Oil & Gas

oil and gas

Refineries


When increasing demand places productivity and safety at risk, your operation needs instruments that withstands extreme conditions to ensure peak efficiency.  From distillation and fractionation to hydrocracking and process treatment, we have the right solutions. This application requires high pressure and high temperature capability pressure switch.



Onshore


Pump Jack Well - When the energy in a reservoir declines to a point where the well will no longer flow freely, artificial methods are used to lift the hydrocarbons to the surface. Pump jack wells can be shut-in if problems identified by monitoring wellhead pressure are managed early, reducing or eliminating the time and expense of costly swabbing units or work-overs.


Injection Well - As reservoir pressures decline, conventional production methods become less efficient. If determined to be economical, secondary (waterflood) and EOR (thermal, gas miscible, chemical) methods of production are used and continuous monitoring of the wellhead is common.

Continuous wellhead monitoring checks the ability of the reservoir to effectively handle the injected medium. Injection pressures that are too high could cause tubular fatigue and rupture problems. Also, injecting above the reservoir fracture gradient reduces the sweep efficiency of a waterflood and increases production overhead costs.

Free Flowing Well - This type of well uses the natural pressure from the earth to force the oil or gas from the reservoir to the surface. A throttling valve located at the wellhead reduces pressure and regulates the flow of product to the collection site. To maintain safety and integrity of the well, Whitman switches monitor tubing, casing or flow line pressures so high or low pressure conditions are identified early. The free flowing well can be shut-in until corrective measures are taken if problems are indicated. Whitman pressure switches are also used to monitor hydraulic line pressure to ensure proper operation of hydraulically actuated throttling valves.


Our products can also be used in BOP accumulator systems, top drive systems, monitoring tubing & casing pressures, CO2 injection skids, Input to RTU's & SCADA Systems, Wellhead pressure switches.



Offshore


The offshore environment brings unique challenges, whether the Gulf of Mexico or the North Sea - which is why Whitman has compact, all welded, sealed, stainless steel pressure switches. Resisting salt spray and humidity, these compact cylindrical designs maximize your panel space while monitoring and controlling critical off offshore functions like high pressure wellhead monitoring and controlling subsea valves. Pressure Switches and liquid level switches help manage emergency shutdown & safety  monitoring, line pressure & hydraulic monitoring, and subsea valve monitoring



Tar & Heavy Oil


Recovery, transportation and refining operations are challenged by the increasing demands for efficiency and productivity. Whitman parts can handle the high pressure/high temperature capability required in this environment.



Natural Gas


Our gas switches monitor natural or LP gas pressure and are designed to cut off the electrical control circuit when pressure rises above or drops below the desired preset limit. Accurate and reliable, models are available in numerous settings, types, and enclosures. Our pressure switches can be used in pipeline compressor stations, flare gas recovery, input into SCADA Systems, metering run, and gas flow monitoring.




Hydraulic Fracturing


Hydraulic fracturing stimulates wells drilled into otherwise difficult to pressurize rock formations, making profitable otherwise prohibitively expensive extraction. Within the past decade, the combination of hydraulic fracturing with horizontal drilling has opened up shale deposits across the country and brought large-scale natural gas drilling to new regions. Whitman Pressure Switches can be used in pipeline compressor stations.




Pipelines & Flow Line Monitoring


Production from remote gas wells is fed into pipelines for transportation to central processing stations. Monitoring individual well production rates requires precise mass gas flow measurement, in addition to flow line monitoring for safety concerns. For accurate mass gas flow calculations associated with custody transfer, typical monitoring stations have an orifice plate with a differential pressure transmitter for flow measurement, a pressure transmitter to monitor flow line integrity and measure static pressure, and a temperature transmitter. Whitman products can be used in pump monitoring & protection, flow line manifold monitoring, oil/gas separator systems, and line heater control.


Generators


Standby Diesel Generator provides emergency power if needed. The cooling water jacket is kept warm and circulated at all times for quick start-up. A pressure switch will monitor water jacket pressure and room temperature.


Storage Tanks


Oil and wastewater storage tanks are usually located at remote oil field collection sites downstream from the satellite separator. To protect against tank overflow, redundant control using different technologies is commonly required.



Satellite Separator



Prior to storage, transportation and refining, water must be removed from the oil/water mixture produced at the wellhead. Gravity operated satellite separators are commonly used. Located at a central collection site to service multiple oil wells, the separator consists of a closed tank with two chambers separated by a baffle extending partially up from the bottom of the tank. The oil/water mixture flows into a settling chamber where gravity causes the oil, water and any entrapped gas to separate. The heavier water settles to the bottom of this chamber and the oil rises to the top. As the oil level rises above the baffle, it spills over into the second chamber for pumping to a storage tank. The water is pumped out before it reaches the top of the baffle and the gas is either flared or piped away for processing.



Satellite Gas Processing


A limited amount of gas processing may occur at individual wellheads or at a local collection site serving multiple wells. Typically, this on-site gas processing includes systems for removing sand, water or gaseous contaminants (e.g. a scrubber to remove high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in “sour” gas) prior to feeding into large pipelines for transportation to central gas processing stations.




RTU System


Many oil and gas production sites are located in remote areas not served by conventional electric power plants. Solar power cells with battery backup are a reliable and inexpensive alternative to running electric power lines to these sites. A Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) gathers safety, well integrity and performance data from local instrumentation for transmission to a central monitoring facility via microwave radio.



Petrochemical


Different from regular Oil and Gas, petrochemicals are a result of a complex refinement process and used in a variety of non-energy related applications. Oil refineries produce olefins and aromatics by fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) of petroleum fractions. The modern FCC units are all continuous processes which operate 24 hours a day for as long as 3 to 5 years between scheduled shutdowns for routine maintenance. Whitman temperature switches, pressure gauges, and pressure switches are all useful in this application.



Compressor Skids


As natural gas reservoir pressures decrease or loading occurs, conventional production methods become less efficient. If determined to be economical, compressor skids are used at the wellhead to increase production. Mechanical and analog instruments are commonly selected for their lower cost, compact size and ability to respond quickly to critical process conditions (e.g. surge detection). As shown, pressure switches, and temperature switches are used to facilitate this process.



Glycol Dehydration


Often, a glycol dehydrator is necessary for removal of tiny water droplets from natural gas if the water was not completely extracted with the separator. The process involves “dehydrating” the natural gas and usually calls for one of two processes: absorption or adsorption. The 1500 series switches fall into the absorption process.

Glycol dehydration involves putting glycol in contact with a stream of natural gas that contains water. The glycol absorbs the water from the wet gas stream, becomes heavier and sinks to the bottom of the contactor where it is expelled. The natural gas is then easily routed out of the dehydrator and the glycol/water solution is sent to a special boiler that steams away the water allowing the glycol to be recycled.

Coal Steam Generation


From the steam drum, steam passes through the superheater and into the turbine, which converts the heat into mechanical energy. The conversion is done in three stages to use as much heat energy as possible. After steam leaves the turbine, it is condensed back to water and recirculated to the boiler.

Steam is drawn from the steam drum and sent to the superheater where pressure, temperature and flow must be monitored. Steam comes out dry and superheated, ready for the turbine. A dripleg is used on superheated steam lines to collect particles of moisture still present in the dry steam which can cause severe damage to the turbine. A level switch senses the liquid level and opens a dump valve.

The reheater takes spent steam from the high pressure  turbine and superheats it again before it goes to the intermediate pressure turbine. Steam passes directly from the IP turbine to the low pressure  turbine. The turbine, the most expensive and critical component of a power plant, converts heat in the steam to mechanical energy. The turbine shaft turns a generator at high speed to generate electricity.

Spent steam exits the low pressure end of the turbine and enters the hotwell condenser, where it is cooled and condensed into water. Make-up water is added at the hotwell when required. Cooling systems are typically circulating water, refrigerant or some combination of the two, and require temperature, level and sometimes pressure instrumentation.

This application uses many different kinds of liquid level switches.

Ash Precipitator


By-products of combustion are ash, gases and heat wastes. The heat is dissipated through the cooling system, while the solids and gases are removed through the environmental system. Ash and solids that fall to the bottom of the boiler (bottom ash) are collected in a hopper and removed periodically. Fly ash is entrained in the exhaust flow and collected in the ash precipitator. Pressure and temperature transmitters used at the inlet and outlet of the precipitator protect against clogging and overheating.

Scrubbers are typically used to remove combustion gases by bubbling exhaust through lime slurry. Detectors inside the stack monitor performance of the environmental system for emissions reports to government agencies.

Level switches are used for a line pressure alarm.

Oil well logging tool


Well logging tools are used to sample Earth strata at different depths in the well hole. The tool is lowered to the depth desired and a probe is extended by oil pressure into the Earth strata. The probe census the material present and signals are then sent the top for evaluation. When the measurement is complete, the probe is extracted into the tool and then reposition to another level of depth and repeated. There are two switches used.  function of the oil pressure within the prescribed limits. This application requires a tough independable switch. Once this tool is in the well the cost to extracted because of faulty equipment would be astronomical especially from a 20000 foot depth. The j205 is doing the job very well. The special features are lamp bifurcated gold contact switch rated at + 400 degrees Fahrenheit, completely vented body and electrical switch to handle 20000 PSI surrounding pressure. Set point adjustment is made through the pressure port fitting.