Don't Get Burned

Realizing that it is impossible for an exploration company to manually monitor all its sites at once, Ferguson Beauregard has made pressure and temperature monitoring of a gas collection or distribution operation as easy as logging on to a computer.

Ferguson Beauregard’s iNodes™ WPM is a versatile wireless device that accurately captures, logs and transmits data at the wellhead, compressor, flare stack or any other remote location in an effort to ensure optimum recovery operations and regulatory compliance.

Featuring a pressure monitoring probe and an optional temperature probe, the iNodes™ WPM stores up to 35 days of chart data and can send alarms to the operator’s host package or even text messages and e-mails to the operator in the event of exception events. In addition to providing accurate, timely information, the iNodes™ wireless devices allow for prolonged periods of unattended operation. This eliminates travel time and reduces fuel consumption, impact on local residents and intrusion on wildlife habitat and wilderness areas.

With environmental sustainability at the forefront of oil and gas-production initiatives, the iNodes™ WPM plays a pivotal role in reducing potentially harmful methane emissions, which can enter the atmosphere through leaks, accidents and by deliberate venting of natural gas during normal operations. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that natural gas and oil systems account for as much as 20% of total anthropogenic methane emissions and that if these emissions are not checked, 13% more methane will be introduced to the atmosphere by natural gas and oil systems by the year 2020.

To help curb these emissions, iNodes™ WPMs from Ferguson Beauregard provide 24/7/365 remote monitoring of gas-incinerator pilot lights to ensure proper incineration of gases that may be released to the atmosphere. The WPM’s temperature probe provides constant monitoring of flare stack pilot lights. In the event that the pilot light is extinguished, an alert will be sent back to the operator’s host package or by text message or e-mail, allowing immediate action to be taken.

Further extending it’s usefulness, the WPM can be teamed with plunger-lift systems to prolong well life, increase productivity and reduce methane emissions. The device can also be used in combination with electronic flow meters to provide accurate and reliable flow measurement at the wellhead, pipeline or gathering system.

Another benefit of the iNodes™ WPM is its ability to detect production-compromising gas-compressor fault conditions that can occur at wells in densely drilled fields or fields with marginal pressure-drive capabilities that utilize gas-compression facilities in order to maximize the well’s output. The electronic sensors attached to the WPM can monitor compressor performance, which is logged and stored within the unit and transmitted wirelessly to the Internet via private radio or satellite. In the event of fault conditions, the WPM also has the capability to send alerts via e-mail or telephone.