DATAEAGLE on an oil drilling vessel

The Norwegian company Seadrill Limited operates state-of-the-art drilling vessels, as well as jack-up and semi-submersible drilling rigs, worldwide for the extraction of oil and natural gas.

On the 253-metre-long drilling vessel West Navigator, a DATAEAGLE radio link is used in a particularly demanding application: communication with the so-called driller. This fully automatic machine unit threads the drill string, which weighs up to 750 tonnes, and is a central component of the entire drilling process.

The previous wired connection to the driller proved to be prone to faults in day-to-day operation and posed a significant risk to system availability.

On an oil drilling vessel, the highest standards of reliability, safety and availability are required, as even a single day of downtime can incur costs of up to €600,000. In addition, all components had to meet the strict requirements regarding safety, ATEX and ship certification.

A wireless PROFIBUS and PROFIsafe connection with DATAEAGLE has been implemented to ensure secure and stable communication.

Bluetooth with frequency hopping is used as the wireless technology, as this technology enables particularly robust and interference-free communication even under difficult conditions.

Due to the demanding environmental conditions, the DATAEAGLE 3000 was additionally integrated into an explosion-proof housing and specially designed for use on the drilling vessel.

• PROFIBUS wireless data transmission system
• PROFIsafe wireless data transmission system
• DATAEAGLE 3000 wireless module

In a two-year field trial, DATAEAGLE successfully held its own against various competitors.

The wireless solution operates reliably and consistently, playing a key role in preventing costly downtime. For the operator, this translates into significantly greater operational reliability and savings running into millions by avoiding unplanned outages.