In Upstream Oil & Gas Industry …

 Exploration – Basically Pressure Monitoring in the

Well downhole
 Drilling – Again basically monitoring part for Mud
Pump Disch. Pressure, Weight on Bit, Torque,
Well Kick. Mostly Control is by manual or
mechanical means.
 Production – Regular separation, compression,
and storage usage.
 Transportation – Custody Transfer Pressure
Measurement and control in Road and Rail
Tankers.
 To run and maintain the process at desired state
for
 Safety - Ensure the process conditions minimizing safety
and health risk
 Optimal operation - Correct operating conditions
improves quality, yield, plant capacity, energy
consumption, etc.
 Upsets - Recover from process upsets or disturbances

 It’s not just about optimisation; it’s about

successful operation of the entire plant or drilling
process.
 Measurement - To control the pressure, first
we need to measure the input pressure to
control and give desired output pressure.
Different types of Measurement Sensors exist
but ultimately final control types are two only
: Analog and On-Off.
 Control – Analog control is through Control
Valves and On-Off control is through
Shutdown Valves. In drilling, it requires
manual intervention most e.g. mud density
control to counter balance reservoir pressure.
 To achieve control, several elements are coordinated
together to achieve the control objective.

 Measurement part or chosing sensor to measure is the

most important decision for desired pressure control.
Factors affecting are :
 Type (Capacitive/ Piezoresistive/ Strain Gauge); Measurement Fluid
(Oil, Gas, Effluent, Other chemicals); Range; Accuracy; Drift;
Environment; Overpressure ratings, Approvals
 Exploration –High Pressure & Temperature
and hostile environment inside the reservoir
calls for most sturdy, corrosion resistant and
tough measurement devices.
 Drilling – Reservoir is having its own
unpredictable pressure. Dirty and risky
environment in drilling calls for quick
detection, rough & tough devices. Though
Automation in drilling is progressing fast, but
still it needs manual interventions in
comparison with Process Control.
 Production – Sufficient and good control systems
e.g. PLC based control systems and DCS exist but
sometimes low volume and un-skilled manpower
is the biggest challenge for effective process
control in Production of Oil and Gas field.
 Transportation – For transportation to tanker or
pipeline, Custody Transfer measurement and
pressure & flow control should be effective.
Unwanted pressure in the Tankers or Pipelines
have caused major accidents in O&G industry.
Advanced Control Techniques certainly help to
balance above tradeoff .
MANUAL MISTAKES : In Process Control most of the problems in Pressure or other
parameter controls are due to manual mistakes, rather than instrument fault.

 Incorrect Installation - e.g. PT and FT location for Surge Control in Gas

Compressors. Wrong torque or poor quality impulse tubing also snaps and pose
even more threat to life & property.

 Incorrect Type of Sensor Chosen – e.g. bubbler tube in Molten Sulphur Tank or
Sump Control in offshore; DPT type level control in Fuel Gas scrubber.

 Incorrect Final Control – e.g. equal % vs linear, wrong cage design etc.

 Dirty or wet Instrument Gas or Air – e.g. in offshore wellhead platforms, oil
carryover in Instt Gas Chokes Nozzle-Flapper in controllers and fails control. In
control valves or SAPCVs, it damages actuator diaphragm.

 Un-skilled Operation & Maintenance – e.g. Differential Pressure Measurement

devices are easily get damaged if proper valve opening closing of 5W Manifold is
not done.

 Incorrect PID Setting in Controllers – e.g. narrow P band in relatively dynamic

Pressure scenario, no D in Temp. control or D in Flow control.

 Forgotten cases – e.g. shutdown valve kept over-ridden after maintenance.

INSTRUMENT MALFUNCTIONS : Sometimes Instruments also
malfunction posing threat to safe and effective pressure
control in the Process.

 Drift - Natural phenomenon and specific to pressure

transmitters caused due to diaphragm design and
construction.

 Seal Damage – In well fluid pressure measurement or thick

viscous liquid measurement, seal diaphragm PGs are used.
But due to sudden pressure spike, mishandling during
installation or calibration, deposits on diaphragm or
foreign material in the fluid can damage the seal.
 No operation on-demand – e.g. Control valves or
shutdown valves get stucked or PSVs don’t operate at
desired set pressure.
 To mitigate the issues just discussed, Advanced Control
Applications have come. With combination of modern electronics
and power of electricity/ hydraulics, advanced control
applications provide an additional layer of control, to meet a
variety of pressure control objectives :
 Modular Design to achieve different functionalities e.g. smart
positioners.
 Self contained with single power e.g. Electro-Hydraulic valves.
 Fail Safe Open/ Close/ freeze options.
 Smart diagnostics and communication including FF, HART,
Modbus, Profibus etc.
 Data logging and event recording e.g. thru smart positioners.
 Functional Testing e.g. PST SDVs.
 ESD Control with SIL ratings.
 HIPPS
 HIPPS – A type of Safety Instrumented System (SIS)
designed to prevent over-pressurization of a plant.
The HIPPS shuts off the source of the high pressure
rather than to release it like PSV. Therefore, a HIPPS is
considered as a barrier between a high-pressure and
a low-pressure section of an installation. It is designed
and built in accordance with the IEC 61508 and IEC
61511 standards.
• Basic Process Control System
• Asset Management System
 Advanced Transmitters, such as multivariable transmitters (MVT),
wireless transmitters and transmitters with diagnostic
capabilities are becoming popular fast and we also have used in
our projects to minimise failure rates and maintenance.
 MVT - Multivariable transmitters measure more than one
process variable in a single instrument. Typically these
transmitters measure pressure, differential pressure, and
temperature. As such, a mulivariable transmitter can actually
replace three single variable transmitters. Generally, these
values are used to produce a mass flow measurement or flow
computing.
 Wireless Pressure Transmitters – These are becoming more
popular, especially for new installations. Battery-operated
Wireless transmitters can be installed in hard-to-reach
locations, and eliminate the cost of wiring runs or clumsy
cabling where transmitters density is more e.g. in Oil/ Gas
manifolds.
 Electrohydraulic Valves – When, Electrohydraulic valves have
come which offer lower opex, when a large number of valves
re required
 Motor operated Advanced Electro-Hydraulic Valves have come which
eliminate the Instrument Air requirement completely.
 Electro-Hydraulic Valves – They offer lower opex, when a large
number of valves are required in a large installation e.g Remote
Manifolds or Process Area. Hydraulics is backup and Electric Motor
is main driving force. These valves have come in Analog control as
well as On-Off control.
 Process Gas operated Hydraulic Valves (GOV) eliminate the
Instrument Air requirement completely in remote areas.
 Gas Over Oil (GOV) – When in remote installations, no
servo media is there, GOVs are boon using flow media as
servo and Hydraulics as backup or black-start.
 Advanced Electro-Pneumatic Positioners offer same device for
rotary and linear application, double acting or single acting.
 Smart Electro-Pneumatic Positioners – Features like
Modular design, Auto-tuning, Contactless Feedback,
Configuration choices, Remote Installation, Valve actuator
health diagnostics etc. are making smart positioners more
popular these days.
 Remember : When there is a problem, there is
solution.
 Think about control system optimization
early in design phase.
 Understand your Process, as well as your
control objectives.
 What needs to be controlled? Which variables
effect each other and how?
 Train and motivate operators for safe and
effective operation.
 Thank you ,
for your patience 

Shakeel Ahmed,
DGM (I), ONGC