With volatile gas prices, oil and gas producers – and consumers – demand reliability

As we all experienced, the need for oil and gas production quickly plummeted in early 2020 as COVID forced changes to how we work and live. And just as fast, the demand is back.

Amid this change, we’re now embarking on the Energy Transition. The world will rely on renewable energy supported by gas power, which offers tremendous potential to help cut carbon emissions with the speed and scale the world requires. But gas power requires that oil and gas producers run their operations efficiently so that consumers receive power at an affordable price. To do this, producers need software to maintain their operational excellence.

Software like SmartSignal can detect, diagnose, forecast, and prevent unplanned downtime by uncovering performance anomalies in assets. Powered by unique Digital Twin analytics, SmartSignal’s early detection and time-to-action forecasting drive improved reliability with maximum O&M efficiency.

By identifying issues early and exactly when they first present themselves, engineers are proactive instead of reactive, able to plan servicing of equipment and avoiding unplanned downtime and – worse, failure.

Don’t believe me? Here’s a perfect example I recently saw as a member of the GE Digital Industrial Managed Services team.

The APM Reliability software identified a deviation on a gas turbine-driven water injection pump in a downstream oil and gas plant. Specifically, the lube oil supply temperature started increasing - reaching up to 67.8°C while the digital twin model noted it should be around 60°C. The soft alarm limit was 71°C. As a consequence of the increased lube oil supply temperature, the gas turbine, gearbox and pump bearing drain temperatures also increased above the Digital Twin model estimates.

The customer investigated and confirmed issue could be caused by a fooled oil cooler and planned backflushing of the same for a next outage opportunity.

The customer was able to plan in advance and proactively perform backflushing of the lube oil and return to normal operation condition. In doing so, the impact to operations was minimal, and there was no mechanical damage to the unit. Using APM Reliability, we were able to confirm the lube oil supply temperature returned to the predicted model values, as did all other oil drain temperatures. The customer estimated they avoided nearly $200,000 in production and maintenance cost.

By leveraging Digital Twins and analytics across assets, organizations can feel more comfortable knowing that their investments are performing optimally. Using remote services, such as those provided by SmartSignal, the organization was able to save time and money. With SmartSignal, you can remove the risk of critical downtime and deliver.