Using a Unified Controls System for Subsea Production and Pump Controls

Abstract

The oil and gas industry tends to seek integrated solutions that provide the full range of topside to subsea equipment and facilities down to the reservoir including installation, monitoring and life-of-field services. The subsea control system plays an important role as the binding element between subsea elements like subsea trees, manifolds, boosting and compression pumps in subsea production systems. The seamless integration of the production control system with the pump control system is the key for the success of providing an integrated solution from topside to subsea. The most efficient way is to incorporate and merge field proven know-how of pump and production control systems based on existing technologies and accommodate it for future needs. The benefits for the customer are reduced CAPEX and significant technical advantages, being only one interface to the distributed control system (DCS), a minimum quantity of installation and workover tools, less topside and subsea equipment for distribution and control and testing equipment, a fully integrated field monitoring system and field proven components consisting of the best technologies the market is able to provide. Depending on the project requirement a unified or integrated controls can be realized as an integration of the topside control units by adding the pump control to an existing production control system or vice versa. For new projects a full integration can be achieved from topside to subsea from system to board level. For full integration, common building blocks from the same subsea control module (SCM) product family are being used. Core components from existing technologies have been thoroughly evaluated and selected to form the basis for the new pump control SCM which completes the SCM family. With the introduction of the single-unit integrated controls SCM into the SCM family, a wide range of SCMs with a unified interface without losing the knowledge and experience made over years of operation can now be offered. The integration also facilitates the usage of online life-of-field services for pump and production controls in an integrated approach. This paper addresses the key benefits and the functionality of this technology.