Wellheads Remote Monitoring using Ionix HotSense

Ionix HotSense™ has been successfully deployed with a CALIPERAY wireless system and a field communication kit to monitor erosion rates in a remote upstream Shell facility as an alternative to manual inspection with X-ray RT profiling.

• Maximising well productivity, based on known erosion rates
• Increasing safety, reduced site activity & exposure to X-ray
• Reducing costs by automating data collection remotely

The Application

• Ionix HotSense™ sensors were connected to a Mistras WirelessHART CALIPERAY™ ultrasonic monitoring system to make automated, accurate, precise and reliable thickness measurements.
• The system is intrinsically safe certified for use in FM Class 1 Div 1 and ATEX & IECEx Zone 0 applications.
• HotSense™ sensors were attached to the NPS 2” pipes using the non-intrusive clamp deployment system during live operation of the well.
• A Field Communication Kit was installed based on a WirelessHART gateway, power supply and cellular modem to provide direct data transfer to a remote server.
• Advanced software for wall thickness data analysis and graphical visualisation (WAMP) was installed on the server for data collection and analysis.
• Measurements collected from the UT system over a 6 month period were successfully validated against RT profile images.

Key Benefits

• Thickness measurements can be automatically collected and uploaded via the cellular enabled field deployment kit.
• Frequent, consistent and high-quality wall thickness data collection enables the customer to maximise well productivity and increase safety.
• The measurement was validated as an upper operating threshold, risk mitigation strategy compared to the costly alternative – RT profiling.
• Process and Production engineers have desktop access to integrity data from the remote site allowing production optimisation and profitable decisions based on measurable data.
• Reduced inspection costs avoiding travel and eliminating hot work permits.
• Continuous monitoring from remote and hazardous locations delivered reduced exposure of staff to hazardous environments .

Downloads