Basic sediment and water, or BS&W. It’s what comes along for the ride in most oil & gas producing wells. The goal is to separate these from the oil and gas for proper disposal. The sediment portion, often consisting of sand, can collect and accumulate in the product & test separators as well as the production tanks.
This quick, 1-minute YouTube video, Rosemount 2140. Sand Detection Made Easy, shows how this accumulated sand and other sediment can be monitored to identify when efficiency is reduced and maintenance needs to occur. The Rosemount 2140 level detector switch includes wet sand settings for managing tank and separator efficiency.
In shale oil & gas producing regions, this real-time monitoring can reduce the trips required to well pads for manual inspections in hazardous locations. There is also less risk of clogging in the process stream. When accumulations occur, alarms can notify field personnel that maintenance is needed.
Small tanks and pipes may experience rapid changes in sand and sediment levels. Dry/wet switching in the Rosemount 2140 is maximized to address these quick-changing conditions.
The level detection technology is based on a piezo-electric crystal, which oscillates the vibrating forks at their natural frequency. Changes to this frequency are continuously monitored. The frequency of the vibrating fork sensor changes depending on the medium in which it is immersed, including wet sand and sediment.
Other applications for the Rosemount 2140 and 2140:SIS level detectors include overfill prevention, as a component in an automatic overfill prevention system (AOPS), high and low level alarming, pump control or limit detection, and run dry or pump protection.
Join us next week at the Emerson Exchange conference in San Antonio, Texas for many great level measurement and oil & gas industry workshops. A few in which you might be interested include:
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