Instrumentation system for determining risk factors
AssigneeMRC Solberg & Andersen AS
InventorsSimon Jeeves, Tore Juvik
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An instrumentation system for monitoring one or more valves of an assembly includes one or more sensors coupled to the one or more valves, and a data processing arrangement for processing sensor signals generated by the one or more sensors to provide an indication of operation of said one or more valves. The one or more sensors and the data processing arrangement are operable to compute one or more risk factors {R) from the sensor signals indicative of operating reliability and/or safety of the one or more valves. The instrumentation system is, for example, suitable for use with valves of the X-mas tree (Christmas tree) assembly for oil and gas production, for example in a sub-sea environment.
Claims10
A system, comprising:
- an Xmastree in one of an oil and gas production assembly, the Xmastree comprising a valve, the valve comprising:
- an adjustable flow controlling element;
- an actuator for actuating said flow controlling element;
- and
- at least one sensor for generating an opposing signal, the opposing force signal representing the force required for the actuator to actuate the adjustable flow controlling element;
- a fluid supply tube for supplying actuating fluid to the actuator, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a pair of static pressure sensors measuring static pressures within the fluid supply tube on either side of the actuator, wherein the pair of static pressure sensors measure a hydraulic pressure, Hp, applied to a piston of the actuator;
- and
- a data processing arrangement communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, wherein the data processing arrangement receives:
- the opposing force signal;
- and
- values representing physical characteristics of the valve, and wherein the data processing arrangement generates a control signal to trigger at least one automatic emergency procedure when a risk factor calculated as a function of the opposing force signal and the values exceeds a threshold value, wherein:
- the values representing physical characteristics of the valve comprise:
- an area, Ap, of the piston of the actuator subjected to Hp;
- and
- a closing force, Cf, for the adjustable flow controlling element;
- and
- the data processing arrangement calculates:
- the opposing force, Of, as the product of Hp and an area, Ap, of the piston of the actuator subjected to Hp;
- and
- the risk factor, R, pursuant to the following equation:
- R
- =
- C
- f
- C
- f
- -
- O
- f
- .
A method for operating a valve of an Xmastree assembly, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a data processing arrangement, a sensor signal that represents a hydraulic pressure, Hp, required for an actuator of the valve to actuate an adjustable flow controlling element of the valve, wherein the sensor signal is generated by a pair of static pressure sensors located within a fluid supply type that supplies actuating fluid to an actuator of the valve;
- receiving, at the data processing arrangement, values representing physical characteristics of the valve, wherein the values representing physical characteristics of the valve comprise:
- an area, Ap, of the piston of the actuator subjected to Hp;
- and
- a closing force, Cf, for the adjustable flow controlling element;
- calculating, at the data processing arrangement, at least one risk factor as a function of the sensor signal and the values representing physical characteristics of the valve;
- and
- triggering, with the data processing arrangement, at least one automatic emergency procedure when the risk factor exceeds a threshold value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.