Control system for Shell gas production platform

Transmitton has installed an innovative new control system for the new Shell NUI Carrack QA North Sea gas production platform, which reduces costs and increases efficiency

Transmitton, international supplier of integrated system control and asset management solutions, has installed an innovative new control system for the new Shell NUI (normally unattended installation) Carrack QA gas production platform.

In a project worth around GBP400,000, Transmitton provided a fully duplicated fastflex remote terminal unit (RTU), using their latest powerful FF014 processor and including a local display panel based on the Transmitton cromosOptima masterstation package, communicating with the RTU over an OPC connection.

A novel feature of the solution was the use of the MTL8000 hazardous area Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).

Initially three remote terminal units were provided, based upon the MTL8000 equipment, one to monitor and control each well head.

The overall platform design was for ten well heads; as additional wells are drilled, each can be equipped with a MTL8000 PLC.

The PLC, which complies fully with new European ATEX directives for hazardous areas, has remote dumb (No Logic Control) input and output modules located in the well head area.

This minimises the need of intrinsically safe and non-intrinsically safe cabling/wiring and barrier requirements for process instrumentation.

This reduces the impact and time scales for adding future wells, as only communications and power need to be installed from the safe area to the hazardous well head area, with well head process instrumentation being wired locally.

An additional MTL8000 RTU for a fourth well has subsequently been supplied and installed by Transmitton.

The design also made allowance for the monitoring and control of four future satellite gas production platforms.

SLP Engineering, on behalf of Shell, contracted Transmitton to specify and subsequently supply the control and monitoring system.

Implementation required close co-operation with SLP Engineering and Shell engineers to ensure that the very challenging timescales for delivery were met.

Transmitton provided the highly successful control and monitoring system for the existing Shell Leman field in 1992-93, with operator facilities based at their gas terminal at Bacton and offshore on the Alpha complex.

It has subsequently been extended to control and monitor all existing offshore platforms, all new offshore platforms in the southern North Sea and facilities at Bacton Gas Terminal.

Managing Director at Transmitton, Ian Wright, comments: "This has been an interesting project for us and developing an innovative and cost efficient solution for Shell is where our specialist technical expertise has added real lasting value".

Transmitton has many years of experience in the provision of mission critical control and monitoring system, and in managing upgrades, additions and extensions to existing systems.

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