Transmitton's control system reduces costs, increases efficiency

Transmitton, international supplier of integrated system control and asset management solutions, has installed an innovative new control system for Shell's new NUI (normally unattended installation) Carrack QA gas production platform, 120 km off Norfolk on the UK/Dutch border, targeting reserves of 300 MMscf/d.

In a project worth around £400,000, Transmitton provided a fully duplicated fastflex remote terminal unit (RTU), using the company's FF014 processor, including a local display panel based on Transmitton's cromosOptima master station package, communicating with the RTU over an OPC connection.

A novel feature of the solution was the use of the MTL8000 hazardous area Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), the company says. Initially three remote terminal units were provided, based upon the MTL8000 equipment, one to monitor and control each wellhead.

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The overall platform design was for 10 wellheads; as additional wells are drilled, each can be equipped with a MTL8000 PLC. The PLC, which complies fully with new European ATEX directives for hazardous areas, has remote dumb (no logic control) input and output modules in the wellhead area. This minimizes the need of intrinsically safe and non-intrinsically safe cabling/wiring and barrier requirements for process instrumentation. It also reduces the impact and time scales for adding future wells, as only communications and power need to be installed from the safe area to the hazardous well head area, with well head process instrumentation being wired locally, the company says.

Transmitton has supplied and installed an additional MTL8000 RTU for a fourth. The design also made allowance for the monitoring and control of four future satellite gas production platforms.

SLP Engineering, on behalf of Shell, contracted Transmitton to specify and supply the control and monitoring system. Implementation required close cooperation with SLP Engineering and Shell engineers to ensure that the very challenging timescales for delivery were met.

Managing director at Transmitton, Ian Wright, comments: "This has been an interesting project for us and developing an innovative and cost efficient solution for Shell is where our specialist technical expertise has added real lasting value."