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Digital automation upgrades early North Sea rig

An Emerson Process Management - Systems and Industry product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 10, 2005

Emerson Process Management has supplied PlantWeb digital automation architecture with the DeltaV system and Foundation fieldbus communications technology to expand automation of the Broom development.

Emerson Process Management has supplied PlantWeb digital automation architecture with the DeltaV system and Foundation fieldbus communications technology to expand automation of the Broom development, an oil field located in the North Sea and operated as a subsea tie-back to the Heather Alpha platform, 7km east of Broom, northeast of the Shetland Islands.

PlantWeb architecture is a digital automation approach using communications technology like Foundation fieldbus on Heather to collect actionable diagnostics and process information from field devices and distribute the information to operations, maintenance and management.

This project, deploying PlantWeb architecture with its DeltaV digital automation system, continues an excellent working relationship developed between Emerson and Aberdeen-based engineering contractors Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) on previous successful offshore projects.

Applying the depth of expertise available within Emerson on integrating platform technology using PlantWeb with Foundation fieldbus, this project also involves expanded monitoring of various aspects of the operation on the Heather platform, such as pressure measurement in the risers.

Emerson field devices on Heather include Rosemount 3095MV multivariable transmitters that provide fully compensated mass flow rate calculations in the field for orifice plate measurements.

The mass flow rate is monitored from the complex Broom subsea systems based on orifice plate measurements.

Two 8in nominal bore pipelines transport the oil to Heather, where the total flows are measured using Micro Motion Coriolis mass flowmeters, before export to Sullom Voe.

Production from the Broom field topped 20,000 barrels per day within two months of startup last August.

Most of the control system on Heather is pneumatic, being the original control scheme installed on commissioning in 1977, when Heather was one of the first North Sea production platforms.

Addition of PlantWeb architecture and the DeltaV system has enabled instrumentation updates with improved integration of platform functions.

The Heather and Broom fields are operated by Lundin Britain, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lundin Petroleum of Sweden.

There are further development opportunities in the vicinity of these fields, which are currently being evaluated.

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