Oil Refineries to Test Sensor Tags

In the second pilot, at a refinery in Northern California, the i-Sense Talkers will include motion sensors to monitor the vibration levels of large cooling fans used in the oil-refining processes.

The goal, says Becker, will be to check the vibration metrics collected by the sensors against a benchmark representing optimal vibrations that is stored in the i-Sense Talker's memory. "Anytime there is an excursion outside of that range," Becker states, "[i-Sense Talker] will take an action, such as someone being notified. If [the measurement] is radical enough, the device could turn off the fan."

The third pilot, currently in development at yet another refinery, will monitor and facilitate the mixing of different crude oil levels during the formation of gasoline, using either a sensor that monitors fluid viscosity, or one able to track fluid levels. "This third pilot is still in discussion as to what sensors and processes to use," says Becker.

All three pilots are slated to run for three months, then be expanded to include additional RFID-based sensors, as well as possibly tighter integration with the refineries' distributed control systems. "Safety is a very critical issue," Becker explains. "If you were to have to shut down a process, it could cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars an hour, so everything has to be tested and retested vigorously before you let a machine-to-machine process take over."

Both Becker and Bryan say the RFID-enabled intelligent devices they are developing have great promise for a variety of applications. In fact, MachineTalker's technology has already been tested by LogConGroup, a logistics consulting firm that is employing the devices in a logistics pilot for the U.S. Army Garrison Rock Island Arsenal.

An iRFID-based device is entirely different than current RFID tags on the market, Becker notes, adding, "While it can be made to talk to an RFID reader, it has so much more capability. I think you are going to see these types of devices supersede current RFID tags. There is a cost issue that arises because they are more expensive, but the capabilities for logistics and process control and enhancement of or assurance of something being delivered far exceeds the capabilities of current RFID devices."