Module/Project Learning

Module learning:  At the start of the trimester, I set two goals for myself, to improve on my staff work writing and improving my communication skills. Today I can proudly say that I have accomplished more than what I’ve set out to accomplish. The UCS lesson taught me how to improve my writing skills, be it learning how to reference properly to making a good point when it comes to a subject, I feel that it was beneficial for my learning. Even though I did not fair well for the Summary Reader Response it was a good eye opener and a reminder that I still have a lot to learn. Throughout the course, I have also learned how to communicate effectively with others around me. Although I see the same people everyday, we often do not talk to each other and will just remain in our cliques, this lesson gave me the opportunity to talk to others, giving me a better understanding about them. 

Project Learning: I have learned a lot about my team and the class during my project presentation. I remembered that it was a week before the final presentation, and we were swarmed with other projects and papers. I realised that we did not start working on the presentation and had to produce something to show the Professor during the consultation. I called up my team at 11.30pm on a Wednesday night to prepare the slides for the consult, instead of blaming or questioning, they stayed up and prepared the slides till 3.30am the next day. That incident really showed me that they really cared about the project and wanted really wanted to show the class more about our product. On the presentation day, my team was prepared, and the presentation was executed well. During the whole process of creating the slides to presenting, I did lose my cool on a few occasions. However, I learned that I need to be more patient with not only others but myself and that a fresh pair of eyes can give you a different perspective. I have also learned the working styles of my teammates, tweaking their roles and responsibilities to ensure they excel in the parts they are in charge of.

Contributions to the Research Project

 1. As the team lead, I helped to develop the product idea of the Lenslot. A lecture recording system that follows the lecturer when he/she moves around. This will make lecture recordings more interesting to the students who are rewatching

2. I planned and arranged the individual roles for each member of the group. I compared the strengths of the members and assigned them accordingly. 

3. I contributed by creating a plan for the members. This plan requires each member to research on a specific topic . Siew researched on the competitor's and current solutions .Royce researched on the cameras that the universities are using now. Syahmi researched on the tracking sensors and how they work. I researched on the importance of human connection through the lecture recordings and how it impacts students.

4.  For the report I started on the table of content, this gives the team a clear direction on what to do. I assisted with the background of the report, giving input on the capabilities of lenslot.

5. I also did the proposed solutions, talking about modifying the Sony BRC1000. I also stated the pros and cons of each idea. 

6. The report I worked on the “importance of a good lecture”, I researched on the sources we were going to use ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the report. 

7. I worked on the transmitter and receiver in the background info. Ensuring its effectiveness.

8. I worked on the proposed solutions, and the improvements that were made.

9. Besides the report, I also helped lead the presentation, ensuring the theme and our slides were up to standard. 

10. I also distributed each part to my team mates ensuring, playing to their strengths.

11. For the presentation, I presented the introduction, team members (their roles), problem statement and company vision and mission. 

Lenslot video pitch

Offshore Oil Rig System (Extraction) - Summary Reader Response Draft 3

The article "Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry- A review Part ii" by Shukla and Karki (2015), states that with the growing demand for energy and oil, it is important to implement advanced systems to extract oil safely and efficiently. 

The extracting system is a complicated technology for an offshore oil rig plant. This system consists of mainly three parts, the pump, the blowout preventer (BOP) and the pipe rams. With the advancement of technology, pumps can now extract oil 25% faster compared to older oil rigs, this can be seen from data posted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), which states that crude oil production more than doubled over the past decade (Grijpink et al., 2020). With pumping at such a high rate of velocity, safety features have also been improved to prevent blowouts. A blowout is an uncontrolled release of oil from a well that can cause the system to fail or explode, a notable case is the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico where a blowout caused massive damage to 11 lives lost and 87 days of continued oil flow into the sea (Pallardy, 2023). The safety features include a blowout preventer (BOP) and pipe arms. The BOP maintains and locks the pressure in, including sheer rams and a choke system in cases of emergency. A sheer ram cuts through the pipeline and seals the well, while the choke system slowly controls the oil flow rate to control the pressure (Shafiee et al., 2020). 

Given the information on the oil rig extracting system (pump, BOP, pipe rams) mentioned, it clearly shows that with the advancement of technology, oil rig extracting systems are safer and more efficient than ever before to meet the demands for energy and oil.

To ensure the efficiency of oil production, China created a plan to increase the extrusion of crude oil without support from companies and countries outside China. According to Zheng et al. (2022), most of China’s crude oil is imported from other countries. Thus, to be more independent and to meet the demands of crude oil production, China has established 5 new Research and Development Centres specialising in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). China uses a ‘4th generation separated-layer water injection technology’ to achieve a better yield. The process uses water injection, which helps by pushing oil into production wells, giving additional energy to the reservoir by aiding its displacement. This technology helped maintain pressure in mature oil fields by filling the cavity via water injection. With the addition of real-time monitoring and controlling, extrusion of oil wells is more efficient. From the statistics given, the natural decline of oil production was reduced by 0.7 percentage points, saving about 326 million RMB (62 million SGD). This is a huge achievement for the research and development sector of the oil industry.

The improvements in safety in the extraction process have come a long way ever since the Deepwater Horizon accident. This unfortunate incident gave insight to engineers and industry personnel about the safety problems in the offshore oil rig industry and finding ways to mitigate those issues. Firstly, poor safety culture, leading up to the Deepwater Horizon accident, audits found that the extraction rig had major maintenance issues, mainly that the BOP was 5 years overdue for re-certification and recommend seizing operations till they were fixed. However, 5 days after the audit, it was back into service without fixing the issues raised. This ultimately caused the accident, killing 11 people and damaging the marine life in the Gulf of Mexico for several decades to come. Secondly, the failure of contingencies, investigations showed that although there were proper steps in place, the problems started to snowball when the contingencies did not work, causing the worst scenario to happen. To address these problems, from a management standpoint, stricter safety guidelines have been reinforced, including thorough checks, fair audits, regular maintenance and adopting higher standards for training. From a technological standpoint, BOPs were redesigned to further improve reliability and safety. An example would be a company called Transocean which improved on the BOP, they created the Kinetic Blowout Stopper (KBOS). The KBOS took 3 years to develop finding the most effective way to prevent blowouts, its main advantage is speed, using pyrotechnics, it takes milliseconds to sheer the affected pipe and seal the well (Rassenfoss, 2020). With the advancement of technology, offshore oil rigs have improved monitoring and control systems that provide real-time data to operators, this allows operators to detect any anomalies, allowing the team to react with an appropriate response. 

In conclusion, there is sufficient evidence showing the improvements in efficiency and safety with the advancement of technology. For efficiency, China has shown great innovations and ideas to produce crude oil independently. With the focus on research and development, China is finding ways to cut costs and constantly improve itself. Extraction of oil has also become safer with proper safety protocol. The safety improvements can also be seen in the equipment being used, with the help of technology, safety features, monitoring and real-time data were added to assist the operators, minimizing the risk for accidents. Ultimately this proves that the industry is heading towards the right direction and by innovating and improving systems, oil can be extruded safely and responsibly.

References 

Grijpink, F., Katsap, N., Verre, F., & Ward, R. (2020, November 6). How tapping connectivity in oil and gas can fuel higher performance. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/how-tapping-connectivity-in-oil-and-gas-can-fuel-higher-performance

Shukla, A., & Karki, H. (2016, January 1). Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry— A review Part II. Robotics and Autonomous Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2015.09.013

Shafiee, M., Elusakin, T., & Enjema, E. M. (2020, July 1). Subsea blowout preventer (BOP): Design, reliability, testing, deployment, and operation and maintenance challenges. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104170

Skogdalen, J. E., Utne, I. B., & Vinnem, J. E. (2011, October 1). Developing safety indicators for preventing offshore oil and gas deepwater drilling blowouts. Safety Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.03.012

Pallardy, R. (2023, December 29). Deepwater Horizon oil spill | Summary, Effects, Cause, Clean Up, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill

Roberts, R., Flin, R., & Cleland, J. (2015, November 1). “Everything was fine”*: An analysis of the drill crew’s situation awareness on Deepwater Horizon. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2015.08.008

Rassenfoss, S. (2020, June 30). Macondo Changed BOPs, but There Is a Limit. JPT. https://jpt.spe.org/macondo-changed-bops-there-limit

Zheng, X., Shi, J., Cao, G., Yang, N., Cui, M., Jia, D., & Liu, H. (2022, June 1). Progress and prospects of oil and gas production engineering technology in China. Petroleum Exploration and Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1876-3804(22)60054-5

Offshore Oil Rig System (Extraction) - Summary Reader Response Draft 2

The article "Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry- A review Part ii" by Shukla and Karki (2015), states that with the growing demand for energy and oil, it is important to implement advanced systems to extract oil safely and efficiently. 

The extracting system is a complicated technology for an offshore oil rig plant. This system consists of mainly three parts, the pump, the blowout preventer (BOP) and the pipe rams. With the advancement of technology, pumps can now extract oil 25% faster compared to older oil rigs, this can be seen from data posted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), which states that crude oil production more than doubled over the past decade (Grijpink et al., 2020). With pumping at such a high rate of velocity, safety features have also been improved to prevent blowouts. A blowout is an uncontrolled release of oil from a well that can cause the system to fail or explode, a notable case is the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico where a blowout caused massive damage to 11 lives lost and 87 days of continued oil flow into the sea (Pallardy, 2023). The safety features include a blowout preventer (BOP) as well as pipe arms. The BOP maintains and locks the pressure in, including sheer rams and a choke system in cases of emergency. A sheer ram cuts through the pipeline and seals the well, while the choke system slowly controls the oil flow rate to control the pressure (Shafiee et al., 2020). 

With the information on the oil rig extracting system (pump, BOP, pipe rams) mentioned, it becomes evident that with the advancement of technology, oil rig extracting systems are safer and more efficient than ever before to meet the demands for energy and oil.

Although pumps have significantly improved, countries are still finding ways to enhance its process focusing more on its efficiency, safety and environmental impact.  According to Zheng et al.(2022), China created a plan to increase its production of crude oil. Currently the majority of China’s crude oil is being imported from other countries. In order to meet the demands of crude oil production, China has established 5 new Research and Development Centers specialising in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). 

To further elaborate, Zheng et al.(2022) mentioned China's ‘4th generation separated-layer water injection technology’. Water injection helps by pushing oil into production well, giving additional energy to the reservoir by aiding its displacement. This technology helped maintain pressure in mature oil fields by filling the cavity via water injection and with the addition of real time monitoring and control, oil wells in China are more efficient. The natural decline of oil production declined by 0.7 percentage points, saving about 326 million RMB (62 million SGD) . This is a huge step in research development in the oil industry.

Extraction of oil in offshore oil rigs became significantly safer as well. In the past oil rigs were considered to be a safe and efficient way to extract oil Skogdalen (2011). But after the Deepwater Horizon accident, engineers and safety investigators found that the reason it was safe was due to the poor safety culture. The deep water incident could have easily been prevented if safety protocol was being followed as there were clear signs and warning indicators leading up to the disaster. Investigations showed that although there were contingencies, the problems started to snowball when it did not work. From this unfortunate disaster, many improvements have been made, from a management/staff  standpoint, stricter safety guidelines have been implemented and organisations adopted higher standards for training. From a technological standpoint, BOPs were redesigned to further improve the reliability and safety, ‘Transocean developed an electric pumping station that will seal the well and cut anything left in the way’ Rassenfoss (2020). With the advancement of technology, offshore oil rigs have improved monitoring and control systems that provide real time data to operators, this allows operators to detect any anomalies, allowing the team to have an appropriate response. 

In conclusion, there is sufficient evidence that shows the improvement in both safety and efficiency with the advancement of technology. However, as much as technology can benefit the system, negligence and poor risk management can cause another Deepwater Horizon incident, thus proper training and safety guidelines must always be followed. Ultimately this proves that the industry as a whole is stepping towards the right direction. By innovating and improving systems, we can extrude oil safely and responsibly.

References 

Grijpink, F., Katsap, N., Verre, F., & Ward, R. (2020, November 6). How tapping connectivity in oil and gas can fuel higher performance. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/how-tapping-connectivity-in-oil-and-gas-can-fuel-higher-performance

Shukla, A., & Karki, H. (2016, January 1). Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry— A review Part II. Robotics and Autonomous Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2015.09.013

Shafiee, M., Elusakin, T., & Enjema, E. M. (2020, July 1). Subsea blowout preventer (BOP): Design, reliability, testing, deployment, and operation and maintenance challenges. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104170

Skogdalen, J. E., Utne, I. B., & Vinnem, J. E. (2011, October 1). Developing safety indicators for preventing offshore oil and gas deepwater drilling blowouts. Safety Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.03.012

Pallardy, R. (2023, December 29). Deepwater Horizon oil spill | Summary, Effects, Cause, Clean Up, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill

Roberts, R., Flin, R., & Cleland, J. (2015, November 1). “Everything was fine”*: An analysis of the drill crew’s situation awareness on Deepwater Horizon. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2015.08.008

Rassenfoss, S. (2020, June 30). Macondo Changed BOPs, but There Is a Limit. JPT. https://jpt.spe.org/macondo-changed-bops-there-limit

Zheng, X., Shi, J., Cao, G., Yang, N., Cui, M., Jia, D., & Liu, H. (2022, June 1). Progress and prospects of oil and gas production engineering technology in China. Petroleum Exploration and Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1876-3804(22)60054-5

Offshore Oil Rig System (Extraction) - Summary Reader Response Draft 1

The article "Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry- A review Part ii" by Shukla and Karki (2015), states that with the growing demand for energy and oil, it is important to implement advanced systems to extract oil safely and efficiently. 

The extracting system is a complicated technology for an offshore oil rig plant. This system consists of mainly three parts, the pump, the blowout preventer (BOP) and the pipe rams. With the advancement of technology, pumps can now extract oil 25% faster compared to older oil rigs, this can be seen from data posted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), which states that crude oil production more than doubled over the past decade (Grijpink et al., 2020). With pumping at such a high rate of velocity, safety features have also been improved to prevent blowouts. A blowout is an uncontrolled release of oil from a well that can cause the system to fail or explode, a notable case is the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico where a blowout caused massive damage to 11 lives lost and 87 days of continued oil flow into the sea (Pallardy, 2023). The safety features include a blowout preventer (BOP) and pipe arms. The BOP maintains and locks the pressure in, including sheer rams and a choke system in cases of emergency. A sheer ram cuts through the pipeline and seals the well, while the choke system slowly controls the oil flow rate to control the pressure (Shafiee et al., 2020). 

With the information on the oil rig extracting system (pump, BOP, pipe rams) mentioned, it becomes evident that with the advancement of technology, oil rig extracting systems are safer and more efficient than ever before to meet the demands for energy and oil.

Shukla, A., & Karki, H. (2016, January 1). Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry— A review Part II. Robotics and Autonomous Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2015.09.013

Grijpink, F., Katsap, N., Verre, F., & Ward, R. (2020, November 6). How tapping connectivity in oil and gas can fuel higher performance. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/how-tapping-connectivity-in-oil-and-gas-can-fuel-higher-performance

Pallardy, R. (2023, December 29). Deepwater Horizon oil spill | Summary, Effects, Cause, Clean Up, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill

Shafiee, M., Elusakin, T., & Enjema, E. M. (2020, July 1). Subsea blowout preventer (BOP): Design, reliability, testing, deployment, and operation and maintenance challenges. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104170

Edit #1: Edited from peer feedback.

Edit #2: Added thesis statement. 

Edit #3: Main Body

Descriptive Reflection 1A

Dear Professor Blackstone,

I am Benjamin Ong, a first-year mechanical design and manufacturing student studying at SIT. I am writing this introductory letter, hoping you will understand me better.

Unlike the majority of the students in my class, my educational journey has been a long and fruitful one. After my ‘N’ levels in secondary 4, I enrolled in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), studying mechanical engineering instead of pursuing an ‘O’ level certificate. I did this because I felt that the secondary school curriculum was not beneficial for a hands-on learner like myself. In ITE, I gained my love for engineering through my lecturer. He would constantly help me and my friends with our pet projects, no matter how crazy they were. He made us believe that even though we are from ITE, we can still make a name for ourselves. After getting my certificate from ITE, I furthered my studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Although the jump was significant, I was determined to improve as an engineer.

One of my strengths lies in my ability to get my point across and influence the people around me. As the captain of my canoe polo team, I have to inspire and motivate my team. I do this by setting a high standard for myself, hoping to ignite them to push their boundaries. An area where I have identified the need for growth is over-explaining. This issue has led to many disagreements and arguments as people feel I am micromanaging.

My goal for this module is to improve my writing skills. Being a Navy officer, the term “staff work” was commonly used. I got called out by my superiors on my grammatical errors and the way I structured my sentences. Additionally, I would like to improve my presentation skills as it will benefit me in the future.

Most friends say my journey post-secondary school was special or unique and I completely agree with them. Although my journey was long, I am grateful for everything, as every challenge presents an opportunity to learn, shaping me into the person I am today.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I look forward to learning from you in class.

Regards,

Benjamin Ong

Edit #1: Grammer mistakes and over use of caps.