REMOTE CONTROL OF FLUID-HANDLING DEVICES

• US 20140163749A1
• Filed: 01/03/2014
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SitePro, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AmpliSine Labs, LLC
• Inventors: Phillips, Aaron
• Granted Patent: US 9,342,078 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/283
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 47/00 Survey of boreholes or wells monitoring pressure or flow of drilling fluid E21B21/08
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0428 Safety, monitoring G05B19/0423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23472 Confirmation of user for the selection of a program setting
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24015 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25204 Translate between different communication protocols
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31369 Translation, conversion of protocol between two layers, networks
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 9/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 7/0676 by action on flow sources G05D7/0688, G05D7/0694 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

Provided is a process, including: receiving, via the network interface, from a remote user device, a command to change a state of the fluid-handling device to a target state; translating the received command into a translated command operative to cause a local controller of the fluid-handling device to drive the fluid-handling equipment to the target state, the local controller being responsive to the command and feedback from the fluid-handling device indicative of whether the fluid-handling device is in the target state; and sending the translated command to the local controller

Claims

1. A system for remotely controlling fluid-handling device of an oil well, a petro water disposal or re-injection facility, or a petroleum pumping station, the system comprising:

an input/output module operable to communicate with a fluid-handling device;

a network interface;

memory; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to the input/output module, the network interface, and the memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the processors cause the processors to effectuate steps comprising;

receiving, via the network interface, from a remote user device, a command to change a state of the fluid-handling device to a target state;

translating the received command into a translated command operative to cause a local controller of the fluid-handling device to drive the fluid-handling equipment to the target state, the local controller being responsive to the command and feedback from the fluid-handling device indicative of whether the fluid-handling device is in the target state; and

sending the translated command to the local controller.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory also stores instructions that when executed by the processors cause the processors to effectuate steps comprising:

receiving, from the fluid-handling device, sensor data indicative of the operation of the fluid-handling equipment obtained by sensors of the fluid-handling device; and

sending, to a remote data store, the received sensor data.

3. The system of claim 2, comprising the remote data store and a web-server, wherein the web-server is operative to perform steps comprising:

receiving, from a user device, a request for a data indicative of the operation of an oil well, a petro water disposal or re-injection facility, or a petroleum pumping station coupled to the fluid-handling device;

retrieving, from the data store, data responsive to the request from the user device; and

sending, to the user device, the retrieved data for presentation to the user.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the request is a request for data indicative of an amount of oil or other type of fluid extracted from, or injected into, an oil well, a petro water disposal or re-injection facility, or a petroleum pumping station to which the fluid-handling device is coupled, and wherein the retrieved data comprises data indicative of the amount of oil, produced fluid, or flowback fluid.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the request is a request to view alarms issued by the fluid-handling device, and wherein the retrieved data comprises data indicative of the alarms.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the retrieved data comprises messages provided to the web-server regarding attempts to address the alarms.

7. The system of claim 2, comprising the remote data store and a web-server, wherein the web-server is operative to perform steps comprising:

receiving, from a user device, the command to change the state of the fluid-handling device; and

determining a network address of the network interface; and

sending the command to the network interface.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein fluid-handling device comprises a pump, and wherein the command comprises a command to change a speed of the pump.

9. The system of claim 1, comprising a remote terminal unit through which the one or more processes communicate with the fluid-handling device, wherein translating the received command comprises:

identifying an address on a serial bus corresponding to a component of the fluid-handling device responsive to the received command;

identifying a command code operative to cause the component to execute the received command; and

sending to the address on the serial bus the command code.

10. The system of claim 1, comprising a digital-to-analog converter, wherein the fluid-handling device comprises a valve responsive to an output signal of the digital-to-analog converter, and wherein translating the received command comprises changing an output signal of the digital-to-analog converter responsive to the receive command.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein receiving the command comprises receiving the command via a first network socket, and wherein sending the translated command comprises sending the translated command via a second network socket.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein translating the command comprises selecting among an Internet Protocol, a modbus protocol, and an analog output to convey the translated command.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the local controller comprises a processor operative to execute the translated command after losing a network connection to the network interface and before the fluid-handling device is in the target state.

14. The system of claim 1, comprising one of the following coupled to the fluid-handling device:

an oil well, a salt water disposal well, a carbon-capture well, or a pump station.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the fluid-handling device comprises an oil/water separation unit, and wherein the command comprises a command operative to change a level of the oil/water separation unit at which oil meets water.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the oil/water separation unit comprises a pump having a variable-frequency drive, and wherein the local controller is operative to adjust a frequency of the variable frequency drive until the level of the oil/water separation unit reaches a target level corresponding to the target state.

17. The system of claim 1, comprising:

a remote server coupled to the network interface via the Internet;

a plurality of oil-wells, petro water disposal or re-injection facilities, or petroleum pumping station, each oil well, petro water disposal or re-injection facility, or petroleum pumping station coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of systems, each respective system being in communication with the remote server via the Internet and comprising;

a respective input/output module operable to communicate with a respective fluid-handling device;

a respective network interface;

a respective memory; and

a respective set of one or more processors communicatively coupled to the respective input/output module, the respective network interface, and the respective memory, wherein the respective memory stores instructions that when executed by the respective processors cause the respective processors to effectuate steps comprising;

receiving, via the respective network interface, from the remote user device, a respective command to change a respective state of the respective fluid-handling device to a respective target state;

translating the received respective command into a respective translated command operative to cause a respective local controller of the respective fluid-handling device to drive the respective fluid-handling equipment to the respective target state; and

sending the respective translated command to the respective local controller.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the remote server comprises a user account data store storing data associating each of the respective systems with a single user account distinct from a plurality of other user accounts in the data store.

19. A tangible, non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via the network interface, from a remote user device, a command to change a state of the fluid-handling device to a target state;

translating the received command into a translated command operative to cause a local controller of the fluid-handling device to drive the fluid-handling equipment to the target state, the local controller being responsive to the command and feedback from the fluid-handling device indicative of whether the fluid-handling device is in the target state; and

sending the translated command to the local controller.

20. A method, comprising:

receiving, via the network interface, from a remote user device, a command to change a state of the fluid-handling device to a target state;

translating the received command into a translated command operative to cause a local controller of the fluid-handling device to drive the fluid-handling equipment to the target state, the local controller being responsive to the command and feedback from the fluid-handling device indicative of whether the fluid-handling device is in the target state; and

sending the translated command to the local controller.