Frac Fleet Maintenance Blocks for Continuous Pumping Uptime
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Hydraulic fracturing operations face complex logistical challenges, including minimizing equipment downtime, reducing environmental impact, and increasing efficiency, which existing technologies struggle to address effectively.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for performing predictive block maintenance by accessing well completion design data and using a maintenance prediction model to determine remaining component life intervals for frac fleet components, allowing for the setting of continuous completion events that include continuous pumping blocks and maintenance blocks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional maintenance scheduling is used, then equipment availability is maintained, but equipment downtime increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary maintenance actions by predicting component life intervals using a maintenance prediction model before components actually fail. This allows scheduling maintenance during planned downtime rather than experiencing unplanned downtime, thereby reducing overall equipment downtime and maintaining higher productivity during fracturing operations
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback through continuous monitoring of component usage data and comparing actual component performance against predicted life intervals. This feedback loop enables dynamic adjustment of maintenance schedules, optimizing the balance between maintaining equipment availability and minimizing downtime to maximize productivity
2Reliability
If frequent maintenance is performed, then component reliability is improved, but operational time is reduced and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the maintenance parameter from fixed time-based intervals to usage-based intervals predicted by the maintenance prediction model. This allows extending operation time between maintenance events when components are performing well, while ensuring maintenance occurs before predicted failure points, thus maintaining reliability while maximizing continuous operation time
Solution Approach 2:
The maintenance schedule becomes dynamic rather than static, adjusting based on actual component performance data and predicted life intervals. This dynamic approach allows the system to extend operation periods when components are healthy while automatically triggering maintenance when reliability concerns arise, optimizing the balance between reliability and operational duration
3Measurement precision
If complex maintenance scheduling is implemented, then maintenance precision is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a maintenance prediction model as an intermediary between raw component usage data and maintenance scheduling decisions. This model simplifies the complexity by providing clear predicted life intervals that directly guide maintenance timing, achieving high precision in maintenance scheduling without requiring complex manual analysis or multiple interconnected systems
Data Source
AI summary
Well completion design data for completing plural stages of a well completion operation is accessed. Predicted component life intervals for each of a plurality of components of a frac fleet are accessed. Remaining component life intervals for each of the plurality of components of the frac fleet are determined based on the predicted component life intervals. A continuous completion event for the well completion operation is set based on the remaining component life intervals for each of the plurality of components. The continuous completion event includes a continuous pumping block identifying one or more contiguous stages from among the plurality of stages during which the well completion operation is performed with the frac fleet, and a maintenance block identifying one or more of the plurality of frac pumps to be subject to predetermined maintenance operations upon completion of the one or more contiguous stages of the continuous pumping block.