Optimized Data Acquisition Systems for UBD Applications in Remote Locations Onshore and Offshore
Authors: Saeed Saad , Niedz Christopher 
Published: October 2008

Underbalanced drilling operations offshore and at remote locations onshore curtail having a large number of personnel on-site. When the expertise of specialists is required data acquisition with real-time remote monitoring allows them to quickly become familiar with the problems, by having easy electronic access via the web or data exchange to history of the field, drawings, daily reports, logs, and, most critically, a complete set of downhole and surface data which they can then use in their evaluation and analysis.

The design of advanced data acquisition and monitoring systems are presented for several underbalanced drilling applications in remote locations both onshore and offshore. The system design, implementation, and lessons learned from the operations are described.

For the field cases presented, each operation had associated challenges that needed to be addressed to allow for real time data acquisition and monitoring. This paper describes different aspects of the design and setup of these systems for several recent field operations at remote locations onshore as well as offshore. The lessons learned to successfully implement these systems are of significance as this technology matures.

Introduction

Underbalanced drilling operations are a complex multidisciplinary technology, which require the amalgamation and symbiotic interaction of several advanced techniques and methodologies. Such an expanse of specialized practical expertise is usually not readily available within a single entity and hence requires the involvement of a number of experts (i.e. companies). These companies all possess their own unique internal work practices and proprietary technologies but must effectively and coherently interact and coexist to execute a successful underbalanced project. The foundation of such a successful venture is good quality pertinent data, which must be readily available to appropriate personnel, in a timely manner. Data affects every aspect of a project, from initial design considerations to operational implications and focus.

Underbalanced projects are characterized by large quantities of data, generated from a variety of sources and companies. The challenge of the underbalanced data acquisition system is to effectively consolidate this information into one coherent/unified data source, thereby abstracting internal fragmentation and enabling the user to access a single resource for the entire data set. The acquisition system is not only concerned with collecting, manipulating and archiving data but also with disseminating this information. Due to such broad multi-source requirements, the underbalanced data acquisition system must be carefully designed to mutually optimize data acquisition, storage, and dissemination. No magical system design templates exist which can be applied to every case or scenario. Many companies have tried such an approach by applying standard molds to different situations with detrimental affects. Rather, the data acquisition system design is highly project specific depending on client requirements, equipment specification, and site infrastructure. This paper presents two case studies which highlight the design and implementation of real-time underbalanced data acquisition systems in remote locations. The first study details a unique onshore underbalanced application, whilst the second focuses on an offshore project.