Petrobras is to deploy wireless data radios from Boulder-Colorado-based FreeWave Technologies to automate pump stations at over 200 oil and gas wells in Brazil. The installed radios are FreeWave’s HTplus Ethernet radios that automate remote pump stations, transmitting data, such as flow rate, pressure and temperature.
Many of Petrobras’ pump stations are in remote locations where theft and vandalism are high and increasing as copper cables are now an attractive target for theft. To mitigate such threats, Petrobras selected a solution with enough bandwidth for IP video cameras alongside the data/PLC transmission.
Petrobras engineer Celso Gomes Alves Neto, said, ‘Although we had used a competing vendor for other SCADA projects, we took a look at what FreeWave had to offer. In meetings, visits and a pilot, FreeWave demonstrated that HTplus was perfect for the job. The high bandwidth will allow us to monitor assets with IP video. We are very satisfied with the results.’
FreeWave’s radio operates in harsh environments and offers up to 867 Kbps data rates. The solution targets SCADA backhaul networks and supports UDP, TCP and serial communications and has a range of over 60 miles, more with repeater stations. More from www.oilit.com/links/1111_58.
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