Patent Application
20150184505
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to subsea control subsystem management, and in particular to the health and maintenance of control subsystem components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional drilling control system design allows data collection on a drilling rig. Current drilling control systems are capable of communicating remotely from a central location to rigs enabled with a remote services network. Generally, this network is primarily used to manage limited remote troubleshooting and to download software updates. Collected data, however, generally is confined to a particular drilling rig both in terms of acquisition and interpretation. Recently, there has been a new focus in the industry on ensuring relevant data is available and transmitted off the drilling rig to a shore-based location.
Recognized by the Applicant, however, is that there is no high-quality tool to visualize physical subsea control system components and record usage data of those components by the drilling control system in terms of counting cycles from the time of installation of a component, trending “normal” operational readings from the components after installation, or other data reporting that would aid a customer in identifying deviations from normal operating conditions. Additionally, Applicant has recognized there is presently a need for a high-quality and enhanced tool that allows a user to readily identify corrective actions and report on upcoming maintenance needs for subsea equipment.
Applicant further has recognized a need for an innovative system, method, and program product including an easy-to-use intelligent customer interface that can be installed on a customer's drilling vessel to provide maintenance metrics, equipment diagnostic trends, and facilitate off-rig remote monitoring and diagnosis (RM&D) efforts.
In view of the foregoing, embodiments of the present invention advantageously provide systems, methods, and computer medium having computer programs stored therein (program products) to allow high quality and enhanced visualization of component health and preventive maintenance needs for subsea control subsystem components. Embodiments of systems, methods, and program products also advantageously can convert existing component data into actionable advice to help customers reduce non-productive time by providing remote visibility into the health of a blowout preventer (BOP) stack, reducing downtime associated with accessing and trending BOP data, and optimizing maintenance to reduce unnecessary parts replacements. Various embodiments of the invention additionally can collect key BOP control system data and provide context to identify corrective actions, thereby leading to faster troubleshooting and decision making.
Various embodiments of the invention also advantageously can provide visibility into major components' replacement needs and storage of corrective maintenance data. Various embodiments of the systems, methods, and program products can provide cycle counting of hydraulic components (not immediately actuated by a solenoid) based on an indication of energization of a solenoid coil of a solenoid in a BOP component chain and an indication of a pressure transducer associated with a downchain activity. Embodiments can detect actual downchain activity and not apply such count based solely on solenoid coil energization, e.g., as a result of testing of the solenoid coil actuating hydraulic components, in order to provide for accurate condition-based maintenance. Hydraulic components downchain from the solenoid can include, for example, shear seal valves, sub-plate mounted (SPM) valves, multiple position locking (MPL) components, flow meters, high-temperature and high-pressure probes, transducers, ram packers, packing units, shuttle valves, and regulators.
Further, various embodiments of the invention advantageously provide an easy-to-use web-based solution that can be installed on a drilling rig and can provide communication to onshore engineers via a customer's/provider's intranet. These solutions, for example, advantageously can provide for troubleshooting of BOP health, events filtering, and remote visualization, and can provide condition-based maintenance for major components to provide system health to onshore engineers for better decision-making.
According to an embodiment, condition monitoring and maintenance can provide the user information on the condition of BOP components prone to single point of failures. The main components of the blowout preventer can include: solenoid valves and associated solenoids, shear seal valves, SPM valves, MPL components, flow meters, high-pressure and high-temperature probes, transducers, ram packers, packing units, shuttle salves, and regulators.
According to an embodiment, computer programs of the program products can provide part replacement advice based on the cycle counts or the current/temperature/pressure rating for these components based on operator manual requirements. The user also can be able to trend values over time for specific components based on values in a datalogger.
More specifically, an example of an embodiment of a method visualize status of component health and preventive maintenance needs for subsea control subsystem components can include the steps of detecting a solenoid firing event, logging the firing event in a table of a datalogger, determining if a control pod (multiplexer unit that controls valves and other components on the BOP stack) is an active or non-active pod of a pair of pods, and determining if a firing event was a dry test, a wet test or actual event. If the firing event is determined to be a wet test or an actual event, the method further can include incrementing a cycle count for a plurality of associated components in a chain of hydraulic component activation associated with a certain BOP stack function. If the firing event is determined to be a dry test, the method further can include incrementing a cycle count for a subset of less than all of the plurality of associated components in the chain of hydraulic component activation.
According to an embodiment, cycles are counted for every function call that is fired by a solenoid. As such, the solenoid firing count is linked to each component for which it is firing. According to this embodiment, for example, cycle counts for components associated with a firing of a certain solenoid can take into account all the components that are present in the hydraulic circuit to the firing of a stack function. For example, when a solenoid fires, the shear seal valve actuates a pilot signal which is sent to an SPM valve which, in turn, sends hydraulic fluid to the shuttle valve, which, operably moves an actual stack function, e.g., closing of an annular BOP. In this example, the chain would be: solenoid-shear seal valve-SPM valve-shuttle valve. This chain of hydraulic component activation on the firing circuit can eventually increment the counter for each particular component and calculate replacement advice based on a maximum cycle count.
According to an exemplary configuration, log data including pressures associated with the annular ram and indicia of energization of the solenoid coil of a certain solenoid associated with a certain component chain are accessed as input for the computer programs, which provide an output in the form of incrementing a certain count for each component in the component chain in response to both energization of the solenoid and a coinciding change in pressure associated with closing of the ram. If only energization of the solenoid coil is logged without a corresponding change in pressure, only the total number of cycles for the solenoid can be incremented.
Report output for such exemplary configuration can include a total number of cycles of the respective components. Maintenance is based, for example, off of a maximum number permissible which can be identified and continuously updated based on bench testing data and examination of a replaced component. A spreadsheet/tabular type form can be provided which lists each component in a number of cycles left until maintenance is required, along with a projection of when that date will be reached based on average usage or an anticipated usage based on a profile such as time of the year, type of activity being performed on the well, etc.
In embodiments of systems, methods, and program products, a user, for example, can receive automatic alerts under certain circumstances. For example, the automatic alerts can relate to and be sent responsive to the cycle count of the solenoid or any of the downchain BOP components. The automatic alerts can be configured to be sent to a user when a cycle count reaches a predefined threshold, when a cycle count comes within a certain number of a predefined threshold, when a system determines that the solenoid or a downchain BOP component must be replaced, or when the system determines that the solenoid or a downchain BOP component must be replaced within a predefined number of days.
In embodiments of systems, methods, and program products, automatic alerts can relate to and be sent responsive to a parameter associated with one or more of the plurality of downchain BOP components. For example, an automatic alert can be sent responsive to a solenoid overcurrent or undercurrent if the current respectively exceeds or drops below a predefined value. The automatic alert also can be sent responsive to fluctuations in the solenoid current if fluctuations in the solenoid current exceed a predefined value. In embodiments, an automatic alert also can occur if pressure in the regulators exceeds a predefined value. In addition, automatic alerts can be sent if any of the system's transducers or other components behave abnormally.
It will be understood by one skilled in the art that steps and operations disclosed herein can be carried out by a plurality of dedicated modules initiated by one or more processors upon execution of a set of instructions stored in a tangible computer-readable medium. Hence, an embodiment can provide a system to visualize status of component health and preventive maintenance needs for subsea control subsystem components. The system can include a blowout preventer and one or more solenoid valves operably disposed within the blowout preventer (BOP) such that the one or more solenoid valves close upon energization of one or more solenoids respectively associated with one or more solenoid valves. The system also can include one or more pressure transducers operably connected to a plurality of downchain BOP components and configured to indicate activity of individual BOP components. In addition, the system can include a pair of control pods, or multiplexer units that control valves and other components of the BOP. The pair of control pods can include an active pod and a non-active pod. The system further can include one or more processors in communication with tangible computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium can have stored therein a plurality of operational modules, each including a set of instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors to perform operations. For example, embodiments can include a solenoid energization detection module responsive to the energization of the one or more solenoid and configured to detect a solenoid firing event upon energization of the solenoid. The system further can include a datalogger module responsive to the solenoid energization detection module and configured to log the solenoid firing event in a table of a datalogger. In embodiments, the system can include a control pod status module configured to determine whether a control pod is an active pod or a non-active pod. In addition embodiments can include an event detection module responsive to the datalogger module, the control pod status module, and indications obtained from the one or more pressure transducers and being configured detect a type of solenoid firing event, the type of solenoid firing event, for example, including one of a dry test, a wet test, and an actual event. Moreover, in an embodiment of a system, the plurality of modules further can include a cycle count module responsive to the solenoid energization detection module and the event detection module and configured to increment a cycle count for each of the one or more solenoids and the plurality of downchain BOP components in a chain of hydraulic component activation associated with a predefined BOP function if the solenoid firing event is detected as a wet test or an actual event. The cycle count module further can be configured to increment a cycle count for each of the one or more solenoids and a subset of the plurality of downchain BOP components in the chain of hydraulic component activation associated with a predefined BOP function if the solenoid firing event is detected as a dry test.
Various embodiments of systems, methods, and program products discussed herein allow high quality and enhanced visualization of component health and preventive maintenance needs for subsea control subsystem components. Moreover, embodiments of systems, methods, and program products can convert existing component data into actionable advice to help customers reduce non-productive time by providing remote visibility into the health of a blowout preventer (BOP) stack, reducing downtime associated with accessing and trending BOP data, and optimizing maintenance to reduce unnecessary parts replacements. Further, various embodiments of the invention additionally can collect key BOP control system data and provide context to identify corrective actions, thereby leading to faster troubleshooting and decision making. Hence, embodiments of the invention address a number of problems recognized by Applicant, as will be discussed more thoroughly herein.
So that the manner in which the features and advantages of embodiments of the invention, as well as others which will become apparent, may be understood in more detail, a more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings, which form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only various embodiments of the invention, and, therefore, are not to be considered limiting of the invention's scope as it may include other effective embodiments as well.
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the invention. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Prime notation, if used, indicates similar elements in alternative embodiments.
Various embodiments or the invention provide an integrated platform that provides a robust user interface, which allows the user to view the data contents of the drilling control system data logger in a user-friendly manner to provide diagnostic and maintenance tools to assess the performance and health of drilling system components, and enable transmission of the data, reports, and screens to a remote location, such as, for example, either a customer or service provider location. Various embodiments can utilize available historical data, alarms management information, diagnostic/prognostic rules, high-level data (data run in/out), a heat map for subsea electronics modules (SEMs), and availability/reliability calculations, for example, based on an internal reliability study. Various embodiments also can provide historical data, cycle counts/cycles remaining reporting, performance monitoring/trending, electronic health snapshots, fleet statistics/comparisons, and integration with customer maintenance management solution systems. Various embodiments also can provide operation support including local viewing of data, remote viewing of data, ask an expert, inventory availability, inventory, ordering and e-invoicing. Various embodiments also can provide unit history, including parts replacements, stack configuration, as-built bill of materials (BOM), as-running BOMs, service maximums, and parts repairs.
More specifically,
Referring to
Referring to
According to an exemplary configuration, the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71, in conjunction with one or more shipboard computers 41 and associated subcomponents form a system drilling information system, which receives input data from a MUX data logger 72. In embodiments of the system, data is processed and web-based access is provided via a remote connection 43 to remotely-located user computers capable of displaying the various health conditions and maintenance analytics in order to provide time of replacement advice thereby to reduce inventory costs. According to such a configuration, a remote user can initiate various functions of the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71. These functions can include, for example, real-time viewing 73 of visual depictions of the BOP and each of its various components thereby to allow online troubleshooting. A user can also view historian data 74, thereby to provide a user with raw data indicating, for example, when maintenance was last scheduled for each of various BOP components and providing details on such maintenance. Maintenance data can also be viewed in maintenance reports 75, providing maintenance data organized by date, type, BOP component or other user-defined parameters. The maintenance reports 75 further can inform a user what maintenance steps should be taken the next time the BOP is retrieved. In embodiments, a remote user can receive prognostic alerts 76 through the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71 thereby providing a user with fault warnings, outage alerts, and other alerts. In embodiments, such prognostic alerts 76 are created responsive to user input. Additionally, in embodiments, prognostic alerts 76 can be generated automatically.
Returning to
The memory 45, 55 can include volatile and nonvolatile memory known to those skilled in the art including, for example, RAM, ROM, and magnetic or optical disks, to name just a few. It also should be understood that the preferred onshore server and shipboard computer configuration is given by way of example in
The system 30 also can include a data warehouse or other data storage facility 63, which can store relevant data on every piece of data visualization for component health and preventive maintenance needs system-equipped riser components anywhere in the world. The data warehouse 63 is assessable to the processor 55 of the subsea control system asset management server 51 and can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The data warehouse 63 can include at least one centralized database 65 configured to store subsea control system health and maintenance information for the components of a plurality of subsea control systems and other assets of interest deployed at a plurality of separate vessel locations. The asset in formation can include, for example, the part number, serial number, relevant manufacturing records, operational procedures, component utilization, temperature, pressure, voltage of transducers, solenoid current, fired status, etc., including others provided by a MUX data logger 72 as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, and all maintenance records (including detailed information on the nature of the maintenance), to name just a few. The database 65 can retain all information acquired automatically from shipboard computers 41. The shipboard computers 41, in turn, can retrieve the data from the data logger 72 (see, e.g.,
Various embodiments of the present invention include the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71, (
The subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71 and the subsea control system asset management program 71′ can be in the form of microcode, programs, routines, and symbolic languages that provide a specific set or sets of ordered operations that control the functioning of the hardware and direct its operation, as known and understood by those skilled in the art. Neither the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71 nor the subsea control system asset management program 71′, according to an embodiment of the present invention, need to reside in their entirety in volatile memory, but can be selectively loaded, as necessary, according to various methodologies as known and understood by those skilled in the art. Further, the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71 and subsea control system asset management program 71′ each include various functional elements as will be described in detail below, which have been grouped and named for clarity only. One skilled in the art will understand that the various functional elements need not physically be implemented in any hierarchy, but readily can be implemented as separate objects or macros. Various other conventions can be utilized as well, as would be known and understood by one skilled in the art.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71, or alternatively, the subsea control system asset management program 71 can include a data module, a troubleshooting/analytic module, and/or a maintenance module 1900. The data module can contain an electronic snapshot of the entire control system, providing an ability to visualize the data in the data logger and troubleshoot issues. This can include the ability to trend multiple charts at one time based on the historical data and also the ability to access data remotely. An analytics module of either program 71, 71′ can provide reliable estimates on equipment failure based on operating parameters and historical data analysis. This section can incorporate predictive algorithms to ascertain the condition of critical components. A troubleshooting module can provide a user remote access to the BOP, an electronic snapshot of BOP health, access to subsystem screens, the ability to search events based on type, time, pod or subsea electronics module (SEM), and the ability to view multiple trends for troubleshooting. The maintenance module 1900 can provide the user visibility into the replacement needs for major components, filtering of components, the input and storage of corrective maintenance data, and report generation. The maintenance module 1900 can be aimed primarily to control effectively the supply of equipment to reduce inventory cost. This can include providing replacement advice for major components by certain days (e.g., 30, 60, 90, 180 days) based on the condition of a component.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71 comprises instructions, that when executed by the shipboard computer 41 either automatically or on-demand from one or more remote user computers, perform health monitoring and visualization functions and maintenance tracking, predictive analysis, and scheduling. The subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71 can provide: fleet level analytics including the side-by-side comparison of like data between similar vessels 22 in a network, pressure, flowmeter, or real-time ram block position and pressure parameter comparison, fault tree analysis of the data to identify deviations and corrections, a degradation mechanism based on failure mode effects analysis (FMEA)/failure mode effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) for each rig, and a central repository 65 for data (e.g., data in the cloud).
According to an exemplary configuration of the subsea control system health and maintenance management program 71, a web-based user is provided a login screen through utilization of user management-Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)/active directory integration. Once logged in, a user can access a graphical user interface displaying a dashboard page 85, which can provide a visual illustration of the health of the BOP stack, the health of subsystems, current states of each element in the subsystems, and trends of the data.
According to an exemplary configuration, a plurality of dashboard pages can be provided, which can be structured to provide access to subsystem health and details screens and a graphical representation 82 of a BOP stack. The graphical representation of a BOP stack can reflect conditions, such as open, closed, unlocked, locked, normal or check conditions for annulars, riser connector, rams, and stack connectors. The graphical representation 82 of a BOP stack further can read back pressures for annulars, risers, manifold regulators, and stack connector regulators via a main page. Graphical representations 82 of these and other various BOP components range from generic representations of those components to visual depictions of the actual BOP components pre-installation according to user needs. For example, embodiments may include visual depictions of a BOP, wherein various components of the BOP are selectable through a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI can provide for blown-up and interactive views of selected BOP components thereby to indicate health of particular sub-components of the BOP components or the health of BOP components generally and to provide specific maintenance steps needed in a visual, interactive setting. Other exemplary dashboard pages can include pod (SEM) view, active pod view (displayed, for example, as blue/yellow), subsea electronics module (SEM) (A/B) view, and pod match visibility, said dashboard pages capable of being provided via user-selectable page links.
Referring to
For example, the algorithm provided in
According to an embodiment of the invention, an algorithm provided in
The maintenance module 1900 can provide visibility into the health of major components and needs for corrective replacement. The maintenance module 1900 further can provide filtering capabilities of major components, input and storage of suggested/corrective maintenance data, a dashboard of overdue components and timeline for replacement, and report generation of “suggested” components that need replacement. This maintenance advice is based on a threshold defined by a user for each solenoid function. For example, as shown in
Still referring to
The maintenance report page 2102 can allow the user to run a report based on the next stack pull and the well duration. This essentially can provide the user a list of all the components that are due for preventive maintenance or replacement during the next stack pull and during the well duration period in order to better prepare for scheduled maintenance. The maintenance report page 2102 can also allow a user to view pre-defined historical reports, which provide an end user a list of all the components that were replaced in the last, for example, 30/60/90/180 days.
At step 104, it is determined if the firing event was a dry test or wet/actual event. In embodiments, the determination criteria can be dependent upon whether or not the hydraulic component in the chain is a shear valve or an SPM valve pressurized with a predefined first pressure, such as 3000 psi, an SPM valve pressurized at a predefined second pressure higher than the first pressure, such as 4000 or 5000 psi, or some other type of component in the maintenance chain. For shear seal valves and SPM valves at the predefined first pressure, for example 3000 psi 140, if the pod pilot pressure is zero or below a threshold as indicated at step 111, the test is a dry test 150; otherwise, it is considered a wet test or actual event 152. For SPM valves at the predefined second pressure, for example 4000 and 5000 psi SPM valves 142, if the pressure transducer 68 is zero as indicated at step 121, the test is a dry test 150′; otherwise, it is considered a wet test or actual event 152′. For all other downchain BOP components in the maintenance chain 144, if there is no pod pressure or the pod pressure is below a threshold as indicated at step 131, the test is a dry test 150″; otherwise, it is considered a wet test or actual event 152″.
Beneficially, the wet/dry testing analysis, similar to the chain of components analysis above, can allow the end user to distinguish which components were fired if the testing was done subsea (wet) or if the testing was done on the surface (dry). This solution provides for distinguishing between a wet or dry test based on flow meter and/or pod pressure.
For wet testing, a solenoid firing event is captured and pod pressure is verified to he in a certain range or minimum/maximum value, or, alternatively, a flowmeter value change is registered to determine if the test was wet. If the test is a wet test, the components described above in the hydraulic chain have their count incremented based on the solenoid cycle count and a recommended replacement interval is derived. For dry testing, a solenoid firing event is captured and the absence of pod pressure, or, alternatively, a lack of change in the flowmeter value is registered to determine if the test is dry. If the test is a dry test, only the components on the pod (e.g., shear seal valves, SPM valves) have their cycle counts incremented.
The test distinguishes between active 2600 and non-active pods 2602. That is, the cycle counts 1100 of components on the active pod 2600 are different in comparison to the components on the non-active pod 2602 based on the chain of events described above. For example, for the active pod 2600, the cycle count 1100 will increment for every component starting from solenoids 66 to the ram packer 2408 or annular packing unit 2500, but, for the non-active pod 2602, the cycle count 1100 will be incremented for a subset of downchain BOP components starting with the solenoids 66 but stopping at SPM valves 2402. The derived cycle count 1100 then is used to recommend replacement intervals for each component.
Analytics, as would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, can be used to enhance identification of the number of cycles which dictate when a part should be inspected and/or replaced. The analytics can include, smart signals integration and predictive analytics based on operational data, similar to pattern recognition. For example, a projected replacement date 2100 can be extrapolated from average historical usage of a component to determine when a component will reach a predetermined cycle count. The determination also can factor in anticipated future usage, which can be based on the time of year or the type of activity being performed on the well. In addition, a projected replacement date 2100 can be determined using a combination of two or more of these factors.
In embodiments, a user receives automatic alerts under certain circumstances. For example the automatic alerts can relate to and be sent responsive to the cycle count of the solenoid or any of the downchain BOP components. The automatic alerts can be configured to be sent a user when a cycle count reaches a predefined threshold, when a cycle count comes within a certain number of a predefined threshold, when the system determines that a solenoid 66 or a downchain BOP component must be replaced, or when the system determines that the solenoid or a downchain BOP component must be replaced within a predefined number of days. For example, an automatic alert can be sent to the user when system determines the SPM valve must be replaced in 50 cycles. As another example, an automatic alert can be sent to the user on the one or more displays when the system determines the ram packer is due to be replaced or should be replaced in 30 days.
In embodiments, the automatic alerts can relate to and be sent responsive to a parameter associated with one or more of the plurality of downchain BOP components. For example, an automatic alert can be sent responsive to a solenoid overcurrent or undercurrent if the current respectively exceeds or drops below a predefined value. The automatic alert also can be sent responsive to fluctuations in the solenoid current if fluctuations in the solenoid current exceed a predefined value. In embodiments, the automatic alert can be sent if pressure in the regulators exceeds a predefined value, which could be set at, for example, 1600 psi. In addition, automatic alerts can be sent if any of the system's transducers or other components behave abnormally. It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the foregoing functions can be carried out by a plurality of dedicated modules initiated by one or more processors upon execution of a set of instructions stored in a tangible computer-readable medium.
The present application is a non-provisional application which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/923,076, filed on Jan. 2, 2014 and titled “Systems, Computer Programs, and Methods of Providing Data Visualization for Health Monitoring and Preventive Maintenance Decision-Making for Subsea Control Subsystem Components” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed a typical preferred embodiment of the invention, and, although specific terms are employed, the terms are used in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The invention has been described in considerable detail with specific reference to these illustrated embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that various modifications and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the foregoing specification.
Always Green (no alarms for Ram Blocks)
The present application is a non-provisional application which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/923,076, filed on Jan. 2, 2014 and titled “Systems, Computer Programs, and Methods of Providing Data Visualization for Health Monitoring and Preventive Maintenance Decision-Making for Subsea Control Subsystem Components,” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61923076 | Jan 2014 | US |
