Yokogawa and Statoil to Jointly Develop a Field Wireless System for Monitoring Plant Noise Levels

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced that it has concluded an agreement with Statoil ASA, a Norwegian energy company, to jointly develop a field wireless system. Under this agreement, Statoil and Yokogawa will draw on their respective strengths in plant operations and ISA100 Wireless field wireless technology to develop a system that can map noise levels in real-time at Statoil's plants and upstream (exploration and production) facilities, as part of this company's Wireless Noise Surveillance Project (WiNoS). By introducing this system, Statoil will be able to obtain real-time noise information during work in noisy areas, and utilize the data for better risk control of noise exposure of personnel.

Statoil and Yokogawa aim to develop a system that will help Statoil in risk management of noise exposure and achieve compliance with the OHSAS 18001 specification. This system will use an ISA100 Wireless field wireless network to collect data from noise sensors distributed throughout a plant. In real-time, this data will be superimposed on a map of the plant that can be viewed in a central control room or via a cloud service. The data can be saved and accessed at any time for analysis. For such applications, field wireless systems are superior to wired systems, because it is easier to collect data from sensors spread out over a wide area, sensors can be installed in difficult-to-wire locations, and wiring costs are lower, even with systems that have many sensors.

Based on this agreement, Yokogawa will provide its technology and products to build the ISA100 Wireless communication system, and Statoil will utilize its expertise to determine the overall system specifications and conduct field tests. Technologies contributed by other Norwegian companies and research institutes will be used to develop the sensors and data visualization graphics.

Keywords: Field Wireless System, Plant Operations, Upstream Facilities, Risk Management, Noise Exposure, Noise Sensors, ARC Advisory Group.