Peruvian Energy Company Optimizes Communications Network with Secure and Reliable Wireless M2M Solutions

In late 2009, CNPC started a pilot test using a wireless M2M communication solution made by a competitor of FreeWave Technologies. CNPC has numerous oil fields in Northern Peru (El Alto), and it had plans to test the new equipment in a coastal environment near the ocean in Piura, Peru. Close to the equator, the average temperature there is 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), and this particular zone has small rivers and large amounts of rain in the summer. The goal was to have several test sites reporting to a gateway and then into a SCADA system to monitor several pumping devices and equipment including: Pump of Controller (POC), Pump Cavity Progressive (PCP), Balance Oil Recovery System (BORS) and plunger lift. For the pilot, distances between links were not long. However, the challenge was to communicate to sites that were located in depressions, canyons or small streams and did not have clear line-of-site (LOS). Engineers at CNPC attempted to get the pilot M2M network working for several weeks, but the competing communication solutions caused a lot of ambient noise and failed to establish reliable or consistent links. Without working links, the pilot would be a failure.

China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) is the sixth largest energy company in the world. It has been in business for more than 55 years, with nearly 75,000 employees worldwide and presence in 28 countries. In Peru, CNPC began its operations in 1996 and holds stakes in exploratory assets in Northern and Southern Peru in four different basins: Marañon, Huallaga, Madre de Dios, and Ucayali.