EXPLORATION • DRILLING • FIELD SERVICES
response to changing site conditions as well as performing data filtering. Te RTU ensures that only key, critical information is passed via the narrow communications links, minimising data throughput but maximising information throughput. Within the downstream sector, refineries operate 24/7, which means firms need RTU systems that are robust, secure, reliable and flexible enough to be able to manage and monitor the plant’s diverse range of assets. RTUs are integrated with sensors across these sites and provide data to the SCADA system. Working the other way, RTUs can
receive commands from the supervisory system and transmit them to the end devices as well as retaining an ability to act autonomously. RTUs do this over large and remote downstream sites, handling the data acquisition portion of SCADA, providing early warning of impending issues – such as a rise in temperature of a holding tank, elevated temperature in a pump, etc. – avoiding asset failure and potential environmental incidents.
TACKLING COMMON ISSUES In practical terms, RTUs help operators overcome a wide range of issues in the oil & gas sector ranging from continuous monitoring of remote fixed assets, data logging – meaning critical data from the field is not missed and is available for analysis – through to managing complex remote automation and control applications without the need for operators in the field. Some of the specific issues that RTUs can help address include: monitoring of flow, pressure, process equipment, temperature; natural gas flow measurement; optimisation and secondary recovery; storage facilities and pressure monitoring. A number of practical considerations must be accounted for when choosing an RTU system to deliver these benefits. Te key features that are required in an RTU are resilience to the site environment, an ability to operate with minimal drain on local power resources, and the processing power to perform any local control algorithms autonomously. It is also beneficial that an RTU has
extensive diagnostics capability and a low mean time to repair (MTTR) to reduce the time required for technicians to spend on site, improving both efficiency and personnel safety.
An increased need for efficiency, environmental protection and safety is driving the market for data analysis and monitoring of assets in the oil and gas sector. RTUs facilitate these processes because they can be deployed on a vast range of assets. Once in place, the real value of an RTU is that it can perform autonomous control in real time and then report to SCADA that it has everything under control. Operators at the SCADA interface can ‘supervise’ the operations by setting new KPIs, set points or updating instructions — open/close this, start/stop that, for example — for RTUs to then act upon and manage locally. Tis ability to provide accurate, real- time data enables management teams to make better, more informed decisions. In addition, because RTUs do everything locally, it means if communications break down, they continue to run, maintaining a historical log, and reporting back later. In remote locations, communications will fail regularly, although RTUs can manage this. For instance, the data that the RTU collects can be used to support maintenance decisions, and to verify that environmental obligations are being adhered to. Currently, most RTUs are only used for operations, although they can support maintenance teams, health and safety initiatives and environmental management. RTUs have come a long way in the past few years and as oil & gas companies face
The TBox MS range, MS32S2, provides
real-time remote access and control of critical oil & gas assets
continued pressure to maintain efficiency, safety and deliver shareholder value, their use looks set to increase. Continued innovation will help drive this change; it is already possible to deploy RTUs on most equipment, whatever its size or age. Inbuilt redundancy and resilience are also helping to avoid system failures. At the same time, improvements in processing power and throughput are helping RTUs keep up with increasing demand for data. Looking to the future RTUs, which
are already ‘mini PCs in the field’, will help harness the power of IIoT by making older assets ‘smart’. Edge computing will come into the mix at some stage, although increased processing power of RTUs means they are already part of a distributed network, processed at the ‘edge’ of the network.
Te benefit if this is low latency by computing the data where it is generated – essential for real-time monitoring. In addition, this edge capability provides linear scalability, which will be essential to support the increased deployment of communication devices that reduce pressure on the central network infrastructure. With its geographically spread assets and multiple process that all generate massive amounts of data, key to ensuring these improvements help business performance is being able to capture and interpret it in real-time. Te latest, ruggedised RTU technology focuses specifically on that, helping operators meet their investor and customer commitments.
The TBox Nano combines the logic and control capability of an RTU with the
ultra-low power operation of a wireless data logger
Matthew Hawkridge is chief technology officer at Ovarro.
www.ovarro.com
www.engineerlive.com 9
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