The Challenge: Barrow Island (BWI) Cathodic Protection Monitoring
Remote sensing of cathodic protection (CP) system for wellbore corrosion mitigation on Barrow Island
Challenge Partner
Challenge Context & Description
The Barrow Island oilfield currently has 890 wells. Most of these wells have impressed current cathodic protection (CP) installed (See Appendix A for Barrow Island CP coverage map).
There are 137 powered (240 VAC) CP cabinets throughout the field with CP cabling routed from each cabinet to protect up to eight adjacent wells. Currently, CP status and performance is monitored manually by field personnel who drive to each cabinet and observe the status of each protected well by taking DC current readings with a clamp meter. There is an opportunity to automate the process with more timely and accurate information.
The CP system is critical to well integrity — without functional and sustained CP, steel casing may corrode and degrade at shallow depths adjacent to a sensitive water aquifer.
The Opportunity
Chevron Australia is seeking innovative and low unit cost solutions for automated, remotely monitored sensing and data aggregation/tracking for CP status (on/off) and system amperage/voltage specific to each well. Such a solution would improve real-time awareness of system performance, failures, and timely notifications at the well level when anomalies occur.
The sensing and data acquisition solution must also be accessible remotely. As the cellular network coverage of Barrow Island is unreliable and no field-wide Wi-Fi network/internet exists, an alternative telemetry solution is required along with the sensing and data collection component. The field is widely serviced with an electrical power network which could potentially be leveraged as part of the alternative telemetry system.
Existing process control sensor technology with Process Control Network (PCN) compatible telemetry systems to enable remote monitoring is estimated to exceed $1,000 AUD per well, which is cost prohibitive. A significantly lower unit cost solution is desired which would add significant value to the asset integrity assurance effort.
Appendix A — Map of Barrow Island Cathodic Protection Areas and Cabinet/Anode Locations
Appendix B — Layout of a Barrow Island Cathodic Protection System Cabinet
Appendix C — Schematic of Barrow Island Cathodic Protection for Well Casings
If you have any questions about the challenge, check out the Q&A section at the bottom of the page and you can post new queries through our Q&A form.
This challenge closed Friday 23 July 2021, 5 pm AWST.