Abstract
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
802.11/a/b/g specifications for wireless local-area networks (WLANs),
the IEEE 802.15.4 specification for low-rate wireless personal-area
networks, and the radio-frequency-identification (RFID) specifications have
enabled a wide range of wireless applications such as wireless networking,
sensing, monitoring and control, and asset and personnel tracking. For the oil
and gas industry, using this technology will lead to reduced operating costs
and will enable new applications.
This paper identifies the technical requirements for wireless technology
within the boundaries of the oil and gas industry. Experiments have been
performed on wireless solutions within three application areas to examine
whether or not currently available technologies fulfill these requirements. The
conclusion is that WLAN technology is ready for deployment in oil and gas
installations, while there remains a need for an open industrial standard for
wireless-sensor networks (WSNs). Regarding RFID, our experiments show that
solutions with passive tags are not suitable for asset- and personnel-tracking
applications.
Introduction
Recent advances in wireless technology have enabled the development of
low-cost wireless solutions capable of robust and reliable communication.
International-standardization work within the fields of WLANs (IEEE
802.11-1999 1999; IEEE 802.11a-1999 1999; IEEE 802.11b-1999
1999; IEEE 802.11g-2003 2003), WSNs (IEEE 802.15.4-2006 2006) and
RFID has become a foundation for the development of products within application
areas such as wireless network access, wireless sensing, wireless monitoring
and control, and wireless asset and personnel tracking.
For the oil and gas industry, wireless technology has the potential to
reduce operating costs and provide a wide new range of applications. However, a
key limiting factor for the introduction of new wireless technology is the need
for education and technical knowledge in both vendor and operator
organizations.
The main contribution of this paper is the investigation of whether or not
currently available wireless solutions fulfill the technical requirements for
wireless-technology-application within the oil and gas industry.
© 2008. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
10 December 2007
- Meeting paper published:
25 February 2008
- Revised manuscript received:
30 June 2008
- Manuscript approved:
8 July 2008
- Version of record:
15 December 2008
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