“We chose to use Honeywell’s wireless pressure transmitters because this technology made it possible for us to reduce our costs by more than 37 percent in development, installation, engineering, mounting, startup and maintenance. I would recommend Honeywell for all applications that need reliable and secure monitoring and measurement.”
Sergio Iurchuk, Project Engineer, Repsol YPF
Repsol selected a variety of Honeywell products, including wireless pressure transmitters, to maintain accurate monitoring of pipelines crossing the Colorado River in Argentina. Benefits included:
Repsol YPF is an integrated global oil and gas company, operating in more than 28 countries. It is the industry leader in Spain and Argentina, and the largest private energy company in Latin America in terms of assets. A multinational energy and chemical company producing more than 1.2 million barrels per day, Repsol maintains a firm belief in technological innovation accompanied by the development of environmentally friendly technology. Repsol strives to maintain excellence in the quality of its products while keeping its production costs down.
In 2004, an underwater pipeline crossing the Colorado River was completed in the Puesto Molina production area.
One oil pipeline, two gas pipelines and an aqueduct, 585 miles long, were installed under the river. Security and environmental standards required that Repsol maintain accurate monitoring of the pipelines to avoid possible spills into the river in the event of a pipe breakage.
Argentina’s Rincón de los Sauces includes mature petroleum production oil fields where the extraction is done through secondary recovery. It counts on a 118.000m3/per day gross production and a net petroleum production (35° API) of 11.000 m3/per day. Production is contributed by 1,147 producing wells, of which 70 percent are mechanical pumping (AIB). There are 787 water injector wells.
Repsol considered using pressure transmitters to sense pressure on the pipelines but the costs of mounting and maintenance were prohibitive. Wireless transmitter technology offered significant advantages when used for measurement and monitoring of applications, and was designed for applications with little to no access to power, hazardous or remote locations where instrumentation changes are frequent or where manual readings are usually taken.
Repsol turned to Honeywell to supply the needed wireless technology to monitor the pipelines.
“Honeywell’s wireless pressure measurement solutions helped remove the barriers to installation and startup costs but still provided a reliable, secure and safe monitoring system,” said Sergio Iurchuk, Project Engineer, Repsol YPF.
The Honeywell XYR 5000 wireless pressure transmitters (models WG513 and WG514) along with a WBR base radio were used to implement the monitoring system.
Continuous monitoring of pipeline pressure and integration into a SCADA reporting system were implemented as part of the control system in place. Once a wireless solution was selected, various options were analyzed to do the pressure monitoring on the pipelines. After the completion of the engineering design concepts, the wireless implementation was chosen due to significant advantages when used for measurement and monitoring of applications: