Anadarko Petroleum is a leading oil and natural gas exploration and development company (acquired by Occidental Petroleum in 2019). To manage the maintenance and inspection of thousands of oilfield valves, the company engaged ProTech Sales, a specialized valve distributor and service provider.
The scale of the assets and the vast expanse of the oil fields presented significant operational challenges. To address these, Anadarko and ProTech Sales adopted RFID technology to enhance field maintenance processes, improve real-time asset visibility, and ensure regulatory compliance.
ProTech Sales collaborated with Xerafy to implement an integrated RFID solution tailored for valve maintenance and inspection. This solution extended the operational life of the valves while simplifying compliance with EPA and OSHA regulations for Anadarko Petroleum.
Challenges: Valve Maintenance and Inspection, a Critical Process in Oil Fields
Valve maintenance and inspection are critical in oil fields because valves are essential for controlling the flow of petroleum or chemicals in pipelines. A single valve failure can lead to significant operational disruptions, costly downtime, and environmental risks, including spills. Regular maintenance ensures proper functioning, prevents unexpected failures, and helps comply with stringent government regulations, such as those from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which require thorough documentation of inspections. By maintaining operational integrity, valve inspections safeguard both the efficiency of oilfield operations and the safety of surrounding environments.
Traditionally, valve maintenance and inspection in oil fields relied heavily on manual, paper-based processes, which presented significant challenges. Inspectors had to locate valves across large, remote areas and manually record data, which was then transcribed into spreadsheets. This method was time-consuming, error-prone, and often led to inefficiencies in planning and execution. Outdated maps and incomplete records further compounded the difficulties, delaying inspections and complicating compliance with audits or emergencies.
With over 5,000 valves spread across more than 1,000 square miles, manually tracking the location of valves quickly appeared as a significant challenge. Without real-time tracking, both Protech Sales and Anadarko lacked visibility into the status and maintenance history of each valve. This lack of accountability made it difficult to ensure that each valve was inspected and serviced on schedule.
Solution: RFID-Enabled Valve Inspections
ProTech opted to create an automated solution based on passive EPC Gen 2 ultra high-frequency (UHF) RFID technology. The solution integrates handheld RFID readers, mobile devices, and cloud-based software to capture, analyze, and store real-time inspection data. By providing accurate digital records, it supports engineers in maintaining operational consistency, ensuring regulatory compliance, and enhancing overall efficiency.
The companies selected Xerafy’s MICRO series rugged RFID tags for their ability to survive in harsh environments, making them essential for oilfield applications where extreme conditions are the norm. The ATEX-certified tags are affixed to each valve via an epoxy adhesive. They provide a unique identifier that can be easily read by handheld RFID readers and recorded in the system when they are inspected or serviced.
Carol Arnim, ProTech Sales’ project manager says: “The MICRO tags can withstand temperature swings between -40 and +482 Fahrenheit (-40 to +250 C). The long read range, she reports, was an important consideration, providing access to valves located aboveground and potentially out of inspectors’ reach without using a lift.”
Their ability to perform reliably on metal surfaces, endure severe temperature fluctuations, and offer long-range scanning ensures consistent performance in challenging scenarios like locating valves aboveground or out of reach. Moreover, the MICRO series tags come with EPC and user memory capabilities, that enable the storage of unique custom identifiers, facilitating detailed asset tracking and operational customization. These features directly support efficient inspection and maintenance workflows, addressing the operational needs of engineers in the field.
Xerafy offered its MICRO series of rugged on-metal RFID tags for high-temperature applications
The solution is an end-to-end valve management system including a full line of valves, installation, servicing and greasing, as well as the recording and maintaining of all the data. The system provides real-time, actionable valve history to ensure on-time maintenance and compliance verification to reduce valve costs and audit penalties and avoid shutdowns and spills. The company offered the RFID-enabled inspection service to other customers and applied RFID tags to all valves that it rents to petrochemical companies.
Transforming Operations: Key Benefits of RFID in Valve Maintenance
The RFID-based valve tracking solution implemented by Protech Sales has transformed maintenance workflows, addressing key challenges in oilfield operations:
Optimized Maintenance Efficiency: Automated data collection and valve tracking eliminate manual errors and reduce the time required for locating and inspecting valves, enabling faster and more reliable maintenance.
Data-Driven Insights: Real-time tracking and comprehensive valve histories empower engineers to anticipate maintenance needs, detect performance trends, and allocate resources effectively.
Compliance Made Simple: RFID-enabled tracking ensures accurate, up-to-date records, simplifying adherence to DOT, EPA, and OSHA standards while mitigating audit risks.
Increased Asset Longevity: The ability to schedule precise maintenance extends valve lifecycles, reducing replacements and lowering operational costs.
Future-Proof Scalability: With Xerafy’s RFID tags and a scalable software framework, the solution is equipped to integrate with emerging technologies like IoT sensors, paving the way for predictive maintenance and advanced analytics.
Bob Pacheco, President of Protech Sales, stated, “We have been able to create a unique solution that can withstand the harsh oil field environment and deliver real-time data and visibility needed to improve field maintenance operations. Anadarko Petroleum has successfully proven the RFID system streamlines inspection processes and optimizes performance by automating valve tracking.”
Xerafy is a pioneer in Industrial RFID, bringing to market several innovations that enable advanced industrial identification and automation capabilities for the Oil and Gas industry.
In addition to a complete range of field-proven RFID tags available off-the-shelf, Xerafy offers Custom RFID Tags services, covering everything from a personalization service bureau to custom-design engineering capabilities.