Centre for Eastern European Policy Studies

Abstract 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.

A finite element (FE) response model has been developed to describe stress and strain response parameters for geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavement systems where the geosynthetic is placed at the bottom of the unbound aggregate layer. The model contains membrane elements and an anisotropic linear-elastic material model for the geosynthetic inclusion. Elasto-plastic models are used for the asphalt concrete, base aggregate and subgrade layers. Principal response parameters extracted from the FE model include vertical strain in the top of the subgrade and bulk stress in the unbound base aggregate layer. These response parameters are used in empirical damage models for the prediction of long-term pavement performance and the definition of reinforcement benefit. Reinforcement benefit is defined in terms of an extension of service life of the pavement, a reduction in aggregate thickness for equivalent service life, or a combination of the two. The damage models are calibrated from reinforced and unreinforced pavement test sections. The model is shown to provide general descriptions of reinforcement mechanisms that are consistent with those previously observed in instrumented pavement test sections. A companion paper (S.W., Perkins and M.Q., Edens (2003) A Design Model for Geosynthetic-Reinforced Pavements, International Journal of Pavement Engineering) describes the use of the response and damage models in a parametric study from which a design model for geosynthetic-reinforced pavements is developed.