Yokogawa Announces Field Wireless Systems Partnership with Petrobras

Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Netherlands) have announced that its subsidiary Yokogawa America do Sul Ltda. has signed a partnership agreement with Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) on the evaluation of field wireless technology based on ISA100.11a: a wireless communication standard for the industrial automation industry established in September 2009 by the ISA100 Committee of the International Society of Automation (ISA).

Through this partnership, Yokogawa will provide Petrobras technical support on the use of field wireless communications and have the opportunity to demonstrate their field wireless products at this company’s test plant. Building on its strong global track record in delivering control systems, sensors, and advanced field wireless technology, Yokogawa will utilise this partnership with Petrobras, a major oil company, to expand its provision of field wireless technology solutions to production plant operators around the world.

A wireless network can be used to connect a control system with field devices that are distributed throughout a plant. Such networks have many advantages that include reducing cabling and other installation costs and allowing the installation of equipment in difficult to wire locations.

To broaden the use of ISA100.11a-compliant products and related services in plant-wide wireless communications applications, Yokogawa is aggressively promoting its “Wireless Anywhere” business concept. Petrobras, on the other hand, wishes to gather more data about the use of this technology in its production processes with the aim of assessing wireless communication robustness and performance. In so doing, it will be able to properly apply this technology and fully explore its benefits.

By being the first to introduce such wireless communications technology, Petrobras seeks to reduce complexity at its plants and accelerate instrumentation project implementation at certain production facilities, improving productivity. To ensure the maximum effective use of this field wireless technology, the two companies have concluded a partnership agreement so that they can fully collaborate in the field testing process and engage in an exchange of experience and knowledge in order to better understand and apply it.