Wireless Critical Process Control in Oil and Gas Refinery Plants

Wireless telemetry systems are now becoming a relevant topic in the field of critical process control in industrial plants and oil/gas refineries. In contrast to wire line communication, wireless links are inherently unreliable. This unreliability depends critically on the propagation environment of the radio-links as the layout of scattering objects (pipes and metallic structures) influences the strength and the fluctuations of the received signal power. We are interfacing a level sensor for calculating the oil level in the tanks and a smoke sensor is used for leakage of Gas in the Industries. The sensor signal is used to switch ON and OFF the motor for oil over flow, and a buzzer is used to indicate the gas leakage in the industries. This process is controlled through Zigbee signals at the Receiver End and at the Transmitter. Effective measurement and monitoring of certain parameters (temperature, flow etc) is crucial for the safety and optimization of processes in the Oil and Gas Industry. Wired sensors have been extensively utilized for this purpose but are costly, not best suited for harsh environments and are difficult to deploy and maintain. Wireless Sensor Network technology is an emerging alternative that introduces significant benefits in cost, ease of deployment, flexibility and convenience. The impact of Wireless Sensor Networks is expected to be tremendous in industrial automation owing to a report that projected the deployment of24 million wireless-enabled sensors and actuators worldwide by 2016.With limited literature on this specific subject matter, this paper presents a critical survey into Wireless Sensor Network applications as it directly impacts the Oil and Gas Industry. An overview of Wireless Sensor Networks is presented, case study applications from literature are highlighted and finally research challenges are discussed.