Can RFID Monitor Fuel Management?

Is there a radio frequency identification-based fuel-control system currently on the market?

—Name withheld

———

Yes, there is.

In 2010, we wrote about an Ontario, Canada-based hydropower distribution company called Horizon Utilities Corp., which had begun utilizing an RFID-powered fuel-management system to enable and track its vehicles' fueling. The system was developed by Israeli firm Orpak Systems Ltd., and was provided by Complete Innovations' Fuel Fast division. Horizon Utilities took the system live in November 2009 (see Electric Company Gases Up on RFID).

In 2005, On Track Innovations (OTI), an Israeli developer of smart-card applications, and Peruvian company Automation Service S.A.C. (ASSAC), which provides station- and fleet-fueling solutions, deployed a fuel-management system for gold-mining company Minera Yanacocha, in Peru. The EasyFuel system allows the mining company to automate the refueling of its truck fleet (see Peruvian Mine Gases Up With RFID).

And in 2003, the U.S. Social Security Administration upgraded the pump used at its headquarters to the FuelMaster 3000, sold by Tallahassee, Fla.-based Syn-Tech Systems Inc. Built into the nozzle of the FuelMaster 3000 is an RFID tag that is read by the FuelMaster Automotive Information Module, installed at each car's odometer. The information module then transmits an RF signal containing the vehicle's unique ID number and odometer reading to the pump. This information can be downloaded, along with the amount of fuel delivered, to the relevant database via a wired connection.

I don't know what type of fuel you are trying to control, but Viridis, a Toronto-based provider of vehicle fuel-dispensing systems for compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrogen, has developed an RFID-based system for ensuring safety and accurate billing when refueling CNG vehicles (see RFID to Ensure Safe Refueling of Natural Gas Vehicles).

—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal