The oil and gas industry spends trillions of dollars on exploration, development, and maintenance of assets. The large industry is segmented into three sectors including upstream, midstream and downstream. The midstream sector plays a big part in transportation by pipeline, oil tankers, storage and wholesale marketing of refined petroleum products.
IIoT solutions bring evolution to this sector offering new possibilities. Here are some of the interesting use cases of smart refinery monitoring solutions that we have developed during our IoTConnectNXT Hackathon 2019, specifically for the oil and gas midstream sector.
1. Real-time leakage detection
Undetected leaks are hazardous to life and may cost fortunes for oil and gas businesses. With a leak detection solution, refineries can take preventive measures. Our solution ensures the detection of leaks in a non-invasive way. The solution comprises of sensors and real-time meters that offer a foolproof solution. Using this real-time pipeline leakage solution, accidents and asset damages can be easily prevented.
Our solution helps to know instantly once any leakage has occurred. Invisible vapors that are difficult to notice can be easily detected by embedded IoT-powered sensors that ensure safe oil and gas operations. It is designed to constantly track every meter of the pipeline, and once the leak is detected, alerts are immediately transmitted to supervisors and authorities to prevent damages as well call for emergency shutdown in worse situations.
2. Remote oil tank monitoring
Ignorance in protecting oil tanks from flammable substances can cause several mishaps in its surroundings. Thus, real-time monitoring proves to be important for oil and gas companies. Our oil tank monitoring solution will provide refineries with an extra layer of protection over oil well and tankers. With real-time monitoring data you can take predictive measures and optimize your business operations for higher revenues. Refineries can monitor tank levels, temperature, pressure as well as remote oil tanks. Our solution not only helps to save time but resources and costs on a large scale. Importantly, it also brings advantageous outcomes to optimize the overall health levels of oil storage tanks.
3. Real-time gas detection
We have built our gas detection solution with the aim to continuously monitor the immediate surroundings, prevent gas leakages in the environment and eliminate fire incidents. IoT-enabled sensors ensure the detection of any malfunctioning of pressurized gas and take prevention before an explosion happens.
Our solution comprises of sensors that can be set at appropriate locations. These sensors send an activation signal to connect with other IoT devices like an exhaust fan, buzzer and sprinkler, which helps to notify supervisors and prevent incidents from happening. This solution makes the detection process much easier and eases prevention. It also takes refineries to a new level and helps them meet their business requirement standards.
4. Remote alert support system
Traditional methods are no longer effective when it comes to implementing modern strategies. In the case of the oil and gas industry, they need to adopt working IoT models to provide a better support system to their workers.
Our IoT-powered alarm support solution is built with the capability to instantly alert supervisors on site when an anomaly occurs. The solution uses IoT-powered sensors that are set with alarm parameters and are integrated with the platform to track them in real-time. These alarms are set to indicate the pressure, temperature, vibrations and pumps on/off status, that notifies the supervisor. The real-time detection and reporting of catastrophic failures and other destructive events can help to decrease downtime, save energy and boost safety.
The main use cases for future phase
Applications of IoT in the oil and gas sector are endless and not just limited to what we have developed in our five-day hackathon. Here are some of the use cases that can be considered for future phase:
- Connected pipeline
- Real-time equipment status
- Real-time compressor performance
- Fleet tracking and management
- Inventory level indicator
- Remote control of pumps
- Meet environment and safety standards
The bottom line
There’s no better way than IoT to monitor workers and connect operations that cover the entire industry of oil and gas. Our smart refinery monitoring solution is built with the capability to connect pipeline networks, sensors, detect leaks, trigger alarms and carry out emergency shutdowns. To know more about these use cases, get in touch with our experts.
