It was a very good start to the day with some talking in Mike Meads office and some heckling in the break room. I was very vigilant with my work today for I had to operate the drone, process video and coordinating around DeHyd work of last night! The guys were fixing and doing some regular maintenance with the DeHyd skids. They replaced molsiv and lifted the behemoth tanks up with a crane! The crew didn't come in until 1 in the afternoon the next day! This was very exciting and I found this to very interesting on decomposition time of molsiv. The molsiv can actually explode if let within the tank long enough without replacement. The purpose of molsiv is to remove any water from the gas coming out of the ground. Then the gas goes to a demethanizer, where the methane is thrown down a pipeline to El Paso. This entire assembly is very extraordinary as it twists and turns through filter and extraction systems.
Today I got something even more fun then a speeding ticket! I received a ConocoPhillips baseball cap! Roy Fox and I had a nice discussion and that's when I asked him if I could get a hat. He had said that he hadn't any ones in bulk but he invited me to come pick one of his he had collected of the years. I insisted I couldn't take one of his hats so I took an uglier one. After he had told me to pick a new hat for the hat I picked was ugly and I knew it. So I scoured the stacks and found the hat that suit me most. He had told me I'd earned it and that if I need anything just swing on by. I had received a hat and a new friend within the company and this was very exciting to me. For the opportunity of having a friend with knowledge is gold. This man has been around since the good "ole" days as he called him. This man has seen the rise of a modern era of natural gas and that is pretty cool to me. This new relation is very exciting to me.
Today work was rather tedious. I spent many hours staring at my computer screen typing a proposal to the engineering squad at the plant. I really want to impress them for they could help me a lot on job resumes and when college comes around. The experience so far has been amazing I feel like every job in this building is different at times and when you look at every other day you have a new project to work on and that is really appealing to me. I'm looking into becoming a mechanical engineer for so far that's where my mind has been going in where I'd like to study. I believe this is the most suited position for me as an oncoming engineer.
It was a slow starting monday, I showed up to work an hour late to drop my brother off at his internship. We did this to let our parents sleep in for their anniversary. The drive to work had a surprising twist where I received my first traffic ticket! This was very exciting and saddening. I definitely learned not to speed. Upon arrival at COP the office had a new face. We had a new office mate as Russell transferred out just a week ago. We now have two Brians in the same office! If they’re lucky they’ll get a Brian squared name tag on the door. It was a great day filled with turnaround errands and work. The plant is getting near turnaround and all efforts are being made to finalize documents and order materials or parts needed for turnaround. I worked on my final project and presentation for my internship all of today. I’m anxious for the weather and wind to die down for final inspection of the large flare tip. The wind has been kicking up the past couple of days and this isn’t prime weather for drone operations. Through the week we will keep close analysis on aviation data to ensure success during our flight. The next time period for flight seems to be Wednesday for the winds are to die down for one day alone and then start back up later in the evening. This day looks promising as we move towards flight. The operation of this flight is being thrown into a cost benefit analysis and a statement of work that will be presented to plant supervisors and engineers within the plant. I believe that I will nail the presentation.
Today was the end of our four day week. As I researched drones and drone product all week, I feel as if I have learned a significant amount about these unmanned aircraft. We conducted our first test run today. We ran the drone up to 120 feet and analyzed the small flare stack to prepare for investigations on the large flare stack that towers 210 feet tall. The drone was having issues flying for the GoPro was interacting through the signals that the transceiver on the drone sent. This caused failure in our flight for the drone would start to reach instability at a certain height and or would not receive signals that would give the drone direction. We found this to be a big problem in our conductions so for now we have decided to take the drone up to 210 feet at the large flare stack and circle around the flare stack and hope the video received is good enough. The idea of first person view to know what we’re recording is out of our minds for we cannot get the materials in enough time to do so. This has been a very productive week as we have looked at first person view systems and flight systems of the dji phantom 2.
Today had a great start to it. The day was just right and the sunrise on the way to work was just perfect. The best start to a good day is a good morning and I started it with a large breakfast and a nice dark coffee. I couldn’t of asked for more on the way to work. When arriving we listened to a brief JSA on plant deadlines and expectations. The morning consisted of hard work where I basically finished up my research on FPV systems and started to analyze the strengths of them and alternatives to the FPV system. I finally arrived at a system under $200 that fit the design of our project and would enable me to watch what the camera was seeing from miles away. The big design of this project is to effectively view the top of the flare stack and analyze the condition of the tip for replacement or repair. The project is starting to feel pretty solid and I’m currently very pleased with it. I feel like my time has been well spent through hours of research.
The start to this morning was very slow, I was extremely exhausted from the weekend and daylight savings. I started my research this morning with a mind full of confusion and thought. The main goal was to arrange a system where the GoPro could show me everything that it saw. This FPV system would be very beneficial to my project for it is the backing behind my project and I can’t truly get my work done successfully without the FPV. Many problems seemed to pop up between the UAV and the GoPro through forums and message boards as I scoured the internet for any advice on these advanced set ups. Leaving work today I felt that I had come to a stand still in my research due to confusion and or knowledge of what I truly need. I am going to dig deep into my resources tomorrow and contact Libby for Nolan’s intern at LS3 aerial. I’m sure he could easily help me out with the drones and solve my confusion.
Great start to the morning with an early JSA where we analyzed the risks in the plant and the daily agenda. The JSA organizer had assigned me the position to marking molsiv bags. The molsiv bags are filled with molsiv pellets that is deposited into DeHy skids. The DeHys serve the purpose of extracting hydrates or water from the EPBC. The EPBC is to be separated as it moves towards the tower. Without the molsiv pellets the turnaround would not be able to happen. The plant is in full turnaround planning and without every duck in a row the company could lose millions of dollars. My mentor has turned me loose for the week as he believes I’m ready to get into research and practicing of drone operations. My focus for this week is trying to find a way to see first person view from the drone. This system will help me see what the camera is seeing while I’m 250 feet away. The day was very reflective and organizational for I found myself laying out goals and tasks to be completed date by date in all respectable time frames.
Today was a pretty laid back Friday. It was very informative and I ran some errands around the plant for Brian and other team members. After lending the men in the control room a hand, I finished up on some training from earlier in the week. I started to look into valves and gaskets. I learned different things about gaskets and their purpose around the plant and the industry of oil and gas. The gasket training taught me how to read the charts, to test a gasket if its good and to read coloration for gaskets to tell if they’re legal or not. The amount of safety behind a gasket is very important for if we damage a gasket it could cost us our lives or production in the future. While working in the oil and gas industry if unsafe it can quickly become detrimental to your health. This work made me really review what I had learned over the week for I’m sure it is all very important. I believe that keeping tab on your actions is the best thing you can do for yourself out here. It was an amazing week and I really enjoyed the warm welcome into the plant and they are all very tolerant of my inexperience. They are very happy to show me how something works and I’m grateful for that. Overall this first week has been amazing to say the least.
Today in the plant we began the day with some x-rays. The x-rays were used to inspect a water tank for cooling the plant down and for storing fire water. The x-ray had a source made of ionized iridium 127. The x-ray shot signals through the tank and the image was gathered as the image reflected through the tank and shot back to the source or camera. The image was then processed with a dark room and inspected through filters and lighting to find pits and corrosion on the insides of this water tank. We found that a vertical pipe connected to the tank needed replacement as it was corroded and starting to pit. If the pitting would’ve been continued the pipe would’ve started to leak in numerous areas. This was a very cool process as we dealt with 4.9 curies just a foot away from the source. When activated this is enough to kill a man or be used to make weapons. Once back in the office I was greeted with a package. This package contained the parts for the UAV! The UAV was equipped with its new parts and was ready to roam the skies once more! The UAV was taken outside as I flew her for a good 20 minutes. This time flying her really gave me a feel for how she operates and the amount of versatility she has within her movements. I found that this UAV can really turn as hard as you want her to while still flying at full throttle. I am excited for the inspection and I now have to finish my project proposal to the company and the cost benefit analysis of how this UAV is less costly than any other method available. This will make me a sure in for the job as inspector.
|