An advanced computer system is cutting annual maintenance and metering costs at the Kollsnes gas treatment plant by up to NOK 2 million.
The biggest gain for the Statoil facility near Bergen arises because devices to meter temperature, pressure and density no longer need to be sent for regular calibration, reports Henning Ekerhovd, in charge of metering technology at the plant.
That used to be necessary in order to track exactly how much gas was being exported from Kollsnes. Instead, Statoil is now monitoring the plant with an advanced computer system.
The group pipes some 60 million cubic metres of gas daily from Kollsnes to customers in continental Europe. Metering the flow through the processing facilities on a monthly basis allows both government and partners to calculate their share of revenue from these sales.
New routines for metering and maintenance have been adopted in cooperation with the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Changes include installing two temperature meters rather than one at the same point in the process plant.
A database which holds all relevant information has also been introduced for maintenance, providing a good overview of which components have to be replaced.
"We've previously exchanged similar components in all the trains simultaneously," explains Mr Ekerhovd. "Now we only replace the ones which need to go."
This approach cuts spare part stocks, while components last longer if they are left in peace.
Called condition-based maintenance, the solution is in demand by several Statoil entities and other oil companies working off Norway.