SPE-185571-MS

Reduction of Opex Costs and Increase of Oil Production by Means of

Production Deferment and Pump Failure Prevention with a Cost-Effective
Well Monitoring System

Samuel Armacanqui, CeO Gaia Energy Resources; Luz Eyzaguirre, Cesar Lujan, Yeltsin Tafur, Harol Marticorena,
José Rodriguez, Hancco Paccori, Ruben De La Cruz, Sheyla Yataco, Freddy Sueldo, and Francis Cuestas,
Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería

Copyright 2017, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Latin America and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18-19 May 2017.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
A system of well monitoring in real time was developed, that is cost-effective and reliable. It allows the
the obtained the real time data gattering.
Among the advantages of this system is the low price and effectiveness; as it uses low cost electronic
components and an inexpensive communication network. The main electronic components used, are
the Arduino controller and the wireless information transmitter using the free bandwidth in the world:
2.4GHz, which allows programming a more effective communication network (ZigBee Network); the
power supply is based on photovoltaic cells (5V). The ZigBee Network Technology achieved its goal of
keeping all interconnected points. The limited range of the transmitters (1500m) was overcome by the use
of interconnected network points, which can build a grid to cover the entire field. The tested prototype was
composite of four points in a transmition station – simulating a control room
The system is based on good quality and low cost equipment, that aims to reduce the production deferment
and artificial lift equipment failures; by the implementation of a system that generates alerts according to
the monitored parameters.

INTRODUCTION
At present, the monitoring of the well operations of most of the fields in Peru what have a low production
rate is carried out by traditional control where the operator routinely visits wells being tested, takes physical
samples and inspects the wells to determine any problems. This results in discontinuous control, which
is why implementing an online monitoring system at low cost would result in significant benefits. It is
proposed to incorporate components of new technological development using pressure and temperature
sensors to record the basic operating parameters at wellhead and transmit these signals to the monitoring
and data acquisition room, where the software that in this case is proposed the LabVIEW, Will evaluate the
signals in real time to determine the conditions of the flow of oil, gas and water; With that it will be possible
to obtain also graphical tendencies that indicate deviations of the norm helping to reduce oil deferment and
2 SPE-185571-MS

to identity abnormal pump operation to trigger the implementation of the required corrective measures [1]
y [2]
Another advantage of this system is the robustness of the signal, which is expected to be at high frequency.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this project was to implement a real-time well monitoring system that is cost effective,
taking advantage of the information obtained to reduce unplanned production deferral and reduce pump
failures.
The advantage of this system is the low price of its components, and reliability; using low cost electronic
components and a low-cost communication network. The main electronic components used are the Adriano
controller [4] and the wireless information transmitter: Sigsbee network technology [3] Low Power Wireless
Iota Standard, that works in a free bandwidth 2.4GHz, which allows programming a more effective
communication network. The power supply is a photovoltaic cell (5V). In addition, pressure and temperature
sensors are used to test the system.

METHODS AND MATHERIALS

Materials
In order to overcome the limitations of the range of transmission (1.5Km), a grid was built that provides
different alternative pathways for the data transition from transmitter points (wells) to the revival (control
room). The components utilized are shown below:

Experimental description
Prototype design. The following experiment was developed following the following steps:
SPE-185571-MS 3

(a) Tests of the Controller and transmitter connected in a protoboard, (b) Graphical Info in each
equipment, (c) Signal and Range Test in progress, (d) How a network would be connected in a field.
Transmitter (ROUTER)
Electronic circuit
The electronic design of the device consists of a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor - DS18B20, Arduino
micro, a 16×2 LCD and the XBee S2C module.

Figure 1—Router. Source: Fritzing – own design.

4 SPE-185571-MS

Figure 2—Final prototype.

Programming (Attachment 1)
Flowchart

Figure 3—Data transmission - Flowchart

Central receptor (Coordinator).

Electronic circuit
SPE-185571-MS 5

Figure 4—Controller

Grid Network Design. The following figure shows the ZigBee network formed indicating the functions
of the modules: a coordinator and 4 router grid structure. Figure 5 shows the build of the Zigbee network.

Figure 5—Zigbee red.

6 SPE-185571-MS

Figure 6—Generic Zigbee Network Technology

PC interface design. For the programming of the PC interface, the programing software LabView was
utilized. It communicates via serial port to the receiver module, the data is stored in a compatible file for
visualization in any spreadsheet for later analysis.

Figure 7—Interface view - PC.

Resources.
Informatic resources
DiGi's XCTU software was used to program the XBee modules. Through this interface it is possible to
program the working mode and all communication parameters of the XBee modules. The transmitters or
router are based on the Arduino micro modules, these are programmed in the Arduino IDE software, using
a C ++ language. Bellow, informatics resources for the receiver (control room) are shown:
SPE-185571-MS 7

Table 1—Informatics resources chart

Field test.
– Fig. 8 shows the graph of the first test with the mesh mode

Figure 8—Test data mesh mode.

– Fig. 9 shows the graph of test 2 with the Sigsbee network:

Figure 9—Test data with the Zigbee network.

Commentary
It is to note that the contrast of the graphs is due to the fact that in the mesh mode it was overwritten by
default, since originally it comes in a star mode so that then in test 2 it is modified in the Zigbee mode,
additionally in this mode Transmissibility is improved in a better way.

RESULTS
The economic analysis demonstrates the economic viability for a "Field X" (estimated data), adjusted to the
current crude price (which was a model for the current evaluation. See figure 10.
8 SPE-185571-MS

Figure 10—Economic feasibility of the project

Comments:
– According to the price of Brent crude oil, the barrel of oil to date is in the range of 50 US$/bbl, In
the bellow graph is observed that the automation of the entire field project is viable – NPV, applying
the technology would result, would be viable if we start the project with a NPV (Net Present Value)
positive. At Brent crude price around 23.53 US$/bbl, the project is not attractive.
– We can conclude that if the international price of oil is greater than 23.53 US$/bbl the project would
be viable recovering the investment.

OBSERVATIONS
• To have the actual project cash flow, you will need the project investment structure, deferred losses
and international oil price forecasts to see the PAY OUT trend, since it is using estimated data to
understand the economic base.
• The initial mode for not having a visual line cannot generate a 100% transmissibility, as a result
there is what can be seen in the test charts.

CONCLUSIONS
• A prototype design of a online well monitoring system at low cost and reliable was completed.

• Programming of codes for the software, which interacts with the hardware, was successfully tested.

• The graphical Interface was successfully tested with a low cost software tool.

• The parameter monitoring matrix has been proposed, which includes surface parameters-Pressure
and Temperature. This can be expanded to include all the downhole parameters.
• Gathering real time data allows reduction of defferement by reducing time response.

• Monitoring of operating parameters allow to confirm the normal operating conditions of the
pumps or the deviation, triggering implementation of the required corrective measures to prevent
equipment pump failure.
• The system was economically developed with oil Price beneath current market oil Price.
SPE-185571-MS 9

• The propossed Online Monitoring System is economically viable even at oil prices in the range of
20 US$/bbl – less than half of the current Brent oil price (February 2017: 55 US$).
• The system opens a range of opportunits of online monitoring in well operation optimization in
low oil rate wells; typical of marginal fields.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. J. Samuel Armacanqui: "Arresting Unexpected Oil Production Decline in a Joint Venture
Environment". Paper SPE 164785 presented at the North Africa Technical Conference and
Exhibition, Cairo, Egypt 15-17 April. 2013.
2. H. Poulisse, Peter Van Overschee: "Continuous Well Production Flow Monitoring and
Suveillance"; Shell, año 2000.
3. Development of Underground Mine Communication and Monitoring Systems by Using ZigBee
Technology
4. Y-Pilot Test and Economic Analysis of a Wellhead Produced Water Purification System Based on
Humidification and Dehumidification Using Co-Produced, Solar, and Waste Heat
10 SPE-185571-MS

ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENT 1 – System Programing

SPE-185571-MS 11

User manual ONLINE MONITORING

1. Open the container folder, and then run OnlineMonitoring.exe

2. The following window will open.

3. Select the COM port on the receiver

4. Select the file and place to store the sample information: test.txt

5. Enter the parameters for the alarms and press SAVE SETTING
12 SPE-185571-MS

6. Enable alarms on for the wells to follow.

7. Press the button: connect.

8. The data will be displayed in the table and in the panel: