This project was carried out by the Permanent Monitoring Department
of Expro North Sea Ltd, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Department,
with 45 staff and a turnover of 16 MEur, is a business unit within the
Expro Group's Subsurface Systems business stream, the Expro Group had
1531 employees and a turnover of 245 MEur in 1999. The Department was
formed in 1990 and provides a complete set of services for the monitoring
of downhole oilwell instruments and accessories, including the specialised
skills required for the product installation, and data interpretation
and presentation to the client office. Expro supply to industry sector
11 (Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas), with products coded 3320 (Instrumentation),
in the NACE classification system widely used throughout the EU.
The Department has designed products using microprocessor and FPGA
technologies, but the company does not have ASIC design skills or products
using ASICs. The current product, which is being improved in this project,
is a microprocessor-based instrumentation data acquisition system for
operating in the extreme conditions found in downhole oilwells. The
majority of the products are supplied to the major oil operators, though
there is a growing OEM market.
The existing product is limited to temperatures up to 125ºC, but this
market has recently become very competitive, whereas there would be
an expanding and more profitable market for a product, which could operate
at up to 250ºC, and there is no other supplier at present. To achieve
operation at 250ºC, a mixed signal ASIC using Silicon on Insulator (SOI)
technology was designed.
The project lasted 24 months, the FUSE programme provided 150 KEur
to produce a prototype, and it is estimated that a further 34 KEur will
be required to industrialise the product. The estimated payback period
for the FUSE investment of 150 KEur is just under 12 months (full industrialisation
cost of 184 KEur in less than 13 months) and the return on the FUSE
investment is estimated as 5000% over 3 years (ROI including the full
industrialisation costs is 4100% over 3 years).
The project has allowed Expro to develop a high temperature/long lifetime
mixed signal ASIC which can be used within many other applications.
The company is now actively considering two further ASIC projects. Other
benefits achieved are:
- A 30% smaller product which offers opportunities in restricted space
application and reduces the cost of the protective housing.
- Company staff experienced in ASIC design management and high temperature
issues.
- Excellent contacts within Europe's ASIC supply industry.
