Nabors develops optimisation features for rig engine management system

Deployable to Nabors rigs and beyond to the broader drilling community, the SmartPOWER™ rig engine management system was developed with two primary configurations – advisory and control. The advisory solution sends automated alerts to the driller through HMI screens as to the optimal number of rig engines to run. The controls feature automates the start and stop of engines based on those advisories.

Live Electronic Drilling Recorder (EDR) data

With a 10-minute look ahead, Nabors’ solution utilises AI to analyse live EDR data from RigCLOUD®, or other drilling data systems, to predict power requirements for upcoming drilling activities and identifies the optimal number of engines for the required power demand.

De-rating module

Another feature is Nabors’ AI-based engine de-rating module. The proprietary technology assesses service life, altitude, coolant temperature, oil and filter conditions, and other factors of each engine to rate the available power capacity based on its specific conditions. It is just as important to know which engines to run as it is to know how many engines to run to achieve power demand.

Longer term, Nabors plans to uses this data as part of its equipment condition monitoring (ECM) solution, streamlining maintenance and enhancing service performance.

Engine controls

SmartPOWER™ is fully automatable. By connecting to a rig’s generator control system, engines are automatically turned on or off based on the advisories.

Available to the broader drilling community

SmartPOWER™ is deployable to the Nabors fleet and beyond to other drilling contractors through RigCLOUD^® and Canrig.

Case study

Field testing of the advisory system, carried out on a Nabors rig in Q1 2022, indicated a reduction in diesel consumption in line with internal models of up to 20% in certain applications, with an equivalent reduction in CO₂ emissions. This reduction is with respect to the baseline set from average fuel consumed during operations running all available engines, with no manual intervention of the generators. To enable a true comparison, kilowatt-hours generated are compared to actual fuel consumed, creating a comparison which is irrespective of drilling activity and accurate to true fuel usage for a given level of power generation.

Luke Trueheart, Product Line Manager, said: “What makes SmartPOWER especially unique is that we’re the first to both analyse live data from the EDR and use our proprietary engine de-rating module to deliver more precise and effective engine advisories. Our AI-based system is a powerful tool for drilling contractors seeking to lower emissions and fuel consumption.”

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/product-news/29042022/nabors-develops-optimisation-features-for-rig-engine-management-system/