Patent Application
20210224727
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for managing the lifecycle of moveable assets. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for managing moveable assets such as components used in the oilfield industry using the blockchain and/or distributed ledger, IOT (Internet of Things) and RFID technologies.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the oilfield industry, lifecycle tracking of assets, such as components used in oilfield service equipment, is often accomplished manually and may be only intermittently completed. For example, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software or other business management software may be used. Manually managing the asset data is expensive and may not be effective for tracking the entire history of the component. In some cases, there may be breaks in data. For example, when a customer takes ownership of the asset, the service company may lose visibility over some aspects of the asset, such as how it is moved, maintained, etc. This lack of data makes providing a full lifecycle asset management service more difficult or impossible and may hinder the service company's ability to maintain performance partnerships. For many types of oilfield equipment components, for example components used in pressure control equipment, tracking can be especially beneficial since it can save costs in testing, repairing or replacing components by increasing accuracy in component targeting.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter as set forth in the claims.
According to some embodiments, a system for tracking moveable assets used in an oilfield related activity is described. The system includes: a plurality of nodes, each node configured to generate, store and validate blocks of data, the validated blocks of data stored at the plurality of nodes forming a distributed ledger; a plurality of facilities, each facility including at least one automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) reader and an environmental sensor, the AIDC reader and the sensor each being in communication with at least one node; a plurality of moveable asset items each including an AIDC tag containing encoded data and configured to have the data read by the AIDC reader. When one of the asset items enters one of the plurality of facilities the ADIC reader at the facility reads the encoded data of the ADIC tag of the asset item. At node is configured to receive information indicating the entry of the asset item into the facility and information indicating measurements from the environmental sensor at the facility, generate therefrom a block of data and append the block of data to the distributed ledger.
According to some embodiments, the distributed ledger is a blockchain ledger, the AIDC reader is an RFID reader and the AIDC tag is an RFID tag. According some embodiments, the encoded data contained in the AIDC tag are encrypted.
According to some embodiments, the moveable asset items are oilfield equipment and components used in oilfield equipment. The plurality of facilities can include at least one component supplier facility, at least one equipment assembler facility and at least one user field site.
According to some embodiments, the oilfield equipment is pressure control equipment configured to be used in oilfield drilling operations, and the user field site is a drilling rig site. The plurality of facilities can further include at least one component repair facility and information indicating results of repair of a component is received by a node which is configured to generate therefrom a block of data and append the block of data to the distributed ledger. The plurality of facilities can also include at least one component testing facility and information indicating results of testing of a component is received a node which is configured to generate therefrom a block of data and append the block of data to the distributed ledger. The environmental sensors can be configured to measure one or more environmental conditions such as: temperature, moisture, humidity, dust, and gas.
According to some embodiments, a method for tracking moveable asset items used in an oilfield related activity is described. The method includes: at a first facility, reading with an automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) reader the presence at the facility or entry into the facility of a first moveable asset item, the moveable asset item including an AIDC tag containing encoded data and configured to have the data read by the AIDC reader; and at the first facility reading with an environmental sensor, at least one environmental condition at the first facility. The method further includes, at a first node, receiving information indicating the presence or entry of the asset item into the first facility and information representing environmental conditions measured with the sensor; generating from the received information a block of data; and appending the block of data to a plurality to a distributed ledger. The method further includes, at a plurality of other nodes, validating the block of data appended by the first node.
According to some embodiments, the method further includes performing one or more of the following based at least in part on the measured environmental condition information associated with a component stored in the blockchain ledger: monitoring the component, testing the component, repairing the component and replacing the component. According to some embodiments, the method further includes managing inventory based at least in part on the blockchain ledger.
The subject disclosure is further described in the following detailed description, and the accompanying drawings and schematics of non-limiting embodiments of the subject disclosure. The features depicted in the figures are not necessarily shown to scale. Certain features of the embodiments may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form, and some details of elements may not be shown in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. These described embodiments are only exemplary of the present disclosure. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these exemplary embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. Like reference numerals are used herein to represent identical or similar parts or elements throughout several diagrams and views of the drawings.
According to some embodiments, vendors/suppliers 110 and 130, company 150 and customer 170 are able to “trade” data related to components and other assets (such as equipment) with each other while minimizing the amount of trust relied upon by any of the parties. Many of the techniques described herein are based on consensus formed between “nodes” based on data provided by a system of interrelated and interconnected devices such as machines, sensors, objects, etc., forming an Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT devices are installed at each facility of each party. In the case of
Benefits provided by one or more of the described embodiments can include one or more of the following: (1) inventory tracking by customers, vendor/suppliers, and other supply chain member locations which can facilitate inventory reduction; (2) tracking customer usage history of assets to obtain or improve performance histories; (3) avoiding delay and costs associated with unnecessary multiple quality checks at different locations by sealing the package at the first factory acceptance test (FAT) site and verifying seals using scanners without manual interfaces; (4) providing a “heads up” or early warning to vendors to product/manufacture additional components when inventory falls below a predetermined threshold level; (5) allowing vendors to compete with each other since they can learn the inventory levels via decentralized portal(s), thereby potentially decreasing costs; (6) provide information/notification when components in a warehouse are not following first-in-first-out process for inventory, thereby reducing likelihood of components losing life on the shelf; (7) facilitating resolution of warranty disputes by using the lifetime and usage history of the components; (8) facilitating tracking of the components; and (9) facilitating tracking of the location of loss.
According to some embodiments, assembly A1 is a blowout preventer (BOP) being assembled and supplied by company 150 to customer 170. Customer 170 can be, for example, an operator, oil and gas company and/or a drilling contractor. The customer 170 installs the BOP assembly A1 at drilling rig site 190. In this example, two components P1 and P2 are shown being supplied by supplier 110 and supplier 130. The component P1 in an example is an elastomer component and the component P2 is a valve. Each of the components, P1 and P2, include RFID tags installed by their respective suppliers 110 and 130. According to some embodiments, the RFID tags on P1 and P2 can be randomly generated using each supplier's private key. The RFID tags on components P1 and P2 are scanned and populated on the blockchain 200 using nodes 216 and 236. Using the RFID tags on the components and the scanners located at each entry and exit point of each location, the components are tracked trough each stage throughout each component's lifetime. Thus, the company 150 can track each component from the supplier (vendor) source to operation (e.g. on a drilling rig), and can facilitate condition based monitoring of various components.
Shown for suppliers 110 and 130 are repair locations 212 and 232, respectively. Every time a repair is been made at vendor site the tracked component is scanned through RFID scanners installed at each stage(room). For example, scanners 214 and 234 are used to scan components P1 and P2 entering and leaving their respective repair locations 212 and 232. Note that although in this example, component P1 and P2 are shown being repaired by their respective vendors 110 and 130, according to some embodiments, the repair of a component may be made at repair facility that is run by the original manufacturer. For example, elastomer P1 might be repaired by vendor 130 in repair location 232 and this would be tracked via RFID scanner 234 and associated with conditions from the sensors located within location 232 (e.g. temperature sensors, moisture/humidity sensors, dust sensors, and gas detectors). Also shown in
Whenever the company 150 receives an item, its facilities it will be automatically scanned through scanner (like EZ tag) installed at warehouse (e.g. RFID scanner 254 for receiving facility 252 and RFID canner 268 for receiving facility 260. The received item information is populated on the blockchain 200 (e.g. via node 256) and verified by the blockchain 200. The data related to the components, including its history, are then transferred to company 150 using its private key and company 150 will have access to all the data related to the component with the transfer of ownership.
From receiving facilities 252 and 260 the components can be transferred to assembly area through the scanner 258 installed at assembly area 262. This data is also populated on the blockchain 200. After the parts P1 and P2 have been assembled on the assembly A1 (e.g. the BOP or BOP Stack), each part (e.g. P1 and P2) still has its own RFID tag. Whenever assembly A1 is scanned through an RFID scanner the history and other data are again populated on the blockchain 200 with all the components that are included in the assembly A1. Since each of the components assembled on each assembly has its own unique RFID, each assembly including all of its components can have their entire lifecycle histories tracked.
In case the assembly or a component is repaired in the company's repair facility 250, the exit from assembly area 262 and entry into repair facility 250 is tracked by scanner 258. In
Whenever an assembly (such as BOP or BOP Stack assembly A1) is shipped to a customer (such as customer 170) it will have an exit scan (e.g. from scanner 258) and an arrival scan (e.g. from scanner 274) at customer side. The exit and entry data are populated on the blockchain 200. According to some embodiments, the data related to the components (P1 and P2) and the assembly (A1) with histories are then transferred to the private key if customer 170 with the transfer of ownership. According to some embodiments, company 150 will continue to have access to all the data related to the assembly and components after the transfer of ownership. Note that a transportation facility between company 150 and customer 170 is not shown but could be monitored and tracked transportation facility such facilities 220 and 240 described supra.
According to some embodiments, every party involved in the activities shown in
According to some embodiments, a “bad actor” who falsifies the data by manipulating transaction of scanner will be penalized by not receiving the rewards through data mining permission. “Bad actors” can be also prevented or rejected using known blockchain techniques including, but not limited to: proof of work (POW), proof of stake (POS), Proof of Authority (POA) and/or delegated proof of stake (DPOS). Similarly, incentive to reward “good actors” will be generated by a transaction fee charged when the components passes through the scanner and will be paid by private key holder. According to some embodiments, the data generated through the scanner could be traded to other parties for their benefit or incentives.
According to some embodiments, the described lifecycle tracking system can be used to facilitate condition-based maintenance for various components. Each usage of the component can be tracked including relevant measured environmental and other use data. Additionally, each repair, modification, testing, storage, and transportation event can also be tracked and include measured environmental data as well.
According to some embodiments, the described tracking system can also be used to facilitate inventory management. For example, the company 150 can easily determine how much inventory is being held by each supplier, customer and also within each of its own facilities.
According to some embodiments, some or all of the tracked information is encrypted such that only a private encryption key hold with the correct permissions can access the detailed information.
According to some embodiments, access to some or all of the data contained in blockchain 200 could be allowed according to pre-negotiated contract terms between the suppliers 110 and 130, company 150 and/or customer 170. The term “smart contract” as used herein refers to a predefined contract that can form part of the blockchain. In a smart contact, the contract terms can be written, coded, distributed and validated on the blockchain. Terms of the contact can be triggers and/or performed automatically, or can be manually triggered and/or performed based on the transactions made according to or verified by the blockchain. Examples include term based on time or based on readings from IOT devices. Examples of smart contracts or contract terms include the following cases. For the transfer of ownership of data, a smart contract can be written in such a way that some predefined portion, or all the data, is automatically transferred when the component is delivered to receiving party. In the case of dispute resolution, a smart contract can be written such that all or part of the relevant data is automatically shared with one or more of the parties and/or with a third party in order to facilitate resolution of the dispute. In the case of a purchase order, a smart contract can be written to remit funds according to an invoice as soon as the part or component is detected by RFID reader at the destination. The smart contract can include terms that it penalizes the manufacturer for late delivery. Payment can be deducted from the recipient's account automatically upon successful delivery. For conditions-based maintenance, the IOT and location data related to the parts can be used to evaluate condition(s) associated with the part/component for possible service or maintenance. The smart contract can be written to monetize the data to the beneficiary. Furthermore, the same data can be used for improvement of the component as vendor could evaluate the condition and improve the part performance.
While much of the description above has been in the context of the tracked assembly were pressure control devices such as a BOP or BOP stack, according to some embodiments, the described tracking system can be used in any other oilfield equipment setting and for any other type of components and oilfield equipment that can benefit from detailed tracking information. For example, the assembly A1 can be a wireline tool, and the component P1 and P2 can components for the wireline tool. Other examples include equipment used for completion, stimulation, seisemic exploration, etc.
While the disclosure may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the following appended claims.
The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and applied to material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature that demonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are not abstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claims appended to the end of this specification contain one or more elements designated as “means for” or “step for” performing a function, it is intended that such elements are to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claims containing elements designated in any other manner, it is intended that such elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). While the subject disclosure is described through the above embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, that modification to and variation of the illustrated embodiments may be made without departing from the concepts herein disclosed.
