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Satcom Technology for Offshore Oil and Gas Applications
the site and remote locations. These tools, such as SiteCom
®
, developed and will resynchonise the realtime rig data with the remote or central
by Kongsberg Maritime’s subsidiary Kongsberg Intellifield, rely heavily SiteCom system when the satellite connection is re-established. However,
on satcoms to enable the delivery of realtime drilling data from the field. its proprietary 15 x lossless data compression algorithm ensures optimal
use of the available satellite communications bandwidth, so if the
SiteCom is a realtime data management platform built on Web 2.0 primary, permanent VSAT or microwave link drops out, it will work
technologies that allows the creation of a global integrated extremely well with FleetBroadband.
environment for gathering, distributing and managing data from any
source on the rig, independent of protocol and format. It allows Companies such as KONGSBERG develop their systems with the
collaboration, support of operations and realtime decision-making quality of satcoms in mind. If, like SiteCom, the system has been
with support from professionals regardless of their physical location. designed with good compression, users will barely notice a
difference in operations when the switch is made from primary to
Satellite communications are key to the implementation of the Kongsberg secondary connection (i.e. VSAT to FleetBroadband).
Intellifield SiteCom vendor-neutral realtime drilling data management
system. Services such as FleetBroadband and VSAT allow oil and service There may not be a grand unified theory of everything when describing
company clients to support and assist remotely located drilling rig teams satcoms technology in the oil and gas E&P arena, but all applications
wherever they are around the globe. SiteCom provides a realtime view of share a common goal: improving communications with assets on land.
global operations, allowing the transfer of drilling and well operation best Whether those assets are the friends and family of offshore personnel,
practice and corporate knowledge from the head office to the rig site. This a manufacturer’s support departments or engineering consultants,
enables experienced personnel to support and assist operations, even satcoms technology is capable of bringing them onboard.
between remote rig sites; without the recent availability of broadband
data connections at sea, this would not be possible. FleetBroadband is opening up new possibilities on mobile vessels, but
VSAT is still the dominant force in communications for offshore
High-quality satellite communications and good satellite communications applications. However, it is vital that operators choose a reliable
uptime are key to good realtime data management. SiteCom includes satcoms solution as opposed to just installing a single-antenna set-up.
several features that help it to cope with poor or dropped connections. It Either working on a solution together or operating within applications
stores all of the realtime data for use at the rig site, and in the event of to which they are specifically suited, FleetBroadband and VSAT are
a break in satellite communications it continues to record the drilling data vital tools that will continue to change and improve E&P at sea. ■
Securing the integrity of your control system
Operation of advanced offshore vessels and production platforms is more and more depending on computer control
systems, such as dynamic positioning (DP), power management systems (PMS), propulsion and thruster control,
drilling control systems (DCS) and crane control systems. The software in these systems may constitute hundred
thousand or more lines of program code that is being commissioned and integrated across the interfaces of numerous
vendors during construction of each vessel or platform, and later being upgraded or updated at irregular intervals
throughout its life. History has shown that unnecessary incidents and downtime can results from flaws in this software.
So, how can an Exploration and Production company manage the quality and integrity of this control software that is
mostly invisible to those who are responsible for the operation, and can only be inspected and maintained by software
experts from the vendor who provided the control system?
“Marine Cybernetics are pioneers in independent third party software testing for the offshore industry, having brought
Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator based testing from the aerospace and automotive industries to offshore”, says
Marine Cybernetics’ CEO Asgeir Sørensen. The HIL simulator technology enables simulation of a wide range of
realistic scenarios from normal, abnormal and faulty operation to achieve much more in-depth and thorough testing of
the software functionality than with traditional testing. Custom made HIL simulators are brought to the vendor’s
factories and onboard the vessel’s and connected to the control systems for early and efficient testing without risk for
damage of equipment or personnel during testing. “It is much more convenient and efficient to test the control system
functionality when simulating a generator trip, a drawwork brake or drive failure, or a DP thruster failure than to test it
live”, explains Asgeir Sørensen.
www.marinecybernetics.com
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