对于石油和天然气运营商来说，通过优化现场运营来最大化生产资产的价值至关重要，特别是在大宗商品价格波动的时代。例如，只有可靠、实时地访问井下泵和井况数据，才能确保电潜泵 (ESP) 系统的最佳正常运行时间和生产。由于该行业通过将先进的井下传感器与实时诊断解决方案相结合来推动数字化运营，运营商可以以更低的举升成本提高产量。

从历史上看，可靠的数据传输受到井下 ESP 系统电气干扰或故障的威胁，15% 的油井通常会由于接地故障而失去数据通信，导致井下仪表通过 ESP 电缆传输与泵相关的数据。虽然 ESP 可能仍在运行，但到地面的数据传输中断意味着无法获得有关压力、液位和温度的有价值的信息。

如果无法访问井下数据，操作员有两种选择：1）进行全面修井以检索和更换 ESP，或 2）继续盲目运行系统，但可能以较低的抽速来防止电机过热和泵关闭。与使用现场井下仪表优化的泵相比，由于接地故障导致的数据丢失可能会导致产量减少高达 25%。

GE 公司贝克休斯 (BHGE) 开发 Zenith 接地故障免疫 (GFI) ESP 仪表的动机是消除因接地故障导致的数据丢失。该仪表采用独特的电源和通信系统来保护高价值数据，即使在 ESP 系统发生电气故障时也是如此。

合作开发
Zenith GFI ESP 压力计是与一家中东运营商合作开发的，该运营商拥有庞大的 ESP 安装基础，并且存在丰富的井内接地故障历史。操作员需要一种仪表，通过改善对现场运行的所有 ESP 的井下数据的访问来帮助提高产量。

在现场测试中，新的仪表可以成功地恢复多个故障的数据，并应用于模拟现实世界的条件。在安装一年后，我们进行了进一步的测试，系统成功地记录了整个过程中的数据，并向操作员实时提供了井下洞察力。

自早期原型测试以来，大约 50 个 Zenith GFI ESP 仪表已安装在泰国、中东、非洲和拉丁美洲运营商的各种变速驱动系统、配电盘驱动器和泵上。除了标准仪表参数外，GFI 系统的测量还可以在油井和泵的使用寿命内持续监控 ESP 电力系统和电缆状况。运营商正在寻求该技术来协助实时电气诊断和预测 ESP 故障，并通过使用这些新信息帮助识别故障的根本原因来延长 ESP 的运行寿命。

此外，GFI 系统还能精确定位井中电缆故障的位置和严重程度，从而能够针对有问题的泵送系统做出明智的决策。当 ESP 发生故障时，高速数据仍然可用，操作员可以确保在泵关闭时捕获水库累积数据，否则如果安装传统的仪表技术，他们将失去这种洞察力。

吸取经验教训
自初次试验和安装以来，Zenith 产品开发团队的仪表专家利用测试结果和早期现场经验来增强系统，以适应更广泛的操作应用。最近的开发工作旨在将 GFI 仪表定位为新一代传感器的基础。

自首次推出以来，GFI 系统的具体改进包括仪表组件的可靠性和安全性升级。该系统现在包括一个单表面外壳，将多个表面固定装置组合成一个单元，将原始系统上的 40 多个表面连接减少到只有 7 个，显着简化了安装。

该系统的原始软件也已升级为为行业标准平台编写的更稳定、可扩展的程序。新软件经过 BHGE 网络安全专家的审查，带来了改进的用户界面并提供更广泛的诊断数据。因此，用户可以更快地访问关键的油井和泵信息。

Zenith GFI ESP 仪表提供的操作数据可以集成到 BHGE 的 Sabio ProductionLink 人工举升监控解决方案中，以改善工程师和操作员之间的沟通和协作。先进的数字解决方案可用于确定适当的行动方案，以改善生产状况并提高系统可靠性。

GFI 仪表仍然是唯一不受接地故障影响且与市场上所有制造商的 ESP 兼容的仪表。

确保 ESP 可靠性
GFI 仪表通过多种方式提供更高的可靠性和正常运行时间，为现场应用中的 ESP 监控环境带来价值。通过在发生电气故障后传输实时传感器数据，该仪表可以让操作员继续优化生产，而不是由于缺乏井下信息而可能降低抽油速率。

操作员还使用仪表来监测接地故障的状况，并使用这些信息来指导他们决定采取哪些纠正措施。例如，这些数据可以帮助操作员降低 ESP 的功率，以消除电缆和电机上的一些压力，从而提供更多时间来计划干预并向油井部署修井机。

运行时间最长的 Zenith GFI ESP 仪表仍然是最先安装的；它于 2013 年为参与原型开发的同一家中东运营商安装。越来越多的操作员正在从 Zenith GFI 仪表为 ESP 操作带来的好处中获益。在一个案例中，该系统在一口遭受泵中持续结垢和堆积问题的生产井中展示了其价值。调试四个月后发生电缆故障后，尽管出现电缆故障，该团队仍然能够使用 GFI 测量仪的实时数据来监控和明智地管理注酸操作。如果安装了非 GFI 传感器，此完成将被拉动或盲目运行。

与此同时，新仪表安装速度继续加快，预计到 2019 年中期安装数量将翻一番。这种增长证明了该行业对优化生产的数字解决方案的持续需求，以及服务公司和运营商之间的合作在推动更大资产价值方面所带来的好处。

For oil and gas operators, maximizing the value of producing assets through optimized field operations is vital, particularly in an era of fluctuating commodity prices. Ensuring optimal uptime and production from electric submersible pumping (ESP) systems, for example, is only possible with reliable and real-time access to downhole pump and well condition data. And as a result of the industry’s push to digitize operations by coupling advanced downhole sensors with real-time diagnostics solutions, operators can improve production at lower lifting costs.

Historically, reliable data delivery was threatened by electrical disturbance or failure in the downhole ESP system—15% of wells typically lose data communications due to a ground fault that cuts off transmission of pump-related data from the downhole gauge via the ESP cable. While the ESP might still be running, the interruption of data transfer to surface means that valuable insight into pressures, fluid levels and temperatures are unobtainable.

Without access to downhole data, operators were left with two options: 1) conduct a full workover to retrieve and replace the ESP or 2) continue to run the system blind but potentially at lower pumping rates to prevent motor overheating and pump-off. Loss of data due to ground fault might result in an up to 25% reduction in production output compared to a pump optimized with a live downhole gauge.

Ending data loss due to ground faults was the motivation behind the development of the Zenith ground fault immune (GFI) ESP gauge from Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE). The gauge employs a unique power and communications system to secure high-value data, even in the event of an electrical failure in the ESP system.

Collaborative development
The Zenith GFI ESP gauge was developed in collaboration with a Middle East operator with a large installed base of ESPs and extensive history of problematic in-well ground faults. The operator needed a gauge that would help increase production by improving access to downhole data from all ESPs running in the field.

In field testing, the new gauge allowed successful data recovery throughout several faults that were applied to simulate real-world conditions. At the one-year mark of installation, further testing was conducted with the system successfully recording data throughout and delivering downhole insight to the operator in real time.

Since early prototype testing, about 50 Zenith GFI ESP gauges have been installed on a wide range of variable speed drive systems, switchboard drives and pumps for operators across Thailand, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. In addition to standard gauge parameters, the GFI system’s measurements have been developed to continuously monitor the ESP power system and cable condition over the life of the well and pump. Operators are looking at the technology to assist in real-time electrical diagnosis and prediction of ESP failures as well as to improve ESP runlife by using this new information to help identify the root cause of failures.

Additionally, the GFI system pinpoints the location and severity of a cable fault in the well, enabling informed decisions to be made regarding problematic pumping systems. And with high-speed data remaining available when an ESP fails, operators can ensure that reservoir buildup data are captured when the pump shuts down—insight they would otherwise lose with traditional gauge technology installed.

Incorporating lessons learned
Since initial trials and installs, gauge specialists in the Zenith product development team have leveraged test results and early field experience to enhance the system for a broader range of operating applications. Recent development work aims to position the GFI gauge as the foundation for a new generation of sensors.

Specific improvements to the GFI system since the initial launch include reliability and safety upgrades to the gauge components. The system now includes a single-surface enclosure combining multiple surface fixtures into one unit, reducing more than 40 surface connections on the original system to only seven, markedly simplifying installation.

The system’s original software also has been upgraded with a more stable, scalable program written for industry- standard platforms. The new software, vetted by BHGE cybersecurity experts, brings an improved user interface and delivers a wider range of diagnostic data. As a result, users are gaining faster access to key well and pump information.

Operational data delivered by the Zenith GFI ESP gauge can be integrated into BHGE’s Sabio ProductionLink artificial lift monitoring solution for improved communication and collaboration between engineers and operators. The advanced digital solution can be used to determine appropriate courses of action to improve production profiles and extend system reliability.

The GFI gauge remains the only gauge that is immune to ground faults and is compatible with all manufacturers’ ESPs in the marketplace.

Ensuring ESP reliability
The GFI gauge delivers value to the ESP monitoring landscape in field applications by providing greater reliability and uptime in several ways. By transmitting realtime sensor data after an electrical fault has occurred, the gauge lets operators continue to optimize their production rather than possibly ramping down their pumping rates due to a lack of downhole information.

Operators also are using the gauge to monitor the condition of the ground fault and use the information to guide their decisions on which corrective actions to take. For example, the data help the operator lower the power going to the ESP to remove some of the stress on the cable and motor, which affords more time to plan intervention and deploy a workover rig to the well.

The longest-running Zenith GFI ESP gauge remains the very first installed; it was installed in 2013 for the same Middle East operator who collaborated on the prototype development. Growing numbers of operators are gaining from the benefits the Zenith GFI gauge brings to ESP operations. In one case, the system demonstrated its value in a producing well suffering ongoing scaling and buildup issues in the pump. Following a cable fault four months after commissioning, the team was able to monitor and knowledgeably manage acid injection operations using real-time data from the GFI gauge, despite cable fault conditions. This completion would have been pulled or run blindly if a non-GFI sensor had been installed.

Meanwhile, the pace of new gauge installations continues to rise, and the number of installs is expected to double by mid-2019. Such growth is a testament to both the industry’s ongoing need for digital solutions that optimize production and the benefits that collaboration between service companies and operators provide in driving greater asset value.