Oil And Gas Industry Turns To Wireless Sensing Networks
San Diego - The oil and gas industry will spend $200 million on wireless sensing networks (WSN) over the next three years, according to ON World. As the only feasible solution for many sensing applications especially those in remote and hazardous locations, WSN will be ubiquitous in the petroleum industry within five years.
"With low upfront costs and installation flexibility, WSN makes it possible to deploy large scale, advanced remote monitoring and automation applications," says Mareca Hatler, ON World's Research Director.
Highlights from ON World's recent report include the following:
- One quarter of all industrial wireless sensors deployed this year will be for oil and gas applications
- Refineries will be the largest and first segment to take off
- Most research and development is focused on wireless condition based monitoring (CBM) for preventive maintenance
- Oil and gas companies also named geofencing -- that prevents unwanted third party contact with pipelines -- as an application they would like to adopt
High Return on Investment
In addition to lowering upfront costs and reducing operating expenses, WSN
provides improved reliability, increased flexibility, and scalability to
sensor networks. Based on the potential for streamlined operations, increased
production, and reduced expenses, WSN presents high return on investment
opportunities.
Oil and gas companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on remote monitoring and wireless communications. As early adopters of WSN, they are involved with developing global industrial WSN standards. The largest multinational oil and gas companies are pilot testing mesh wireless sensor networks using IEEE 802.15.4 radios.
ON World projects that 41 million industrial wireless sensor endpoints will be deployed in 2010, for a market worth $5.3 billion at this time.
ON World's recently published report, "Wireless Sensor Networks for the Oil & Gas Industry," is based on more than 150 phone interviews, including with executives at 44 leading oil and gas companies.
SOURCE: ON World