Increased efficiency is the first major attainable advantage of the IoT, and it can deliver significant business rewards, which will lead to global energy transformation. Shell Nigeria has just reaped $1 million worth in efficiency-driven savings. This is the first step.
Ingenu, a company that delivers machine-exclusive connectivity, and KONCAR INEM, a producer of industrial electronics and power electronics devices and systems, have deployed an IoT connectivity solution to provide digital oilfield capabilities to the Shell Nigeria pipeline facility, saving the company more than a million dollars in infrastructure investment. The Digital Oilfield solution provides pipeline surveillance and wellhead monitoring capabilities to remote infrastructure in the Niger Delta.
This solution combines IT automation and instrumentation technologies to provide a support platform for remote field data and optimize operations. It uses faster analysis and more efficient data management to provide insight into field processes to lead to safer and more efficient oilfield operations.
The million dollar savings resulted from leveraging Ingenu’s RPMA connectivity platform rather than other solutions, because it is infrastructure-light. KONCAR is able to provide Shell Nigeria with field data about pipeline pressure, temperature, and flow through remote terminal units and wireless pressure and temperature transmitters that were installed in flow stations, manifolds, and wellheads.
“Upland evaluated several communication technologies to present Shell Nigeria with a solution to replace its manual oilfield data collection processes,” said Bola Awobamise, president and CEO, Upland Consulting Nigeria. “The key criteria for selecting a solution were the technology’s ability to cover difficult terrain, power performance, and long-range transmission as well as network scalability, two-way communications, and secure data transmission. Ingenu’s RPMA offered all of these attributes and eclipsed the competition with its connectivity, network capacity, and exceptional value.”
Energy efficiency is a critical end goal for the IoT, and it will begin by streamlining extraction of the raw materials. Once that is accomplished and energy companies see the financial benefits of IoT to business outcomes, they will translate the technology to energy generation.
And efficient generation makes alternative energy a viable possibility. Game. Set. Match.