Applications - Feature

Remote Site & Equipment Management \ August/September 2011 www.RemoteMagazine.com

Gerbrand Schalkwijk, Vice President, Global Enterprise BusinessStratos

In the energy industry, equipment manufacturers, distributors and production consultants are constantly seeking new ways to help oil-field-services companies capture and transmit critical operational data.

For the monitoring and control of oil and gas pipelines, production facilities and utility infrastructure, satellite communications is firmly positioned as a cost-effective, reliable solution for remote sites where terrestrial or cellular communications infrastructure is unavailable, unreliable or cost prohibitive.

For many years, satellite-based SCADA systems have enabled operators to monitor, control and optimize assets and processes any-where in the world, from central sites.

Recently, many oilfield-services companies have demonstrated a need for satellite-based SCADA systems in highly remote regions where reliability and rapid deployment are paramount. To meet these requirements, equipment distributors and communications service providers have teamed with Stratos to deploy new SCADA networks based on Inmarsat’s BGAN mobile broadband satellite service.

BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) systems use small, lightweight terminals to provide simultaneous, high-speed IP data and voice connectivity anywhere in the world. BGAN is ideally suited to enable communications in areas where terrestrial or cellular networks are unavailable.

These L-band, lower-cost SCADA terminals are easy to install, making them popular alternatives, even when compared to radio com-

munications networks. Also, they are not susceptible to rain fade as some Ku and Ka-band VSAT terminals can be. These new systems cost-effectively meet applications requirements for exchanging 1 to 10 MB of data per day.

R&M Energy Deploys BGAN SCADA NetworkEarlier this year, Stratos was selected by R&M Energy Systems

(R&M) to deploy a global SCADA network based on BGAN. R&M, headquartered near Houston, is one of the leading providers of closures, valves, drilling components and artificial lift systems for the global oil and gas industry. Deployment of R&M’s new BGAN SCADA network was recently completed in all of R&M’s key oper-ating regions. New deployments will come online as needed.

The custom-designed network utilizes BGAN satellite termi-nals to reliably transmit operational data from oil pumps and other mission-critical equipment in remote areas not accessible by R&M’s traditional monitoring infrastructure.

The BGAN SCADA network is fully integrated with R&M’s control and monitoring platform. It provides IP connectivity to field equipment via the Internet or a private VPN network. R&M’s future plans include monitoring automated choke valves and other active and passive equipment.

In the past, R&M’s customers did not have the ability or capac-ity to capture and present operational data from that equipment in an economical manner. The new network enables those customers to al-locate limited resources to address the most critical issues first. Hav-

BGAN-Based SCADA Networks are Latest Solution for Remote Site Monitoring and Control

August/September 2011

R&M Energy has deployed a global SCADA network based on BGAN.

BGAN also increases productivity for remote professionals.

Applications

www.RemoteMagazine.com Remote Site & Equipment Management \ August/September 2011

ing up-to-the minute telemetry on equipment and remote diagnostics allows those customers to dispatch the right equipment and personnel to resolve problems as quickly as possible.

With Stratos’ BGAN SCADA service, R&M benefits from a single-source, universal solution that works anywhere and is easy to use. This elimi-nates the need to engage multiple local providers in dozens of different regions.

This BGAN SCADA solution uses specially engineered Class 1 compact BGAN terminals enclosed in a protec-tive housing. The terminals are de-signed for permanent, fixed-site deploy-ment and 24x7 network connectivity in the harsh environments associated with remote SCADA networks.

The service supports applications for data collection and monitoring of remote assets, including utility substa-tions and oil or gas pipelines. The BGAN SCADA service also can serve as a network-independent backup solu-tion for VSAT-based SCADA services, ensuring seamless connectivity in case of extreme weather.

BGAN’s reputation as a reliable, high-performance broadband system is based on deployment of tens of thousands of BGAN terminals for criti-cal applications by energy companies, media organizations, military agen-cies, first responders and other remote professionals worldwide since 2005.

With high portability, this proven solution offers high-speed data rates up to 492 kbps, guaranteed streaming data rates up to 384 kbps and voice connectivity anywhere in the world.

Zedi Helps Global Oilfield Services CompanyZedi, Inc. is another example of an energy-solutions provider

utilizing the benefits of the BGAN SCADA network for its customers. The Calgary-based production operations management firm recently worked with Stratos to deploy the solution for one of the world’s largest oilfield-services companies. The network is enabling several hundred remote, unmanned sites to be monitored and controlled from the customer’s global operations center.

Those sites utilize technologies such as electrical submersible pumps, as well as downhole pressure and temperature gauges in the production of oil and gas. The deployment will be expanded to include progressive cavity pumps and other upstream facilities.

For this customer deployment, Zedi connects BGAN terminals to the Zedi Intelligent Network to achieve a SCADA solution. The highly reliable and accurate data is then delivered to the desktop through Zedi Access, a secure web portal. By using Zedi Access, the customer is able to make better-informed decisions and effectively manage more wells. Zedi professionals are seamlessly integrated with Stratos Customer Support for all network management.

The integration of Zedi’s field-proven Zedi Access platform into this custom BGAN solution ensures this prestigious end-user will benefit from high-performance SCADA connectivity in the most remote areas and harshest weather conditions.

Ensuring Cost Control and Optimal ProductivityThe BGAN SCADA networks deployed by R&M and Zedi rely

on Stratos Dashboard to achieve optimal network productivity and affordability by providing real-time traffic reports, cost control and online provision-ing. Stratos Dashboard is the foundation of The Stratos Advantage portfolio of value-added services.

Those services, when combined with BGAN SCADA networks, provide a total remote data-gathering solution. The Stratos Advantage services provide users with cost control, firewall management, full traffic information, pre-paid facilities, high security options, easy VPN access, messag-ing services and a full range of IP options.

Several additional oilfield-services companies are evaluating another Stratos value-added service known as Stratosi-Ware. StratosiWare is a scalable, secure Internet-based, remote SCADA-monitoring service engineered to the end-user’s spe-cific needs. At any desired polling interval, StratosiWare automatically interrogates SCADA field devices and retrieves data via satellite, radio or microwave and routes it through the StratosNexus telecommunica-tions infrastructure to Stratos Data Centers around the world. Any time a problem occurs between scheduled polling intervals, automatic alarms send immediate notifica-tion, enabling the end user to take timely and appropriate remedial action.

These recent, successful deployments illustrate the creative new SCADA solutions that are available to support the demanding global networking requirements of many of the world’s most important markets, including upstream oil and gas, utilities, mining, water-management and tower-monitoring.

As SCADA operators go about their meticulous planning to ensure business continuity and maximize productivity, the latest satellite-based communications networks will continue to provide critical support and peace of mind.

Stratos is the world’s trusted leader for vital communications. Stratos offers the most powerful and extensive portfolio of remote communications solutions including mobile and fixed satellite and mi-crowave services. More than 20,000 customers use Stratos products and industry-leading value-added services to optimize communica-tions performance. Stratos serves U.S. and international government, military, first responder, NGO, oil and gas, industrial, maritime, aeronautical, enterprise, and media users on seven continents and across the world’s oceans. For more information, please visit www.stratosglobal.com.

Tens of thousands of reliable BGAN terminals have been deployed worldwide.

Reprinted from Remote Site and Equipment Management Magazine, August/September 2011 Issue with permission from Webcom Communications Corp.. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.