Systems and methods for cloud-based automatic configuration of remote terminal units

• US 10,344,567 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2014
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sensia Netherlands B.V. (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Asia Pacific Business Center Pte Ltd (Rockwell Automation, Inc.)
• Inventors: Weatherhead, Andrew, Gray, Edward Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Lin, Jason
• Application Number:
  US14/312,455
• Publication Number:
  US 20150369013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,842 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 41/00 Equipment or details not covered by groups E21B15/00 - E21B40/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric

Abstract

A remote terminal unit (RTU) may control one or more operations a well device associated with a hydrocarbon well. The RTU may include a processor that may broadcast a request to communicatively couple to a cloud-computing system. The processor may then receive a confirmation from the cloud-computing system indicating that the RTU has successfully communicatively coupled to the cloud-computing system and send one or more attributes regarding the RTU, the well device, the hydrocarbon well, or any combination thereof to the cloud-computing system. The processor may then receive one or more software packages from the cloud-computing system based on the attributes. Using the software packages, the processor may control the operations of the well device.

Claims

1. A computing device configured to control one or more operations of a well device associated with a hydrocarbon well, wherein the computing device comprises a processor and a memory, and wherein the processor is configured to:

broadcast a request to communicatively couple to a cloud-computing system, wherein the request comprises an indication of a presence of the computing device in a hydrocarbon site having the hydrocarbon well and identification data regarding the computing device, and wherein the request is configured to cause an intermediary communication component to rebroadcast the request to the cloud-computing system when the cloud-computing system is outside of a communication range from the computing device;

receive a confirmation, via the intermediary communication component, from the cloud-computing system indicating that the computing device has successfully communicatively coupled to the cloud-computing system in response to receiving the request;

send one or more attributes regarding the computing device, the well device, the hydrocarbon well, or any combination thereof, via the intermediary communication component, to the cloud-computing system in response to receiving the confirmation from the cloud-computing system, wherein the one or more attributes comprise an indication of a type of the well device, an identity of the well device, a vendor associated with the well device, a model associated with the well device, a firmware version of the well device, or any combination thereof;

receive one or more software packages, via the intermediary communication component, from the cloud-computing system based on the attributes; and

control the operations of the well device based on the software packages.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to send data, via the intermediary communication component, to the cloud-computing system, wherein the data is acquired by one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the computing device.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to send a record comprising the operations of the well device, via the intermediary communication component, to the cloud-computing system.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes comprise an indication of a type of the computing device, an identity of the computing device, a context of the computing device within a hydrocarbon site having the hydrocarbon well, a vendor associated with the computing device, a model associated with the computing device, a firmware version of the computing device, a software application associated with the computing device, or any combination thereof.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes comprise a global positioning system (GPS) coordinate associated with the computing device.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein one or more attributes comprise a set of work instructions associated with the computing device, the well device, or any combination thereof.

7. A cloud-computing system configured to communicatively couple with a remote terminal unit (RTU) configured to monitor and/or control one or more operations of one or more well devices associated with a hydrocarbon well, wherein the cloud-computing system comprises at least one processor configured to:

receive a request from the RTU to communicatively couple with the cloud-computing system, wherein the request comprises an indication of a presence of the RTU in a hydrocarbon site having the hydrocarbon well and identification data regarding the RTU;

send a confirmation to the RTU indicating that the RTU has successfully communicatively coupled to the cloud-computing system when the cloud-computing system established a communicative connection to the RTU;

receive one or more attributes associated with one or more components comprising the RTU, the one or more well devices, the hydrocarbon well, or any combination thereof from the RTU, wherein the one or more attributes comprise an indication of a type of the one or more components, an identity of the one or more components, a vendor associated with the one or more components, a model associated with the one or more components, a firmware version of the one or more components, or any combination thereof;

send one or more software packages to the RTU based on the attributes received from the RTU, wherein the software packages are configured to monitor and/or control the operations of the one or more well devices based on the software packages;

send one or more workflow instructions to a computing device associated with the RTU based on the attributes received from the RTU, wherein the workflow instructions comprise one or more commissioning steps to be performed by one or more operators for commissioning the one or more well devices; and

store the one or more software packages and the one or more workflow instructions in a profile associated with the RTU, wherein the profile is configured to be used for a different RTU having the same one or more attributes.

8. The cloud-computing system of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the one or more software packages from a database configured to store the one or more software packages.

9. The cloud-computing system of claim 7, wherein the workflow instructions describe an order in which the commissioning steps for the well devices are to be performed.

10. The cloud-computing system of claim 7, wherein the computing device comprises a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a general purpose computer, or any combination thereof.

11. The cloud-computing system of claim 7, wherein the well devices comprises a pumpjack, a submersible pump, a well tree, a wellhead distribution manifold, a separator, storage tank, or any combination thereof.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions configured to:

broadcast a request to communicatively couple to a cloud-computing system, wherein the request comprises an indication of a presence of a remote terminal unit (RTU) in a hydrocarbon site having a hydrocarbon well and identification data regarding the RTU, and wherein the request is configured to cause an intermediary communication component to rebroadcast the request to the cloud-computing system when the cloud-computing system is outside of a communication range from the RTU;

receive a confirmation, via the intermediary communication component, from the cloud-computing system indicating that the RTU has successfully communicatively coupled to the cloud-computing system;

send one or more attributes regarding the RTU, a well device associated with the RTU, the hydrocarbon well associated with the RTU, or any combination thereof, via the intermediary communication component, to the cloud-computing system in response to receiving the confirmation from the cloud-computing system, wherein the one or more attributes comprise an indication of a type of the RTU, an identity of the RTU, a vendor associated with the RTU, a model associated with the RTU, a firmware version of the RTU, or any combination thereof;

receive one or more software packages, via the intermediary communication component, from the cloud-computing system based on the attributes; and

control one or more operations of the well device based on the software packages.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions are configured to communicatively couple to the intermediary communication component configured to access the cloud-computing system.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the intermediary communication component comprises a cloud gateway, Ethernet/IP, Data Highway Plus, ControlNet, DeviceNet, or any combination thereof.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the well device comprises a pumpjack, a submersible pump, a well tree, a wellhead distribution manifold, a separator, storage tank, or any combination thereof.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions are configured to send a set of data acquired by the RTU, via the intermediary communication component, to the cloud-computing system.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the set of data is acquired by one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the RTU.