Earth Plastered Wall Heating as a Low-Emitting, Cost-Effective and Robust Energy System for Building Renovation

Renovation of the building stock in Europe is urgent to decrease the environmental impact from the building sector and meet the United Nations climate action goals. However, it is often hard to define a robust scenario for a renovation due to numerous uncertainties, which occur during the production, operation and end-of-life stage. One can cite the loss of performance of insulation and heating systems, the replacement time of installation or the future energy prices as well as the future climate. The replacement of oil boilers with heat pumps has shown a good performance regarding costs and greenhouse gas emissions. However, due to the flow and return temperature differences, often the current heat distribution system needs to be replaced as well, which is normally done with conventional radiators or floor heating. In this paper, we analyse a new possibility of a heat distribution system with earth plastered wall. We develop a methodology on the integrated assessment of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) for the renovation scenarios and adapt the analysis of the heat pump renovation solution with conventional radiators system and the earth plastered wall for two typical residential buildings located in Switzerland. Through rigorous statistical treatment, we then propagate the possible sources of uncertainty and perform the uncertainty quantification using polynomial chaos expansion to compare the distributions of two outcomes. The results show that the solution with the earth plaster has lower overall environmental impacts and costs. It has also been noticed that the solution with the earth plaster is more robust in investment cost and embodied emissions compared to the solution with the conventional radiators.

How AI Changes the Technopreneurship in the Business World and Its Impact on Business Practices

Technopreneurship is the combination of the words “technology” and “entrepreneurship” that refers to commercial activities, including trading, importing and exporting, selling and buying locally or internationally, that are performed using technologies or technological tools, such as online marketing, data analytics, entrepreneurial platforms, artefactual intelligence appliances, robotics, etc. Additionally, technopreneurship also covers data science management, where data mining, data warehousing, big data analysis are among the important processes that are executed on scientific data in order to identify consumers' purchase behaviours and to forecast market trends. Technopreneurship is a form of entrepreneurship with technologies that involve intensive production, operation, and management processes and practise entrepreneurial spirits involving creativity, innovation, risk-taking, adventure, ambition, and foreseeing actions to achieve success.

IMPACT OF INNOVATIONS ON THE SAVING OF THE PRODUCTION COMPANY'S WORKING TIME FUND

The article deals with innovation management in the conditions of a manufacturing company whose aim is to reduce the working time fund that directly determines productivity or efficiency of the company in competitive market conditions. Based on explicit quantification of time frames based on an analytical – chronometric method applicable to production operations in the process. The results of observation, time measurement, research and evaluation of time consumption during the implementation of a repeated production operation, or its complex part within defined production site are presented. Based on explicitly performed quantitative analysis, introducing of innovative technology, innovative solutions in the field of production technology management that support sustainable development with an emphasis on the development of environmental quality are presented including an explicit quantification of working time fund savings through the implementation of innovative machinery and equipment in critical production operations of the analysed production process.

STUDY OF OCCUPATIONAL RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY

In the course of work it was demonstrated that occupational risk is considered to be the probability of harm to health as a result of exposure to harmful and / or dangerous production factors during the labor process. A prerequisite for occupational safety in production activities is knowledge and assessment of the activities of sources of danger, risk assessment tools, the degree of impact of hazards on people and taking the necessary measures. Risk management is carried out in the performance of each production operation performed by employees of the enterprise, and is aimed at eliminating or reducing unacceptable risks through the implementation of appropriate protective measures. Without the analysis and management of occupational risks, it is impossible to create safe conditions, as well as reduce injuries and reduce occupational diseases. One of the main methods of occupational risk analysis that gives the best results is the method of analysis of causation using a dynamic model. In order to identify hazards, assess risks and implement protective measures that can ensure the acceptable level of risks of future work, it is necessary to consider the production task and visit the work site. Work is allowed if there are no additional hazards and protective measures of the Risk Assessment Map are actually implemented. It is forbidden to perform the work when identifying additional hazards that require reducing the risks of additional resources and the decision of management. It is strictly forbidden to perform the work until the rapid reduction of the level of risk to an acceptable level begins − with the identification of additional hazards that require the development and implementation of protective measures at the expense of personal resources.

Dimensional Effects of Polymer Piezoelectric Films for Wind Energy Harvesting

Arrays of flexible polymer piezoelectric film cantilevers that mimic grass or leaves is a prospective idea for harvesting wind energy in urban areas, where the use of traditional technologies is problematic due to low wind velocities. Conversion of this idea into an economically attractive technology depends on various factors including the shape and dimensions of individual films to maximize generated power and to minimize associated costs of production, operation, and maintenance. The latter requirement can be satisfied with rectangular films undergoing flutter in ambient air. Flexible piezoelectric films that displace due to low forces and can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy are ideal for this application. The goal of the presented study is to determine the key dimensions of the piezoelectric film to enhance generated power within the wind range characteristic for urban areas from 1.3 to 7.6 m/s. For this purpose, experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel using piezoelectric polymer films of polyvinylidine fluoride with the length, width, and thickness varying in the ranges of 32 - 150 mm, 16 - 22 mm, and 40 - 64 µm, respectively. Voltage and power outputs for individual samples were measured at wind speeds ranging from 0.5 to 16.5 m/s. Results demonstrated that a single film could produce up to 0.74 nW and that the optimal film dimensions are 63 mm × 22 mm × 40 µm (from considered samples) for the wind energy harvesting in urban areas. Further improvement in power production can be expected when using films with reduced thickness, low elastic modulus, and increased length, and by assembling films in arrays.

First Successful Autonomous ICD Pilot for GOR Management Across ADNOC Offshore

The paper discusses the pilot project in ADNOC Offshore to assess the Autonomous Inflow Control Device (AICD) technology as an effective solution for increasing oil production over the life of the field. High rate of water and gas production in horizontal wells is one of the key problems from the commencement of operation due to the high cost of produced water and gas treatment including several other factors. Early Gas breakthrough in wells can result in shut-in to conserve reservoir energy and to meet the set GOR guidelines. The pilot well was shut-in due to high GOR resulted from the gas breakthrough. A pilot project was implemented to evaluate the ability of autonomous inflow control technology to manage gas break through early in the life of the well spanned across horizontal wellbore. And also to balance the production influx profile across the entire lateral length and to compensate for the permeability variation and therefore the productivity of each zone. Each compartment in the pilot well was equipped with AICD Screens and Swell-able Packers across horizontal open hole wellbore to evaluate oil production and defer gas breakthrough. Some AICDs were equipped with treatment valve for the compartments that needed acid simulation to enhance the effectiveness of the zone. The selection factors for installing number of production valves in the pilot well per each AICD was based on reservoir and field data. Pre-modeling of the horizontal wellbore section with AICD was performed using commercial simulation software (NETool). After the first pilot was completed, a detailed technical analysis was conducted and based on the early production results from the pilot well showed that AICD completions effectively managed gas production by delaying the gas break through and restricting gas inflow from the reservoir with significant GOR reduction ±40% compared to baseline production performance data from the open hole without AICD thus increasing oil production. The pilot well performed positively to the AICD completion allowing to produce healthy oil and meeting the guidelines. The early production results are in line with NETool simulation modelling, thereby increasing assurance in the methods employed in designing the AICD completion for the well and candidate selection. This paper discusses the successful AICD completion installation and production operation in pilot well in ADNOC Offshore to manage GOR and produced the well with healthy oil under the set guidelines. This will enable to re-activate wells shut-in due to GOR constraint to help meeting the sustainable field production target.

An Integrated and Automated Workflow to Enhance Production Efficiency and Compliance in a Giant Offshore Field

Daily production compliance is fundamental to sustain reservoir management excellence and ultimately achieve an optimum oil recovery. The production activities execution is critical to adhere to the reservoir management guidelines and best practices. It is a more challenging task in brownfields due to the limitation of controlling system and limited access especially in offshore fields. A timely and efficient approach is undoubtedly necessary to enhance production efficiency and compliance. An integrated and automated tool has been innovated to analyze and report well production status against the guidelines and requirements in a mature offshore field with more than 50 years history. This systematic approach has been developed through integrating the planned rate, daily actual production rate, latest flow tests, and current well performance. Noncompliance is reported automatically on a user defined time scale, including daily, weekly, monthly or any customized time range within the month time. Daily violation report is generated automatically and sent to production operation for prompt adjustments and other requested actions. The automated workflow enables both daily production reporting and production compliance reporting. Daily production reporting is a routine work, which usually takes a lot of time every day. The workflow is capable of reducing 90% of the time comparing to the manual way. Production compliance reporting is currently mainly focusing on the comparison of actual production to planned rate and guideline rate. Any exception will be reported as violation. The violation dashboard summarizes the details based on the user selected time range. On daily basis, an email containing the violation details could be generated and sent to the corresponding teams for corrective actions. In this giant brown field, production GOR is a primary controlling parameter. The latest flow tests have been taken into account to evaluate the gas production compliance. Any violation to the GOR guidelines will be reported in the same communication email for timely correction. With the innovated tool, the violation ratio of the giant offshore field has been successfully reduced and controlled. The usual responding time for corrections has been dramatically reduced from months to days.

Minimise Risks Through a Comprehensive Validation of the Existing Production Operation and Planning Strategy for the Largest Oilfield in Poland

Integrated field management is a key initiative recognised by many operators that helps delivering the promise of digital to meet their business strategic objectives of increased hydrocarbon production, reduced exploration and appraisal costs, and sustained development and operation costs. This paper presents how an integrated asset model has been developed for the largest oilfield in Poland to enable a comprehensive validation of its current development plan and operating strategy to ensure safe operation; assessment of other feasible development scenarios to fully realise its potential and paving the path to digital oilfield. A proven integrated asset modeling approach has been adopted to bring a complex reservoir, multiple interdependent wells, pipelines networks, process models together into one single platform. The integrated modeling platform included both gas and water reinjection network models to provide a pore to process closed loop solution. Development of this integrated reservoir-wells-pipelines-network-process facility-water and gas reinjection network models focused to provide all the vital valuable inputs to better field management, fast and accurate decision-making, optimal safe operation in meeting the set seasonal sales contract. Assessments of production operation strategy and field development scenarios were conducted at full field level from reservoir to process plant, accounting wells, pipelines, process handling capacities, the complete system constraints and back pressure effects of all involved components. The availability of fully integrated asset model with pore to process solution enables engineers to better understand the current well performance and production potentials; to ensure a safe and optimal process plant operation. The model helped to identify bottlenecks imposed by the existing pipelines network and process facility; it also enabled the asset team to confirm the existing development plan was not optimal. Other feasible planning scenarios which could further enhance the overall asset productivity were identified, i.e. via determining location of infill wells and which unused idle producers to be converted to gas or water injectors. The study demonstrated a comprehensive validation of the existing development and operation strategy was achievable with the approach. The paper describes how the developed integrated asset model enables the asset team to validate the existing operating strategy and field development scenario of the studied onshore brownfield; to further enhance asset productivity and to achieve efficient field management by adjusting the operating condition in meeting the seasonal sales contract. The integrated asset model also helps to evaluate and to analyse forecasts of different development scenarios including infill drilling and adding new wells and other enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques to achieve an ultimate recovery and asset economics.

World'S First Successful Dual String Installation of a Digital Intelligent Artificial Lift DIAL - Interventionless Gas Lift Production Optimization System, Offshore Malaysia

PETRONAS completed well H-X on B field in Malaysia with a digital intelligent artificial lift (DIAL) gas lift production optimization system. This DIAL installation represents the first ever successful installation of the technology in an Offshore well for Dual String production. This paper provides complete details of the installation planning and operational process undertaken to achieve this milestone. DIAL is a unique technology that enhances the efficiency of gas lift production. Downhole monitoring of production parameters informs remote surface-controlled adjustment of gas lift valves. This enables automation of production optimization removing the need for well intervention. This paper focusses on a well completed in November 2020, the fourth well to be installed with the DIAL technology across PETRONAS Assets. The authors will provide details of the well and the installation phases: system design, pre-job preparations, improvements implementation, run in hole and surface hook-up. For each phase, challenges encountered, and lessons learned will be listed together with observed benefits. DIAL introduces a paradigm shift in design, installation and operation of gas lifted wells. This paper will briefly highlight the justifications of this digital technology in comparison with conventional gas lift techniques. It will consider value added from the design stage, through installation operations, to production optimization. This DIAL system installation confirms the ability to be implement the technology in a challenging dual string completion design to enable deeper injection while avoiding interventions on a well with a greater than 60-degree deviation. With remotely operated, non-pressure dependent multi-valve in-well gas lift units, the technology removes the challenges normally associated with gas-injected production operation in a dual completion well – gas robbing and multi-pointing. Despite the additional operational & planning complications due to COVID-19 restrictions, the well was completed with zero NPT and LTI. Once brought online, this DIAL-assisted production well will be remotely monitored and controlled ensuring continuous production optimization, part of PETRONAS’ upstream digitization strategic vision.