Work in the Oil and Gas Industry can involve a significant amount of windshield time. I have always enjoyed the imagery encountered on these road trips and frequently take a respite to capture some of these moments.
Boom Town, Texas
Tending the Well…
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During the week of November 13-17, 2017, I was pleased to join representatives of Alberta Oil and Gas Supply and Service Companies, Alberta Econonomic Development, Econonic Development Canada (EDC) , the Argentino-Canada Chamber of Commerce, & the Canadian Embassy on a Alberta Oil and Gas Trade Mission to Argentina, visiting Neuquén and Buenos Aires.
The Argentina oil and gas industry is poised for to grow with discovery and development of the Vaca Muerta, the home to one of the world’s largest shale oil and gas reserves.
During the 2000’s, the Argentine Oil and Gas production had stagnated from government policy, with the consequence of production declines. Domestic Production did not keep up with domestic demand.
Recent elections and leadership changes have signalled policy change and proactivity toward reinvigorating the Argentine Oil and Gas Industry. Argentina will offer a subsidized price of $7.50 per million British thermal units of natural gas produced at new wells through 2020. The price, which is more than double that of front-month natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, is “indispensable for attracting long-term investment,” the government said in a recent announcement.
With that, there is increased desire by the Argentine Government and Industry to welcome joint ventures with International Oil Companies and International Oil and Gas Service companies to help improve productivity of the Argentine industry. In Neuquén, Omar Gutiérrez. the governor of Neuquén spoke passionately for over 30 minutes emphasizing that his province and country was open for business with the reduction in taxes and elimination of red tape.
Argentine Oil and Gas Companies Officials emphasized that the limited availability of equipment and services presented roadblocks to field development; and they welcome Canadian Oil and Gas Service and Supply companies to help them improve field development productivity to that of North America.
Argentine BBQ
Mobile SCADA is a term used for systems for remote monitoring of mobile and portable equipment in applications including:
The mobile equipment will often be deployed in remote areas with limited terrestrial communications. The mobile equipment could be required at a site for days up to months. There is the requirement for these systems to be rapidly deployed and operational.
To achieve this requirement, the Mobile SCADA systems typical will incorporate integrated self-contained communications systems and not rely on site infrastructure provided by others. Mobile SCADA systems typically need to use multiple ubiquitous Wireless Communications networks such as:
For Wireless Communications Technologies to be ubiquitous, the systems must be deployable without site-specific RF licensing and be rapidly deployed. Satellite or Cellular networks are public telecom networks available by subscriptions. License Free Networks (WiFi or Proprietary) do not require site-specific licensing to use.
Antenna systems for these systems must not require specialized tools or knowledge. Satellite systems may either have omnidirectional antennas or possibly have self-pointing systems. Similarly, cellular systems may use omnidirectional antenna systems to minimize the requirement for antenna pointing.
WiFi and Licenses free radio technology can be used to connect interconnect equipment nodes together or to connect a node site with good WAN or Internet access.
Following pictures show the SCADALink SAT130 IoT Gateway system with has Cellular, Satellite, and WiFi connectivity. Note the omnidirectional antenna systems of all 3 radio technologies.
In Industrial SCADA Application like Oil and Gas, Pipelines, Power Systems, and Water Systems there is often the need to connect multiple RS232 devices (i.e. RTU, PLC, Electronic Flow Meters, & Power Meters) in a multidrop configuration connecting to a modem or SCADA Master device. RS232 Splitters such the SCADALink SPL3 and SPL4 can be used in these cases where devices are located within the same panel and area.
The SCADALink SPL4 RS232 Splitter has enhanced features for Industrial Applications. Terminal Block Connections allow direct wiring to PLC, RTU, EFM devices without the need to make custom DB9/DB25 serial cables. 2 Input Ports (DB9 and Terminal Blocks) allows multiple SPL4s to be easily wired in parallel, allowing an SPL4 to expanded from 4 to 8,12.. ports when more than 4 Ports are required.
The newly released SPL4-TB RS232 Splitter along with the widely used SPL3 RS232 Splitter is ideal for Oil and Gas / Pipeline Applications where Class I Div 2 Certification and DIN Rail Mounting is required.
| SPL4-TB | SPL3 |
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