ELTA Systems Group & Subsidiary of ISRAEL AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES Adaptation and Application of Aerospace and Defense Industry Technologies to the Oil and Gas Industry Dr. Nathan Weiss Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) ELTA Group October 2013
Introduction The Oil & Gas (O&G) Industry has a long history and tradition of the use and development of advanced technologies: Oil & Gas Exploration Drilling & Pumping Processing Transportation Construction & Maintenance of Pipelines Command & Control (SCADA) systems Environmental Monitoring & Cleanup Novel technologies related to unconventional O&G such as fracking and oil shale extraction and processing more..
Introduction (cntd) The Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry has also been in the forefront of technological development several areas of overlap with the O&G industry but typically in a very different direction There is much that the A&D and O&G industries have learned and can learn from each other. This presentation is about the current and potential contribution of A&D technologies to O&G.
Introduction (cntd) The O&G Industry has faced and is facing a wide range of new challenges Some challenges parallel those faced by A&D. The Defense Industry has expanded from classical areas of military defense to the area of Security. Security has become a major issue for O&G Other new challenges faced by O&G especially in the environmental area and in particular in unconventional O&G development could benefit greatly from technologies developed both for military as well as for aircraft and space applications. To clarify this I shall offer a few broad examples of challenges in the O&G industry Challenges which have benefited from, or which may benefit in the future, from technological developments in the A&D industry.
Example: Securing Oil & Gas Installations Major installations are a strategic asset and as such, in many parts of the world, require "tight" security against a wide range of threats. Technology adaptation past, present & future Military Border Protection Critical Infrastructure Protection Oil & Gas Installations Traditional technologies such as camera systems smart fences access control biometrics have been around for many decades and continue to be an essential part of security systems However, many large installations have now adopted new military type technologies
Securing Oil & Gas Installations (cntd) Radars specifically designed to detect both land based and air based intrusion Advanced Day/Night electro-optical systems including thermal cameras and LIDAR Advanced Image Processing systems such as VMD (video motion detection) Video tracking Face recognition Integrated seismic, acoustic, magnetic and vibration sensing advanced algorithms for threat identification Fully integrated manned and unmanned vehicle patrols Sensor and data fusion Fully integrated and unified command and control systems Cyber security more
Securing Oil & Gas Installations (cntd) Off-Shore Oil & Gas Platforms & Oil Tankers may, in addition, integrate all the above sensors with: specialized radars for the marine environment underwater fences sonar underwater patrols into a fully integrated command, control and decision support system. These examples demonstrate how classic military solutions can be applied to dealing with new and evolving threats to commercial installations. Much of the work for this technology adaptation by the A&D industry is motivated by a broad range of "Security" (or HLS) threats. It then becomes available for adaptation to the O&G industry where needed. There are, however, many new challenges which require more effort and new ideas and where A&D technologies will play an important role.
Example: Pipeline Protection Pipelines need to be protected from a variety or threats. Examples: Terrorism (or other vandalism) Theft Leaks Both vandalism and leaks can lead to huge environmental damage. The result is also a huge financial cost to the industry; not only in cleaning up the mess but also in potential backlash from citizens and governments with resulting problems in approval of new projects. Much work has been done but a significant amount of R&D remains to be done in the development of technologies for the protection of pipelines.
Pipeline Protection (cntd) The most challenging case is that of long pipelines often thousands of kilometers going through varied and complex terrain. Site Protection technologies (such as those described previously) prove much too cumbersome and much too expensive Nonetheless many A&D technologies have been applied to this problem and some new technologies have been specifically developed to meet these challenges: Radar and Electro-Optic sensors advanced processing sensor/data fusion Impractical for protection of many hundreds of kilometers of pipeline. Fiber Sensors (for long distance vibration and possibly intrusion and leakage monitoring)
Pipeline Protection (cntd) UAV patrols UAV and satellite based surveillance including remote sensing technologies which may be able to detect leaks Multispectral and Hyperspectral imaging using aircraft, UAVs, satellites Integrated and unified flow sensing Further improvements in pipeline design including the use of composite materials Adaptation of technologies from structural health monitoring in the aerospace industry. This could include, for example, composite pipeline materials with fiber sensing built in at the construction phase
Example: Unconventional O&G Extraction of Oil and Gas from unconventional sources such as Oil Sands and via Fracking provide a range of new challenges to the O&G industry. Technologies that have been developed for extraction, processing and transportation have lead, worldwide, to significant environmental concerns. These technologies are the prime suspect in every environmental event that occurs anywhere in the vicinity of such O&G operations Thus, technologies are needed not only for improvements in operation but also for environmental monitoring as well as for responding to environmental concerns.
Example: Unconventional O&G Some of the technological issues include Water quality monitoring Monitoring of environmental damage to wildlife and plant life Challenges of safe transportation Pipelines, rail and sea transportation have all faced major safety and environmental challenges Sensing in extreme environments (high temperature & pressure) Examples of technologies being considered include: Fiber-Optic sensing Can be applied to sensing in high pressure and temperature environments Multispectral, Hyperspectral and Radar imaging for water and vegetation monitoring Use of UAVs as a platform More
Summary The current growth of the local O&G industry resulting from discoveries in Israel provide a great boost for all those who have traditionally been involved in O&G technologies at all levels. In addition, Israeli companies, both large and small, as a group, have a vast amount of experience in Aerospace and Defense technologies. Many of these technologies can be adapted to solving current and future problems of the O&G industry. A strong R&D effort in this direction could provide a new market, both in Israel and worldwide, for many of the technologies which have been developed over the past decades in the A&D industry.
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