Yanchang Petroleum production plant shifts to intelligent operations

The Gas Field Company of Yanchang Petroleum has adopted intelligent gas field construction at its Fifth Gas Production Plant to innovate its management model and significantly enhance the automation control level of gas wells, pipelines and gathering stations.

The factory has taken the Yan518 well area as a pilot project, guided by the principle of "data acquisition, transmission, storage, management, application and intelligence", to form an intelligent management model for gas production enterprises, which achieves cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and safety enhancement. It enhances technical service and management capabilities, data sharing and application capabilities, decision support capabilities, and the overall management capabilities of production business.

In practice, the Fifth Gas Production Plant mainly builds an intelligent management system based on data principles and overall construction planning, through the design, construction and operation of an intelligent production and operation management system.

The factory has installed intelligent control valves in 17 gas wells for remote control and data collection. Fiber optic and drone-assisted inspections of 24.8 kilometers of pipelines have achieved an accuracy rate of over 95 percent. Six gas stations have achieved unmanned operations, with personnel conducting regular inspections. Intelligent inspection robots in the purification plant automatically perform inspections, generate reports and issue warnings. The 5G safety and fire protection integration project has been completed, with a digital twin model of the factory area enabling visual management of all fire protection and security processes.

Liu Chunsheng, director of the Fifth Gas Production Plant, highlighted the plant's digital transformation, focusing on four key areas: wells, pipelines, stations and plants. The integration of remote monitoring and operation in central control rooms of each gas gathering station and dispatch centers has significantly enhanced operational efficiency, helped streamline daily tasks and strengthened technical support for safe production.

In the future, the gas production plant will drive management reform through digital transformation, enhancing cost efficiency and shifting from traditional to modern, digital and intelligent management to support the development of a 10-billion-cubic-meter gas field.