Kurau Field Trip - First Week of 2007 - Day 11 and 12

by Eko Prasetyo @ 3:12 PM The total is more than the sum of its parts, but sometimes the total is nothing when a part fails. This is true when we are talking about high-tech devices. Modern hydrocarbon wells are high-tech electronic devices with one or more electronic circuitries running from and into it. But despite that, a simple fail of the old, non-electric part could make the entire sophisticated thing useless.   A simple Choke Valve had successfully made my night full of tense. A choke valve is a valve that is used to regulate flowrate coming from inside a well. In my case, it is used to half the well maximum production because the well’s oil reservoir can’t supply faster than the suction rate of the pump installed inside the well. With it failed, the pump sucked up with unlimited power and take more than the reservoir could give, causing the pump to suck nothing but gas. This gas-sucking activity will destroy the pump if let to continue.   That fact made me ordered the field operators to turn it off. And you know, turning off hydrocarbon producing well is AN ISSUE in the petroleum industry. And this issue has been making my tired soul under quite a pressure. Oh well, the fate of young engineer working on second rate oil and gas company…. | My Alter Ego | Blogroll Me! | |