Emerson Exchange 365

Suncor Energy’s Firebag oil sands facility in northern Alberta, Canada, produces an average of 172,400 barrels of raw bitumen per day.  The in-situ recovery process used at the site injects highly pressurized steam into horizontal wells to heat the oil sands ore below ground, allowing bitumen to flow into secondary wells deeper in the reservoir.  From there it’s pumped to the surface and piped to upgrading facilities several kilometers away. 

As might be expected with such an environmentally sensitive operation, government regulations require Suncor to maintain detailed records of water balances, usage rates, and recycle rates, as well as data on several other liquids and gases.  All of this must be done in accordance with a measurement, accounting, and reporting program, or MARP.  Suncor’s MARP specifies the company’s plan for testing the accuracy of the meters at its Firebag site, the majority of which are Rosemount 8800D Series Vortex Flowmeters.

For years the MARP dictated that crews had to check the accuracy of all the flow meters manually.  This process involved filling out paperwork for permits to gain access to certain areas of the site, logging into each transmitter, recording values on check sheets, and interpreting the data by hand.  In addition to being tedious, it was potentially dangerous for personnel who had to climb ladders outdoors in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero to reach meters in tight spaces near high-pressure steam lines. 

Robert Kemp, an electrical and instrumentation specialist at Suncor, figured there was bound to be a better way.  Along with Joey Clarke of Spartan Controls, Kemp presented a case study today at the 2014 Emerson Global Users Exchange illustrating how their team found their novel approach. 

Emerson’s QuickCheck^TM SNAP-ON™ application within the AMS Suite Device Manager was originally designed to test safety interlocks in HART and Fieldbus devices.  It allows operators to download specified parameters for certain groups of devices and export the data into spreadsheets for analysis.  

“We realized that we could use QuickCheck to speed up the regulatory verification process by pulling ‘snap shot’ readings from our 8800D meters at regular intervals and comparing the values with historical data,” Kemp explained.  “With this innovative application of the QuickCheck software, we can select groups of instruments to be validated and compile the results—all with just a few keystrokes.”   

Data is now exported as comma-delineated files and then converted into pre-formatted check sheets that automatically populate the data fields required for each meter.  Validation equations in the software then compare the polled data with pre-loaded historical readings, which provides instant verification that the meters’ configurations haven’t changed and are in line with regulatory requirements. 

“This new method, which we implemented at Firebag beginning in 2012, not only saves time, but also minimizes the safety concerns involved and reduces the chance for human error in interpreting and reporting the regulatory data,” Kemp concluded.  “Estimates show that we’ve cut the annualized cost of verifying each of our MARP meters from $800 down to $300.  With over 500 meters and counting at the site, these savings will continue to add up for years to come.”