Emerson Exchange 365

The snow-swept valleys of northern Wyoming during the winter months are some of the toughest environments that oil and gas crews face anywhere. Iced-over roads, punishing winds, and sub-zero wind-chill temperatures make nearly every aspect of operation more costly and complex. Investing in technology that can save time and manpower in extreme conditions like these doesn’t just make good business sense—it can be potentially life-saving.

So when Brad Gentry at Meritage Midstream Services II was tasked with expanding the control system at one of the company’s natural gas processing facilities in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, he teamed up with plant automation specialist Forrest Churchill at Applied Controls. Together, they collaborated on a plan to address the unique challenges posed by a project that had to be completed on a relatively short schedule in such a remote location. They took a modular approach with the new condensate stabilizer package—which meant delivering a skid-based DCS that could service a live running plant with seamless integration.

“Given that we were operating in such brutal outdoor conditions, just about anything we could do in a closed, controlled environment would mean huge costs savings,” said Gentry, who presented the project as a case study today at the 2016 Emerson Global Users Exchange in Austin.

“Implementing a skid-based DCS allowed us to build and test the system offsite where we could accommodate design changes and rework as necessary before executing the onsite commissioning phase. Skids are ideal in these situations because they can provide for seamless integration and far fewer elements to worry about when the crew is out in the elements hooking it up. We were able to integrate the entire unit and put it into service within a matter of days once it was delivered.”

Gentry described how factory acceptance testing was crucial to executing the turnkey skid strategy in a way that saved on commissioning costs and made up for lost time. “We had at least two days of shutdown due to inclement weather, which is huge on an 8-week schedule,” he said.

“We worked with Emerson to leverage the testing process and validate the DCS in the shop before we got onsite—everything from loop checks, custom interface graphics, and cabinet checkout. Electronic marshalling using CHARMS allowed for any late design changes that were discovered during the testing phase. This eliminated about 10 hours of onsite time, which translated into thousands of dollars in added revenue from the production downtime we were able to save.”

As Churchill explained, early engagement was critical to the success of the project. “This was one of the first times in our experience that the end user of a skid was fully engaged with the automation engineering team from the outset—and it made all the difference,” he said. “Including all the parties that are going to work together on a relatively complex modular installation like this one allows everyone to understand the full scope of the project and how everything will be integrated into the system as a whole. In the end, it leads to a lower total installed cost—and a much higher degree of project certainty for the customer.”