Pressure Transducer Applications in the Offshore Oil Industry

The world wide offshore oil industry uses manytransducer may have the external housing removed
types of pressure transducer for control andwith the bare PCB exposed to the environment to
measurement in processes, drilling controls and downreduce the profile, with oil filling used to stop any
hole tools. With the need to find oil in moreseawater ingress.
inaccessible places the equipment used in exploration,Intelligent Pigs
drilling and production becomes ever more complexSubsea pipe lines are tested on a regular basis with
and the use of pressure transducer products is onan intelligent pig. The pig may be fitted with several
the increase.pressure transducer types to monitor pipeline
A few uses for pressure transducer sensors are:pressure, and hydraulic pressure. Also a differential
Wellheadspressure transducer may be used to measure the
Wellhead assemblies and Christmas tree use a rangedifference in pressure between the front and back
of pressure transducer sensors to monitor wellheadof the pig. As these devices are usually battery
pressure. Due to the hazardous area the pressurepowered it is important to select a pressure
transducer has to be of intrinsically safe or explosiontransducer with low power consumption. The Omni
proof design. A pressure transducer used in thisseries 10 pressure transducer only draws around 1mA
application also needs to be rugged andand is ideal for these applications.
weatherproof. The Omni series 23EXD and 23ISCore Analysis
pressure transducer types meet both of theseIn core analysis an oil sample may be forced at high
requirements.pressure through a section of rock core. A pressure
Downhole Toolstransducer in this application needs to provide high
Various types of pressure transducer are used inaccuracy measurement up to 10,000 PSI and be
downhole tools to monitor hydraulic pressure, andconstructed of either hastelloy or monel to avoid
pipeline oil pressure. Often a high pressure transducercorrosion of the diaphragm. The Omni series 23 and
is required, with a high operating temperature range25 pressure transducer meets this requirement.
due to the extreme environment. The Omni series 10Drilling Mud Systems
and series 8 pressure transducer models offer rangesIt is often a requirement to use a pressure
up to 1000 bar with operating temperatures up totransducer in mud flow lines. In these applications a
150 degrees C.pressure transducer with a flush diaphragm is
Subsea Hydraulic Manifoldsrequired. This is because with a normal pressure
Subsea hydraulic packs are used for various controltransducer the pressure port is only 3 mm diameter,
applications in offshore oil production. Subsea hydraulicand is prone to clogging with mud particles. The Omni
packs may use up to 10 pressure transducer units.series 25 pressure transducer have a G1/2” or
The pressure transducer has to be made to theG3/4” flush diaphragm and can e supplied in EXD
smallest design, and be able to work with highor IS format for hazardous area use.
external case pressures. In this instance the pressure