courtesy StatoilHydro/Aker Kvaerner

StatoilHydro is pushing forward with an unmanned, robot-operated production platform called Mesa Verde, after enlisting an Emerson-Cisco alliance to solve safety and operational issues posed by wireless technology.

A rail-mounted robot will have free rein in an unmanned area, assisted by at least one crane as it changes sub-sea production equipment to match the changing well-stream characteristics.

“The goal is replacement of a module within 24 hours, including start-up,” a StatoilHydro source told Scandoil.com.

The goal is replacement of a module within 24 hours, including start-up.

The alliance between Emerson Process Management and Cisco Systems is frontrunner in a race to make offshore wireless switches transfer data seemlessly from transmitters fitted to monitor tangles of process kit. The two high-tech suppliers have jointly launched “smart wireless” for process environments in Europe.

StatoilHydro was reportedly impressed with the success of Emerson’s wellhead pressure and heat-exchanger monitoring at the Grane field. Wireless equipment fitted offshore recorded “100-percent reliability and stability” in the first five months of remote data manageent.

For the track-bound robot that’ll operate Mesa Verde, StatoilHydro is hoping to eliminate “daily visits to the wellhead” for gauge readings. Managers placed at a nearby facility or onshore will be able to control all processes.

While StatoilHydro has chosen to work with Emerson and Cisco, the Norwegian operator is yet to rule out working with other suppliers of wireless. A StatoilHydro project manager said that 2014 is the target date for the robotic Mesa Verde platform. The Norwegians cite “vast savings" for ditching miles of "wire connections and other costs of operations", including helicopter crew-moves.

The platform is understood to ba an Aker Kvaerner design. Details on the Mesa Verde roject and the roles of Emerson and Cisco will appear in Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine’s January-February 2008 Issue.

ws@scandoil.com

Tags: Cisco Systems, Emerson Process Management