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Timbergrove, a Houston-based tech studio and consulting firm, was selected by Petrolink to develop the backend engine for its new, cloud based Software-as-a-Service drilling operations alerting system. Called Management by Exception (MBE), the platform combines proprietary software powered by Timbergrove’s TREE™ (Timbergrove Real-time Event Engine) with the Energistics Transfer Protocol (ETP). The result is improved bandwidth and near instant access to critical drilling performance and downhole data.
The MBE conducts condition monitoring of rig operations and drill string sensor data, and then immediately sends mission critical alerting information to globally located users. It requires only an Internet enabled computer and permission to access the system to use the MBE.
“We recognized our clients’ need to access insights from volumes of time sensitive information from drilling sites as quickly as possible,” said David Johnson, director of product innovation, Petrolink Services. “Our objective for the MBE was for customers to be able to process increasing amounts of data faster, and be notified when decisions need to be made. Timbergrove was instrumental in helping us develop the solution.”
Timbergrove’s TREE engine is integrated with the MBE, and is capable of transmitting millions of transactions per second. A real time event driven processor for big data, “TREE allows alerts to occur and immediately be followed-up by a set of automated business processes,” said Ian Uriarte, Timbergrove CEO. “Calculations from disparate data streams are performed through an ETL (extract, transform and load), and enable alerts and work flows for decision automation – all in real time.”
Although its engine is complex, simplicity makes the MBE special. Any user can create and validate an alerting rule using the built-in rule editor, and then share it with the rest of the team. The system is designed to permit users to select only the alerts they wish to receive. Should an alert remain unacknowledged, the MBE can automatically escalate it to a specific group for action. An un-editable audit trail is retained in the process as well.
To aid new users in getting started, the MBE includes a dictionary of mneumonics that is used to build simple comparative alerting rules for specific condition changes. Users can create and test rules in advance, which allows them to be quickly assigned when drilling commences.
Providing integrated solutions for well operators to make better decisions faster is the core of Petrolink’s business. “In developing the MBE to process ever-increasing amounts of data at the fastest rates possible and automate decision making, we believe we continue to deliver on this commitment to customers,” said Johnson.
The MBE will be available as part of PetroVault HD, Petrolink’s next generation data management solution.
About Timbergrove
Timbergrove is a technology studio and consulting firm based in Houston. An IBM partner, we are a leader in developing creative solutions for complex technical problems and deliver integrated designs that go beyond expectations. Our enterprise operations team is comprised of experts in delivering streamlined IT processes through implementing process automation and application integration, while enabling mobile and cloud adoption.
About Petrolink
Petrolink is an independent, neutral, wellsite data solutions company providing services to oil and gas operators worldwide. We help clients effectively aggregate, integrate, analyze, store and distribute wellsite data. We are specialists in the areas of visualization, data analytics and data interoperability. Our innovative technologies and services drive down the cost of operations and increase efficiencies.