A survey of wireless technology for the oil and gas industry
Petersen S., Myhre B., Doyle P., Mikkelsen E., Carlsen S., Sjong D., Skavhaug A., Van Der Linden JH., Sansom M.
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. Copyright © 2008 Society of Petroleum Engineers.