American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2022 - 73

SpecialReport: Oil Field Chemistry
equipment we felt comfortable putting
our name on, " he recalls. " Instead, we
launched DCiii and spent the next three
years developing hardware and software
that would work. "
The company quickly decided that
rather than trying to reinvent the wheel,
it would use the same sight-glass-based
process technicians had proven across
several decades. To do that, the company
uses two components: a sight glass and a
controller. " Because the glass hangs off
the chemical tank, it needs to be light
and short, " Hammond notes. " To minimize
failure points, it only has one moving
part, an actuator that is rated for 15
million cycles, enough to last more than
15 years. "
To assess the pump's speed, Hammond
says the system periodically closes the
valve to isolate the sight glass and pump
from the tank, then uses a hydrostatic
pressure sensor to see how quickly the
pump draws chemical from the sight glass.
This speed helps the controller decide
how to achieve the desired injection rate.
According to Hammond, designing
the controller took care. " Many injection
points are in remote areas where the
only power comes from a solar panel
that was installed primarily to run the
injection pump and may be undersized
even for that, so minimizing power consumption
was extremely important, " he
says. " Even a tiny PLC will draw too
much power and require too much
wiring, so our engineering team has
created a low-power circuit board and
telemetry system. "
This controller is sophisticated enough
to monitor and interpret the pump's condition
and respond appropriately, Hammond
assures. As an example, he says it
can compensate for variations in voltage
on cloudy days in which the pump gets
inadequate power.
DCiii's system can target a prescribed
injection rate or turn the pump on and
off at user-defined intervals, Hammond
says, but many customers prefer to have
it change the injection rate in proportion
to fluid volumes. This setting lets the
system maintain an effective chemical
concentration, such as 60 parts per million,
as production fluctuates.
The data the system collects gives
both operators and chemical service
providers real-time visibility into the field
and a record of what has happened at a
particular injection point, Hammond adds,
noting this information can guide optimization
efforts.
" The system works with almost any
supervisory control and data acquisition
setup and is completely agnostic to the
pump, the tank or the type of chemical, "
Hammond says. " As of early February,
we have 3,000 systems in the field. Threefourths
are managing corrosion or scale
inhibitors, but we have quite a few injecting
methanol, H2S scavengers and other types
of chemicals. "
❒
Simpler, high-confidence
prospect decisions
...from clear, comprehensive,
state-of-the-art geophysical
interpretations
*
*
*
Our team of experts comes from your
world. They understand the objectives,
pressures and constraints you face in an
E&P division.
When you work with IGC you can expect
*
Candid assessment of tools and analyses.
Comprehensive analyses you can put to use
immediately.
The best available data and state-of-the-art tools.
Concise, well-packaged work product and expert
presentation support.
Get the most comprehensive integrated
seismic/gravity/magnetics tool set by using IGC
as your outsourced analytic team.
Integrated Geophysics Corporation
550 Briar Hollow Lane , Suite 400W0 Briar Hollow Lane , Suite 400W Houston, Texas 77027 Tel (713) 680-9996
www.igcworld.com
Houston, Texas 77027 Tel (713) 680-9996
FEBRUARY 2022 73

http://www.igcworld.com

American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2022