A Universal Subsea Production System Master Control Station (30-Nov-2011)
A Universal Subsea Production System Master Control Station (MCS) is being developed to enable communication between any subsea vendor’s equipment using gateways to translate the vendor’s proprietary topside-to-subsea communications protocol into a standard open protocol. Client configuration tools (CCTs) will be used to allow the owner to configure the MCS Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) without involvement from the MCS vendor. The CCT will generate the code automatically and download it to the PLC and the HMI based on how the owner has configured the field.
Need for Invention
The Master Control Station (MCS) is a key component of any subsea production system. It is located topsides on the host installation and directly controls and monitors trees, manifolds, down-hole valves & gauges associated with subsea wells, allowing normal operations, e.g. valve & choke operations, temperature & pressure monitoring, valve integrity testing and well performance testing. It is also the interface to the Host Installation distributed control system (DCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS) routing data and shutdown signals.
Currently, all supplied MCSs are vendor specific and do not allow for data
exchange/communication with subsea equipment supplied by other vendors. Also,
MCSs may not typically be fully integrated into the host installation’s DCS,
meaning that subsea wells may not be controlled from the DCS Human Machine
Interface (HMI) in the Control Room. Instead, they are controlled from the MCS HMI,
which is often located at the side or back of the control room. Furthermore,
Control Room Operators (CROs) have to learn how to operate each individual MCS
for each vendor/development, adding complexity to the CRO’s job and thus
increasing the possibility of operational error.
A Universal MCS is being developed that will address these issues by not only
being able to communicate with all vendors equipment, but also enabling subsea
equipment to be operated from the main DCS HMI in the host installation’s
Control Room.
Details of Invention
The Universal
MCS
comprises dual redundant Programmable Automated Controllers (PACs), Human Machine Interface (HMI) servers and Remote Operator Terminals (ROTs). It connects to a Distributed Control System (DCS
) and a data historian for the transfer and receipt of relevant data. Additionally it connects to auxiliary equipment Programmable L...
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