important innovation targets. The sources now being tapped, such as shale gas and coal-bed methane, require a very large number of wells and usage of pipe fabrication, and automating the drilling process would be an obvious way to keep the costs under control, and also gets around a problem which many sectors of engineering are experiencing. Automated drilling would be faster, more efficient, and safer, as it reduces the number of workers on site. In this R&D sector, Shell has developed an automated drilling system called SCADAdrill (SCADA being the acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition, a type of software used for automated factory and process control), and is a component of a new well manufacturing system that it is currently trialing in Europe and North America. The SCADAdrill system is used on the horizontal dewatering bores. Through sensors mounted on the drill bit, the system monitors the trajectory of the drill and its performance as it travels through the site geology and controls its path to ensure that it meets the top hole precisely. Automating drilling takes in three stages of autonomy: firstly, to mechanize the drilling equipment; secondly to monitor torque and weight on the drill bit and thirdly, to automate the entire process.

Conclusion

It can be seen that Extended Reach drilling and Automated drilling both bring in their unique flavors to the world of oil drilling technologies. A degree of technical expertise is required to ensure proper implementation of these methodologies and people and software have to be trained accordingly so as to maximize the benefits. It’s an exciting time to be in the midst of the oil and gas sector and these advancements are poised to take the industry forward!

July 12 2022

Advancements in Drilling Technologies – Part I

k999content Blog drilling, energy, oil and gas, technology 0

Recent advances in technologies used for oil well drilling have enabled the energy industry to access new sources of oil and natural gas to meet rising demand around the world. These new technologies have also helped reduce the environmental impact of energy production by allowing more oil and gas to be produced with fewer wells. Advances in technologies play an important role in meeting global energy demand because they enable the discovery of new resources, access to harsh or remote locations and the development of oil and gas reservoirs which were previously not economically viable. This is the first part of a two-part blog which discusses these technological advancements in oil drilling.

Horizontal Drilling

Horizontal drilling is a directional drilling process aimed to target oil or gas reservoir intersecting it at the “entry point” with a near-horizontal inclination, and remaining within the reservoir until the desired bottom hole location is reached. While the construction of a directional well often costs much more than a conventional well, initial production is greater of a conventional well. Horizontal drilling provides more contact to a reservoir formation than a vertical well and allows more hydrocarbons to be produced from a given wellbore. For example, six to eight horizontal wells drilled from one location, or well pad, can access the same reservoir volume as 16 vertical wells.

Using multi-well pads via steel fabrication can significantly reduce the overall number of well pads, access roads, pipeline routes and production facilities, minimizing habitat disturbance, impact to the public and overall environmental footprint. Horizontal wells are usually drilled to enhance oil production and in some situations the improvement may be dramatic – enabling development of a reservoir which would otherwise have been considered uneconomic. There are many kinds of reservoir where the potential beneﬁts of horizontal drilling are evident:

In conventional reservoirs
Thin reservoirs; Reservoirs with natural vertical fractures; Reservoirs where water (and gas) coning will develop; thin layered reservoirs; heterogeneous reservoirs;
In unconventional reservoirs
Shale gas/oil, tight gas/oil, CBM, heavy oil, oil sands, etc.

Multilateral Drilling

At times oil and natural gas reserves are located in separate layers underground and multilateral drilling allows producers to branch out from the main well to tap reserves at different depths. This increases production from a single well and reduces the number of wells drilled on the surface. A multilateral well is a single well with one or more wellbore branches radiating from the main borehole. It may be an exploration well, an inﬁll development well or a reentry into an existing well.

These wells generally represent two basic types: vertically staggered laterals and horizontally spread laterals in fan, spine-and-rib or dual-opposing T shapes. A successful multilateral well that replaces several vertical wellbores can reduce overall drilling and completion costs, increase production and provide more efﬁcient drainage of a reservoir. Furthermore, multilaterals can make reservoir management more efﬁcient and help increase recoverable reserves. In shallow or depleted reservoirs, branched horizontal wellbores are often most efﬁcient, whereas in layered reservoirs, vertically stacked drain holes are usually best.

Closing Comments

As observed, horizontal and multilateral drilling techniques offer more advantages in certain cases than conventional well development. Increased efficiency and greater productivity are some of the benefits while also minimizing the environmental impact in case of horizontal drilling. However, there are other new drilling techniques which are likely to add value to drilling operations in the near future. Those will be discussed in the second part of this blog!