| Summary: | Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2000 Since 1988, oil production rates on Alaska's North Slope have faded. The West Sak oil field in the Greater Kuparuk Area was a satellite field targeted to help slow the production decline. The nature of West Sak oil made it prohibitively expensive to produce using conventional methods. Drastic changes in field production design and operational philosophy were required to make West Sak oil economically viable. The instrumentation and controls network architecture leveraged the implementation of this new design and philosophy. This paper examines the technological requirements, establishes evaluation criteria, compares competing options, outlines the design and implementation, and discusses future prospects. In addition, a functional description of the selected technology, Foundation Fieldbus, is presented from the users perspective.
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