American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016 - 64

SpecialReport: Compression & Production Optimization

Axip Energy Services' COMMAND™ software shows the usefulness of remote compressor monitoring. In one case, the software revealed that a unit's power cylinders had unbalanced exhaust temperatures, a problem that can cause high-temperature shutdown
and major failures. After the company repaired the fuel injection and ignition systems
on the first cylinder, the temperatures began tracking together, and the customer was
able to increase suction pressure and throughput.

he describes. "For compression providers,
service means maximizing uptime and
throughput."
To achieve that goal, Lane says Axip
has invested in a remote monitoring
system called Axip COMMAND™. "The
system monitors our compressors 24
hours a day, seven days a week, and
sends the data to a center in Houston,
which allows us to diagnose issues remotely and work with the customer to
deal with problems in the most expeditious
way," he says. "Over time, the system

also can allow us to predict failures and
fix a compressor before it goes down."
Most compressors are maintained on
a schedule, Lane notes. "In addition to
identifying situations where we should
pull maintenance forward because, for
example, a valve may be about to fail,
we hope to learn when we can push
maintenance back. For example, if we
know a compressor primarily has had
light loads, we may be able to delay
heavy maintenance without jeopardizing
safety or service," he says.

J-W Power Company's PowerFill™ technology reduces
the average time to refill a
compressed natural gas vehicle from 20 minutes to five.

64 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Lane adds that remote monitoring will
allow Axip to perform maintenance based
on how many hours a compressor runs,
rather than calendar-based estimates.
"That is a big benefit to the customer because it reduces compressor downtime,"
he says.
Remote monitoring has tremendous
potential, but Lane cautions that it can
be hard to realize its benefits. "For a
remote monitoring system to work, it
needs to gather useful data and present
those data in a meaningful way to people
who can turn them into concrete actions,"
he outlines.
"Too much data can be overwhelming
rather than helpful, so in designing COMMAND, we worked with field mechanics
and compressor manufacturers to make
sure we gathered the right data. We ended
with 16 data points that allow us to assess
the compressor's performance and identify
problems quickly," he reports.
Lane adds that the company optimized
the user interface. "It looks like control
panel dials, so it is very user-friendly for
mechanics," he assesses.
"Through COMMAND, we have been
able to demonstrate a mechanical availability that consistently exceeds 99 percent," Lane says. "We also are proud of
our safety record. We had no lost-time
incidents in 2015 and are on course to
have the same result this year."
To identify cost savings, Lane says
Axip works closely with customers. "Joint
scheduling is a great example," he offers.
"With one of our large customers in West
Texas, we hold weekly operation meetings
to understand when activities will take
place on each well pad. This allows us to
schedule compressor maintenance alongside other activities that will take production down and minimize overall downtime, all without compromising safety."
Lean Operations
Even in the best of times, compression
manufacturers, packagers and contractors
need to be lean, contends James Barr,
the vice president of sales for J-W Power
Company. "Because of increasingly strict
emission controls and normal component
cost increases, the cost of building compression products has doubled over the
past decade," he estimates. "The market
has not allowed our rental rates to keep
pace, so to make a return, we have had to
be creative in trimming unnecessary
costs."
Remote monitoring has played a part

American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016

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