A petroleum company had its sights set on an ambitious enhanced oil recovery project in the Texas panhandle. The company uses state-of-the-art technology and methods to successfully recover oil from wells that would have once been considered “tapped.” The waterflooding process uses pressurized water to move through the formation, driving raw crude oil out of the ground from wells.

Boss Automation was brought in to design and install the discrete automation platform and a control network to monitor pressure and flow of this water into the wells. With their experience in automation, control, and process optimization, the project evolved into the design and implementation of a new, fully automated, self-monitored SCADA system. The system was designed to gather, assemble, and transmit data from the wells and injectors and ultimately bring it back to a master station. This allowed the day-to-day operation of the field to be monitored and controlled from these sites, and allowed the collected data to be used to produce detailed production models.

Considerations for the system included reliability, maintainability, ease of use, and the ability to obtain local support. With the aid of the distributor Rexel, Boss Automation decided on a winning combination of Allen-Bradley® hardware, Rockwell Automation® software, and ProSoft Technology wireless communication solutions. Boss Automation’s familiarity and past success with these automation products made them confident in the combined solution.

The SCADA system consists of one ControlLogix® at a main master station tied to four ControlLogix slave sub-stations and over 100 custom-built RTUs, each comprised of an Allen-Bradley MicroLogix™ 1100 PLC and a ProSoft Technology Industrial Hotspot radio. The main master station and four sub-stations represent the backbone network of the project. Each of the four sub-stations acts as a master for its respective sub-network. All communication from the wells and injectors to the sub-stations, and from the sub-stations to the main master station, is handled wirelessly using ProSoft Technology’s Industrial Hotspot solution.

A business development manager for Rockwell Automation noted: “For this application, ProSoft’s wireless technology provides the backbone communication for the integration of this system, creating a reliable, industrial, and transparent network that allows the petroleum company to successfully monitor their process data remotely."

At the main master station, an HMI application for the system was developed using Rockwell Automation’s RSView® 32 software. The graphical interface screens have proven to be user-friendly, and the Messenger Pro feature provides the operators with detailed information about alarm conditions in a human voice, by automatically calling the cell phone of the person on call.

An impressive amount of data—over 3500 discrete Input/Output as well as 1000 analog points—is gathered and moved across the wireless network at about 11 Mbps to the main master station, where it is then assembled into data log models, then interfaced by the end user’s own proprietary modeling software.

Rexel was instrumental in providing logistical and technical support for the project. With respect to the large-scale wireless network, ProSoft Technology provided engineering support throughout the length of the project.

“From the technical side of the project, the main reason this is a success story is because of the planning and care taken before starting the project,” said the ProSoft Wireless Engineer who worked with the end user. “I spent time with Boss Automation control engineers on a path study. We worked very closely together, before and throughout the installation of the project, not only on the layout of the network but on the strategy for PLC messaging.”

The overall network covered approximately 12 square miles, with the longest link being only about 2 miles, and a bulk of the radios were positioned in an area of about 3 square miles, which presented a concern.

“In a radio network of this size it is imperative that care be taken in setting up the PLC messaging,” ProSoft’s Wireless Engineer said. “If all radios are trying to communicate at the same time, you can quickly swamp your bandwidth with RF collisions and retries. With this in mind, we discussed the need to create a polling-style network rather than having all the radios trying to communicate at the same time. It takes a lot of planning up front to successfully install a radio installation of this size, and ProSoft’s Technical Support group provides an excellent planning resource.”

After the application’s implementation, the setup has had near-zero downtime. “The wireless network works so seamlessly and reliably that it is virtually transparent to the user,” a Boss Automation representative said. “When all was said and done I asked the customer how they liked the wireless network. Their response: What wireless network?”

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s solutions for Oil and Gas applications here.

In the San Joaquin Valley, located in the heart of central California, the nutrient-rich soil from which some of the nation’s agricultural products are derived also happens to be home to the largest petroleum-producing region in the state. These vastly different industries converge in the South Belridge Field just outside of Bakersfield, where the sight of cattle grazing between wells can be seen.

It is here that one company transformed their steam injection metering and data acquisition systems into a highly sophisticated, automated process comprised of a large network of WirelessHART transmitters and industrial broadband radios.

The Application

The company’s lease consists of over 200 wells distributed over a little more than a square mile. As an enhanced oil recovery project, continuous steam injectors play a critical role in the amount of oil produced by a given well. Placed adjacent to each producing well, steam is injected into the surrounding reservoir to help mobilize the oil toward the producing well.
  
Originally, each injector was fitted with a chart recorder, which metered and recorded steam. To track these readings, operators were required to visit each of the approximate 120 injection wells every day to visually interpret the chart recorders’ graphical readings, log it on a clipboard, manually convert this measure to a flow rate, key it into a spreadsheet, and send it to the office in Bakersfield, where a data-entry clerk keyed the figures into a database.

The Problem

This steam metering method was very manpower-intensive. The chart recorders themselves required recalibration every three months, and it was difficult to accurately interpret their readings. Secondly, concerns existed about data integrity from potential recording errors during the several handoffs and manual entry steps required. Lastly, the process consumed much of the operators’ time and provided only one data point per day, so should a problem arise at a well, the company suffered response lag times in dealing with the issues.
  
The company’s Project Facilities Engineer saw these inefficiencies as another opportunity to improve processes. After equipment investigation, analysis, and discussion with operations, he was able to implement a new wireless metering and monitoring system, employing the latest technologies to deliver a real-time system, which resulted in substantial benefits to the company. The opportunity to implement a wireless solution made deployment quick and economical. Without these technologies, separate power and communication lines would be run to each well, making the retrofit project very costly and time-consuming. Additionally, maintenance of the system without the miles of power and communication lines was eliminated.

A Proven Solution

With close coordination with operations personnel, the new, state-of-the-art automation system began as a pilot project, during which ten Rosemount 3051S WirelessHART Pressure Transmitters were installed at four wells. Two transmitters were placed on each well to measure the downstream pressure at the wellhead and the upstream pressure before the steam passes through a choke. On dual-stream wells, a third transmitter is installed so that each stream has its own downstream transmitter and a shared upstream transmitter. The pressure transmitters communicated through the self-organizing mesh network to the Emerson WirelessHART gateway, where the process variables, process diagnostics, and instrument diagnostics were converted to Modbus® TCP/IP data. ProSoft Technology 802.11 industrial radios connected gateways in the field to an industrial PC in the office a mile away, forming the backhaul network, or an alternate wireless communication system that moves data from points in the field to the business system. 
  
During the pilot project, the end user brought in a company that tests steam levels and is able to report a true number for the amount of steam being injected to a well. They compared the steam test results for both the wireless transmitters and the chart recorders and found the transmitters’ readings to be around ten times more accurate on average.
  
“We were surprised by how much more accurate of a reading this new technology was able to deliver,” said the end user’s Project Facilities Engineer. From a reservoir perspective, inaccurate steam metering translates into expensive repairs. Over-injecting of steam also leads to higher-than-necessary operating costs. Under-injection results in missed production opportunities where oil that could have been extracted is instead left in the ground.
  
After the project was validated, and with relative ease, the plan was rolled out across approximately 120 wells. In total, 249 Rosemount WirelessHART transmitters were installed, with four gateways aggregating this data and three ProSoft Technology industrial radios communicating this data to an industrial PC in the field office. From there, data is sent to the company’s intranet, where it is tied into two ProGauge Technologies custom-designed Web-based software packages. One enables operators to log in and view well data, print reports, and view alarms. The other is a statistical analysis tool with historical data, designed to provide a higher-level look at the field for trending. It provides a visual overlay of the well sites, enabling reservoir and production engineers to view data by clicking on a well, or they can see trend data, calculate steam to oil ratios (SORs), and more.
  
 A .csv file is generated daily and imported into the end user’s reporting database, from which allocations are determined and distributed to various internal and external entities.

The Implementation

As a whole the project went very smoothly and quickly.
  
"Installation of the Emerson pressure transmitters was merely a matter of removing a mechanical pressure gauge and screwing on the new instrumentation," the Project Facilities Engineer said. "Installation of the ProSoft radios was as simple as mounting the radios onto a backboard. The installation of the ProSoft radios took no more than a day."
  
The biggest attribute of this system is that it allows operators to see performance problems more quickly and react with better priority and increased time efficiency.

In enhanced oil extraction projects, steam costs can account for anywhere from 40-65 percent of a producer's costs and are responsible for much of the revenue derived from a well. As a result of the newly automated wireless process and data acquisition system, the end user expects to see oil production increase, in addition to the benefits of greater efficiencies and reduced costs. The savings will more than pay for the entire system within the first couple months of operation, and the benefits will be seen year after year. The operation will benefit from:
  
Reduced maintenance 
Calibration cycles for the Rosemount WirelessHART transmitters, which were delivered pre-calibrated, are recommended by Emerson only once every 5 years - a dramatic improvement from the 3-month cycle suggested for the chart recorders.
  
Real-time data: improved response times and smarter decision-making 
Live data feeds to the field office, where operators can monitor present well status or query a range of conditions. Predetermined set points trigger notifications for operators to see instantaneously if a well deviates from goals. Data is archived permanently and can be trended for better analysis and decision-making down the road.
  
Increased efficiencies 
The new system gives operators the data they need to better prioritize their day as soon as they arrive on site rather than visiting all 120 wells, not really knowing where to start. This frees them to focus on more productive activities.

Profitability stemming from greater accuracy and distribution of resources 
At the time of installation, the cost of steam at the lease exceeded $10 million annually, and with the new system in place, the end user can distribute their steam with improved accuracy compared to the chart recorders.

The Future

This lease is a significant asset of the end user’s in the Central Valley, and their long-term goal is to continually improve their operations with solutions such as this. The company noted it will be reviewing where deployment of this technology can benefit their other operations.

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s Wireless Solutions here. 

Once named the oil capital of the world, Tulsa, Oklahoma rests near the foothills of the Southern Ozark Mountains.

Winding among these wooded hills and across the open wheatlands is a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline belonging to a midstream oil company.

Nationwide, pipeline operational data is monitored in real time from the company's office control center in Texas. For security, safety, and real-time accessibility, all critical data is transmitted via satellite to the SCADA control center.

To improve line integrity, the engineering team responsible for this 100-mile LPG pipeline wanted to increase monitoring for some non-critical data points at 12 PLCs along the length of the pipeline. The crux: how to do so when their standardized satellite solution would be cost-prohibitive for these non-critical, low-data-transfer locations. Without additional monitoring points, they were left with visibility at only three points on the pipeline. In the event of a leak, discovery requires an operator to physically drive the entire length of the pipeline between point A and point B to locate the leak, which in this case could be anywhere along a 20-, 30- or 40-mile stretch of pipeline. From a line integrity standpoint, having nothing in between these points meant less resolution as to what was happening on the pipeline, and though leaks are rare, when they occur it’s essential to find and isolate them quickly for the safety of personnel, collateral, and the environment.
  
With the plethora of wireless products now available, the engineering team began investigating alternatives to satellite for these non-critical locations.

"When I was first approached about this opportunity, I immediately thought of ProSoft," said Brian White from Rexel. "With its extensive line of products and services and history of assistance to Rexel in Oklahoma, I felt confident they could provide a viable option for this application."

Originally, 900 MHz industrial radios were considered for these stations, because of their long-range capabilities and ability to penetrate foliage. Because of the dramatically different landscape, however, a site survey concluded that of these twelve locations, three lacked the required line-of-sight. To bring these sites onto the network, towers would have to be built, which would have brought the cost of implementation close to $100,000, rendering yet another solution infeasible.
  
Luckily, every site had cell service.
  
"Cellular technology is fantastic for real-time network access to industrial devices around the world," said the Wireless Product Marketing Manager at ProSoft Technology. "This application highlights the ease with which devices in remote areas can be made accessible at an affordable price."

Within three weeks from the time the order was placed, the radios were onsite. Installation was a challenge for the company only in that they had never worked with cellular. ProSoft Technology’s technician engineer walked them through the setup process, and with 15 minutes of setup per device, had the radios talking.

Results

The cellular radios are scattered along that length of the pipeline, monitoring line pressure and valve statuses along the way. Each radio is wired to a PLC via serial Modbus®, gathering information from their remote locations. A thirteenth cellular radio is connected to the satellite network, relaying data from all twelve points back to the control center in Texas.
  
By adding these data points to the network, the company was able to minimize risk while keeping the application safe and operational. In fact, using cellular has enabled them to pinpoint line pressures to 5-mile intervals versus 40, so should pressure drop off between two of these points, they can quickly isolate leaks with as little impact as possible. 

For more information about ProSoft Technology’s Wireless Solutions, click here.

A while back, a major oil company took a good look at their legacy system and didn’t like what it saw.

The centralized control system, which had been installed in 1978, used multi-drop, leased telephone lines. Four operators at consoles in Houston, Texas, controlled the pipelines for 12 hours a day. This left large stretches of its pipeline unmanned, with no support. The system was already operating at maximum capacity and had many technical risks. They were concerned about the availability of replacement parts for the old RTUs, loop controllers, and alarm annunciators. They needed to know the exact contents of a pipeline, wherever it was, instead of the meter-in/meter-out leak detection they had. Their data entry system was cumbersome, in some cases requiring that data be entered two or three times.

“We reviewed our control system strategy and concluded that we had a unique and hard-to-maintain system. It consisted of dedicated, custom-built and programmed RTUs, along with a lot of odds and ends,” said the company’s lead project engineer.

In short, the company needed to improve its pipeline reporting system by adopting a platform that would let it automate the manual activities to improve efficiency in its small-diameter, high-pressure pipelines running throughout the United States.

First, the company abandoned its old leased telephone lines and went to a VSAT satellite system. The VSAT Ku Band Network system supports 170 sites where the company has 200 PLCs and RTU addresses handling about 20,000 I/O points.

In addition to the VSAT, the company installed a dial backup using analog lines and communicating via the Modbus® protocol to 140 critical sites.

 “When the company installed the new equipment, the old equipment couldn’t communicate with it,” said Ken Hopwood, Software Engineering Manager at ProSoft Technology. “So, they used a ProSoft Modbus module as an interface.”

“When the company approached us, they needed to eliminate the need for continuous polling that was necessary on their old system,” Mr. Hopwood said. “It created communication delays when using the satellite which were expensive. The module we created for them is basically a Modbus Slave but with a few modifications. One, it has Report by Exception, giving it the ability to send timed, unsolicited data reports to the Master Station in Houston. This eliminated the need for continuous polling. The CMS module also contains some specialized data that is unique to the company.”

“In the past, many communication systems were closed,” said the ProSoft Regional Sales Manager who helped the company. “Since the Modbus protocol is open, it has become a de facto industry standard for many industrial devices today, especially in the oil and gas industry. The popularity of our Modbus module doesn’t really surprise me. I see instances like this company’s on a weekly basis. Using the Modbus module to communicate from old equipment to new equipment is simply the most cost-effective way (and in some cases, the only way) to accomplish their goals.”

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s solutions for the Oil and Gas industry here.

Venezuela is home to the Western Hemisphere’s largest oil reserves, and its economy is extremely oil-dependent. A major oil company in the country is constantly striving to remain competitive and profitable in the world energy scene.

Initial Requirements

 A while back, the company conducted an analysis of their technology requirements for their oil production fields in Eastern Venezuela. The requirements identified included:

• Control system with strong third-party vendor developers and integrators
• Direct plug-in communications modules
• Use of intelligent devices (instrumentation, electrical, and mechanical)
• Open system and standard protocols on plant floor

Because of its internationally recognized brand name, the availability of future product support and its strong third party vendor/partners, Rockwell Automation was chosen to replace the end user’s legacy control system with their 1771 PLC processors. This allowed the end user to incorporate technology from some of Rockwell Automation’s Encompass™ partners, including ProSoft Technology.

In Eastern Venezuela, the end user needed to add new tank farms, pipelines, pump and valve stations, and a SCADA system for control. Simply stated, petroleum produced at a well contains a mixture of oil, gas and water. This mixture is pumped from the pumping stations to the tank farms via a complex network of pipelines. It then undergoes field processing to separate the salable oil from the gas and water. Once the field processing is complete, 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil are pumped through the end user’s pipeline from the actuator network to the coast for shipment to refining facilities in the United States.

Tank Gauging, Electric Actuator, and Motor Protection Relays

The SCADA system used by the end user communicates to many of its end devices via the Modbus® protocol.

The tank gauging systems monitor tank level. This data is transmitted to the Rockwell Automation processor, which automatically opens and closes valves to and from the tank. The electric actuator network controls the influx of oil from the pumping stations to the main trunk line. The end user installed medium-voltage soft starters for their control valves in order to reduce mechanical stress, starting current, and hammering.

ProSoft Technology’s single-slot Modbus interface module was used in Rockwell Automation’s 1771 PLC processors to communicate with the tank gauging systems, the electric actuator, two-wire control systems, and the motor protection relays. 

A few years later, the end user used the Modbus interface in a SCADA system that was installed to control the movement of heavy crude oil from 1,500 wells in Eastern Venezuela to the coast for shipment to the U.S. for refining.

HART Multidrop module to the rescue

A few years after the SCADA system project, ProSoft was contacted by Perez-Compac in Argentina and Rockwell Automation in Venezuela, requesting their help in communicating between Rockwell Automation’s ControlLogix PLC using DF1 and numerous Rosemount end devices using the HART protocol. Representatives from three companies, including the original end user, worked together to test ProSoft’s HART gateway. Approximately 15 HART Multidrop modules underwent extensive factory acceptance testing for control of the original end user’s crude oil production units in eastern Venezuela.

“The HART Multidrop module provides maximum efficiency for HART networks,” said the ProSoft Regional Sales Manager who worked on the application.

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s solutions for Oil and Gas applications here.

Making its way along Peru’s Lower Urabamba River, a jaguar’s whispery black shape easily tangles with the darkness of nearby vegetation. Below the tree canopy, two parallel curves of the dual pipelines shoot into the surrounding Amazon, making their way through the jungle, far past where the big cat will wander and perhaps find its prey. Along the tree canopy, equipment dangles from tethered lines. All of the equipment needed for this massive project is flown in and lowered from the sky onto hilltop clearings.

From underground reserves more than a mile deep, natural gas and natural gas liquid will flow through the pipelines under the control of an integrated solution, a flow computer that will use the jungle’s underground resources so that much-needed natural gas can properly make its journey to Peru’s coast. For the Peruvians, the pipelines’ path to the sea will eventually see natural gas and natural gas liquid processed and sold to help create an increased standard of living.

 Facing one of the greatest pipeline challenges in Peruvian history, ISI Solutions, the system integrator for the project, knew the application needed to rely on a cost-effective automation solution that combined the power of control and flow computers to integrate, operate, and maintain pipeline control. The pipeline company needed an internationally recognized name-brand solution with local distribution. They needed a product line that would enable complex control over a Peruvian pipeline where failure to provide much needed natural gas and natural gas liquid could mean dire consequences for the Peruvian economy.

The answer came when ISI discovered a simple solution: ProSoft Technology had a Flow Computer that was compatible with Rockwell Automation’s ControlLogix® platform. As an in-rack solution, it could easily plug into the Rockwell Automation® backplane.

An electrical engineer for ISI Solutions tested the ControlLogix platform with ProSoft Technology’s in-rack flow computer communicating with the backplane. He found such integration and compatibility a huge plus versus utilizing a stand-alone flow computer that might have provided a similar service.

Since ISI Solutions is a system integration company that provides consulting, integration, and management solutions for a multitude of pipeline-related projects, finding an automation solution meant choosing a product line that they knew was going to work.

“We recommended the use of a Rockwell platform early on as we wanted to add a highly functional backplane and flow computer,” said ISI Solutions’ electrical engineer. “The challenges were significant. The customer’s pipelines needed flow management control with a solution that could fit the Allen-Bradley® backplane. What really made the Rockwell platform functional for the end user was ProSoft Technology’s involvement in solving their flow computer needs with their in-rack flow computer module.

“Implementation of products such as these are just part of standard development,” the engineer explained. “We design pipelines, then program, then test; then we start up. This is just the way we do things. If you want professional quality on a pipeline such as this one, then you really have to make sure the technology fits the needs of the project.”

Such challenges also included converting the Rockwell Automation protocol to Modbus® TCP/IP.

“For that situation, we found ProSoft’s Modbus TCP/IP Client/Server module very reliable and efficient,” the engineer said.

How the application is set up

The company’s natural gas liquid (NGL) pipeline has one scraper launcher, one pumping station with a mass metering system, three pumping stations without a metering system, two pressure reduction stations, one receiving station, three scraping stations, and 19 block valve sites. The natural gas (NG) pipeline has one pressure control station, five scraping stations, one receiving and measuring station, four fuel gas modules, and 22 block valve sites. Since fuel gas will be supplied to power the NGL pumps, a metering system was installed to provide the final mass balance along the NG line. In addition, a liquid mass metering system was supplied for each pumping station in order to cross-check the leak detection system.

The pipeline SCADA system has two control centers in local cities. One will be used in case of a major problem at the MCC location, or interruption of communications to the MCC.

Local control systems will control both pipelines and bring information to the SCADA Host system at the control centers to supervise those pipelines and their associated facilities: receiving, pumping, scraping, and block valve stations.

Since both pipelines run parallel and close to each other for 550 km, in many instances they will share a common local control system (i.e.: A common RTU or PLC). Local control systems will be implemented with PACs from Rockwell Automation.

The ISI Solutions engineer emphasized the importance of working with one vendor and one technology in an in-rack project of such a complex magnitude.

To begin with, ProSoft’s flow computer module makes for a single point of communication with tight programmable controller and flow computer integration on a compatible backplane. That translated into an easier learning curve for the system integrator and end user. Other benefits include:

• An easy-to-use software utility, which takes a lot of the complexity out of the set-up that stand-alone flow computers require
• Password security prevents potential pipeline disaster by eliminating non-user ability to change calculations and variables

When asked how ProSoft Technology might bring further solutions to such pipeline construction and development in the near future, the engineer said he was looking at ProSoft’s wireless radios as a cost-efficient, wireless solution for bridging data between pipeline block stations across South American rivers and gorges. He felt wireless technology could help deter costs in constructing cables between hazardous points as well as running costly cable between pumping stations that may only be 10 kilometers apart, well within the range of ProSoft’s wireless capabilities.

“A lot of projects are depending on this pipeline,” he said while simulating pipeline measurement stations with the AFC module at ProSoft Technology’s headquarters in Bakersfield, California. “With such professional quality in a job, we had to ensure the technology fit the needs of the overall project.”

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s Integrated Oil and Gas solutions here.

No matter which direction you look in Gainesville, Texas, you see the same thing: rolling hills, grassy prairie dotted with cattle, and oil wells. The city is located in Cooke County, just 70 miles north of Dallas, where 82 percent of the county’s income comes from cattle. This makes it an environmentally sensitive area for oil companies.

A while back, an oil field there began experiencing interference in its 150 MHz licensed-frequency radio network. The end user contacted Jeff Walters of Automation Alternatives in Weatherford, Texas, to see if he could diagnose the problem. Using a spectrum analyzer, Walters quickly found that the radios were experiencing elevated noise zones from power-grid interference, which caused the system to overload and shut down spontaneously.

“The radios were simply unable to differentiate between their own network traffic and the interfering radio signals around it,” Walters said.

There were other concerns facing Walters in his search for an upgraded system. Since the field was located in an environmentally sensitive area, it needed to be monitored 24 hours a day. Should there be an alarm condition, the SCADA system needed the capability to automatically shut down all or parts of the field.

Walters’ solution incorporated an interesting and effective blend of technology. Both Schneider Electric® and Rockwell Automation® PLCs receive analog and discrete data from the field. The data is then transmitted wirelessly using 22 ProSoft Technology serial radios. Since the radio network is inherently able to accommodate multiple protocols simultaneously, transmitting both Modbus and DF1 protocols presents no problem.

National Instruments Lookout was chosen as the SCADA system, allowing facilities to be polled every five minutes. Tank levels, line pressures, LACT readings, and a variety of discrete alarms trigger call-outs 24 hours a day. Because much of the oil field has trees and deep creek beds, chloride sensors are also monitored for possible spills.

“The new wireless system has eliminated a number of expenses for the end user,” said the ProSoft Regional Sales Manager who worked on the application. “Our radios are 2.4 GHz license-free, which saves the expense associated with licensed radios. The wireless system also allows an operator to monitor the field 24 hours a day from a central location, saving on employee overtime.”

ProSoft Technology’s 2.4 GHz radios experience no interference or downtime, making this wireless solution very reliable. As the oil field’s radio network grows, more radios can easily be added to the network and can continue to accommodate multiple protocols. 

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s Wireless Solutions here. 

The largest offshore oil field in Malaysia, Angsi in the South China Sea, requires the fastest level of data communication so it can continue to produce 40,000 barrels of oil a day quickly, smoothly, and efficiently.

The Angsi Field consists of one central processing platform and 5 drilling platforms. It will provide fully integrated support for drilling up to 52 wells, with facilities including two gas compression trains, gas lift and dehydration, power generation, water injection, and a 16MW power generation plant.

So when the Angsi Field’s legacy GE Fanuc PLC system started showing its age, upgrading to a new Rockwell Automation® ControlLogix® EtherNet/IP™ system was a no-brainer. Forty thousand barrels of oil a day cannot be taken lightly.

INEAX (Integrated Network Electrical Automation Expertise) is an expert at oil control systems, and was approached about the application.

"The response from the GE Fanuc PLC was getting slower with intermittent faults, so it was decided that replacing the entire system would be the best solution," said Wee Keat Ng, INEAX’s Managing Director.

Everything but the protection relays would be upgraded, and it had to be done with minimal downtime.

The Problem
The protection relays ran on Modbus®, a non-native Rockwell Automation® protocol. Protection relays are used for protection of electrical load of motors, pumps and other devices, from overcorrect and overvoltage.

The Solution
ProSoft Technology's modules made it possible for the ControlLogix system to communicate to the protection relays as seamlessly as if they were both on the same identical network.

"Our system leverages the ProSoft Modbus module’s unique features to speed up overall communication between the protection relays and the ControlLogix system," Ng said, and specifically pointed out the module’s data prioritization features.

"This is done by splitting the polled data into critical data with continuous updates and non-critical data with on-demand updates," said Mr. KL Yew, INEAX Technical Director. “We would not have been able to do this without the features included in ProSoft Technology’s Modbus module.”

Ng added that INEAX is impressed with the level of features available in the ProSoft modules. “These features aren’t normally seen in other third-party solutions.”

With the ProSoft Technology Modbus module, INEAX was able to provide a better and faster solution for the Angsi platform.

"The decision to use ProSoft Technology modules was an easy one as we have worked with ProSoft modules for close to 15 years,” Ng said.

Because INEAX has upgraded similar solutions before, it was able to upgrade the Angsi system in record time within a tight downtime window.

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s Modbus solutions here.

By Lauren Robeson

ARC Resources is a major oil and gas company centered on four areas across Western Canada. In such a large operation, efficiency is key.

The company was looking to minimize cabinet space and streamline its operations. On a multi-well pad site in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, they had a Rockwell Automation® ControlLogix® system with standalone flow computers that were used to meter natural gas. The flow computers were only able to handle 8 meter runs apiece, however, which wasn’t optimal for such a large operation that had its sights on future expansion. The company also found it was difficult to get meter data from the standalone units into their ControlLogix system. For real-time information and control of their equipment, that integration needed to be seamless.

In ProSoft Technology’s Enhanced Flow Computer, ARC Resources found a solution that would allow the company to minimize space and left room for expansion in the future.

By the end of the project, the company saw a variety of benefits, including:

• Reduced wiring
• Data integration
• Fewer flow computers
• No licensing fees
• Smaller cabinet

ProSoft’s team and Rockwell Automation’s Calgary sales group, working with Rexel Westburne (the local distributor), helped the company see the benefits of this simplified setup.

 “ProSoft’s in-chassis flow computers fit right into their controller, which has helped streamline data integration and reduced their wiring,” said Scott Monton, Regional Sales Manager at ProSoft.

This streamlined setup has also enabled the company to make better use of its cabinet space.

And those limited meter runs? No longer an issue.

“With this solution, we’re now able to do 16 meter runs per flow computer, limiting the number of units we need,” said Charlie Kettner, Programming Specialist at ARC Resources. “We also like that the system can be expanded later if we need more meter runs.”

With the decreased number of units and their placement in the PAC, the company has been able to reduce wiring and labor costs, and use a smaller cabinet – all of which has helped ARC Resources lower its overall system cost, which was a major goal. Licensing costs have also been eliminated with the addition of ProSoft’s solution, since they will no longer need separate licenses for gas and liquid metering.

With this streamlined setup, ARC Resources is able to optimize their space and resources, and receive important data even more quickly.

Find out more about ProSoft Technology’s solutions for the Oil and Gas industry here.

A while back, a manufacturer of color picture tubes (CPTs) installed a new barcode tracking system in its India facility.

Using Rockwell Automation’s ControlLogix® platform and ProSoft Technology’s interface modules, the new tracking system allows better monitoring of the entire manufacturing process.

The company’s facility has a production capacity for manufacturing 3.2 million CPTs per year. Line one in the facility manufactures 21” and 20” CPTs. Line two is dedicated to manufacturing 14” CPTs.

In order to raise their market share to 50% in the next three years, the CEO wanted the company to have “more efficient capacity utilization and greater manufacturing efficiencies. Our mantra for success is to stay ahead of the competition using differentiation in products and services...We have taken many technological initiatives in order to improve our CPT market share.”

One of the ways the company found to help them improve their market share and increase the quality of their products was the implementation of a barcode tracking system in their facility.

The plant was already equipped with the Rockwell Automation® ControlLogix platform containing a 1756-ADN card. The company installed over 100 barcode scanners communicating via the RS-485 network. ProSoft Technology’s ASCII communication modules were added to connect the ControlLogix system to the barcode scanners.

“Since the barcode scanners are ASCII devices, an interface was needed to allow the data collected by the scanners to be transmitted over an RS-485 network to the ControlLogix system,” said the ProSoft Regional Sales Manager who worked on the application. “The ProSoft modules were installed (a maximum of 15 scanners per module), allowing the scanners to communicate over the backplane to the DeviceNet Adapter.”

“A ‘C’ application in the ProSoft module polls all of the scanners, reads the barcode ID and, using direct I/O instructions, writes to the ControlLogix PLC,” said the application’s Project Implementation Manager. “The data collected via the barcode IDs is presented as Crystal reports to the Main Server using an Oracle database. This information has helped the company achieve better monitoring of the manufacturing process, which translates into better-quality products.”

Learn more about ProSoft Technology’s Modbus solutions here.