Oil and Gas Engineering - 2015 04

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I NSIDE
OG6 DEVELOPMENTS TO WATCH
Developing technologies from Houston
and Australia show promise
Acoustic sensing, nano particles, and smart cement are in development at the university and
a modified drill head from Australia may be an environmentally friendly fracking alternative. OG6
OG10 COVER STORY
Hacking O&G control systems:
Understanding the cyber risk OG18
It’s not if an attack is going to happen but when and the oil and gas industry is a prime target
of these attacks. Learn how to protect systems and understand the risks of cyber attacks.
OG16 CYBER SECURITY DEFENSE

The active cyber defense cycle:
To protect O&G infrastructure
Passive defense systems such as firewalls and anti-virus software are no longer able
to keep systems safe. IT personnel need to take initiative to up the game and assume an
active defense.
OG18 WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY

Uncapping the benefits of wireless technology
Wireless technology is taking the oilfield by storm and it is revolutionizing the
way producers “see” the fields and all the data streaming from them. Learn
about the advantages of the digital oilfield.
OG22 SENSOR NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES

Technologies converge to improve
sensor networks in O&G
Sensors combined with wireless networks allow producers to optimize
production and “see” and “feel” the oil- and gasfields in real time, leading to
increased production and decreased downtime.
OG28 INDUSTRY FOCUS OG22

Understanding business drivers in O&G:
Refining enjoys some good times
How refining became the main business of some companies and how these
refiners made this sector of the industry a profitable one.
OG33 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS OG35

Relevant relief device considerations
keep facilities safer
Guest columnist Ryan Supple offers advice on how to improve safety in facilities by
improving relief devices and matching them with the proper updated technology.
OG35 PRODUCTS
A selection of oil-and gas-related products engineers will find useful.
OG2 • APRIL 2015 OIL&GAS ENGINEERING

1111 W. 22ND ST. SUITE 250, OAK BROOK, IL 60523
630-571-4070, FAX 630-214-4504 COMMENT
CONTENT SPECIALISTS/EDITORIAL
ERIC R. EISSLER, Editor-in-Chief
630-571-4070 x2224, EEissler@CFEMedia.com
JACK SMITH, Deputy Editor
630-907-1622, JSmith@CFEMedia.com
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PUBLICATION SERVICES
JIM LANGHENRY, Co-Founder & Publisher ERIC R. EISSLER
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ELENA MOELLER-YOUNGER, Marketing Manager
Cyber security vulnerabilities
are everywhere
773-815-3795, EMYounger@CFEMedia.com
KRISTEN NIMMO, Marketing Manager
630-571-4070 x2215, KNimmo@CFEMedia.com
N
MICHAEL SMITH, Creative Director
630-779-8910, MSmith@CFEMedia.com ews accounts of cyber attacks unique to the oil and gas industry and
KATIE SPAIN, Associate Art Director are on the rise. Despite the offers suggestions on how to improve
630-571-4070 x2218, KSpain@CFEMedia.com
growth in frequency and sever- defenses and how to prepare for an
PAUL BROUCH, Director of Operations
630-571-4070 x2208, PBrouch@CFEMedia.com ity of attacks, cyber security is attack. Cyber security is a major prob-
ANISA SAMARXHIU, Digital Project Manager a major issue that continues to be over- lem, and we highlight that in this issue.
630-571-4070 x2220, ASamarxhiu@CFEMedia.com looked. Although some companies are Moving forward, this topic will become
JOY CHANG, Digital Project Manager
630-571-4070 x2225, JChang@CFEMedia.com
starting to take notice of this issue and a standard feature in the magazine.
MICHAEL ROTZ, Print Production Manager beginning to implement defenses, many Also in this issue: Chris Shipp explains
717-766-0211, Fax: 717-506-7238 more enterprises remain vulnerable. the steps oil and gas companies can
mike.rotz@frycomm.com
The issue is not if an attack will take to protect themselves from cyber
MARIA BARTELL, Account Director, Infogroup Targeting Solutions
847-378-2275, maria.bartell@infogroup.com occur, but when it will occur. The best villains. Robert M. Lee begins his five-
RICK ELLIS, Oil & Gas Engineering Project Manager, way to prepare for the inevitable is to part series on the active cyber defense
Audience Management Director
303-246-1250, REllis@CFEMedia.com adopt an active defense, leaving pas- cycle. Peter Welander continues his
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR sive defense methods for past decade. series on technology drivers in oil and
Please e-mail your opinions to EEissler@CFEMedia.com.
Security software and firewalls alone gas with a look at refining. Sidney Hill
INFORMATION
For a Media Kit or Editorial Calendar, will no longer protect companies from writes about the expansion of mobil-
e-mail Trudy Kelly at TKelly@CFEMedia.com. cyber attacks. IT professionals must ity and wireless in oilfields. Nina Rach
REPRINTS
For custom reprints or electronic usage, contact:
actively scour their company’s net- explains the role of sensors in the
Nick Iademarco, Wright’s Media works for breaches and invasions from digital oilfield. Ryan Supple wants to
877-652-5295 x102, niademarco@wrightsmedia.com
the outside. keep us safe with relevant relief device
MAILING ADDRESS CHANGES
Please e-mail your changes to REllis@CFEMedia.com. Cyber security can cost U.S. com- considerations.
panies as much as $3 trillion in lost Finally, this issue also reports on
time, productivity, and unrealized developments to watch from the
PUBLICATION SALES growth across all industries. This level University of Houston and its use
JUDY PINSEL, National Sales JPinsel@CFEMedia.com of impact should be a stern wake-up of nanotechnology in reservoirs and
1111 W. 22nd St., Suite 250, Tel. 847-624-8418
Oak Brook, IL 60523 Fax 630-214-4504 call for CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and other research involving smart cement with
top leaders. sensing capabilities. And from “the
With the growing interconnectivity land down under” comes an expla-
of oil- and gasfields, cyber security has nation of an environmentally friendly
become just as important as the physi- fracking technology.
cal protection of assets—if not more.
With this issue, Oil & Gas Engineering -Eric R. Eissler, Editor-in-Chief
lifts the veil on cyber security challenges EEissler@CFEMedia.com
OIL&GAS ENGINEERING APRIL 2015 • OG3

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Another way Siemens is fueling efficiency.
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promoting safe operations in explosive atmospheres. By
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Certification Boosts Confidence and
Efficiency Across the Oil & Gas Industry
Fueling Efficiency: Why Siemens supports IECEx certification
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W
orldwide the oil and gas industry faces a complex web of standards and regulations
aimed at helping to protect the environment, as well as the health and safety of work-
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for more than 600 standards and best practices it has developed over the years. These are also the
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This paper provides an overview of the most important U.S. regulatory bodies, as well as global
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Other topics in this white paper include:

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• Standards and Regulations
• Safety certifications
• IECEx Conformity Assessment
Oil and gas industry standards have served as important references for the various government regula-
tions that have grown up with the industry over the past 150 years.
For example, the American Petroleum Institute (API) has built a world-renowned library of more than
600 API standards and best practices. In doing so, it has sought to meet or exceed the environmental,
health and safety standards set forth by U.S. federal regula-
tors — primarily the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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• How to Develop Cost-Effective, Rugge-
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• Topic Paper: Rethinking Automation: A
Revolution in the Oil and Gas Industry.
OIL&GAS ENGINEERING APRIL 2015 OG5

DEVELOPMENTS TO WATCH
Developing technologies from

Houston and Australia show promise
Developments at the over time. Another area of investiga- of nanoparticles dispersed in it—is
University of Houston tion is how reservoirs are changing in becoming a new paradigm the univer-
Oil & Gas Engineering caught up relation to geospatial characteristics sity is pushing forward.
with Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti and recovery characteristics. The uni-
at the University of Houston (UH). versity is undertaking this major area of Using real-time data
Krishnamoorti is chief energy officer research using its unique facilities and On the production side, the universi-
at UH, responsible for integrating the capabilities. ty is researching reservoir engineering
educational, research, and industry part- and stimulation to better understand
nerships that make up the university’s Distributed acoustic sensing reservoir management and estimation.
energy initiatives. He spoke about sev- Instead of using sound waves Large-scale computers and sophisti-
eral technologies in development at UH. generated from the surface that cated algorithms raise the bar on data
Speaking about exploration technol- are reflected within the formation, management. Until now, companies
ogy, Krishnamoorti said that on the researchers can now send an acous- have been known to extract as much
exploration side of the oil and gas tic signal through a fiber-optic cable as 3 to 5 TB of data per day from their
industry within real-time monitoring, within the well and the reservoirs, wells, only to store it away, never to
there is focus on micro-seismic tech- examine and analyze the returning be analyzed or seen again, mainly
nologies and seismic signal inversion. signal, and thereby understand more because the data do not necessar-
These technologies involve send- about the reservoir and the integ- ily—or directly—translate to usable
ing sound waves into the rock and rity of the well from which the oil is information.
receiving the acoustic signals that are being extracted. This is becoming an Now, data management technology
reflected back to the surface. Doing important technology for the work can rapidly convert these data into
this provides opportunities to study and being done in unconventional fields. real-time well monitoring and send
analyze what is being reflected back With this technology, researchers are actionable information back to the drill-
from the subsurface. able to investigate deeply into these ing and reservoir engineers so they
This is an open-ended technological horizontal wells to examine the rock can make intelligent decisions about
investigation. The university has been and fluids. where to drill next, and about produc-
working on sophisticated algorithms In offshore exploration, a big chal- tion methods. This technology can be
that have become more prevalent and lenge is understanding well integrity used in new and mature reservoirs to
available to understand how reservoirs as well as the cementing being done enhance oil and gas production where
are changing geospatially as well as with most of these wells. Another extraction is poor due to low permea-
important issue is knowing the state bility and low recovery factors because
Figure 1: Laboratory scale oil well model and of the cement as it sets and the of a variety of engineering challenges,
monitoring system. Image courtesy: University stresses in the cement throughout including thief zones and bypass areas.
of Houston the life of the well. Using distributed
acoustic and Nanotechnology aids production
electrical Another technology that can be
sensing along employed is nanotechnology, which
with smart can enhance reservoir imaging, stimu-
cement— late wells, and improve tertiary recov-
which ery processes. This can be used to
becomes enhance recovery, stimulate and reduce
highly sen- viscosity, and profile modifiers within
sitive to wells and reservoirs. Nanoparticles
electrical and are simply solid particles, typically 100
optical sig- nanometers in diameter, or 100 times
nals because smaller than the 10-micron-wide tun-
Advantages of using nanoparticles
nels they traverse. Using nanoparticles in oil recovery:
for enhanced oil recovery has not • Use as a tracer
reached a commercial level, as more • Unaffected by chemical reactions
• Less material injected into the well
research and testing need to be done; • More data
however, commercial application should • Smaller environmental footprint
be within 4 to 5 years. • Can be used in place of water injection.
• Nanoparticles can used in reser-
voir mapping usually performed by Smart cement
tracers in conventional and uncon- An emerging technology that would greatly benefit the oil and gas industry
is smart cement, which is cement filled with nanoscale particles of calcium, silica,
ventional reservoirs. This works
and iron. Other modifiers include polymers, coupling agents, water-reducing
by putting a tracer into the well to agents, particle fillers, and admixtures. These additives turn the slurry into pi-
identify where the oil is, its quantity, ezomaterials that are able to “talk” to engineers, telling them about the integrity of
and how the pores are connected the well, pressure, volume, and potential problems. Dr. Raman Krishnamoorti and
in the rocks. The nanoparticles are Dr. Cumaraswamy Vipulanandan, also a professor at UH, have been conducting re-
far superior and more robust in search on the sensing aspects of this technology. The following is taken from their
providing a quantitative analysis tool report, “Smart Cementing Materials and Drilling Muds for Real Time Monitoring of
Deepwater Wellbore Enhancement.”
than the conventional way of using
tracers of either fluorescent or radio- Model study
active materials and then watching The model was built using a Plexiglas and metal pipe as shown in Figure 1 to
them come out. This imaging data simulate the formation and casing. The casing was instrumented with electrical
when combined with the acoustic wires to monitor the resistance change. The distance between two sensors was 4
and seismic data can start to fully in. and there were six levels of sensors. Different combinations of the sensors were
characterize how a reservoir is con- connected to a 300 kHz LCR device (measures the inductance [L], capacitance [C],
and resistance [R]) to measure resistance between those sensors.
structed.
Monitoring the cement slurry level
• The advantages of the nanomaterials The smart cement slurry rise was monitored, and the vertical resistance changes
over conventional methods are that are shown in Figure 2. This observation showed that the rise of cement slurry dur-
they can transport through the rocks ing the installation can be monitored based on the resistance value while identify-
effectively and don’t suffer from ing the level of the slurry.
chemical reactions within the for-
mation as the other tracers would. an instrument resembling a conven- tion by becoming a surfactant—act-
Furthermore, the integrity of the tional MRI machine inside the well ing like soap—but much more effec-
data is much better. The nanoma- casing and see exactly where the tively and with a lot less material,
terials are better reporters than the oil is in the reservoir. This is a new therefore making the rock tend to
conventional tracers because they area of research: developing new absorb water and release oil.
have been designed with a specific magnetic nanoparticles that can
signal, can be pumped into the res- penetrate deep into the formation, 20,000 psi subsea
ervoir in mass quantities, and can be and analytical tools to help quantify The real challenge for offshore
easily re-extracted. Each nanoparticle the oil and then determine the for- technologies is that U.S. leadership
can be tracked, and when all the par- mation structure. is starting to falter because of the
ticles are added up, the data show conservative way it has monitored
the structure of that entire reservoir. • For a tertiary recovery method, the safety aspect of new technology,
which is essentially enhanced oil economic constraints, and the fact
• This can be done with 100-times recovery, nanotechnologies can be that the rest of the world is advancing
less material, leaving a smaller envi- used to affect the viscosity of the quickly.
ronmental footprint in the process. water—make it thicker—and then The main challenge is the environ-
push out the oil more effectively. ment: pressure, depth, and tempera-
• Magnetic nanoparticles can also be The other method is to use water ture. Over the next 10 to 15 years,
pumped into the well and used as to wet the rock, thereby forcing wells will be located where there
highly sensitive reservoir imaging the rock to release the oil and gas is a pressure of 20,000 psi and the
tools—much as we use magnetic attached to it. Rock usually absorbs temperature of the well will be about
resonance imaging (MRI) contrast- and retains oil. This nanotechnology 350 F or higher. “We are looking at
ing agents. At that point, we can put recovery method reverses the reten- this as an unencountered challenge,”
DEVELOPMENTS TO WATCH
down-the-hole software and surface

software supervision. Monitoring efflu-
ent, released gases and bits of rock
coming up to the surface, provides the
assurance that the operation is being
executed successfully, based on previ-
ous, benchmarked results.
The 3D down-the-hole drilling pack-
age can be optimized to a specific
application, including appropriate large
and small diameters, flexible jointed
sections that are joined to accommo-
date tighter turns, and even the inclu-
sion of water operated chisels to break
up any rock formations. The delivered
water consumption rates are demand
driven by the different drilling head
packages in the range of 100 to 1,000
Figure 2: Variation of vertical resistance with different level of cement slurry. Image courtesy: L/min, typically at 20 to 100 Bar.
University of Houston
said Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti. Environmentally ‘ Environmentally better

and cost-effective
friendly
“However, the advantage to this is
the fact the reservoirs and the oil shale oil and gas
fracking?
reserves are enormous. We want to
be able to enable the technologies
extraction is worth
that are going to revolutionize oil and considering due to the
’
gas over the next 20 to 30 years. To The fundamentals to improve the
do this, UH is looking at integrating extraction process are in applying bet- low price of oil.
ter shale crack engineering in horizon-
what is going on in the digital world
tal, compressed, fine-grain sedimen-
with the physical world as well as col- For oil and gas shale extraction, the
tary-rock reserves. Attempting to do
laborating closely with the industry to this from the surface, typically 6,000 3D down-the-hole drilling head is fed
not only enable best practices to be m above the target zone, can present with a mix of high-pressure cutting
gathered, but also to educate the next environmental and technical extraction fluid, abrasive grit, and 3D-printed
generation of the workforce.” OG challenges. mesh materials. In the head, there
This technology starts working from are two high-pressure pumps and
Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti is chief the surface, drilling a deep vertical valving-system manifolds to increase
energy officer for the University of hole, which is lined as the drill bores the immediate water pressure (vari-
Houston. He is also professor of chemical deeper. Then, the drill turns horizon- able pressures of 20 to 100 Bar can
and biomolecular engineering, professor tally to bore into the shale, oil, or gas be increased to an effective 200 to
of petroleum engineering, and professor deposit. In addition to the main bore- 700 Bar; higher cutting pressures are
of chemistry at the university. hole, the hardware goes a step fur- possible in specialized configurations)
ther to create a massive collection of available for any particular series of
cracks, over many layers. A 3D-printed cutting jets and to vary the amount of
mesh netting is deployed to reinforce abrasive grit to increase the effective-
the cracks and keep them open. The ness of the water-cutting process.
extreme hydraulic pressure fluid injec-
tion phase is not required with this 3D-printed reinforcement mesh
technology. The cracks that are created are
The directional drilling ability is reinforced to remain open longer by
made possible with the pseudolite spraying 3D-printed mesh into the
positioning package built into the 3D fissures. The mesh profiles can be
drilling head, which is controlled by printed as solid wing support riblets
1. Cutting fluid, abrasive,
and mesh material inputs.
2. Internet of everything
data I/O remote systems.
3. Incoming fluid turbine for

UPD recharge batteries.
4. Pull out guidance cone

and cured-in-place-pipe
tool.
5. Self cleaning manage-

ment and performance
sensors.
6. Pseudolite for GIS position-

Figure 1: Image of 3D drill. All images courtesy: low price of oil; the added pressure ing and grid drill control.
Columbus R&D of sourcing fracking sands at a
7. Crack profile drilling un-
high price; reliability of cement-
der 3D shaping software.
equipped with fine-wire screens or lined pipe if threatened by acid;
straw-like hollow structures that are and possible contamination issues 8. Mesh injection to hold
themselves conduits buried into the where injecting water is part of the
cracks open.
rock. traditional way to conduct fracking
As part of the connecting verti- activities. 9. Part of hole packaging,
cal holes, these can be lined with The potential commercial release drive, and steer
cured-in-place-pipes (CIPP) that are date for the simple one-direction manipulation.
acid-resistant. A complementary 3D drilling system for improved
pipe-placement tool pulls the CIPP explosive effort and safer roof bolts 10. Down-the-hole forward
lining into place. The pipe is pressed is planned for Q1 2015. The twist- cutting head.
outward to the required diameter and ing and turning unit as outlined as
cured by ultraviolet light from the above could be
hollow cylindrical pipe-placement tool ready by the
that can operate at the same time, in beginning of
the same hole, while being drilled by Q3 2015. OG
the 3D-drilling technology.
To round out the active system, Don Yates heads
the entire process is ultrasonically up the R&D
tested as the head passes along the activities of
grids to ensure that the cracks have the Columbus
an acceptable geometrical size and Group, a pursuit
to achieve performance and com- of more than 30
pliance with this environmentally years and 1,400
friendly fracking equivalent. projects, in
There are other applications of this automated safer
technology, such as trenchless util- mining, smarter
ity installations, narrow gold seam oil and gas extraction, storm-water Figure 2: Typical drilling pattern of the 3D drill.
extraction, improved explosive efforts recycling, light rail community linking,
with hole shaping, safer rock bolting, cost-effective renewable energy, and
and geothermal renewable energy electronic warfare strategies, receiv-
extraction. ing multiple awards recognizing these
Environmentally better and cost- efforts. The development challenges
effective shale oil and gas extrac- are ongoing, exploiting the world of the
tion is worth considering due to the Internet of everything.

COVER STORY
Hacking O&G control systems:

Understanding the cyber risk
I
By Chris Shipp n a 60 Minutes interview that aired on Feb. The fact that hackers were able to success-
8, 2015, Dan Kaufman, a former video game fully gain control of a blast furnace in a manu-
developer, who now works for the U.S. facturing plant may surprise some of you.
Dept. of Defense to secure the Internet, I have spoken to quite a few people in the
demonstrated how to take control of an industry over the years who have explained
automobile’s computer system to the point to me that cyber security in control system
that he gained complete control of accelera- environments is simply an enormous waste of
tion, braking—even the horn—via the built-in time and resources. Furthermore, I am often
emergency communication system. This and told that cyber security is potentially damaging
other recent revelations have made it abundant- to control systems because it can negatively
ly clear that modern computer security is about affect operational reliability.
more than protecting your bank account. The This type of thinking rests largely on the
current cyber security discussion must address fundamentally flawed belief that cyber secu-
how we can protect everything connected to rity is unnecessary in a particular control
the Internet, including control systems—those system environment because the system is
systems that control everything from how “standalone.” In other words, the system has
almost every single product is manufactured no outside connectivity and therefore is not
to the Hoover Dam to both commercial and susceptible to outside attack. This mode of
home-based climate control systems. thinking is flawed for two reasons:
1. Most control systems are connected in
Understanding the risks some way to the Internet—often indi-
Successful hacks against financial institutions rectly through a business network.
and various commercial entities have been well 2. Even those systems that truly have no
documented in the press for some time, and, outside network connectivity are suscep-
as such, most people are well aware of them. tible to compromise. Stuxnet is an excel-
Consequently, even the most technically savvy lent example.
of us who use the Internet for banking and shop-
ping do so with at least a little trepidation. If you have been living under a rock for
Conversely, most of us are only vaguely aware the past few years, you may not be aware of
of hacking activity against control systems— the attack against Iranian nuclear enrichment
those systems that control almost every process plants that first came to light in 2010. This
in manufacturing and operations today. Control attack caused centrifuges to spin at speeds
systems such as these are used in the oil and beyond their tolerances while informing opera-
gas industry to monitor and control processes tors that they were spinning at the correct
associated with the processing, storage, and speed. It is commonly believed that Stuxnet
movement of oil and gas products. It may sur- set the Iranian nuclear enrichment program
prise you to learn that attacks against control sys- back by several years. It is important to note
tems have been plentiful in recent years—some- that Stuxnet was introduced into an environ-
times with devastating consequences. A recent ment that had no direct connection to any out-
report released by the German Government: side network. How then were the perpetrators
Federal Office of Information Security stated that, of Stuxnet able to introduce their malicious
“A German steel factory suffered massive dam- code into their target environment? A trusted
age after hackers managed to access production employee introduced Stuxnet via remov-
networks, allowing them to tamper with the con- able media (a USB drive) brought in from the
trols of a blast furnace, the government said in its outside and plugged into internal computing
annual IT security report.” systems.
Attack example
A particular attack campaign against con-
trol systems known as Energetic Bear (aka
Crouching Yeti) is relevant because it demon-
strates some of the attack mechanisms in com-
mon use as well how ubiquitous such attacks
have become. Russian security software vendor
Kaspersky Lab published an in depth report that
claims that Energetic Bear attacks have suc-
cessfully compromised more than 2,800 victims
including some 100 organizations in the U.S.,
Spain, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey,
Ireland, and China. While Energetic Bear is broad
in scope, researchers at security firm Symantec
discovered that as early as March 2014, the
group shifted “its focus onto energy firms, with
half of the targets in energy and 30% in energy
control systems.”
Symantec went on to say that Energetic Bear
attacks against control systems were success-
ful to the extent that they “...could have caused
damage or disruption to energy supplies in
affected countries” and that targets included
“energy grid operators, major electricity genera-
tion firms, petroleum pipeline operators, and
energy industry industrial control system equip-
ment manufacturers.”
All graphics courtesy: Shipp
phishing and waterholing attacks as well as
Attack methodology compromised supervisory control and data
You may wonder how cyber attackers such acquisition (SCADA) software updates.
as those associated with the Energetic Bear Spear-phishing is simply the process of
campaign manage to successfully take control sending an email with a malicious link or
of computers belonging to so many compa- attachment to a targeted list of users. At
nies—especially with respect to control sys- first glance, this may sound synonymous to
tems. Surely, the hackers must be using some the spam that you receive every day in your
very sophisticated techniques that are only inbox. The important difference to note is
manageable by a very elite group of computer that these emails are sent to a very specific
geniuses. Alarmingly, nothing could be further set of individuals that the attackers typically
from the truth. know a good deal about. Consequently, they
Evidence indicates that Energetic Bear can be constructed in a manner that makes
attacks were conducted using commonly them seem much more legitimate than ran-
known and easily executable attack meth- dom spam. For example, if I know that you
ods against system vulnerabilities that were are going to attend a conference next week
common knowledge. In many cases, the I can send a spear-phishing email to you that
attackers used variants of the Havex Trojan—a appears to be about the conference but in fact
well-known piece of malicious software. contains a malicious link. Once you click on
Metasploit—a free tool that requires almost no the link, you may be directed to a malicious
programming skill to operate was in frequent site where software that is designed to infect
use as well. your computer will be downloaded.
Malicious code associated with the Energetic Waterholing attacks involve successfully
Bear attack campaign was distributed using hacking web sites that you know your intend-
several primary methodologies including spear- ed targets are bound to visit and then placing
COVER STORY
malicious code on those sites. In the case of program from a business point of view. This
Energetic Bear, attackers simply compromised individual serves as the liaison between busi-
the web sites of control system manufactur- ness-focused decision makers and technical
ers where system updates are maintained. By personnel.
replacing legitimate updates on these sites As a consultant for many years, I have
with copies that contained malicious software achieved the greatest success gaining support
code, hackers were able to ensure that their for cyber security initiatives when I observed
targets would infect their own systems. Note the following golden rule—always explain cyber
that this technique can work even if the target security projects in terms of how they enable
control system is “standalone”—not connect- or protect some critical business function.
ed to any external network. This vital role is often filled by either a Chief
These attack methodologies are in line with Information Officer (CIO) or Chief Information
the recently published Cisco Annual Security Security Officer (CISO).
Report that reveals that hackers have increas- Furthermore, with respect to personnel, do
ingly shifted their focus from seeking to not discount the importance of very knowl-
compromise servers and operating systems edgeable and technically skilled cyber security
to seeking to exploit computer users at the people. Yes, they are difficult to find and retain.
browser and email level. Perhaps that very fact is proof of their impor-
‘ Furthermore,
tance with respect to protecting your business.
with respect Protecting your Too often, companies place too much impor-
control system tance on a plethora of expensive cyber security
to personnel, do not The rampant success of equipment—firewalls, intrusion detection/
cyber attacks against control prevention systems and the like—and discount
discount the importance systems is certainly alarm- the importance of knowledgeable, experienced
ing. Something must change technical personnel. I have found that organiza-
of very knowledgeable
if we are to adequately pro- tions that commit to maintaining a knowledge-
and technically skilled tect control systems in the able technical cyber security staff are able to
’
oil and gas industry. It was provide consistently better protection than
cyber security people. once said that “a journey organizations who that expended funding and
of a thousand miles begins resources on expensive tools but neglected to
with a single step.” The good maintain knowledgeable staff. Some small busi-
news is that there are several important steps nesses may not be able to acquire and retain
that organizations can take to begin to properly sufficient cyber security technical staff. In these
secure their control systems from cyber attacks cases, consider outsourcing some cyber secu-
such as Energetic Bear. rity tasks to augment your existing staff.
Step 1: Start with the right team Step 2: Use a proven methodology
No business endeavor can succeed without In July 2014, the Ponemon Institute and
the support of senior management. Articles like Unisys released a report titled, “Critical
this one can be used to make your manage- Infrastructure: Security Preparedness and
ment team aware of cyber risks and to garner Maturity,” which summarizes responses from
the appropriate funding and resources to begin 599 IT security executives in 13 countries from
to develop a good cyber defense for your con- the utility, oil and gas, alternative energy, and
trol systems. manufacturing industries. Of those surveyed,
Unfortunately, I have been in quite a few 67% said they “have had at least one security
meetings where some well-meaning person compromise that led to the loss of confidential
rambled on about bits and bytes in an attempt information or disruption to operations” in the
to explain cyber security initiatives to senior past year. In startling contrast, cyber security
decision makers. I have noticed that the most was listed as a top five priority for only 28% of
successful cyber security programs are spear- those surveyed.
headed or at least supported by a knowledge- How can this be? If senior executives are
able business advocate—someone who knows aware of the risk to their intellectual property
how to explain the benefits of a cyber security and even their operational capability, then why
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COVER STORY
is cyber security not However, even those that do have a

higher on the prior- mature program often make a serious mis-
ity list? Based on my take. They focus almost all of their time,
many conversations effort, and energies on preventing a success-
with senior IT business ful cyber attack. While at first, this seems
leaders, I believe that like the obvious goal of any cyber security
the answer is simple. program, the fact that most successful cyber
Most senior executives security breaches go undetected for more
have already commit- than 180 days causes us to change our per-
ted a great deal of spective.
funding and resources The hard fact is that repeated ongoing cyber
to cyber security and attacks against the oil and gas industry are
often feel that they here to stay. In such an environment, we must
have not realized a accept that—despite our best efforts—compa-
corresponding benefit. nies will be hacked—again and again. But with
Consequently, while respect to hacking, what constitutes success?
they recognize the Surely, hackers will occasionally gain access to
need for better cyber security they do not see some of your computing systems. However, if
a clear path to success nor are they certain your cyber security program is built to quickly
one exists. detect those attacks and remediate them,
Fortunately, there is a wonderful guide to then damage will most likely be minimal.
cyber security for control systems that is Therefore, a balanced approach to cyber secu-
relevant no matter the maturity level of your rity means that we must dedicate as much
current program. The National Institute of time and effort to detection and response of
Standards and Technology (NIST) provides the successful breaches as we do to prevention.
“Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Unfortunately, this is currently not the
Cybersecurity” for free. This document pro- case. Most companies spend almost all of
vides straightforward practical guidance for their cyber budget on prevention (prepara-
organizations that wish to improve their critical tion/defense) and very little on detection and
infrastructure cyber security programs and can response. Consequently, when a cyber attack
be located at http://nist.gov/cyberframework. is successful, it is likely to remain in place
A corresponding voluntary program known long enough to cause significant data loss and
as the Critical
Infrastructure
Cyber Community
(or “C Cubed”)
has also been
formed at the
U.S. Federal
Government level
to “support indus-
try in increasing
its cyber resil-
ience.”
Step 3: Use a balanced approach perhaps compromise intellectual property. As

While most organizations in the oil and gas successful cyber compromises (hacks) remain
industry have some sort of cyber security in an environment for an extended period of
capability in place, many have yet to develop time they often attempt to spread to control
a mature program that has senior manage- system networks. Consequently, operational
ment capability and operates using a recog- capability is typically at greater risk the longer
nized framework such as the aforementioned hackers are able to remain undetected within
one provided by NIST. an environment.
In a future article, I will talk more entities including the FBI, the U.S.
about specific measures that can be Chris Shipp is a columnist, speaker, militar y, and the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
used to more quickly and effectively and consultant with more than two Currently, He is working within the
detect and eradicate successful cyber decades of experience in the field of cyber security community to develop
breaches before they can do signifi- information security. He has provided and implement better information
cant harm. cyber security training and support security within industrial control sys-
For now, consider these tips: for many commercial and government tem environments.
• Cyber security program balance
is important.
• Accept the fact that, to some
extent, your computer systems
will be breached—repeatedly.
• Work hard to make that difficult MADE IN THE U.S.A.
to do.
• Ensure that your cyber security
program provides sufficient detec-
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unprepared, have suffered a significant
loss of intellectual property, and in
some cases, have even lost operational www.ustsubaki.com
capability. input #104 at www.controleng.com/information
It is time to fight back. The basketball
coach, Bobby Knight once said, “The
key is not the will to win. Everybody
has that. It is the will to prepare to win
that is important.”
Together we can work to develop,
implement, and sustain robust and
mature cyber security programs that
can adequately defend against, detect,
and respond to cyber attacks now, and
in the future. OG
©2015 U.S. Tsubaki Power Transmission, LLC All Rights Reserved.

CYBER SECURITY DEFENSE
The active cyber defense cycle:

To protect O&G infrastructure
Part 1 of 5: Introduction to the active cyber defense cycle
Passive defense systems such as firewalls and anti-virus software are no longer able
to keep systems safe. IT personnel need to take initiative to up the game and assume
an active defense.
O
By Robert M. Lee il and gas infrastructure is a organization’s good architecture and passive
prime target for extremists defenses.
and nation states to inflict In this context, “architecture” is defined
economic damage as well as “those processes and actions that con-
as to project their influence. tribute to and result in a system developed
Adversaries’ ability to leverage and maintained with security in mind.” This
cyber capabilities to achieve this end adds approach includes:
complexity to an already diverse discus- • Using the most secure implementa-
sion on security. Regardless of the solution tion of protocols and systems where
identified, protecting against cyber threats feasible
requires a strategy. Organizations must • Identifying and implementing network
understand the purpose of their security data flows to allow for proper monitor-
strategy before it is developed and imple- ing of connections in and out of the
mented. An overly broad goal of “security” network
or “defense” is not well suited to identify • Maintaining patching to the best of the
the varying approaches needed and the organization’s ability for all systems.
unique skill sets required. The three cat- Proper security-minded architecture is a
egories that can help articulate the needs difficult challenge. However, investments
related to cyber security are architecture, in this area dramatically increase the effec-
passive defense, and active defense. This tiveness of passive and active defenses.
five-part series will focus on active defense
and how to implement a specific active Passive defense
defense strategy in operations and technol- Passive defenses are software or hard-
ogy environments. ware added to the architecture that increase
security without consistent and direct inter-
Cyber security is more action from personnel, even if updates and
than a software patch tuning are required over time. Systems,
The latest trends and buzz terms in the such as firewalls, anti-malware software,
security industry often over-promise quick intrusion detection and prevention systems,
solutions and plug-n-play type security and application whitelisting, are passive
Part 2 approaches. This emphasizes only the new defenses. The operations technology envi-
and exciting and fails to recognize that ronment introduces many challenges toward
coming in security is a process that must be custom- effectively implementing passive defenses,
June: ized to each organization’s maturity and but even simple actions, such as limiting
needs. Additionally, good security practices inbound and outbound connections, requir-
Network security build on each other and fill gaps instead of ing authentication from remote locations,
monitoring attempting to entirely replace solutions. In and maintaining firewalls with ingress and
this way, an active defense builds on an egress filtering, will prove to be invaluable.
Active defense
When an organization has properly
invested in developing and maintaining
architecture and passive defenses, it is
effective to leverage an active defense.
An “active defense” is “the process of
security personnel taking an active and
involved role in identifying and counter-
ing threats to the system.” The term is
sometimes incorrectly associated with
the idea of hacking back or counterstrik-
ing an adversary. This inappropriate use
of the term has largely been due to
poor translations of active defense the-
ory in military strategies into the field of
cyber security. Active defense empha-
sizes empowering security personnel to
monitor an organization’s infrastructure, iden- adversary, but as a prolonged process where Active cyber defense cycle.
tify threats, and neutralize them internal to the growth and innovation can take place. This Courtesy: Robert M. Lee
network before they impact operations. It is cycle ensures that security personnel of
never about accessing or impacting adversary various talents are contributing to the same
networks. strategy and are effectively working together.
The active cyber defense cycle (ACDC) Ultimately, this ties into the organization’s
consists of four phases that work together to business goals. For more
maintain security, contributing to the safety and ACDC is one strategy for an active defense
information go
reliability of operations. The four phases are: that has been implemented in industrial control
1. Asset identification and network security system (ICS) environments in and out of the online to:
monitoring. government with great success. There are many www.irongeek.com
2. Incident response. distinctive aspects about ICS that put security
3. Threat and environment manipulation. personnel in a unique position to effectively and and click on
4. Threat intelligence consumption. efficiently perform this strategy. The next four Active Cyber
articles in this series will discuss each phase of
The ACDC concept is not complicated: ACDC in depth, offering high-level and technical
Defense Cycle by
• Understand the network topologies so guidance for implementing the strategy. OG Robert M. Lee
they can be monitored for abnormalities
and indications of compromise. Robert M. Lee is the co-founder of the critical
• Upon identifying a true threat, initiate an infrastructure cyber security company Dragos
incident response to identify the scope of Security LLC, which developed a passive asset
the infection, contain it, and eradicate it to discovery and visualization software tool. Lee is a
maintain operations. doctoral candidate
• In a safe environment, interact with the at Kings College
threat through skill sets, such as malware London research-
analysis to gather information and make rec- ing control system
ommendations for logical or physical infra- cyber security. He
structure changes that would aid security. is the course author
• Collect the information about the threat of SANS ICS 515:
throughout the cycle and combine it with Active Defense and
external information about threats or threat Incident Response,
intelligence. the author of the
This information is fed back through the book SCADA and
process, which helps security personnel Me, and a U.S. Air
develop over time and look at defense not Force Cyber Warfare
as a series of single encounters with an Operations Officer.

WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
Uncapping the benefits

of wireless technology
Oil and gas producers are discovering creative ways of lowering costs and a boosting
productivity via industrial wireless networks.
I
By Sidney Hill f you wanted to compile a list of industries IT environments that can support rapid responses
that were tailor-made for leveraging wireless to constantly changing business conditions.
and mobile technology, oil and gas production Steve Senterfit, a vice president in the com-
would be near the top of that list. mercial energy practice for Booz Allen Hamilton,
The configuration of the workplace— believes the rising interest in wireless technol-
whether it’s a large oilfield or a sprawling ogy in the oil and gas industry is driven partly by
refinery—makes it too expensive for even the changes in the workforce.
largest producers to string the amount of wire “Over the past few years, we’ve seen a
needed to carry data across an oil and gas younger workforce come into the industry that’s
enterprise. Yet, the nature of the industry, with accustomed to having immediate access to
its ever-changing prices, and constant regulatory information on mobile devices,” Senterfit said in a
reporting requirements, requires the swift move- recent interview. “These workers need and want
ment of accurate operational data from the field immediate access to data. So, we’re starting to
to the office. see more adoption of mobile solutions.”
A few years back, these dynamics sparked a Worker cravings aside, Senterfit concedes this
movement to what it is known as the digital oil- move to mobile solutions would never happen if
field. A digital oilfield harnesses information tech- two other elements didn’t exist: the technology
nology in ways that allow an oil company to cap- to make it feasible, and the business case to
ture and analyze data about all of its operations, make it palatable.
ideally in real-time, thus maximizing production “At the end of the day, all of these decisions
while minimizing costs. still are driven by economics,” Senterfit said.
However, there is a small problem with this “Management still wants to know if you can put
concept. Unless the entire enterprise is con- together a business case that shows a quantifi-
nected, true real-time data collection and analysis able return on investment.”
cannot take place, and the digital oilfield vision In most cases, Senterfit contends, the busi-
fades away. And that, according to some indus- ness case for wireless technology in the oil and
try experts, is why oil and gas companies are gas industry points to three things:
increasingly adopting wireless technology. • Lower overall operating costs.
Figure 1: The digital oilfield. IDC Energy Insights classifies mobile and wire- • Less downtime for both workers and equip-
Image courtesy: ABB less solutions as “third platform” technologies—a ment.
group of solutions that • Better compliance with safety and environ-
also includes big data mental regulations.
analytics programs, There are two sure signs that a form of tech-
cloud-based applications nology is on the verge of widespread acceptance:
and social business plat- new vendors with packaged solutions emerge,
forms. In a December and larger, established vendors attempt to move
2014 report on the indus- into the space, typically by acquiring promising
try’s future, IDC predict- start-ups.
ed that 70% of oil and
gas companies will have A variety of solutions
invested in one or more Vendors that have developed packaged wireless
of these technologies by oil and gas offerings include San Antonio-based
2016 in hopes of creating WellAware and enterprise software giant SAP.
The company offers a subscription-based plat- The limitations of tradi-
form that that consists of hardware and software tional wireless networks
for automating oilfield processes as well as col- caused most providers
lecting, distributing and analyzing production data, of industrial wireless
according Keith Dudley, the company’s vice presi- network—including
dent of marketing. those playing in the oil
Roland Gonzalez, SAP’s senior director for and gas industry—to
mobile markets, recited a list of SAP offerings employ some form of
for the oil and gas industry. It started with the mesh networking tech-
SAP Mobile Platform, which Gonzalez said allows nology. Mesh networks
users to develop and manage their own mobile boost reliability by turning
applications. devices into network
He also said those applications can be inte- nodes that can both send
grated with other SAP wireless solutions such and receive signals. This
as SAP Work Manager, which automates most solves the problem of
of the tasks performed by maintenance techni- having signals disrupted
cians. November 2014, SAP also announced by obstructions because
a partnership with Samsung to co-market ver- the network nodes also
sions of SAP’s Work Manager and Field Service are programmed to find
Manager applications—both of which are used in a clear path to an open
oil and gas operations—on ruggedized versions of node if the first route it
Samsung’s Galaxy tablets. sees is blocked. Figure 2: Access point to a
While all this movement clearly gives oil and This ability to find clear signal paths is why digital oilfield onsite. Image
gas producers more options for deploying wire- mesh networks have been called self-organizing. courtesy: WellAware
less technology, it also should encourage them The term mesh also refers to the invisible com-
to ask lots of questions before purchasing any munications net these networks form over their
solutions. coverage areas to keep traffic flowing.
Among the first questions should be, “What Honeywell Process Solutions has developed
type of wireless network is best for my environ- a mesh network solution that incorporates com-
ment?” munications protocols based on the ISA 100
“We don’t recommend one type of network Wireless standard. “Honeywell made the deci-
technology over another,” said Senterfit. “You sion to develop equipment that is compliant with
really have to look at the particular environment ISA 100 Wireless because many other vendors
in which you’re working. Traditional wireless are introducing devices and applications based on
networks generally function fine in an enterprise that standard,” said Diederik Mols, Honeywell’s
setting, but oil and gas operations typically are in business leader for industrial wireless solutions
remote areas or harsh environments such as the “That gives our customers the advantage of
Western parts of the U.S. to Alaska or the frozen being able to run all of their wireless traffic on a
tundra of Canada and Russia’s Siberia. Mesh net- single network, no matter how many different
working is one technology that is proving effec- types of devices they attach to that network.”
tive in these rugged environments.”
Traditional wireless technology is akin to what Customer success stories
most people use for home Wi-Fi networks. It While there are some differences in how
entails having a router connected by wires to a their networks are built, each of these vendors
central computer with an Internet connection. can point to oil and gas companies that have
The router beams a signal over a given area that reaped tangible benefits from using their wire-
other devices—computers, tablets, phones, etc., less solutions.
grab to connect to the network. However, these A typical case is the producer that reported a
networks have limited range, and their signals 25% reduction in employee downtime—and an
can be blocked by obstructions such as a wall associated $400,000 in annual savings—after
inside a building or any of the numerous hills or installing a Random Phase Multiple Access
other topographic barriers in the typical oil- or (RPMA) network to monitor operations at an
gasfield. exploration and production site in California.
WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
“They had about Saudi Arabia. SAMREF is a joint venture between

10 operators at this Saudi Arabian Oil Company and Mobil Yanbu
site who literally were Refining Company, a wholly owned subsidiary
managing the assets of Exxon Mobil. The SAMREF refinery produces
by driving around— approximately 400,000 barrels of product daily
traveling the same including gasoline, heating oil, LPG, jet fuel, and
routes several times other energy products.
a day—because they The company installed a wireless network that
couldn’t get real-time handles traffic for process monitoring and video
data,” Archer said. surveillance of the entire facility. The system relies
Before install- on wireless access points equipped with three
ing any equipment, radios—one for communications with traditional
Figure 3: Wireless tank moni- WellAware performed a path analysis that included transmitters, a second radio for communications
tor onsite. Image courtesy: surveying the terrain and noting any existing com- with Wi-Fi devices and a third radio for high-speed
WellAware munications towers in the area. It then created a communications of field data.
network configuration In addition to providing ready access to
with the goal of opti- operational performance data, this network helps
mizing performance SAMREF comply with safety and security regula-
with the fewest pos- tions by providing real-time video feeds from a
sible number of wire- series of cameras stationed around the refinery,
less access points. as well as one mounted on top of a vehicle that an
“The network con- incident commander uses to patrol the grounds.
sists of RPMA access Both control room personnel and the incident
points placed at stra- commander have 24/7 access to the video feeds.
tegic points,” Archer Incident commanders use the video to reduce
explained. There also their response time in dispatching the appropriate
are radios placed along personnel when potential safety or security viola-
the network that dou- tions occur.
ble as remote terminal While acknowledging that this is among the
Figure 4: Interface with units (RTUs) that constantly poll sensors attached to most creative uses of industrial wireless technol-
the wireless tank monitor. production equipment for information such as tank ogy he has seen, Honeywell’s Mols pointed out
Image courtesy: WellAware levels, gas flows or well-head pressures. that the customer—not Honeywell—had the idea
Operators view this data, in real-time, through for using the technology in this fashion. He also
a software application. Production data can be said this type of creative thinking is common
viewed on any computing device—from a desktop within the oil and gas industry. “In this industry,
PC to a smartphone. Operators at the California we are finding that once a wireless network is
site typically view the data—and even receive installed, it’s typical for the engineers at that facil-
alarms about conditions warranting immediate ity come up with five more ideas for how it can
attention—on tablets as they are traversing the be used within the first year,” Mols said.
field in their vehicles. This set up allows the opera- With this type of momentum building, it’s
tors to focus on those wells that actually need possible that wireless networks will be the
attention, rather having to visit each one numerous standard when it comes to IT infrastructure in
time each day. the oil and gas industry in the not too distant
Another producer estimated it saved 60% on future. OG
the cost expanding its communications network
in the Eagle Ford shale play by using wireless Sidney Hill is a graduate
technology. This new network handles both the of the Medill School of
transmission of process data from a supervisory Journalism at Northwestern
control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and University. He has been
voice communication over Internet protocols. writing about the conver-
Honeywell installed an even more sophisticated gence of business and
network at the Saudi Arumco Mobil Refining technology for more than
Company (SAMREF) refinery complex in Yanbu, 20 years.

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SENSOR NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES
Technologies converge to
improve sensor networks in O&G
In a time of depressed oil prices, producers and large oil companies are working hard to increase
production and reduce costs. Adding sensors to oil and gas infrastructures allows engineers to
better actuate extraction process efficiency and maximize production potential.
O
By Nina Rach il companies continually strive to on the objectives of the petroleum business.
improve operations by trying new The purpose is to maximize oilfield recovery,
technologies and workflows to eliminate non-productive time, and increase
increase efficiency, enhance safe- profitability through data-sharing and integrat-
ty, and reduce costs. They are ed workflows, which often involve automation
challenged to manage increas- and cloud-connected solutions.
ingly complex production hardware in an ever- Connectivity is key, whether wired or wire-
more stringent regulatory environment. Many less. In the downstream sector, the data
pieces of machinery and processes require acquired through sensor networks are integral
monitoring, but manual observations are slow, to closed-loop control of operating facilities.
sporadic, and prone to inadvertent inaccura-
cies. Engineering challenge
The approach has been to incorporate The challenge is to meet all regulatory
mechanical monitors to reduce mistakes, requirements to monitor machinery and sys-
increase speed and, in some cases, provide tems in remote, perhaps hostile environments,
near-continuous data streams. One key to this while safeguarding personnel and the environ-
solution is wireless sensor networks (WSN), ment. Engineers want reliable sensor systems
used in refineries, petrochemical plants, that are simple to install, configure, and can
onshore well sites and gathering stations, sub- provide useful data at a low cost. Better data
sea developments, and offshore oil and gas lead to more accurate planning and scheduling
platforms. for people, parts, and processes.
The successful expansion of sensor and Sensor networks in the oilfield can provide
instrumentation networks in the oil and gas early leak detection with automated warnings,
industry is the result of a convergence of and monitor pipeline integrity and hydrocarbon
technologies. Wired sensor systems have flow.
expanded as costs decrease, and new tech- Rotating equipment is common throughout
nologies have spurred the installation of wire- the oil and gas industry. Condition monitoring
less sensor networks, led by micromachining is the process of determining the condition
techniques that create ever-smaller sensors of machinery while in operation, allowing the
with low power demand. Computing power repair or replacement of problem components
is also being miniaturized and embedded in a prior to failure. Sensors can be incorporated
variety of objects. Different network topolo- into condition monitoring to detect, analyze,
gies optimize the way these tiny computers and diagnose machinery faults.
share information and resources and facilitate Turbines, compressors, and large motors
more efficient collaboration. Sensors are are now normally equipped with wired, online
linked using wireless technologies that employ condition monitoring and protection sensor
ubiquitous sensor networks at low data rates, systems. But the dynamic data arrays captured
such as RFID, ZigBee, and Bluetooth; and in vibration monitoring places unique demands
Wi-Fi networks, cellular, and satellite commu- on wireless sensors, networks, and associated
nications at higher data rates. components, requiring high bandwidth, wide
Sensor networks feed data into the “digital dynamic range, low noise, and high-level pro-
oilfield,” which focuses information technology cessing capabilities.
Sensors, nodes, networks
Most sensors are microelectromechani-
cal systems (MEMS). A sensor node in a
wireless network is capable of gathering,
processing, and communicating informa-
tion with other nodes. A sensor node, also
known as a “mote,” includes a microcontroller
(consumes less power than a microproces-
sor), a transceiver (transmitter and receiver),
external memory (flash), power source (bat-
tery or renewable), and one or more sensors.
Note that a mote is a node, but a node is not
always a mote.
Network topologies are primarily linear
arrays, star (hub and spoke), or hybrid mesh Figure 1: Wireless Technolo-
designs (using patterns of high-powered and SKF’s Marty Herzog points out that the cost gies graph. Courtesy: SKF
low-powered nodes). All nodes are routers to install online, wired sensors at an onshore
and do not need to be continually active. They facility can be as high as 15 times the cost of
can be programmed to “wake up” and form an accelerometer. For offshore installations,
a mesh, for instance, at regular intervals, installing a wired system can be more than
collect and transmit information, then shut 20 to 30 times the cost of an accelerometer.
down again to save power. Linear arrays can The use of wireless sensors could therefore
be quite long, with multiple (25-50) data relay equate to an approximate savings of some
hops to a base station. $1,500 per measurement point.
Ubiquitous sensor networks (USN) refers “Wireless sensors have become instru-
to a network of intelligent sensors that can mental for oil and gas producers by speeding
be made available anywhere. A USN includes up the time it takes to automate
small-scale sensor nodes and limited power a well and providing continuous
Best uses for O&G
requirements, mobile and able to withstand monitoring solutions,” said ON operations:
harsh environmental conditions. It has a World research director Mareca
• Wellsite automation.
dynamic network topology, with node het- Hatler.
erogeneity, and can be deployed on a large Wireless sensing and control • Downhole sensors.
scale. systems are increasingly deployed • Seismic surveys.
A USN comprises a sensor network (sen- in exploration, production, pipeline, • Pipeline operations.
sors plus power source to transmit data); a and tanker operations. They are • Corrosion monitoring.
USN access network (intermediary or “sink” successfully used for predictive • Structural integrity monitoring.
nodes that collect info from a group of sen- maintenance and to detect and
• Equipment vibration analysis.
sors); network infrastructure; USN middle- prevent health and safety issues.
ware (software to collect and process data); WSNs gather information that can • Tank farm monitoring.
and a USN applications platform. lead to innovative solutions and
Wireless sensor networks optimize facility operations. Most important factors
David Culler, a computer science profes- Mohammad Reza Akhnondi and to consider:
sor at University of California-Berkeley, told colleagues at Curtin University • Plug-and-play connectivity.
CNN in 2010 that developing wireless sensor of Technology in Perth, Western
• Installation plan that will
networks is analogous to the creation of the Australia suggest that WSN appli- cause minimal disruption.
World Wide Web: trendy, but with practical cations offer great opportunities to
• Easily expandable network.
implications. optimize production where the use
Companies deploy wireless sensors of wired networks is prohibitive. • Reliability—overlap and error
because they are far less expensive than tra- Wireless networks can be used to tolerance.
ditional sensors, require less time to install, remotely monitor pipelines, natural • Power management—long-life
and can be networked. So the first step gas leaks, corrosion, H2S content, battery systems, energy-scav-
toward implementing a wireless solution is to equipment condition, and real-time enging modules.
run a cost-benefit analysis. reservoir status.
Tiny sensors Mexican state-owned PEMEX was using

teams of people to monitor temperature and
• “Smart dust” is a rapidly developing technology comprised of a system pressure at thousands of scattered oil wellheads
of tiny sensors that communicate wirelessly. In 1998, researchers at the in different onshore field. The company wanted
University of California-Berkeley were funded by the U.S. Defense Ad- a solution to connect 1,420 WirelessHART field
vanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and build wireless
devices from remote wellheads to their control
sensor nodes with a volume of one cubic millimeter (smaller than a grain
system. Cooper Bussmann’s ELPRO provided a
of rice). The smart dust project has led to many other research avenues.
high-speed wireless solution, and deployed a 900
MHz long-range Ethernet network, using 945 U-E
• Hewlett Packard has been working on a new inertial sensing technology
industrial Ethernet modems to solve the problem.
that it considers a “breakthrough in nano sensing research,” using the
A major coal seam gas supplier in Queensland,
fluidic MEMS technology the company has developed over the past 25
years. In 2010, HP announced a project to put a trillion sensors all over Australia was expanding production to 12 mil-
the globe, dubbed the “Central Nervous System for the Earth” (CeNSE). lion metric tonnes per year of LNG from several
thousand wells. The company wanted timely pro-
duction data, the capability to shut down wells,
In the first commercial application of the CeNSE technology, HP is
collaborating with super-major Shell to develop a next-generation, land- reduce personnel on site, and expand safety. The
based, wireless seismic acquisition system. By vastly improving the quality solution was to add a wireless control mesh net-
of seismic imaging, HP says the new system will allow Shell to more easily work among several hundred wells, incorporating
and cost-effectively explore difficult hydrocarbon reservoirs. They initially Cooper Bussmann’s ELPRO radios into RDC500
planned to install 1 million matchbook-size sensor nodes containing ultra- standardized wellheads. The radio design uses a
sensitive, low-power MEMS accelerometers to measure rock vibrations network of wireless access point repeater sites.
and movement over a 15.5-sq-km area. Each site collects data on gas flow, water flow,
Following successful tests of the tiny new sensors at seismic testing pressure, and temperature, and can shut down
vault in the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Albuquerque Seismological valves or pumps.
Laboratory facility in New Mexico in 2013, Shell’s Dirk Smit reiterated the Leak detection
need for “the cost-efficient, flexible deployment of seismic sensor net- Leak detection at large sites can be difficult
works, and said, “The collaboration with HP demonstrates Shell’s strate- when done manually with portable leak detec-
gic approach to driving innovative technology solutions through active tors. At a production center in Geel, Belgium,
partnering.”
BP recently replaced twice-daily walking inspec-
tions with hydrocarbon sensors and smart wire-
Successful applications of sensors less technology from St. Louis-based Emerson
The following are some real world examples Process Management. The leak detection system
of how the installation of sensors facilitated includes Emerson’s Rosemount 702 wireless
operations. discrete transmitters combined with Pentair—
Wellhead monitoring formerly Tyco—Fast Fuel sensors and TraceTek
Using sensors at the wellhead provides con- sensor cables. If a sensor detects xylene or ben-
tinuous monitoring and increases the availability zene, the associated transmitter sends an alarm
of information. It also removes the need for signal to a gateway and from there to the control
operators to manually read pressure gauges. room where operators can decide on a course of
Super-major BP installed a smart wireless net- action. The wireless system was installed by BP’s
work with 40 wireless Rosemount pressure maintenance team, and using this solution saved
transmitters at one of its well sites at Wytch an estimated 50% of the cost and 90% of the
Farm, UK, to continuously monitor wellhead time that would have been required to install a
pressure. It took fewer than eight hours to conventional wired sensor system.
remove old gauges, and install and calibrate the Pipeline integrity
wireless sensors. BP Bitumen tackled an incident in which the
BP manager Chris Geen said, “Wytch Farm regular fuel system at its refinery near Brisbane,
has been a critical pilot project for BP to see if Australia, was shut down. Temporary LPG tanks
self-organizing wireless mesh technology would were rushed into service, and BP used smart
be suitable for other similar projects. Following wireless technology from Emerson Process
the success of this installation, BP is planning to Management to monitor the integrity of transfer
install Emerson smart wireless transmitters in lines. Rosemount wireless pressure transmitters
similar applications on offshore platforms.” were quickly deployed to manage fuel delivery
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along with temperature transmit- Subsea environments

ters to monitor the flow of hot bitu- Subsea developments use networked sensors
men. The sensors were designed and actuators to monitor petroleum production,
to immediately report exceptional to either prevent or detect oil and gas leakage or
conditions to control room operators, to enhance the production flow and yield of the
and the wireless monitoring kept the wells, despite the fact that traditional sensors
bitumen plant running, saving BP are large and expensive to deploy subsea.
$15,600 per day in lost production. Eight universities in Scotland were engaged
Vibration monitoring in a five-year collaborative project: the Scottish
Sensor networks can also be Sensor Systems Centre (S3C), from 2009 to
employed for vibration monitoring, 2014. Scientists at the University of Aberdeen
which is more complex than measur- and Robert Gordon University studied different
ing scalar process attributes, such as types of sensor systems required for remote
Figure 2: The SKF wireless temperature or pressure. BP selected Crossbow subsea developments. Dr. Richard Neilson,
machine condition sensor Technology to install MEMS-based inertial sen- Reader at the University of Aberdeen, said the
collects data on tempera- sors on its oil tankers to monitor engine vibration. university was focused on developing “innova-
ture, overall machine condi- A wireless sensor network replaced manual tive subsea technologies, which will help deliver
tion, and rolling element
sensor reading and provided more consistent new, or enhance the existing, sensor-based
bearing. It has ATEX Zone 0
measurements with fewer errors, and ultimately products being employed by industry.”
certification. Courtesy: SKF
resulted in lower machine maintenance costs. Neilson presented the S3C’s work as “Smart
This proved the reliability of a WSN in a harsh Subsea Fields” at the Institution of Mechanical
environment, and was recognized with the BP Engineers’ Subsea Engineering conference in
Helios Award. Aberdeen, in May 2014. He said future subsea
Condition monitoring sensor system networks will need to provide
Wireless systems can be used for condi- operations data flow rates, pressure, tempera-
tion monitoring of rotating equipment, such as ture, condition data, corrosion, and actuator
motors, pumps, and fans that are normally moni- condition.
tored manually with portable data collectors. Last The follow-up to SC3 is a new university col-
year, SKF, launched a wireless machine condition laboration project, the Centre for Sensors and
sensor that combines a sensor, data collec- Imaging Systems (CENSIS), based in Glasgow.
tor, and radio into a compact, battery-operated
device. It can be used to expand condition-based Miniaturization: the way forward
maintenance into areas where the cost to install Technological advances in electronic control
wired systems is prohibitive, while making data systems, miniaturization (small nodes: UC
available to existing process control and informa- Berkeley’s “smart dust”), improved communica-
tion systems. To overcome wireless communi- tion capabilities, and decreasing costs will drive
cation obstacles, sensors can be configured to growth in sensor development and the sensor
operate as router nodes, allowing them to relay market for the foreseeable future. Eventually,
data from other sensors (mesh). The sensors use we may see fully integrated, embedded sensors
the WirelessHART communication protocol. and standard industrial protocols. However, the
The SKF wireless machine condition sen- expansion of wireless sensor networks means
sor collects data on three key much more data will be collected,
machine conditions: temperature and it will be an ongoing challenge
(indicative of lubrication issues, to properly analyze and manage
increased friction, rubbing, etc.); these big data. OG
overall machine condition (vibra-
tions caused by misalignment, Nina Rach has been working
imbalance, mechanical looseness, in the oil and gas industry since
etc.); and rolling element bearing 1983. She’s a graduate of Cornell
condition (allows damage detec- University: College of Engineering,
tion and diagnosis of source as Duke University Graduate School,
ball/roller, cage, and inner or outer and the University of Houston Law
raceway). Center.

Come see us at OTC along with ABB
and Thomas & Betts in Booth #5740
©2015 Baldor Electric Company

INDUSTRY FOCUS
Understanding business drivers in O&G:

Refining enjoys some good times
Part 2: Some sections of the refining sector have emerged as beneficiaries of these confusing
market conditions. So how are refiners taking advantage of this prosperity—while it lasts?
N
By Peter Welander ot all that long ago, refining was over the past 15 years through asset sales
stuck in a rut shared with the or acquisitions,” he said. “Valero and Tesoro
airline industry: refineries had to have moved in, while Shell and ExxonMobil
make gasoline and airlines had to have each sold one of their assets. Tesoro and
move people, but neither seemed Valero are both refining-only companies, so
to be able to make any profit in that is their core competency, as opposed to
the process. Both industries have come out Shell or ExxonMobil where refining is only part
of that funk, at least in some areas to some of their portfolio.”
extent, and if there is anybody that is enjoy- Independent refiners believe that when
ing this time of confusing markets in the oil refining operations are separated from all the
and gas industry, it’s refiners. other distractions involved in an integrated
A look at the refining industry today pro- company, there is potential that can finally be
vides a much different picture than 20 or realized.
Part 3 30 years ago. A major portion of overall “Marathon and Valero have focused on
coming in production comes from independent refin- refining, and they’ve bought various refineries
ers, defined as companies that do not own from other players that want to get out of it,”
June: upstream production facilities and as a result said Lee Swindler, oil and gas program man-
Last field must buy crude oil feedstocks from other sup- ager for Maverick Technologies. “Both compa-
pliers on open markets. Such companies were nies have pulled them together to make viable
standing
virtually unheard of as recently as the 1970s, sets of assets. I think they have accepted and
but they emerged as new company names, embraced the role that. Others have said they
such as Tesoro and Valero, came on the scene. want to get out of refining so they can focus
Other companies have followed suit, and even on other higher-margin activities.”
some of the major integrated producers, such
as Marathon and Philips 66, have turned their Big fish in a small pond
refining divisions into independent companies. For the most part, when companies sell
refineries, employees are included in the
It’s a tough business deal. The move from a large, diversified pro-
Nicole Decker, energy sector strategist at ducer to a smaller company has its benefits
UBS Wealth Management, said this is not an and drawbacks. Of course, small in this con-
easy way to make money. “Refining is a noto- text is relative. Tesoro has six refinery sites
riously low-margin business, and it’s very cycli- and Valero lists 14 plants in 13 locations. In
cal,” she said. “That’s the reason why many any case, the critical point is that they both
of the large companies want to shed refining make their money from refining without
assets. They aren’t the highest returns in the upstream assets.
portfolio. Upstream operations generate much People making the move with the facility
higher rates of return.” to the new owner often experience a sense
And shed assets, they have. Randy of relief that they are now working for a com-
Miller, vertical marketing director for gas for pany with refining as the main business.
Honeywell Process Solutions, has seen this “From an investment perspective, the
change up close. “I’m based in southern new owner commonly revisits shelved
California, and I would say that more than projects and initiates new projects,” said
half the refineries here have changed hands Honeywell’s Miller. “Overall, that’s good for
Automation answers to refining challenges
There are technologies available to help solve the prob- advanced process control approaches can reduce variabil-
lems discussed in this article. Various suppliers offer solu- ity, allowing a plant to run closer to its theoretical maxi-
tions, and sometimes simply knowing what something mum more of the time. Deploying such strategies involves
is called is a first step to finding the answer. There are having equipment that performs reliably with well-trained
dozens of articles on the Control Engineering and PLANT operators. New sensors and instrumentation devices can
ENGINEERING sites that address these topics in greater now be deployed easily using wireless communication,
detail, so a little searching may yield some helpful articles. avoiding the necessity of expensive communication infra-
structure.
Working with multiple crude sources Maintenance
No refinery can process every variety of crude oil, A plant that is trying to operate using equipment that
however a growing number of facilities are adding breaks down and causes large or small interruptions will
equipment that broadens possible crude slates. have a hard time maintaining high production levels.
Process simulators When maintenance departments can schedule efforts
A high-fidelity process simulator allows processors to using diagnostic information, they can concentrate on the
analyze how a specific crude might perform in a given things that need attention most before they cause an out-
facility based on that crude’s characteristics. This makes age so production can be optimized.
evaluation of a new source far easier and reduces the People
time needed to make a change-over. One of the most frequent causes of production inter-
Process monitoring ruptions and safety incidents in process plants is operator
Sometimes a new crude brings unpleasant surprises. error. Far too often, people in the control room do not
For example, a specific grade that’s unfamiliar to a facil- know how to perform procedures (startups, shutdowns,
ity might be loaded with particulates that can clog pro- grade changes, etc.) nor can they respond correctly to
cessing equipment. Adding instrumentation to monitor abnormal situations. Some of this relates to inadequate
critical areas continuously can discover these problems training. Companies often use training simulators to allow
more quickly than manual checking. operators to deal with these situations in an environment
Maintaining maximum output that is a faithful representation of the plant, but where no
Avoiding shutdowns is a critical part of maximizing actual harm can be done.
output. There are three major aspects to that objective: The way operators interface with the control system can
Automation, maintenance, and people. also be an issue. Poorly designed human-machine interfaces
Automation (HMIs) can make it difficult for operators to find the informa-
Keeping a plant running on an even keel requires a suit- tion necessary to solve a problem or correct an upset. Good
able level of instrumentation and actuators reporting to a HMI design concepts provide information clearly and consis-
control system running an appropriate strategy. Various tently helping operators make better decisions.
anyone working at the plant because there expect. Now, given the wide variety of crudes
is often an increased suite of active projects available with an equally wide range of charac-
and people want to be involved in improve- teristics (light and sweet, to heavy and sour) a
ments and expansions. From a vendor’s per- refinery must build in a higher level of process
spective, we see an uptick in investment as flexibility.
the facilities are modernized. When times are Jeff Hazle, senior director, refining technol-
good and profitability is good, it’s extremely ogy for American Fuel and Petrochemical
important to operate at the highest possible Manufacturers (AFPM) said that refiners are
efficiency with no downtime. A refining-only always keeping an eye on the changing regu-
company has to be on its game all the time, latory picture, but the overall crude sourcing
and those companies have that mindset.” question is just as important. “Other than
projects driven by regulations, the biggest
Where is the next barrel coming from? driver in terms of refinery investment is lower-
One question that all refiners are asking ing crude acquisition costs,” he said. “I think
right now relates to sources of supply: Where the picture of which crudes are going to be
will our crude oil feedstock come from over the best possible price and the best possible
the coming months and years? Fewer than match for your refinery and how you’re going
10 years ago, the picture was much clearer. to invest as a result is very fuzzy right now.
Supply agreements were far more defined People are taking a wait-and-see approach to
over the long term, and refiners knew what to observe how it all settles out.”
INDUSTRY FOCUS
Marcelo Carugo, director of global refining way, but generally, owners are slowing down
marketing for Emerson Process Management, the pace of implementation. At the same
said, “Refiners are expanding their flexibility to time, market conditions are very positive, driv-
handle opportunity crudes. This varies area by ing producers to keep output as high as pos-
area, but there are two large trends: sible. Export markets are very profitable at the
1. Refiners trying to handle tight oil, and moment, so that motivation is very strong.
that means making changes in their “With today’s crude prices, we see refiner-
crude units and condensers. ies raising their utilization, having longer crude
2. There are others that are trying to handle runs, and certainly trying not to stop produc-
heavy, sour crudes. The trend world-wide tion,” Carugo said. “So what we hear and see
is adding the flexibility to handle more a lot is refineries going for smaller operational
types of crudes. improvement projects and reliability improve-
Refiners can’t control the price of crude, ment projects without stopping the refinery.”
but they can control what they select, so they “Energy asset operators are faced with a
give themselves the ability to manage that paradox today: Increase efficiency and reliabil-
choice to improve margins and profitability.” ity levels while fighting to extend the lifespan
A recent example that has been unfolding of aging plant assets,” said Sean Baird, energy
over the past decade is BP’s Whiting, Ind., and engineering industry leader for EMC’s
facility. The company made a decision to Information Intelligence Group. “To meet
undertake major modifications at the facility to these often opposing aspirations, customers
process crude oil from the Canadian tar sands. frequently discover that it is critical to create a
Hazle has been watching that development. comprehensive view of the energy asset, its
“A few years ago when BP Whiting made the history, performance data, technical informa-
decision put in a coker and expand its refin- tion, and associated documentation. Many
ery, it looked like the cheapest crude available solutions try to do this but fail because there
would come out of Canada, so they built for are simply too many varied types of informa-
tion to manage.”
‘ I’m in a commodity business, this

is the mission of my company, I’m
Baird added that systems capable of deal-
ing effectively with engineering drawings,
real-time analytics, and document manage-
ment, generally have to draw on multiple
not a specialty high-margin player, solutions that are capable of managing one or
two types of information, but they have to be
so I’ve got to be the best refining coupled together to handle the entire range.
’
In some situations, moving to platforms that
company I can be. offer software as a service (SaaS) makes it
easier for users to try new technologies with-
out making a huge commitment. The ultimate
that,” he said. “Given the availability of all value of having this kind of visibility is maxi-
the light oil coming out of Bakken in North mizing production by reducing outages.
Dakota and other sources, in hindsight, maybe At the same time, refineries are not
that wasn’t the optimal decision. However, I immune to issues related to changing worker
think the Canadians are going to continue to demographics and safety. As new workers
produce and develop their oil sands, and for replace the generation that is retiring, training
at least the foreseeable future, pumping it to and operator effectiveness have emerged as
places like Whiting will remain an economical concerns, and there are technological ele-
crude choice for the Midwestern refineries ments to that discussion.
that have cokers.” Ganesh Venimadhavan, senior cus-
tomer marketing manager for refining for
Incremental technology advances Honeywell Process Solutions said that
Given the high degree of uncertainty, most something as simple as improving human-
refiners are being cautious about major plant machine interfaces (HMIs) for operators,
upgrades. Improvement projects are under- combined with better training, can have a
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INDUSTRY FOCUS
major effect. “Sites run with multiple opera- Go online:
tor shifts, and all shifts are not the same,” he www.afpm.org
said. “Over time, a best shift emerges and www.emc.com
there’s also a worst shift. HMI improvement www.emersonprocess.com
projects often aim at closing that gap, help- www.honeywellprocess.com
ing the worst shift produce like the best per- www.mavtechglobal.com
forming shift. The payoff for that is very fast, www.mustangeng.com
but it’s not an easy justification. You have to www.ubs.com
benchmark your good shift against your bad
shift, you have to choose the right KPIs, and Bonnette believes the opposite is also true:
normalize other factors like processing condi- Larger and more integrated producers are more
tions and specs. It takes a lot of effort, but circumspect as they look at these questions.
after you do that, you’ll see the value. It isn’t “Larger companies put a lot of emphasis on
some mythical thing, you will know the best standardization, reliability, compatibility, and
performance and the worst performance and maintainability with their current systems, so
the delta between. The company now has an their view is longer,” he said. “That may make
internal benchmark and the company can say, them a little slower to adopt a technology, but
‘If my worst guys get 50% closer to my best when they do adopt a technology, they put a lot
guys, here’s the value.’” of effort into making sure they believe they’re
buying a product that’s going to have a sustain-
‘ When
able multi-decade lifecycle.”
times are good and Implementation and project management
varies from company to company and site to
profitability is good, it’s extremely site. System integrators find they have to adapt
how they handle relationships in the plant.
important to operate at the Maverick’s Swindler said, “The way we approach
a project depends more on the size and operat-
highest possible efficiency with no ing philosophy of the company, rather than the
’
specific industry. Smaller companies, those with
downtime. maybe one refinery, tend to look more to us for
guidance. They’re trying to mitigate the risk by
putting these processes in place. The onus is on
A generally conservative nature smaller companies to use good discipline when
While there have been rapid advances in executing projects.”
drilling techniques, refiners are generally
slower to adopt new technologies. Some Enjoy it while it lasts
of it is safety related where the amount of For the time being, maybe every refinery
explosive and combustible product in one isn’t seeing this as a golden age, but for most,
location calls for greater caution. times are better now than they were just a
That’s not to say there are not evolv- few years ago. Production is at full tilt, export
ing technologies in refining, but they have markets are strong, and there’s money to be
different motivations. Different kinds of made. The picture down the road could be a
companies approach technolo- whole different matter. If markets
gies and projects differently. can change as much as they have
“Smaller companies typically in a short time, there’s nothing
take risks more readily on that says they can’t change just as
a new, emerging, and novel drastically in some other direction
technology, especially if they or other way. That’s a difficult thing
believe it can save on capital to prepare for. OG
costs,” said Brad Bonnette,
global automation technical Peter Welander is a contributing
authority for Wood Group content specialist for Oil & Gas
Mustang. Engineering.

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Relevant relief device

considerations keep facilities safer
As technology evolves, most facilities or the brick-and-mortar part of the facility
remains the same. This can lead to dangerous situations, as relief systems and
devices are outdated and not matched to the current technology. It is vital to plant
safety and operability that the design of these crucial systems is kept evergreen.
I
By Ryan Supple magine two engineers studying the pip- American Petroleum Institute’s (API)
ing of a process unit trying to trouble- Standard 521: Guide for Pressure-Relieving
shoot a problem. Looking at a pressure and Depressuring Systems recommends that
relief device installed on a vessel, the all reasonable scenarios be identified, and all
first asks, “Why do you think that pres- scenarios deemed applicable have a calculat-
sure safety valve (PSV) is there?” The ed relief rate. It should be noted that OSHA
second answers, “I don’t know. It’s probably calls out API 521 as a recognized and gener-
just there for fire.” Does that sound familiar? ally accepted good engineering practice for
Refineries and other process plants of any design and operation for pressure-relieving
age have certainly gone through modifica- and disposal systems.
tions and changes that affect pressure-relief
systems and other safety measures. The Analysis is key to golden relief rate
obvious question coming out of these situ- A robust process hazards analysis will
ations is whether plant designers took all help identify key relief scenarios. Some
relevant safety scenarios into consideration of the more common ones that come into
when making those modifications. Putting question during this process involve gas
that PSV in that location blow-by on control valves
made sense at the time it
was installed (we hope),
but does it still make sense
‘ A common issue between high- and low-
pressure systems. While
with relief system these scenarios may seem
now that the plant has obvious, if there is little or
gone through subsequent documentation no documentation, there
changes? is no way to tell which
It is vital to plant safety and is that it often scenarios were considered
operability that the design
of these crucial systems is
kept evergreen. The best
doesn’t exist. ’ in the design phase. A
quick sanity check can help
determine whether or not
way to do this is by making any potential the relief device is designed properly. For
impact to relief systems part of the regular example, if the relief device on the low-
management-of-change process. That ensures pressure side is only large enough to
future changes have appropriate analysis, but accommodate the relief rate for external
how should you deal with situations where fire, it would be prudent to investigate its
evidence suggests the initial analysis was adequacy for gas blow-by from the upstream
not done thoroughly or correctly? A common high-pressure system. The flow rate associ-
issue with relief system documentation is that ated with this scenario can be very large,
it often doesn’t exist. Someone hunting for and may require a large relief device to
that information may find data sheets kept on accommodate the associated relief rate.
file that only list “controlling” scenarios, and Such an analysis takes some thought—many
only show detailed calculations for one appli- variables go into the calculation, such as dif-
cable set of conditions. ferential pressure and flow resistance.
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Courtesy: CFE Media
Another commonly Performing in-depth analysis and calcula-
‘ American Petroleum
Institute’s (API)
overlooked scenario is
overfilling a vessel with
liquid. Initial analysis may
tions is time-consuming, and most operating
companies do not have the personnel in
house to carry out this task in a timely man-
have considered this a ner. Third-party studies may be the appro-
Standard 521: Guide for very unlikely occurrence, priate solution to fill the calculation and
and therefore relief documentation gaps associated with relief
Pressure-Relieving and devices were not sized systems. Solutions offered by third parties
to accommodate the range from simple, stripped down, spread-
Depressuring Systems associated potential liquid sheet approaches to complex software pack-
relief rate. Process safety ages with all imaginable bells and whistles.
recommends that all incidents, such as the Regardless of what the budget allows, the
BP Texas City Refinery important thing is that competent and con-
reasonable scenarios explosion scientious people perform
in 2005, thorough analysis. Extravagant
be identified, and all offer proof software packages have lots of
that such nice features, but they alone
scenarios deemed scenarios do not ensure a quality study
are indeed was performed. OG
applicable have a possible and
calculated relief rate. ’ should be

evaluated as
necessary.
Ryan Supple is a process safety
engineer for ConocoPhillips. He
graduated from the University
In addition to checking for of Toledo with a BS in chemi-
adequate capacity, a device’s cal engineering and serves as
ability to relieve liquid should an officer on the AIChE Young
be verified. Professionals Committee.

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Quasar Pulse M/LWD service delivers directional, gamma ray, PWD and vibration data for pre-
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u
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Meltric contact technology maximizes attachment point for fall arrest and frees
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800.433.7642 Input #114 at www.controleng.com/information
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I/O. The 750 XTR series offers a modular, compact solution for auto-
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ADVERTISER’S INDEX
COMPANY PAGE NO. RSN NO. WEB
AutomationDirect C2 100 www.automationdirect.com
Baldor Electric Company OG27 107 www.baldor.com
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Moore Industries - Intl. Inc. OG13 103 www.miinet.com
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Phoenix Contact OG1 101 www.phoenixcontact.com/processblocks
Siemens Industry Inc. OG4, OG5 102 www.usa.siemens.com/oil-gas
SimSci by SE OG31 108 www.Software.invensys.com/big
U.S. Tsubaki OG15 104 www.ustsubaki.com
WAGO Corp. C4 110 www.wago.us

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OG34 • APRIL 2015 OIL&GAS ENGINEERING

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