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Customer application 17 July 2019
Numerous Protocols and a Simple Solution for Everything

At Patterson-UTI, engineers needed the various systems of their land-based drilling rigs to communicate with one another, while also keeping them isolated. This created quite a challenge.

“We couldn’t easily integrate these two systems because each one of them lives on different networks,” explains Mahmoud Hadi, Control and Automation Manager at Patterson-UTI. “We wanted to have restricted exposure, but each system still needs to be able to access the other system.” The solution for Patterson-UTI was to use the WAGO PFC200 as an IIoT gateway. Collecting data from all of their systems, the PFC 200 worked as an aggregator, sharing data with stakeholders who needed that information while protecting the systems that needed to be isolated, safely separated.

“It’s a really fantastic win for WAGO and Patterson-UTI,” says WAGO Regional Sales Manager John Hagar. “The PFC 200 can communicate either with the Modbus® or PROFIBUS, so you can put one of these on existing oil rigs and very easily – via OPC UA and MQTT – make the data available to the end customer. You can make a retro fit kit that will go on existing rigs, and all new rigs will come with a 750-8206.”

The biggest advantage is the availability of all these different protocols.
Mahmoud Hadi, Control and Automation Manager at Patterson-UTI

All Key Protocols Available

According to Hadi, what differentiated WAGO from other competing data aggregators were the many features the PFC200 offered and the direct support they received from WAGO during the decision-making process. “I would say that the biggest advantage is the availability of all these different protocols ...,” continues Hadi. “WAGO has that ability to offer all the relevant protocols, and we can choose freely. But the price and the support we received were really why we chose WAGO in the end.”

Patterson-UTI’s access to WAGO’s extensive online libraries was another reason for deciding to use the PFC 200 according to Wayne Steed, Patterson-UTI Control Engineer. “Making sure that the libraries are specific to each protocol we were using and the different logic we were trying to implement in the gateway was very valuable to us,” he said.

“WAGO integrated OPC UA and MQTT capability into its PFC in order to make it IIoT-ready,” explains Hagar. “This enables them to talk to Amazon (AWS), IBM (Bluemix), Microsoft (Azure) or other cloud-based data center solutions.” Patterson-UTI connects with AWS for their data processes.

About Patterson-UTI Energy:

  • Patterson-UTI, with Headquarters in Houston, Texas, is a leading provider of diversified energy services focused on innovative solutions, operational excellence and Tier 1 performance.

  • Their expertise includes contract drilling services with industry leading super-spec rigs, pressure pumping services, rental services and directional drilling services that provide proven paths of success for our customers.

  • They have a fleet of ready-to-use, 1.6 MM horsepower land-based drilling rig , as well as a leading position in directional drilling and wellbore placement services.

Working with WAGO and Innovative IDM, they were able to put together a specialized kit.
Wayne Steed, Control Engineer at Patterson-UTI

“Working with WAGO and Innovative IDM (distributor), they were able to put together a specialized kit,” says Steed. “WAGO created a special part number that would combination all the parts we needed to ship to each of our rigs. So getting that part number was a large advantage for connecting Patterson, WAGO and Innovative IDM.”

With WAGO’s PFC 200, Patterson-UTI is now able to collect data from all of their systems while keeping those systems safely isolated from each other.

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