Following the adoption of multi-path ultrasonic gas flow measurement and Coriolis meters, midstream companies are stranded with no new flow metering technologies in the queue. Even if a new technology appeared tomorrow, it would still be decades away from acceptance and adoption in the natural gas transportation industry. New technology and mandates for emissions measurement and control will soak up much of our scientific innovation resources and capital investment for the next two to three decades, and that assumes that everything will go well and according to our lofty “net zero” goals. Do these realities point to mature business models where performance improvements are stalled indefinitely, with no potential for advances?
The Next Big Thing is the
Data You Already Have
The 21st century information age explosion provides us with hope for measurement innovation that can drive next-level performance without having to wait a decade or longer. If continuous business performance improvement is to be achieved in the near future, it must be built on current technology and continued optimization of human resources. But the information age, fueled by processing power, instant data, and communications, provides the precise tools required for optimization of human resources – and just in time. The workforce demographics present serious challenges to the status quo model and put transportation companies at serious risk of declining margins and performance.
For the next decade, the next big thing will be automating the real-time analysis of copious amounts of diagnostic data from existing measurement technology, augmented with big data AI and digital twins. More measurement errors will be detected, and they will be detected faster. Root causes and corrective actions will be identified immediately, and resolution times will be lowered dramatically. Where there are no errors, condition-based maintenance practices will eliminate unnecessary site visits, saving labor, fuel, and emissions. Time saved can be reallocated to fixing real problems, further reducing cumulative error.
Hope is not a Strategy – Where’s the Beef?
Intuitively, we know that the next big thing will somehow provide benefits for monitoring more sites with fewer resources, increasing measurement certainty, and meeting evolving regulations. But we also know that we should “Trust but Verify” before we leap into the next big thing. No industry knows this better than the Oil & Gas industry, which explains the long adoption cycle for new technologies.
The information age and automated analysis engines also bring a major fringe benefit – real time tracking of Key Performance Indicators! We can know in real time if a performance benefit is being realized, and tweak or shift processes and strategies instantly. The added transparency and accountability build external customer confidence and loyalty, improving customer retention and acquisition, and marketplace competitiveness. Real-time feedback on performance builds employee confidence and happiness, as they can instantly see the effects of a job well done and work constructively on areas in need of improvement.
C-SMART Analytics’ ten years of experience and refining of AI models and Digital Twins for automated analysis of gas measurement station data has produced significant improvements and results. Blind tests have allowed comparisons between conventional efforts by companies to partially automate and C-SMART’s full automation through the complete analysis of stations.
2.5X Boost to Error Catching Sensitivity and Speed
C-SMART’s analytical engine improves error detection rates by 2.5 times.
60% Reduction in Error Resolution Time
C-SMART’s root cause analysis and recommendations for corrective action reduce error resolution times by 60%.
100% More Savings vs. the Best DIY Solution
C-SMART Automated analysis total savings per meter monitored (Condition Based Maintenance savings plus Error reduction savings) double the best efforts of companies to automate themselves applying a decade of “learning” to its models.
Conclusions
Measurement performance is essential to the bottom-line performance of midstream natural gas transmission companies. Pressures to improve the performance, which has stagnated over the past ten years, will not come from new flow measurement technologies for decades to come.
Improvements can, however, be expected from automating diagnostic data aggregation and analysis from existing technologies, and the improvement benefits can be realized immediately.
Automating the analysis can also automatically produce detailed KPI’s that improve competitiveness, customer retention, employee satisfaction and financial results at a time when all of these facets of the business are under tremendous pressure.
Automating natural gas flow measurement analysis is not only possible today, but essential, and is the only path to continuous financial imp