TAFE Queensland SkillsTech has just completed a staggered onsite training program for SANTOS Operators in Narrabri Gas Project (NGP) in NSW. The NGP area covers around 95,000 hectares in the Pilliga and on private land in north-west New South Wales and was previously owned by Eastern Star Gas.

SANTOS reached agreement to acquire 100% of Eastern Star Gas (ESG) in mid July 2011. The acquisition of ESG builds on SANTOS' existing interests in the Gunnedah Basin with Santos now having the largest natural gas reserves position in NSW, with 1,216 PJ of 2P reserves and 2,238 PJ of 3P reserves.

Tinsfield No5 Lease package

Upgrade of facilities

Santos undertook an extensive review and upgrade of facilities and rehabilitated a number of operational sites. Eight wells and one core hole were drilled in addition to the existing pilot wells. The Narrabri Gas Project supplies NSW homes, small businesses, major industries with electricity from gas powered alternators.

New Facilities

Santos is currently undertaking an exploration and appraisal program to gain more information about the natural gas resource in the region. Santos has recently received Government approval to construct a water treatment facility at Leewood. This will allow the saline water to be treated by reverse osmosis and more than two thirds to be reused. Santos is proposing to use the treated water to irrigate a section of the Leewood property and for operational purposes.

Leewood Water treatment pond

Leewood 50 Million litre storage tank

New Training for existing staff

The training program was delivered onsite in Narrabri Operations centre over 4 x 1 week programs to get existing operation staff aligned to the SANTOS training framework. After discussions with Senior Advisor Operation Training, Competency training manager and the site Superintendent Narrabri Operations, Energy NSW EABU (Eastern Australian Business Unit) and in consultation with a PMA subject matter expert from SkillsTech a list of gap units was developed and delivered onsite to fit into shifts and swings.

SANTOS Narrabri Video

https://www.santos.com/what-we-do/activities/new-south-wales/gunnedah-basin/narrabri-gas-project/

Snow in Chinchilla ?

Last Thursday Chinchilla QLD was treated to an afternoon storm that brought with it some hail falls not seen in the area for some time. Photos (c) Geoff T.

 
 

 

 

Instrument Planned Maintenance

Today’s modern instruments are incredibly sophisticated and accurate. Yet, even with inbuilt computer based systems the instrument planned maintenance should never be overlooked.

The objective of this article is too service each component of a system according to its needs, general physical state, and that operational efficiency is maintained. The system as a whole should in theory, never break down. The exceptions of course are incidents outside normal operational conditions, for example - lightning strikes, flooding, and or mechanical damage, or the system or components are approaching their end of operational life span.

Determination of the frequency and level of planned maintenance is based on several factors.

These are:

• the known track records of the device in normal conditions
• the severity of ambient conditions
• the severity of the service
• special problems concomitant with the service such as:
  • periodic blockages
  • seal failures
  • vibration issues
  • immersion.
    
    An instrument which is housed in a weather proof enclosure, on a non-aggressive surface which has a good reliability record, will need a calibration check every 3 months to at the very least, once a year. The same instrument in a severe environment on an aggressive surface could require a weekly service, monthly calibration and in general have a complete overhaul every six months.
    Further factors to be taken into account include the operational importance of the instrument, the ease of access to the instrument and the operational implications of downtime of the instrument. An important overhauling factor is the financial feasibility.  If it cost more to repair than what a new unit is worth, it would pay to scrap the old one for spares and buy a new one.
    
    Having determined all the required information, a schedule can then be constructed, after listing all the relevant data.
     Typical data to be gathered:

1.    list all components to be scheduled for maintenance

2.    determine the period between servicing and the level of servicing for each

3.    if there are instruments which can be used in multiple locations, note the type range and configuration for each installation

4.    list spares needed for each level of servicing and any equipment required. Note: the equipment required for servicing should be deemed a workshop standard and have a higher accuracy that the instrument being serviced.

5.    for each component, note any difficulties in getting access

6.    assemble the instruments into areas or groups for convenience.

 Mal Garrick