Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1487861
2022 USE CASE Monitoring Heat Traces To Improve Operational Safety CHALLENGE An oil & gas refinery in the northern United States had installed numerous heat traces and associated controllers throughout their plant to ensure that pipes would not freeze during harsh weather. At the time of installation, due to the high cost of installing data cables, multiple controllers were left unconnected with the control room. To ensure continuity of operations, refinery personnel were sent to the plant several times a day to check that the heat traces were operating as required. Repeated plant visits exposed the personnel to the hazardous environment of the refinery and bitterly cold temperatures and wind chills. SOLUTION Volley Boast's VoBo is a LoRaWAN® universal bridge that provides an affordable way to retrieve stranded data from existing legacy systems or new installations at points previously too expensive to monitor. The VoBo HL-1 model is a complete battery-powered solution with an expected battery life of up to five years. It is certified for use in 'Class 1 Division 2' hazardous locations in the USA and Canada. It is fully enabled to bridge Modbus devices to LoRaWAN®. Volley Boast's VoBo HL-1 polls the Modbus RTU registers on the unconnected heat trace controllers and sends the data back wirelessly through the LoRaWAN® network. BENEFITS The refinery's control room receives automatic updates on the performance of heat trace controllers every 30min, instead of the twice daily reports from personnel. This results in better continuity of operations with accurate and frequent data saving time and money, as well as a safer work environment for plant's personnel. Smart Industry North America Device Maker COMPANY CONTACT INFO Volley Boast LLC, Houston, Texas - USA https://www.volleyboast.com info@volleyboast.com SITUATION Refinery operators need to always maintain appropriate process temperatures in the piping. Below-freezing temperatures create operational problems. To prevent pipes from freezing, operators maintain the temperature of pipes by wrapping them with heat traces. Heat traces are monitored and controlled by heat trace controllers.