High-accuracy temperature measurement is critical during all steps of oil production, from initial extraction to final distribution. This article explores how ABB’s latest technology provides Equinor with reliable temperature monitoring in the North Sea’s Johan Sverdrup oil field.
Image Credit: Arne Reidar Mortensen© Equinor
Johan Sverdrup is the third-largest oil field on the Norwegian continental shelf and a main energy supplier to Europe. The field is now on stream, accounting for around a third of Norway's oil production.
The field is in the North Sea’s Utsira High region, 160 km west of Stavanger in 110–120 m water depths and covering a 200 km2 vicinity.
Robust and Reliable Temperature Measurement for Offshore Conditions
Temperature is one of the most vital measurements in the oil and other process industries, essential for operational safety and efficiency. Engineers require robust and dependable temperature measurements to observe and control upstream oil and gas processes.
Oil, water, and gas flowing at high speed make traditional invasive thermowell measurements difficult in wellhead applications. As temperature is important, operators use clamp-on temperature transmitters to determine pipe temperature as an alternative to process temperature. The challenging ambient environments at offshore locations can cause unpredictable measurement errors.
"We observed that with wind from the north or south, above a certain wind speed, the deviation increased up to 10 °C in worst conditions. We could see that the wind tunnel between the first and second stage separators led to an external cooling of the piping." Image Credit: Equinor
Equinor comprehensively studied its Johan Sverdrup oil platform to determine the extent of these errors in standard uses. Comparing invasive and traditional clamp-on temperature measurements revealed that the latter is impacted by factors like wind speed, the volume and type of thermal insulation, and the clamp-on sensor’s design.
This resulted in up to 10 °C deviations with standard process temperatures of 65 °C.
Johan Sverdrup Required a Stable Clamp-On Temperature Measurement Solution
Equinor’s team wanted a stable clamp-on temperature sensor for consistent temperature measurement in the North Sea’s challenging offshore environments.
Equinor performed tests using ABB’s NINVA clamp-on non-invasive temperature sensor alongside invasive measurement solutions in the field under harsh conditions.
NINVA installed in a remote sensor configuration in the Johan Sverdrup oil field in the North Sea. Image Credit: ABB
The team first used ABB’s performance predictor to assess the anticipated variation between the pipe surface and bulk process temperatures at the process location.
The difference was marginal even under harsh conditions, so Equinor installed NINVA and monitored it for around six months throughout winter. The measurement was on a large-diameter pipe employing ABB’s unique remote-mount TSP341-N non-invasive sensor coupled with a TTF300 Field Transmitter.
With a dual sensor tip and a patented approach to enabling standard errors of conventional surface sensors, NINVA correctly measured the pipe’s surface temperature and achieved the anticipated performance.
The difference between the invasive and non-invasive measurements was between 0.8 and 1.5 °C under nominal process conditions, despite weather conditions. Throughout the experiment, the engineers used 10 cm insulation over the sensor, covering a range of around 0.5 m in every direction.
“With NINVA, we see a stable, plug-and-play clamp-on temperature measurement solution that can be used to infer the process temperature in some of our challenging applications.” Image Credit: Equinor
Innovative Engineering, Reliable Temperature Measurement
ABB’s NINVA provides a safer and easier approach to temperature measurements, removing the costs and risks of installing an invasive thermowell. NINVA is SIL2 certified and can be employed in applications where safety is crucial.
Discover if NINVA can support you with your next temperature measurement task by inspecting NINVA’s anticipated performance in the performance predictor on ABB’s My Measurement Assistant platform.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by ABB.
For more information on this source, please visit ABB.