TED HILL and JOHN DYCK, Rockwell Automation
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| M.G. Bryan has upgraded fracturing vehicles with tightly integrated control and information systems that provide secure, instant visibility into remote-asset data, to improve uptime and productivity. |
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In 2010, the U.S. stole the crown for world’s largest gas producer from Russia (although, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Russia appears to have taken back that title, slightly surpassing the U.S.). In 2012, the International Energy Agency boldly predicted that the U.S. will surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2020. More large-scale oil and gas plays are being discovered that could shrink that time frame further. For this growth to become a reality, producers and service companies must keep a relentless focus on production.
M.G. Bryan, a heavy equipment and machinery OEM based in Grand Prairie, Texas, aims to help oil and gas companies meet production demands by supplying engines, generators, industrial pump units, oilfield service equipment and hazardous area power packs globally. Much of the new production is facilitated by hydraulic fracturing. M.G. Bryan sells and leases advanced fracturing pump trailers, trucks and skids to help producers capture these resources.
CHALLENGE
Fracturing vehicles can cost upwards of $1 million. They operate in extreme, isolated environments, and have many consumable components. Oil filters need to be replaced every 200 to 400 hr, and a complete engine rebuild is generally required after 4,000 to 7,000 hr of service. Downtime on a fracturing vehicle can cost $3,000 to $7,000 per day for internal costs, alone, not even taking into account lost product revenues. Because operations occur in remote areas, where cell phone reception is not always reliable, most producers keep a backup vehicle on site, so that production can continue, even if a vehicle goes down.
This use of backup vehicles makes fracturing operations expensive. Many smaller and mid-sized producers lease fracturing equipment by the month, and are not experts in equipment control systems or maintenance. Producers often look for ways to cut costs and improve ROI on rented or purchased equipment, for this approach to be a worthwhile investment. In an attempt to maximize ROI, M.G. Bryan needed to understand how its equipment was performing in real time, to cost-effectively keep tabs on performance, and help customers maximize asset uptime.
SOLUTIONS
M.G. Bryan teamed with Rockwell Automation to develop a new control and information system for its fracturing vehicles. It leverages Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud-computing platform, combined with the FactoryTalk software suite, for secure remote access to real-time information.
Each vehicle’s control system leverages an Allen-Bradley CompactLogix programmable automation controller. A cloud-based version of FactoryTalk VantagePoint software gathers control-system data to display a comprehensive, contextualized picture of vehicle and fleet performance. Information is sent to the cloud via cellular modems. Data are broken down into incredibly small packets, so they can be sent, even in areas with poor cellular coverage. Additionally, in the case that a connection cannot be found, data are stored in a gateway and sent, once a connection is regained.
The new, tightly-integrated, control and information system brings together disparate information sources, including historical, relational and transactional data. To fully leverage these rich data, without requiring M.G. Bryan or its customers to build and manage their own data centers, Rockwell Automation utilized cloud computing.
“We needed a solution that would work the same for our first five trucks, and our next 1,000 trucks,” said Josh Rabaduex, director of engineering at M.G. Bryan. “We also knew we did not want to make a huge upfront hardware investment or have to handle long-term system maintenance, so a legacy data center wasn’t going to work for us.”
Using mobile technology and the secure, seamless transfer of business information over the cloud, M.G. Bryan has access to a higher degree of connected intelligence. “We can now pull data from the cloud, via mobile devices and Web browsers, to produce reports and dashboards on the condition of an individual vehicle’s drive train and fracing performance, as well as process performance and maintenance trends related to entire fleets,” said Rabaduex.
RESULTS
The secure, instant visibility into remote-asset data has improved uptime and productivity for M.G. Bryan customers. For example, one customer called with a complaint that a leased vehicle engine was surging. This can be very dangerous, as rapid changes in engine RPM will change the pressure in the iron pipes pumping water into the ground. If a pipe were to burst, it would not only shut down production, but it could create shrapnel that could injure, or even kill, workers on site.
Such an engine surge could be caused by a number of factors: engine deterioration, ingestion of foreign material, an internal component failure, etc. M.G. Bryan personnel were able to immediately log in and review the data coming from the exact vehicle. They saw inlet pressure on the pump’s fluid end had dropped from 60 to 6 psi, indicating pump cavitation. The customer’s tanks were running out of water. They advised the customer to check the tanks and open a valve that was left shut accidently. The entire scenario played out in just over 10 min. The customer averted sucking air into the fluid end and cracking it, saving a potential $60,000 in replacement parts, a 100-mi service trip, worker injury and lost production time.
This solution has also opened the door to a new business model that reduces project risk and cost of production, while improving time-to-value for these fracturing vehicles. “Now that we can monitor vehicle use by the minute, hour and day, we’ve been able to change our leasing agreements,” said Rabaduex. “We’ve shifted from the industry-standard monthly agreements to a pay-by-use model. Our customers no longer need to rent equipment by the month, paying the same price for those vehicles that pump 24/7 as they do for its backup trucks that never see any action. They only pay us for the actual days the vehicles are in use.”
Current owners of M.G. Bryan fracturing vehicles have already ordered more than 25 vehicle retrofits to get this solution on their existing fleets. “We are also exploring how this information can demonstrate performance to our customers and offer preventative maintenance,” said Rabaduex. “Now, we can produce hard data that demonstrate how our pumps and other components last longer. We can use hard data in warranty fulfillment. We can alert our customers when it’s time to swap out air filters or come in for an engine rebuild. The possibilities seem endless.” 
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Cloud security
Change is scary, especially when you hear that you should consider moving important business data into a cloud. “It is important not to fall victim to a ‘my data needs to be behind a door’ mentality,” said Josh Rabaduex, director of engineering for M.G. Bryan. His company is leveraging a cloud-based information system for remote asset management of oil and gas equipment.
“While the cloud can seem like a virtual world, in many cases it can actually provide better security and redundancy than a traditional system,” said Rabaduex. “If one site goes down, the others take over.”
Industrial enterprises are now looking to cloud solutions, because they can boost information access and productivity through better security measures. Cloud solutions provide the greatest benefit when data are controlled granularly, and data should be looked at directly so they are secure, regardless of data location.
To achieve this level of security, industrial users need to integrate security into their designs from the beginning, and manage all layers. To gain productivity from these new technologies, future data needs to be close at hand. Applications will be in public or private clouds, either on premise or off. Data must be valuable, so validating the data and managing access becomes the real concern, rather than focusing only on which devices or platforms they sit, and who has access.
Security concerns are not a convincing reason to avoid cloud-based solutions, or any new technology. Rather, producers should take a close look at potential risks and work with a well-versed team to conduct a thorough risk assessment before implementing new technologies.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The results mentioned above are specific to M.G. Bryan’s use of Rockwell Automation products and services, in conjunction with other products. Specific results may vary for other companies.
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The author
TED HILL joined Rockwell Automation in 2008, through Rockwell’s acquisition of Incuity Software. He has more than 15 years of experience in the development of commercial software applications for the industrial automation market. Mr. Hill co-founded DataWorks Systems and Incuity Software, serving in a variety of key roles. He spent the early part of his career working in automation at an integrated mining facility in South Africa.
Mr. Hill graduated with a dual degree in engineering and business from McMaster University. He was appointed director of global business development at Rockwell Automation in 2011.
JOHN DYCK has spent his entire career in manufacturing, working with global hardware and software suppliers to solve manufacturing problems. Mr. Dyck was appointed director, software business development, at Rockwell Automation in June 2007. Mr. Dyck previously served as the director of GE Fanuc’s Production Management software business and, prior to that, as V.P., marketing and business development, for Activplant. He currently serves as the chairman of MESA International’s board of directors, and as chair of the MESA Executive Committee. Mr. Dyck holds a degree in electronics engineering from Conestoga College.
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