Enabling the Best by Preparing for the Worst: Lessons from Disaster Response for Industrial IoT in Oil and Gas

As more oil and gas companies develop Internet of Things (IoT) strategies and beginning their digital transformation to Industry 4.0 or Smart Manufacturing, they face challenges in adopting technologies due to regulatory restrictions for highly combustible atmospheres such as exist in some of the world's largest and most critical industries - oil & gas, chemical, pharmaceutical, energy and others. In Zone 1 classified hazardous areas worldwide, up to 15% of personnel do not have access to mobile computing devices unless they are certified "intrinsically safe," or incapable of causing a spark that could ignite a combustible environment. Thus, the human "sensor" in hazardous area operations, who could conceivably detect perceived anomalies or problems in the maintenance, workflow, process or function of these operations, is relegated to recording observations with pencil and paper and then entering data manually into ERP systems hours or days later. Such lack of real-time communication and data management results in inefficiency, increased costs and elevated safety and asset risk, causing potential down-time and even loss of life in extreme cases. By deploying new IoT technologies that allow people to use technology inside Zone 1 hazardous areas, humans can actively interact with machines in real time to dramatically improve productivity, safety and the bottom line in hazardous operations. A new style of IoT platform built especially for oil & gas hazardous area operations, would need to include various and affordable types of sensors to cover vast spaces, real-time communications, cloud computing, machine learning, rights management, security, big data storage, analytics and user-friendly visualization, all functioning in highly explosive conditions. This paper considers the advantages for productivity and safety of an IoT Platform for Hazardous Locations, based on hands-on research conducted by AegexTechnologies, Verizon, Nokia and multiple technology partners that tested various edge technologies with first responders in realistic disaster scenarios during two annual events, Operation Convergent Response 2017 (#OCR2017) and Operation Convergent Response 2018 (#OCR2018 – to take place 5-8 November 2018)). The events provide unparalleled opportunities to test IoTunder extreme conditions with real people, such as a staged refinery collapse caused by an earthquake. #OCR2017 and #OCR2018 showed how enabling real-time communications and data management via cutting-edge technologies, such as intrinsically safe tablets and IoT sensors, can strategically assist first responders to better handle emergencies. The studies’ results give insight into the need for continued collaboration on IoT capabilities that can better manage not only emergency response, but everyday operations in hazardous industries such as oil and gas. Equipping oil and gas facilities with pervasive, smart IoT data-sensing capabilities, and equipping oil and gas personnel with real-time communications and data management tools, could result in dramatic improvements in productivity, safety, emergency response and disaster mitigation.