GE Launches New Technologies, Highlights Cross-Business Portfolio of Offshore Solutions at OTC 2013
• New SeaONYX™ Control System Deploys GE's Power Generation Software in Deepwater Drilling
• Latest SeaSmart Offshore Package™ Turbine Solution Reduces Footprint on Rigs by 24 Percent; Weight by 22 Percent
• Acoustic Leak Detection System Allows Operators to Remotely 'Listen' for Anomalies
• New Marine Technologies Help Position, Propel and Monitor Drilling and Production Ships
HOUSTON — GE (NYSE: GE) continues to expand its technology portfolio to address the challenges of offshore drilling and production and the rigors of deepwater drilling. Several GE business units are showcasing their latest products and services for the offshore sector in Booth 3163 at the 2013 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which is expected to draw nearly 90,000 attendees.
"With one of the industry's most comprehensive portfolios of advanced technology solutions and services, GE Oil Gas is helping to solve complex challenges all around the world," said Dan Heintzelman, president and CEO of GE Oil & Gas. "GE's global scale and deep R&D experience, combined with cross-business technology sharing and innovations from our recent acquisitions uniquely position us to help our customers be more efficient, productive and competitive."
At the conference, GE Oil & Gas introduced the next-generation SeaONYX™ BOP surface control system and operator interface. The new system is designed to control a deepwater blowout preventer, which is used to rapidly seal an oil well in an emergency. The technology incorporates for the first time GE's Mark™ Vle hardware and Proficy™ software tools—the same proven control systems that have been deployed in a wide range of GE power generation applications worldwide, such as on GE's advanced fleet of wind and gas turbines.
GE Oil & Gas also announced the first application of its latest SeaSmart Offshore Package turbine solution with Statoil. It’s designed to power offshore oil rigs but with a substantially smaller footprint and reduced weight, which can be critically important when space is at a premium on an offshore platform. When compared to the package launched in 2009, the new technology reduces the total footprint by 24 percent. The total weight drops by 22 percent, driven in part by the use of new GE composite materials.
Other new technologies from GE Oil & Gas at OTC include:
Driving efficiency in the unconventional gas sector: On a drilling site, a manifold lets an operator control flows, acting much like a switchboard. GE's new skid-mounted modular frac manifolds are designed to safely allow simultaneous drilling operations on multiple well pads. The modular design enables fast installation and allows units to be shipped to and from well sites with GE crane trucks—which reduces freight costs by eliminating the need for "wide load" permitting, Listening for leaks under the sea: GE Oil & Gas' Measurement & Control business is highlighting two innovative remote monitoring and sensing solutions for the subsea sector. The Acoustic Leak Detection System uses passive, acoustic hydrophone technology to detect and locate subsea oil and gas leaks by discriminating the noise of a leak from other sources of sound. The new Subsea Multi-Domain Condition Monitoring combines specially designed electric emission monitoring and acoustic hydrophones to monitor the operating condition of subsea machinery and processes.
Award winning deepwater technologies: The organizers of OTC have given two "Spotlight on New Technology" awards to GE Oil & Gas. The RamTel™ Plus system and Remotely Operated Vehicle Subsea Display Panel won for providing real-time, electronic measurements of the position of a blowout preventer’s ram, which closes a well, and the pressure required to operate the sealing elements. The Deepwater BOP Blind Shear Ram won for its next-generation technology that is able to slice through today's larger diameter well pipes and casings—which also are stronger due to advanced metallurgy—and seal a well in an emergency.
GE Power Conversion
At OTC, GE's Power Conversion business is introducing new technologies for marine applications:
The new Visor Asset Management system takes data in different forms, from multiple sources and in different places on the ship and presents it on a single screen in the form of simple text and graphics.
The new Variable Frequency Active Front-End power and propulsion system, or VF-AFE, controls engine speed and can result in fuel savings of up to $300,000 per year.
A new Dynamic Powering system, which uses complex computers to hold a ship’s position, uses an advanced human interface to dramatically simplify the task, thereby allowing the operator to more efficiently process data and make decisions.
The new Inovelis™ system draws in water and then forcibly ejects it out through a nozzle—the marine equivalent of a jet engine, but one that can be pointed in any direction. Under certain conditions, the engine can deliver up to $250,000 in fuel savings a year.
GE's Industrial Solutions business
According to the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers, more than 16 percent of oilfield workers' deaths are from an electrical accident, explosion or burn. GE's Arc Vault™ protection system can stop an electrical fault in seven milliseconds or less, mitigating the fault while also transferring the energy into a hardened containment dome. At OTC, GE Power & Water also is highlighting its broad aeroderivative gas turbine products and services portfolio, which supports the oil and gas industry.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
About GE Oil & Gas
GE Oil & Gas is a world leader in advanced technologies and services with 37,000 employees in more than 100 countries supporting customers across the industry—from extraction to transportation to end use. Making the environment, health and safety, quality and integrity our highest priorities is The Way We Work. Our technologies and services include: surface and subsea drilling and production, monitoring and diagnostics, measurement and controls, large-scale LNG, pipeline compression and inspection, well site and industrial power generation, technologies for the refining and petrochemical industries, and modular CNG and LNG units for transportation sectors. Through our customized service solutions, training programs and technologies, GE Oil & Gas partners with customers to maximize their efficiency, productivity and equipment reliability; develop their next generation workforce; and fully benefit from the megatrends of natural gas, the growth of subsea and hard-to-reach reserves and the revolution in asset health management. Follow GE Oil & Gas on Twitter @GE_OilandGas.
Media contact:
Sean Gannon
GE Oil & Gas
Mobile: +1 203 224 9481
Email: sean.gannon@ge.com
