Keeping North Sea Emissions from Flaring Up
Oil and Gas companies operating in the North Sea are now required under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to provide accurate information on the quantities of carbon emissions caused by flare gas. As a result there has been a demand for more accurate flare metering to be installed together with an open systems approach for data logging and reporting.
Talisman Energy (UK) together with Wood Group Engineering chose Elisys to supply a Panorama gateway solution capable of interfacing to a number of different manufacturer’s products using both bespoke and industry standard protocols. Two dual channel GF868 Flare Meters supplied by GE Sensing provide the necessary pressure, temperature and flow data into the Panorama gateway using RS485 Modbus protocol.
Once acquired locally at the platform Control Room, the information is then transmitted on-shore via an OPC Server protocol to the OSI PI Historian System. The Hydrocarbons Accounting Team then use this data to compile emissions reports on a platform by platform basis.
In addition to being an OPC Server for on-shore reporting, there was also the requirement to be an OPC Client to the Rosemount 3095 Multi Variable Transmitter. Configuration of the MVT was done using Emerson’s AMS software and HART. The real time reporting to the Panorama MIMIC display by OPC.
The project didn’t stop however at Modbus and OPC. A bespoke protocol was developed to interface with Rochester’s highly valued System 90 product. Current Alarm and History screens were configured to separate out both General and Emergency Shutdown (ESD) alarms. In addition a number of 4-20mA signals were read in real time for the trending of various compressor systems. An important aspect of this development was the use of Panorama’s Time Stamped Protocol (TSP) to pass information already time stamped at the source and then chronologically sort this for correct viewing to 1ms resolution.
