To make a fifth-generation connection possible, the company is installing a fiber optic network of more than 1,600 km in the Campos and Santos basins in Brazil.
Petrobras, a Brazilian oil company, plans to enable the 5G system in 29 production platforms in the Campos and Santos basins and 17 onshore units by 2024, including refineries, gas treatment units and ports.
The expectation is to increase the speed of data transmission dozens of times, boosting remote operations and real-time monitoring technologies in confined environments, besides leveraging Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality and the Internet of Things (IoT), among other advances.
The first results of the expansion of connectivity in the company are already beginning to appear with the implementation, in progress, of 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) private networks and the leap will occur, in a second stage, with the activation of 5G in a further evolution of the 4G LTE standard.
Optical fiber network
To provide data transmission coverage and enable 5G operation in the offshore environment, the company is installing an extensive fiber optic infrastructure, which will have more than 1,600 km along the Campos and Santos basins in Brazil.
The network is being installed from Praia Grande, on the coast of São Paulo, and the works are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Onshore, Petrobras plans to install 5G in 17 units under its operation, including refineries, gas processing units (GPUs), thermoelectric plants, ports, warehouses and corporate environments, in addition to its research and innovation center (Cenpes, in Portuguese).
With the fifth-generation network, the purpose is to increase the remote control of drones and robots anywhere in industrial plants, both in onshore and offshore environments, as well as expand the digitization of processes and reduce the exposure of professionals to risk.
Boosting the Internet of Things
In addition to onshore platforms and systems, Petrobras intends to extend 5G to mobile units, the Maintenance and Safety Unit (MSU) and support vessels.
With 5G, the company expects to increase process efficiency, reduce costs, raise operational safety, obtain more data extracted from field operations and accelerate decision making.
According to a study from McKinsey, the combination of 5G and LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites can generate gains of up to US$ 70 billion for the global oil and gas industry in the coming years.
At Petrobras, 5G will also drive state-of-the-art innovations, such as the Internet of Things. Furthermore, Petrobras already has a series of ongoing projects gathered at its Center for Excellence in IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things).
At this center, the company’s specialists are focused on developing the various aspects of IIoT, such as industrial data governance, architecture, security and standards, aimed at developing projects for sensors for predicting equipment failures, applications for remote monitoring and image processing.
