The term "Real-Time Optimization" (RTO) has rapidly found its way into common usage in the oil and gas industry, as it already has in many others. However, RTO in the oil and gas industry is usually used more as a slogan rather than describing a system or process that truly optimizes anything at all, let alone does so in real-time. In this paper, we describe what RTO means in the exploitation of hydrocarbons and what technologies are available now and are likely to be available in the future. We discuss how it is misunderstood and what real financial benefits await those who adopt it. Furthermore, we are working toward developing a method of classification to allow us to establish where a field operation lies on the RTO ladder, and to help plan a strategy to generate the benefits that moving up the RTO ladder can offer on specific fields and assets. The paper also describes a new SPE Technical Interest Group (TIG), explaining why it has been formed, and outlining its objectives and some planned deliverables. Real-time Optimization - Concepts and Definitions What is optimization? Intuitively most people agree on what we mean by "optimize." This comes down to understanding the dictionary definition; that is, to make the most of; to plan or carry out an economic activity with maximum efficiency; to find the best compromise among several often conflicting requirements, as in engineering design. Therefore, examples of what is usually meant by optimization in the oil and gas industry include:Maximizing hydrocarbon production or recovery,Finding the best solution in the region of physical and financial constraints to produce a decision,Maximizing net present value (NPV) through changes in capital expenditure (CAPEX) and/or operational expenses (OPEX). These elements, in turn, improve financial efficiency in portfolio management and risk analysis, andAdvanced real-time optimization: behavioral prediction and inference, pattern recognition to identify states of a group of wells, continuous adaptation and self-tuning ability. Although we may readily agree on these (and other) descriptions of what would be the outcome of optimization, agreeing what it actually means appears to be more complex. The reason for this is that the term optimization is usually used very loosely, whereas it needs to be defined rigorously and mathematically, while honoring the real-life physical system constraints that exist in the overall production process.

The Real-Time Optimization Technical Interest Group (RTO TIG) has endeavored to clarify the value of real-time optimization projects. RTO projects involve three critical components: People, Process, and Technology. Understanding these components will help to establish a framework for determining the value of RTO efforts. In this paper, the Technology component is closely examined and categorized. Levels within each Technology category are illustrated using spider diagrams, which help decision-makers understand the current status of operations and the impact of future RTO projects. Uncertain value perception in our industry has been one of the critical issues in adopting RTO systems. Therefore, case histories are reviewed to demonstrate the impact of RTO projects. To assist RTO project promotion, we list lessons learned through case histories, suggest a justification process, and present a simple economic example. Introduction Industry case histories demonstrate many types of benefits from RTO, such as volume increase, ROI increase, decision quality, HSE improvement, and opex reduction. However, they have lacked systematic project evaluation methods or processes for justification. Today, promoting RTO is in essence a competition for capital within producing companies. The project teams that recognize this fact and then clearly outline the purpose, benefits, costs (direct or indirect), and strategic business alignment of their proposals will be in an advantageous position to secure funding. Because RTO is still an emerging discipline, classifying projects of this nature is still dependent on an individual's point of view. This paper is intended to enable classification of RTO in an objective manner and to help provide a common vocabulary to address issues. Three Cornerstones in Adopting New Technology In adopting any new technology, TIG members realize that there are three major factors: People, Process, and Technology, as shown in Fig. 1. New RTO technology can achieve the benefits we seek, but it is not likely without corresponding changes in the way we work with others and in the processes or workflow in which we perform tasks. This challenge is common to the implementation of any new technology, whether RTO or not. Engineers tend to emphasize the technology aspect because we are most familiar with it, but the other aspects are equally important. For example, the lack of workflow modification, which requires training and possible organizational changes, is tends to result in unsustainable efforts and ultimately underperformance of the investment in RTO. People People issues manifest themselves in several ways1: corporate culture, organizational structure, and training. Corporate culture is the set of tacit understandings and beliefs that form the foundation of how an organization works. It is a mental model that people have about the nature of an organization and how it sees itself. Within an organization, culture is "how things are done around here." The culture of an organization can be appropriate and supportive to an organization's goals and strategies, or it can hinder its initiatives and projects. Usually any major change in an organization, such as deployment of new technology, radical strategic shifts, or new initiatives, is countercultural. That is, the change breaks existing cultural rules and assumptions, and the change is automatically resisted and thereby impeded.

Environmentally sound greenhouse production requires that: demand for market products is understood; greenhouse design addresses the climate circumstances; input resources are available and consumed efficiently, and; there must be a reasonable balance of production products to the environmental impacts from system. Engineering greenhouse production systems to meet these requirements must include: a cost-effective and structurally sound facility; various subsystems controlled to interact harmoniously together; and educated and experienced system operators. The major components of the environmentally sound greenhouse are: Superstructure and glazing (for a specific location and climate conditions); Climate control subsystems (ventilation, heating, cooling, CO 2 control, pest protection, energy conservation, shading/lighting); Monitoring and control (for system operations data; decisionsupport systems; and, operations control procedures); Automation systems (for quality control, and effective resource utilization); and Crop nutrient delivery system (for control of plant root zone environment). Effective greenhouse engineering design, operations and management, must incorporate input from academic, private and public sectors of society. Therefore this team of researchers, educators, industry/ business, and experienced crop production operators has cooperated to include a current real-world applications perspective to the presentation. Greenhouse production systems are described that not only include the fundamentals for success, but also the combination of subsystems , at appropriate technological levels to meet the design requirements and restrictions for success. The collaborators on this presentation have capabilities and experiences of successful greenhouse production systems from around the world that range from simple, low-input systems to highly complex production systems. Our goal is to emphasize the current basics of greenhouse design, and to support the symposium about greenhouse production systems for people.

Timely pipeline leak detection is a significant business issue in view of a long history of catastrophic incidents and growing intolerance for such events. It is vital to flag containment loss and location quickly, credibly, and reliably for all green or brown field critical lines in order to shut down the line safely and isolate the leak. Pipelines are designed to transport hydrocarbons safely; however, leaks have severe safety, economic, environmental, and reputational effects. This paper will highlight robust, reliable, and cost-effective methods, most of which leverage real-time instrumentation, telecommunications, SCADA, DCS, and associated online leak detection applications. The purpose of this paper will be to review the underlying leak detection business issues, catalogue the functional challenges, and describe experiences with available technologies. Internal and external techniques will be described, including basic rate of change of flow and pressure, compensated mass balance, statistical, real-time transient modeling, acoustic wave sensing, fiber optic cable (distributed temperature, distributed acoustic sensing), and subsea hydrophones. The paper will also describe related credibility, deployment, organizational, and maintenance issues with an emphasis on upstream applications. The scope will include leak detection for pipelines conveying various flowing fluids-gas, liquid, and multiphase flow. Pipeline environments will include subsea and onshore. Advantages, disadvantages, and experiences with these techniques will be described and analyzed.

Timely pipeline leak detection is a significant business issue in view of a long history of catastrophic incidents and growing intolerance for such events. It is vital to flag containment loss and location quickly, credibly and reliably, for all green, brown field critical lines in order to shut down the line safely and isolate the leak. Pipelines are designed to transport hydrocarbons safely; however, leaks have severe safety, economic, environmental and reputational effects. This paper will highlight robust, reliable and cost effective methods, most of which leverage real time instrumentation, telecommunications, SCADA, DCS, and associated online leak detection applications.The purpose of this paper will be to review the underlying Leak Detection business issues, catalogue the functional challenges and describe experiences with available technologies. Internal and External techniques will be described, including basic rate of change of flow and pressure, compensated mass balance, statistical, real time transient modeling, acoustic wave sensing, fiber optic cable (distributed temperature, distributed acoustic sensing) and subsea hydrophones. The paper will also describe related credibility, deployment, organizational and maintenance issues with an emphasis on upstream applications.The scope will include leak detection for pipelines conveying various flowing fluids -gas, liquid and multiphase flow. Pipeline environments will include subsea and onshore.Advantages, disadvantages and experiences with these techniques will be described and analyzed.