Characterization of progressive cavity pumps
PCM was looking for a new oil extraction technique by setting up a test bench reproducing the environment in which the equipment will be placed while limiting the impact of the surrounding noise of a production plant. This project is part of a Research & Development project for which the end customer is an oil company.
Phalanx has developed a human-machine interface (HMI) as well as a remote control system for the management of hardware inputs / outputs (software embedded on a CompactRIO programmable controller). Use the CompactRIO hardware to use the full performance of the latter to automate and control the bench. The instrumentation and control system was developed under Real-Time in order to ensure the determinism of actions and to be able to continue to operate in the event of an involuntary shutdown of the PC application. This equipment allowed us to use the performance of the FPGA to acquire 10 times faster in order to average several points allowing the reduction of noise.
PCM is a leader in the management of industrial pumping solutions. This company is present in six industrial sectors: environment, new energies, paper industry, mining and minerals, chemicals and mechanical engineering. PCM is a leading manufacturer of progressive cavity pumps (PCP), a technology to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry. PCM is also a leader in the manufacture of pumps and pumping systems for the food industry. This company continues to innovate and its core business remains unchanged.
A test bench at the service of petroleum innovation
Global demand for energy continues to grow. By 2030, 75% of the world's energy will be satisfied by fossil fuels. Innovation is therefore a major focus for all companies working in this environment in order to anticipate changes in energy needs and respond to environmental challenges. It is with this innovation in mind that an oil company has chosen to call on PCM to develop an environmentally friendly extraction technique that optimizes oil exploration and production. This project combines performance and responsibility.
Development of dedicated software
The development of the test bench (see image 1) was accompanied by the design of software allowing optimal control of the various parameters of the bench. This software was designed and implemented in LabVIEW, allows to control the solenoid valves, pump, motor, to configure the PIDs in order to optimize the pressure regulations, to display the data coming from the sensors (thermocouples, torque meter, flowmeter, pressure …). Manual and automatic tests can be launched from this human-machine interface (HMI) (see images 2 and 3). In addition, the software has been developed in order to be able to select the language of the latter, French or English, in order to take into account the multicultural nature of the companies working for this project.
Real-time test monitoring and regulation
The software allows to supervise the test bench, to load parameters, to launch manual tests and automatic tests (cycle programmed by the user and follow-up of this cycle via the PID regulation in real time) and to save the data. in TDMS format.
During the tests, the user sees the various points acquired on a graph, whether in manual mode or in automatic mode, thus analyzing the behavior of the bench simultaneously. All the points are displayed in the graphs thanks to the use of network streams facilitating the unpacking of data on PC by packets and the detection of a disconnection with the CompactRIO (a pop-up is displayed indicating to the user loss of connection with CompactRIO). In the event of loss of connection with the PC, the bench goes into safety and stops the test in progress.
On this bench, automatic tests must be launched from the software, however all the actions are performed on the CompactRIO in the Real Time part in order to ensure the determinism of certain actions (by limiting the jitter). This is why the pressure regulation at two points of the bench was developed on the Real Time part.
A hardware solution adapted to present and future needs
854 / 5000
Translation results
Data acquisition could have been done on CompactDAQ. However, robustness requirements, the need for control-commands via PIDs and security management very quickly led to the use of a CompactRIO 9066.Thanks to the use of this robust hardware, development on FPGA was possible in order to increase the acquisition speed. This increase made it possible to reduce the surrounding noise (limiting the analysis of the behavior of the bench and leading to unwanted data operations).The automatic tests make it possible to follow a pressure cycle defined by the user, this pressure is regulated thanks to a solenoid valve piloted by the controller via the use of the PIDs blocks present natively in LabVIEW. This real-time monitoring and control makes it possible to ensure the determinism of actions.
Safety management had to be taken into account during development in order to put the bench in its initial state when activating safety devices returned by the Siemens drive.
In addition, the CompactRIO was chosen for its modularity. Indeed, this project being in the R&D phase, there were possibilities that elements could be added to the bench or be modified. There was therefore a need for hardware that would allow you to change or add acquisition or generation cards. In addition, LabVIEW allows you to generate modular code that makes it easy to add or modify functionality. The LabVIEW / CompactRIO pair perfectly met the need for modularity and scalability expected on this R&D project.
Conclusion and perspectives
It took us two months to develop the application with all the features the customer wanted.
The development of this application made it possible to validate the mechanical operation of the bench as well as the underlying theory. In the near future, the bench will be used to qualify pumps and turbines in their joint use.
During this project, we had to exchange acquisition cards at short notice and National Instruments has always been able to respond and be responsive to them.
