End-To-End Solution: Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) High-Frequency Data Transmission via Edge-Driven IIOT Solution
Authors: Basri A Hakim , Minggu Nur’ain , Zhen Xin Dylan Ho , Ling Liew Yi , Mat Nawi Wan Zul-atfi , Mohamed Hamdi , Aris Sazalee M. , Tarmizi M. Amirul Ariff M. , Zainul M. Hairol B. , Lang Jong Pieu , Tan Chee Seong , Kalidas Sanggeetha , Hanes Sarah , Nayendi Lukman Salifu , Lawrence Edwin , Hassan Muhammad Firdaus , Mosar Nur Faizah P. 
Published: October 2023

In Field-B, five wells have been permanently completed with distributed temperature sensing (DTS) fibresthat extend through the reservoirs section. Undeniably the DTS provides a new surveillance experience for Field-B. Amultiple conventional monitoring system can be merged under a single centralized platform while also effectively minimizingproduction deferments. This includes functionalities such as leak detection, gas lift monitoring, and zonal production profiling, which can benefit production enhancement work. However, the operatorsstruggle to maximize their production enhancement initiatives because the DTS capabilities are not maximized effectively. This paper presents the end-to-end solution post-installation of fibreoptic DTS applications in Field-B, offshore Malaysia.

DTS wells are located onsatellite platforms that are not accessible daily. As such, the biggest challenges faced by Field-B are operational-related. Challenges encountered post DTS fibreinstallations in Field-B lie mainly in the data transmission areafrom offshore to the office. Prior to the establishment of DTS offshore to onshore communication, collecting the DTS data manually wasa significantstruggle. In later years, DTS data was transmitted through open platform communication (OPC) setups where DTS data are translated in a tagging-based format where this new setup requires mapping of OPC tags to productivity index (PI) tags. This tagging-based format comes with a few challenges where the tags can only capture the data at a 3m interval resolution, which is at a less accurate rate. The data are converted into discretized information that may mask important findings and opportunities.

A digital intervention was needed for a fit-for-purpose solution that covers the full lifecycle of DTS data. Hence, an edge-driven industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) gateway is utilized to compile and transmit the high-frequency data from a DTS surface acquisition unit (SAU) from offshore to cloud, where data is easily accessible from a cloud server level. This edge IIOT gateway enables real-time DTS data transmission to the gateway. It converts the raw DTS data towellsite information and transfers standard markup language(WITSML) format, which can be directly loaded to thermal interpretation tools. Additionally, this solution enables real-time data transmission to the officewith high-resolution data acquisition every 0.5m. This high-resolution measurement increases the DTS data accuracy and quality for a more representative data interpretation analysis.

Edge-driven gateway is chosen to transmit the real-time DTS data from SAU and make it accessible in an easy-to-use interface on the web from the cloud. This seamless data transfer to the office has significantly improved the response time to perform data interpretation instantaneously,making it possible to make better decisions regarding well intervention or gas lift optimization by minimizing HSE exposure and operational expenditure(OPEX) reduction while increasing process cycle efficiency. Adopting this technology has enabled acceleration in the digital transformation program, where it increases resource productivity and efficiency by minimizing any unnecessary trips offshore for data collection, whichessentially reduces thecarbon footprint.