American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019 - 48

SpecialReport: Production Automation
Perhaps these lessons may provide the foundation for the
creative individual to find the next generation of technology to
be applied beyond computer-related technology within the
industry. As to automation technology for smaller operators, I
would offer that it is a step-by-step process. Small producers
need to understand their minimum needs and perform a cost/benefits analysis for their specific applications.

Reimagining Production Monitoring

STRODE PENNEBAKER
President, Sensorfield LLC
AOGR: The IIoT is quickly becoming ubiquitous in automation
and monitoring. How would you assess the swift adoption of
IIoT devices in upstream oil and gas, and more importantly,
where do you see it going from here? What are the features of
the latest generation of IIoT sensing devices? In your experience,
are there practical limitations of IIoT sensing in general oil
field applications?
PENNEBAKER: The IIoT revolution has generated a large
amount of press-touting low-cost, high-impact solutions for
the oil field. The reality, however, is that very little IIoT
technology actually has landed in the oil patch.
The first IIoT products were essentially smaller versions of
traditional SCADA equipment. Some brought Internet connectivity and others focused on specialized applications. Most
were large and expensive solutions that required trained installation technicians.
Recently, we began to see the emergence of a second wave
of oil and gas IIoT devices. These devices feature low-cost,
plug-and-play architecture, scalability, and flexible data integration.
They depart from the current "wireless SCADA" model and
reimagine oil and gas production monitoring.
The latest IIoT systems provide affordable and practical
options for oil and gas field monitoring. The newest systems
are based on modular, plug-and-play units installed and maintained by untrained field personnel. They look much more
like smartphones than SCADA cabinets. These are ultrasmall
wireless devices that can be attached quickly to any piece of
equipment, vessel or line. These new products are available
at a considerable cost reduction. The latest IIoT systems can
48 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

generate the amount of data equivalent to a typical SCADA
system for 20% of the capital expenditure and with a 70% reduction in maintenance.
Power and communication range are key constraints for
IIoT sensors. Self-contained products approved for hazardous
locations must use relatively low-capacity batteries. This normally
limits transmissions to hourly or daily intervals for long-term
use. New small embedded solar panels and thermal energy conversion modules break this logjam. They can provide enough
power to collect and deliver data in near real time.
Getting data from the field to the cloud is no longer a barrier.
On the cellular side, new LTE Cat M1 and NB-IoT transmission
standards promise cheaper, lower-power and longer-range data
delivery. U.S. carriers initiated these services in 2019. For
remote locations, the three major worldwide satellite data
haulers soon will be joined by Google, Amazon, Facebook,
SpaceX and several small startups.
These multiple technology advances are bringing IIoT devices
closer to the full capabilities of traditional SCADA systems.
AOGR: Exactly what types of data can be acquired using
these IIoT devices? Specifically in reference to remote monitoring,
how is the data being used to analyze and control the performance
of production equipment? How are the sensors being integrated
with other supporting technologies to create simple, yet comprehensive
monitoring and control solutions? In general, what are these supporting technologies? How automated can these systems get?
PENNEBAKER: Most basic oil field measurements such
as tank level, pressure and equipment health can be captured
with IIoT sensors. Newer devices can handle situations that are
difficult or impractical for SCADA. Examples include frac
pond level sensors with very long reaching cables, quickconnect high-temperature sensors for wellheads and process
vessels, and highly customized sensors for artificial lift and
equipment health applications.
Several factors have converged to accelerate the emergence
of this new wave of products. They include:
 Considerable processing power using extremely low-cost
modern microprocessors;
 Advances in ultralow-power, low-cost embedded sensor
chips similar to those used in cellphones, fitness trackers, heart
rate monitors and other consumer products;
 The ability of smartphones to serve as sophisticated
display devices, which eliminates the need for local display
units to significantly reduce both cost and failure points;
 Field personnel's universal acceptance of smartphones
that can display real-time sensor data and receive updates and
alarms;
 The emergence of open standards such as MQTT for data
formatting and delivery;
 The ability to apply data encryption directly at the sensor
level, which enables full data security from the source to the

American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019

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