Post-journey reflection (Schlumberger)

Over the course of one and a half days, I visited Schlumberger to learn about the oil rig manufacturing process as well as certain details of what goes on at an oil rig. The trip began as usual, with a briefing of the company's history, the company's branches, what the Singapore branch did as well as the values which the company runs on. We were also required to wear our personal protective equipment at all times. The PPE consisted of a light blue smock, a hard-hat, safety goggles and when necessary respirator masks and ear-plugs. After the briefing, we split into two groups of 8 and were given an overall view of the entire oil-rig component manufacturing process. Our guide told us about the profitability of petrol engineering and a little about himself. He also showed us how the core was made and why the sand involved was called green sand. We visited the foundry on day one but were unable to see the pouring process as it happened to be monday. Wearing the disposable face mask was very uncomfortable, as such, I can symphatise with the company workers who have to wear it for the whole day. Thus, I fully support the companies move to try to find solutions to get rid of the mask. We learned about the impeller and diffuser as well as the keyhole that joins the casing,rotor and impeller together. Sadly, one member of my group felt a little sick after the foundry visit and missed one whole building worth of the tour. After which, we had a short lunch at the skybox and went on the next part of the tour. Here, we saw the gas lift valve which opens and close to allow high pressure gas to enter. This high-pressure gas adds pressure to the oil in the well and allows it to travel aboveground. Gas lifts are about 50%-33% less expensive compared to the ESP lifts, however, they require a certain level of pressure to be present in the well while ESP pumps do not. The components of a gas lift valve must go through rounds of cooling and heating as well as straightening so that it would work to specifications. We also saw the electric motor-winding as well as how gauges are assembled. The gauges are the companies attempts to build up an electronic database of frequency signals so as to better prevent failures from occuring. I was then assigned to machining and job-shadowed Crystal, an engineer around. We learned more about the machines in the machine shops and the differences between modern and older machines such as turners and millers as well as turnmills. We also got the opportunity to sit in during a corporate meeting. The next day, we saw the foundry again but this time around, we were allowed to see the pouring process. We were also allowed to visit the test labs and visit the UV spectrometer lab.