Home // International Journal On Advances in Internet Technology, volume 14, numbers 1 and 2, 2021 // View article

FracBots: The Next IoT in Oil and Gas Reservoirs

Authors:
Abdallah AlShehri
Klemens Katterbauer

Keywords: Wireless underground sensor network; magnetic induction communication; FracBot network; 4IR; artificial intelligence; formation evaluation; robotics; reservoir mapping

Abstract:
Fracture Robots (FracBots) technology is a game-changing technology that has, been developed to revolutionize upstream operations. FracBots are magnetic induction (MI)-based wireless sensor nodes that have the inter-node wireless communication, sensing and localization estimation capabilities. FracBots are miniature devices that can operate as wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs) inside hydraulic fractures to collect and communicate important data and generate real-time mapping. A large number of FracBots is deployed to establish FracBot-to-FracBot connectivity, making the technology the first IoT (Internet of Things) to generate and exchange data inside the reservoir without human intervention. In addition, a novel artificial intelligence (AI) framework is designed for the real-time sensor selection for subsurface pressure and temperature monitoring, as well as reservoir evaluation. The framework encompasses a deep learning technique for sensor data uncertainty estimation, which is then integrated into an integer-programming framework for the optimal selection of sensors to monitor reservoir formation. The results are rather promising, showing that a relatively small numbers of sensors can be utilized to properly monitor the fractured reservoir structure.

Pages: 22 to 35

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2021. Used with permission.

Publication date: December 31, 2021

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2652