Forward thinking field managers are pushing wireless oilfield integration beyond the field test stage and well and truly into the mainstream across the Middle East
There is a growing consensus in the oil and gas industry that wireless technology solutions for field monitoring, plants and rigs have come of age and will undergo its largest deployment period in the coming few years.
Talk of the Middle East being conservative and reluctant to adopt is now outdated, according to the panel of leading vendors surveyed by Oil & Gas Middle East.
Some of the region’s flagship projects, such as the Al Hosn Gas Development Company’s Shah Field sour gas project, and field production monitoring projects for ADNOC are heartily embracing the opportunities afforded by digital deployment.
“We see a growth in demand for the Digital Oil Field across the Middle East as assets age and it becomes more difficult to extract oil. All of the GCC countries, plus Iraq, are actively engaged in implementing Digital Oil Fields,” says Andrew Dennant, Marketing Director at Emerson Process Management, Emerson has been involved in projects in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
“No two digital oil field implementations are the same, and Emerson has many business units, each of which brings expertise to different parts of a digital oil field project.
What’s really exciting today is the way that DOF has come from being a great idea to a reality that is being actively pursued and implemented by all of the oil majors here. We’re looking forward to more knowledge-sharing, and hearing about more success stories soon,” he says.
Real Value
Wireless technology provides a low-cost solution for unlocking value in the plant and for enabling a mobile and more productive workforce. The possibilities, says Feroz Qureshi, OneWireless business development manager, Honeywell Process Solutions, are endless.
“Imagine sensors gathering data where traditional devices cannot reach, providing more real-time data to make knowledgeable decisions. Imagine a wireless network delivering on the promise of lower installed costs – these are all real opportunities for operators in the Middle East today,” he adds.
Qureshi adds that in some cases customer acceptance to the technology has been relatively slower as compared to other parts of the globe. A particular challenge in the Middle East is acceptance of wireless as an enabler technology and confidence in the technology which will be built over a period in time with end users.
“For customers in the Middle East to get started with wireless, and unlock the possibilities of this innovative technology, it is important to view wireless implementation as a partnership between the plant operator, company IT department, and wireless supplier. Each party has a share in determining the outcome of this effort,” he explains.
Wireless in the Oil and Gas industry is been looked more and more like an enabler technology which enables not only process related applications but also business applications which ensure a safer operations, more reliable assets and much more informed and efficient operators. This, Qureshi adds, is where the regional appetite is really building.
“In the coming five years we will see the O&G industry in Middle East move towards establishing enterprise wide wireless networks to meet their business objectives and not restrict wireless to mere field instrumentation. Some of the major NOCs are already on this path and are planning towards implementing the first phases of this enterprise wide wireless deployment,” he says.
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Rolling DOF
Ali Vezvaei, executive vice president and general manager at Siemens says the company has been part of several large regional DOF projects, providing multiple solutions from instrumentation and control, all the way up to GIS-based real-time data surveillance solutions.
He says the technology is having an impact on the way upstream asset managers and reservoir engineers are able to work more closely to a unified goal.
“DOF programs have significantly changed the way companies looked at their fields by looking not just at the reservoir, but regarding each well as an asset and seeing the associated CAPEX and OPEX.
Production and reservoir engineers had never been so ‘in tune’ with these assets, and the ability to feel the pulse of the asset has made them more aware of the supporting assets as well. This includes looking at the critical equipment such as pumps, compressors and turbines as key aspects in ensuring high well production rates,” he says.
The challenge today is the seamless integration of the subsurface – as well as the surface equipment – in order to get all necessary information in real time, compare it with reservoir simulations and take appropriate actions through closed-loop systems or manual intervention.
“Predictive analysis – not only of the reservoir but also the health of critical equipment – will become an important element of DOF programs. DOF is the integral framework for optimizing production, either maximizing recovery or producing to a specific schedule.
Therefore, all components of the production chain at the field are linked through a WAN network and are, to a large extent, intelligent,” he adds.
Getting started
Honeywell’s Qureshi says the first step is to select the wireless network or networks capable of supporting the various standards used by the many devices existing in or planned for the plant, such as 802.3 for Ethernet based devices such as IP cameras, 802.11 for Wi-Fi devices such as handhelds, cameras and finally ISA100.11a for wireless transmitters.
“Plants can either implement dedicated wireless networks for each standard or a single universal wireless network capable of supporting all these standards,” he explains.
The second step is to design a network architecture that securely connects the wireless network or networks to the wired network. In order to design a robust and scalable architecture, the company needs to clearly identify all applications and their users that will leverage the wireless network.
“Some data needs to go to a the business network and others are used by applications hosted on the control-level network. For example, a mobile station providing process data needs to be connected to the control-level network.”
With complex upstream energy assets in mind, Qureshi warns there is never a “one size fits all” network infrastructure.
“Each site needs to select the most convenient infrastructure based upon their needs and risk
tolerance. Should the wireless network be segregated into two wireless networks, one for the process control applications and one for business network applications?
The current trend is for plants to choose either the one wireless network model with the local site controlling and monitoring the wireless network or the two segregated wireless network model since they are the most efficient and cost effective solutions.”
“Sites extend their process control network through an industrial wireless network capable of supporting the various wireless standards and field devices protocol. They also extend their business network with a wireless network capable of supporting their Wi-Fi devices and business applications,” he says.
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Security In Mind
The cyberattacks at Aramco and RasGas may have the region spooked about data security. Many operators may be concerned about the implications for wireless data.
Qureshi is confident the solutions and safeguards available today are strong enough to allay such fears.
“Although the recent cyber attacks have caused a stir with the end user community in the
region about adoption of remote technologies, going forward this only strengthens what Honeywell has been promoting for a very long time, namely compliance to industry cyber security standards, such as like ISA99.”
Qureshi adds that to to minimise risks to plant automation and information systems, it is important to implement a defense-in-depth strategy, which incorporates multiple layers of protection, but concedes that implementing a secure wireless network can, nevertheless be challenging.
“The decision to implement wireless technology in your industrial facility is a strategic choice, enabling an infrastructure that will provide significant benefits for your company beyond avoiding the wiring costs.
The right decision will help improve safety, optimize the plant and ensure compliance. Wireless is a complex enabling technology that requires deliberate consideration before broad deployment in an industrial facility,” says Qureshi.
Adopting wireless process control networks is therefore a key decision which National Oil Companies in the region need to realize and ensure they select the right industrial wireless network for the future, and not go with some of the proprietary wireless-enabled solutions or wireless solutions which are limited to certain specific standards.
“Key implementation issues that must be addressed include handling multiple types of devices from just a few to thousands, operating in noisy radio frequency environments, sending data reliably and when needed, predictable power management and solid security,” he says.
The challenges aside, the level of enthusiasm is unabated concludes Emerson’s Dennant.
“In every country I visit in the GCC I meet with forward-thinking managers who are investing in the DOF concept because they, and their leaders, understand that these technologies are what will sustain and increase production rates from ageing reservoirs.”
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YOKOGAWA’s Wireless Wizardry
Yokogawa is making a big splash in the local wireless market. “Today, in the Middle East, Yokogawa is performing trials and is in the process of delivering solutions to upstream customer’s.
We also have interesting operating examples in India, Indonesia and Malaysia, each being driven by different factors,” says Ian Ramsay-Connell, chief technology officer.
Yokogawa’s wireless field instrument offering is led by the EJX pressure transmitter. This is a device utilising digital sensing technology which does not rely on any analogue circuitry and can provide both static and differential pressure.
“This has the major benefit of long term performance without the need for calibration, which is important for remote devices, and it provides two measurements in a single device which optimises the wireless network,” he says.
“Another key feature is our battery management. Other suppliers use expensive battery packs. Yokogawa provides interchangeable packs which encase standard lower cost D Type Lithium/Thionyl/Chloride cells which are easy to change in the field, even in hazardous areas. This reduces operational costs.”
Ramsay-Connell asserts that the principal challenge is the acceptance of new technology. “This is not helped by the existence of “competing” standards which raises users concerns of choosing the “wrong” one,” he says
This is an ongoing discussion but we feel ISA100 better embraces likely future requirements and accommodates other standards. Ramsay-Connell says he is confident wireless field instruments has its best days ahead of it in the region. “Very confident, in fact almost all of its days are ahead of it. It is clear that demand will increase and a key area may be upgrades to ageing facilities.”
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ADCO Adopts Redline
Redline Communications was picked by Abu Dhabi’s ADCO to create wireless infrastructure for a major oil field in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year.
Redline’s systems integrator Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) will deliver the complete and integrated digital oil field system that will provide reliable, real-time communications between the many sensors located on the wellheads and the centralized control center where the entire operation will be monitored and controlled remotely.
As part of this contract, Redline will provide the hardware, software and services required to create a ubiquitous wireless infrastructure. Alcatel-Lucent will deploy the Redline system, integrating it within the larger digital oil field system.
Abu Dhabi’s ADCO operates onshore and in the shallow coastal waters of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They produce from six oil fields in an area encompassing more than 21,000 square kilometers.
Redline’s rugged products will create a private high-speed private network blanketing a wide area, delivering business system access to employees in the field and connecting SCADA devices, RTUs and sensors at the well heads to central control centers.
Redline says this connectivity will bring instant information to decision makers, and allow them to collaborate and act more quickly on their decisions by controlling the wellheads remotely.
“Alcatel-Lucent and Redline have worked together successfully on other energy projects and we are excited to work with them on this deployment,” said Eric Melka, Redline`s CEO. “We know how well ALU can integrate our wireless networking system into the larger digital oil field system, and we know that ADCO will realize the benefits of this experience.”
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Shah Field DOF Implementation in the uae
Honeywell has been working on end to end wireless solutions for a couple of upstream production fields in the UAE.
The large Shah sour gas field will be deployed with an integrated end-to-end solution which addresses all layers of the WLAN; from client devices and access points, to the network infrastructure, to network management and to the delivery of wireless LAN mobility services managed from a centralised management console.
This particular installation will deploy a wireless network to cover a large area of over 9km2.
The OneWireless solution for the UAE Sour gas Production field will support not only ISA100.11a field instrumentation but also a Location Tracking and Wireless Personal Gas Detection System along with handheld digital Mobile Camera and handheld devices in the form of a mobile Station and field advisor to enable field operations for the customer.
The Al Hosn project at Shah will involve several gas gathering stations, and the construction of processing trains to handle one billion cubic feet per day to produce 500 million cubic feet per day of network gas, 4,400 tonnes per day of natural gas liquids, 35,000 barrels per day of condensates and up to 10,000 tonnes per day of sulphur granulation,
