Ian Binmore - Merrick Systems
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is gaining traction in the oilfield as companies develop hardware and software able to meet the industry’s demands and harsh environment.
RFID technology provides a non-optical, non-contact method to get in-depth information about virtually any asset, from drill pipe through surface equipment up to and including personnel. RFID uses attached to or embedded electronic modules which respond to a radio transceiver with an identifier number. The electronic modules are packaged in different ways (most commonly as tags), to mount or embed into various assets and to survive a variety of environmental conditions. The identifier number of each tag can be associated with any type of collected and electronically stored data, like location, use history, maintenance, inspection records, etc.
Traditional asset tracking methods (bar code, stenciling, and RFID tags originally developed for retail or transportation industries) work for tracking assets not subject to harsh conditions, but fail when deployed to track assets in drilling and subsea operations where tracking does not survive the extreme temperatures, pressures, vibrations, and abrasives.
A new generation of rugged RFID technology, specifically developed in recent years to meet the unique needs of the oil and gas industry, is designed to survive extreme conditions. Driven by high-temperature/high-pressure (HT/HP) demands in deepwater operations, certain tags have rated sustained temperature and pressure survivability to 400° F (204° C) and 30,000 psi (207 MPa).
The largest potential return on investment (ROI) for RFID technology in oil and gas is in component-level identification of surface, subsea, and downhole assets used in drilling and production operations. Industry estimates that positive ROI for this technology ranges from three months to two years from deployment.
Saving time, costs in routine operations
The time needed to identify, measure, and document components use or movement, or to research the inspection history or other asset information, is expensive. Much of this time is spent measuring a piece of equipment and documenting the key dimensions with each use. More field personnel time per component is required if one needs to identify or investigate the status of the equipment or its traceability. These routine tasks often are repeated hundreds of times over the life of each asset.
Industry estimates for the cost of equipment management are between $6 and $40 per piece each time the asset is used or inspected. Total upfront costs of $20 to $200 per asset generally are required to deploy RFID-based technology, including tagging of assets and related support systems. This cost varies, depending on the type of the equipment tagged, number and type of tags used, field applications deployed, and the chosen back-end support system.
Using the same support system across a broader range of assets can bring economies of scale to help reduce the cost per asset. A well-designed back-end system generally is modular and can handle various field deployment strategies. Moreover, it should be able also to manage low-cost consumables and light-use surface equipment tagged with low-cost industrial quality bar codes and non-rugged RFID tags to further reduce the implementation cost per asset.
Reducing human error
One area of value can be realized by eliminating the human error found in traditional asset tracking methods that use recording and transcribing of identification numbers from equipment, logs, tally books, reports, and tracking systems. Incorrect identifiers can initiate an expensive and high-risk sequence of errors that can be difficult to find and correct. These errors may result in operational downtime due to apparent lack of availability of necessary assets, lost or misplaced records, or equipment failure.
Impact of corrosion, erosion
Subsea risers worth $40,000 – $700,000 each typically are identified using bar codes, stenciling, and standard non-rugged tags. These methods are subject to heavy corrosion and erosion, as assets are exposed to extreme temperatures, pressures, abrasives, and vibrations.
During a recent project to tag subsea risers for an offshore drilling company, one task was to install new RFID tags and associate them with existing asset identifiers. A list of riser identifications was provided by the local riser inspection and certification personnel. Upon checking the existing identifiers etched onto the risers, 25% of them did not correspond accurately to the risers they were supposed to reference. It was determined that corrosion and erosion lead to the wear of the etched identifiers and made them difficult to read.
In another instance, an offshore diving and remediation company in Louisiana implemented an integrated system based on both RFID and bar code to track assets. After a successful implementation, the company uses only bar-code to identify assets within its warehouse facility. However, high-value assets deployed in the field or used subsea have rugged ATEX-certified RFID tags attached. Field operations are equipped only with rugged, intrinsically safe RFID systems but have full access to inspection and use history information and databases via mobile RFID identification and information access tools. When items return to the warehouse, the check-in area has both bar-code and RFID systems to allow scanning the RFID code and producing a new bar-code label on demand to affix to the item for warehouse operations. The integrated system allows the company to manage its assets efficiently. The two different methods, each optimized for a specific environment, work together seamlessly and share one database to allow access to vital asset information across the company, regardless of location.
Asset management
Specific tracking of the use of individual components can mitigate the effects of fatigue and wear on equipment. RFID technology provides access to information regarding the status and use history of each asset, including cumulative use in high fatigue or H2S zones, maximum applied torque, or any other trackable condition that may affect the service life or safety rating of the equipment.
Additionally, actual use information can trigger inspections based on the asset condition instead of arbitrarily scheduled periodic inspections unrelated to actual use. Inspections usually entail handling costs (pick-up, lay-down, transportation, and field deployment of trained specialists) as well as the cost of operational down time. Performing use-based inspections can reduce non-productive downtime, expenses, and lower the risk of asset failure.
Using RFID systems, asset locations can be updated automatically or verified each time an asset is manually or automatically scanned. Accurate location and availability information can improve asset utilization to save on inventory costs and to reduce operational downtime related to equipment access and availability. Maintenance requirements, engineering and performance specifications, traceability, or inspection information can be accessed locally or at the corporate level to monitor assets and operations.
Real-time support
Using information transfer standards such as Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language (WITSML) enables integration of electronically available asset information with third-party engineering applications. This supports real-time management of torque and drag, fluid hydraulics, and equipment fatigue. Sharing electronic data in near real time can save time and also enable collaboration and remote help to the field via engineering centers.
RFID technology also can track and ensure that inspectors, logistics, or operations personnel have physically inspected each piece of equipment indicated “as inspected.” This also helps with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
Conclusion
An RFID-based asset tracking system can enable secure gathering and sharing of information in near real time. It can create greater operational efficiencies, reduce risk, and provide cost savings to operators, contractors, service companies, and manufacturers.
One key to a successful implementation lies in understanding that for RFID, “one tag does not fit all.” Past failures to adopt RFID in oil and gas resulted in from attempts to convert standard RFID tags from other industries, disregarding the different environmental conditions of drilling operations. In order to perform well in extreme conditions, the tags must be specifically developed for this use, using appropriate elements of design, materials, and manufacturing processes.
