Most oil shale fields include pipeline infrastructure to gather produced water from wells. Pipelines transfer the water to temporary storage at either a disposal well location or at a central treatment facility.
By partnering with a trusted automation equipment supplier like Wolseley Industrial Group, oilfield service companies can find new ways to improve the efficiency and reliability of their water disposal infrastructure while improving safety and reducing costs.
Need for reliable automation
As part of the water treatment operation, there is a need for automated valve technology to control the flow in high-pressure water-gathering pipelines. In many cases, however, these pipelines run for miles with no power to activate the valves. Wolseley Industrial Group's customer wanted to optimize its water-gathering operations and had specific requirements for the valve application:
- Control system pressure to and from well sites.
- Shut down lines in the event of a break or other failure.
- Eliminate high-maintenance devices such as air compressors and other rotating equipment.
Starting in 2017, Wolseley Industrial Group partnered with its customer to develop a solution for its pipeline control application. Wolseley Industrial Group supplies high-quality industrial products and technology solutions ranging from pipe, valves and fittings to general maintenance, repair and operating supplies, and supply chain management services.
Implementing the right solution
The produced water treatment company had trust in Wolseley Industrial Group's engineering expertise and automation capabilities. It chose Wolseley Industrial Group to design and construct self-contained solar systems to power the Allen Bradley Micrologix programmable logic controllers (PLCs) used to run the automated valve equipment. Communication to the PLCs is provided via fiber optics.
The customer's engineering staff visited the Wolseley Industrial Group facility to witness the testing of all valve equipment, which included stroking the isolation valves open and closed. Test parameters included full open/full closed, position feedback, open/ closing speed and voltage drop. Shutting the breaker off at the solar system simulated low-voltage alarms. A local control was utilized so that valves were not only stroked by Wolseley Industrial Group's 24 VDC and 4-20 mA test control, but also locally at the actuator. All valves passed the tests, including the open and closing speed requirements.
Successful project results
The use of solar power in industrial valve automation goes back several decades; however, technological advances in efficiency and storage mean the technology has become a practical, dependable alternative for many isolated locations.
The innovative solar power solution provides the proper voltage to operate automated modulating and isolation valves with a tremendous safety factor. The electric actuators incorporate an internal battery system that also provides position feedback and diagnostics.
In addition, the solar system includes a control panel that utilizes a series of voltage regulators to monitor the battery voltage. The system only provides charging when the voltage drops below specified levels. This prevents overcharging the battery and possible degradation.
Oilfield service companies seek to optimize their network of produced water pipelines and underground injection wells, which are designed to gather and dispose of saltwater for the shale oil industry. By partnering with a trusted automation equipment supplier like Wolseley Industrial Group, they can find ways to improve the efficiency and reliability of their water disposal infrastructure while improving safety and reducing costs.
For more information, visit www.wolseleyind.com or call (713) 491-5000.
