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DSATS is the Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). DSATS was formed in 2008 to accelerate the development and implementation of systems automation in the well drilling industry by supporting initiatives which communicate the technology, recommend best practices, standardize nomenclature and help define the value of drilling systems automation. Initiatives include workshops, forums, lectures, and technical and white papers, among others. DSATS actively encourages participation of automation experts from outside the drilling industry.

Drilling Systems Automation
Drilling is the complex process of creating a single product—a fit-for-purpose borehole. Drilling automation is the control of the drilling process by automatic means. As with industrial automation in the 1990s, the adoption of open standards enabling automation will have a significant impact on the underlying business model.

The goal of drilling systems automation is to increase productivity and quality, improve personnel safety, and effectively manage risk. Principal drivers of drilling automation include well complexity, data overload, efficiency, repetitive well manufacturing, access to limited expert resources, knowledge transfer due to the exodus of skilled employees, and health, safety and environmental concerns.

Purpose
The Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) was formed in 2008 with the purpose of facilitating the development and implementation of Systems Automation technology by ensuring it is appropriately represented in the Society’s activities, including Advanced Technology Workshops, Forum Series meetings, Distinguished Lecturer program, organizing technical sessions at conferences, effective liaison with other players in the field and appropriate publicity in journals such as JPT.

The Section supports initiatives to communicate drilling systems automation technology, standardize its nomenclature and help define its value proposition. In addition, the Section will identify lessons learned and best practices associated with the accelerated uptake of the technology and, if appropriate, facilitate the development of standards.

Activities
DSATS holds symposia the day before each SPE ATCE or SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, and attracts world leading technical speakers from other industries to educate drilling professionals on the scope, technical challenges and opportunities of systems automation. We have held Forums and Workshops to openly discuss challenges raised by systems automation of the drilling industry. We actively participate in SPE or IADC conferences and workshops that address automation. Other activities include cooperation with the IEEE in developing a column “The Driller’s Notes” and a series articles in its Instrumentation and Measurement magazine, aimed at attracting talent into the drilling industry

Rig Communications
The purpose of the DSATS Communication subcommittee is to recommend guidelines that allow open and secure communications between rig control systems and authorized third parties. The team has defined equipment interface points, and has recommended OPC UA as a communication protocol.

In the second stage of its work, the Communications team defined components of the surface architecture, resulting in a recommended simplified and scalable concept for the interface between rig control systems and third parties. These recommendations were accepted by DSATS, and the rig communications subcommittee turned its focus Interoperability

Interoperability (Drill-A-Stand)
The current stage for the DSATS Communication subcommittee is to identify and define terminology that enables process (systems) automation for drilling of oil and gas wells. This is undertaken by the “Interoperability (Drill-A-Stand)” team. The team has two groups, a Use Case group focused on a development application (drilling a stand of pipe), and a Technical group, focused on implementation of the Use Case in the architectural model developed in the previous stage.

Affiliated Groups
DSATS is affiliated with the Drilling Systems Automation Roadmap Initiative http://connect.spe.org/DSARoadmap and cooperates with the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Systems group.

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Category:Automation Category:Petroleum industry