Oil Tank and Production Monitoring with MCA and MultiTech

Oil Tank Monitoring with Multitech

Oil Production In California Powered by MultiTech Conduit and LENS

For more than 100 years, a well-known company has been producing oil and gas in California for consumption throughout the region by homes and businesses - including the agriculture industry, which accounts for approximately one-third of the national agriculture output.

And for nearly four decades, this major oil supplier has been outfitting its equipment throughout the San Joaquin Valley with radio frequency monitors. These monitors serve to help the company keep a constant watch on their equipment as they produce more than 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent from 18,000 oil wells across 100 square miles of oil fields.

The Challenge

Monitoring Equipment Across Large Distances

In an effort to responsibly provide energy to residents, businesses, and entire industries, the organization has long been committed to safety, operational efficiency, and following environmental regulations. To continue their 100-year legacy, they made the decision to outfit thousands of 250-gallon barrels with smart lids and radio frequency monitors.

The smart lids allow tank-level readings to be taken remotely (this was previously done manually with dipsticks). These tanks support well health, help to prevent corrosion, and allow treatments to be added to the wells and flowlines to optimize production.

Unfortunately, outfitting so many relatively inactive units with radio frequency monitors had previously been cost-prohibitive due to the high levels of security and near-constant uptime required to support the equipment and the infrastructure.

The Solution

A Long Range Wide Area Network

The smart lids on their oil tanks and drums require an internet connection to effectively transmit data across an area of about 10 miles using nodes with a 10-year battery. A Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) was determined to be the most cost-effective solution, allowing the company to deploy its own network and not have to rely on a third-party solution.

MultiTech Conduit Gateways were selected for the network links as they can support thousands of endpoints, meaning the organization can cover the entire San Joaquin Valley with just a few gateways. This equated to a large cost savings for the organization.

In addition to the MultiTech Conduit gateways, the MultiTech LENS solution was selected for easy and efficient deployment and ongoing network management. LENS allows for centralized management of the LoRaWAN devices as well as configuration and control of the MultiTech Conduit gateways. It also makes it easy to add additional gateways and end devices as needed should the organization decide to add other LoRaWAN-enabled sensors to other parts of their operations in the San Joaquin Valley and beyond.

The Results

Scalable Networks With Greater Visibility

By deploying a LoRaWAN with MultiTech Conduit gateways and MultiTech LENS, the organization is now able to operate and maintain a scalable network with incredible visibility. The flexibility to deploy new equipment and monitor all of their sensors across their entire network is integral to their continued success.

The Team

Device Provisioning, Activation and Installation Services

For over 25 years, USAT has enabled thousands of organizations in the public and private sectors to use secure wireless communications technology to improve operational metrics. Better communications keep critical systems running longer, enable faster repairs, and can save lives. These principles inspire the team at USAT every day.

The Download

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