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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: XTA units may be remote dream come true Canadian firm offers versatile, programmable alarm monitoring and control products
to operators of field installations in Alaska Rose Ragsdale For Petroleum Directory
What if you could keep an eye on that remote oil well, pumping station or water treatment plant while attending to other business hundreds of miles away? What if you could monitor the critical workings of your remote installation during total darkness or in a blinding snowstorm or when temperatures plunge to minus 40 degrees Celsius? And what if you could do all this without breaking the bank?
You can, says RF Works, a marketing, sales and product management company based in Seba Beach, Alberta.
Thanks to a versatile line of wireless communications products manufactured since 1989 by Canada’s Xtel International Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta, you can keep tabs on virtually any kind of remote operation from the comfort of your vehicle or office, according to RF Works.
“Xtel’s equipment works in wide temperature extremes with low power consumption,” says General Manager Blaird Foxton. “We have units in northern Alberta and in Saudi Arabia. You can put our products in a cabinet with a cell phone, satellite phone or two-way radio in the middle of Alaska with a solar panel on it and walk away from it.”
So what can Xtel’s XTA products do? Plenty.
For example, an XTelAlert unit can help reduce or eliminate losses from environmental damage, equipment failure and lost production at remote or unattended facilities by providing reliable advanced warning, remote control and diagnostic trend information.
Units have many uses The XTA product line monitors and controls petroleum processing plants, waste treatment plants, lift stations, radio transmission sites, electrical sub-stations, irrigation systems, air navigation landing systems, tank farms, rail transportation, telecommunication facilities, fire and security, electric drive monitoring and control — providing a smart and easy-to-use communication interface for VSDs at well sites, monitoring and control for non-powered sites.
“One client uses it for environmental monitoring,” Foxton says.
XTAs can monitor remote generators and telephone the operator when a generator runs low on fuel or if noises made by the generator change.
“XTA units are capable of turning equipment off and on and phoning people with alerts if monitored levels get to high,” Foxton says. “And they can put data on a Web site for remote monitoring.”
The basic XTA unit sells for C$1,995, and comes with a two-year warranty.
Foxton says the newest version of the XTA unit will work on digital cell phone systems and can be expanded to 16 binary and 12 analog inputs and five control outputs. It also has serial ports, internal modems and user definable voice labels.
“XTAs can communicate in master and slave mode over two-way radio systems. You can take remote (slave) units and bring their alarms back to wireless master units,” Foxton says. “XTAs can talk ModBus, DF-1 and DGH and we’re willing to incorporate other protocols for communications to VSDs, PLCs and other serial devices.”
Good fit for Alaska Foxton says Xtel’s XTA products are a good fit for Alaska businesses and institutions that need to operate remote installations.
“We’ve kept it simple and easy to use for the operator,” he says.
As a result, RF Works has built a loyal following for XTA products.
“We’ve got guys who insist on our product, even when they change companies because it works for them,” Foxton says.
One reason: RF Works offers technical support 24/7.
Another reason: XTA units have demonstrated high reliability, according to Foxton
“I’ve got units out there that haven’t needed service in 10 years,” Foxton says.
RF Works is looking for dealers in Alaska, adds Foxton.
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