Improving pump efficiency

Phil Bogdanovich, CEO of Cipher Skin, USA, discusses the importance of incorporating new technologies to optimise pipeline maintenance.

It has always been a matter of when, not if, a pipeline will fail. According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), since 2001, there have been 12 507 pipeline incidents that have cost the United States nearly US$10 billion in damages. The implications are immense. In addition to product loss, fines, and legal fees, there are significant ecological and environmental impacts to consider. Oil and gas industry leaders must rethink their approach and pivot to strategies that can be climate-conscious and demonstrate environmental stewardship while maximising revenue opportunities. The biggest industry players are facing immense pressure from the public and shareholders alike to put environmental matters at the forefront of their business plans. Even ExxonMobil, at the request of its shareholders, added three climate activists to their board of directors in 2021, unseating three current members while forcing Exxon’s leadership to reassess its business strategy to align with global climate change endeavours.

Environmental hazards of pipeline mismanagement Crude oil spills create lasting environmental and economic hardship, even after the cleanup. The 2010 Kalamazoo River Oil Spill resulted in an estimated 1 million gallons of diluted bitumen leaked. Enbridge was fined US$3.7 million and paid US$177 million in penalties and improved safety measures. The cleanup totaled over US$1.21 billion. In 2019, the Keystone Pipeline caused approximately 383 000 gal. of crude oil to spill into a North Dakota wetland, becoming the second large leak in two years on top of a handful of smaller leaks since the pipeline first opened in 2010.

With the move to include activists on Exxon’s board and Chevron’s recent push for a carbon-cutting plan earlier this year, it is clear companies are finally understanding that consumer preferences have shifted in a major way. They want to work with companies that are doing all they can to be environmentally friendly and are mindful of the impact they are having on future generations.

BP has also gone on the offensive and evolved into a more environmentally conscious company, running various climate-focused campaigns and publicly sharing sustainability

reports and environmental policies. BP knows the incentive is two-fold: it’s good for the environment, and it’s good for the business.

Current pipeline monitoring techniques Pipelines are irreplaceable networks nationally and globally. They are undoubtedly the safest way to move products like gas, oil and water. Therefore, pipeline integrity is key to maintaining both economic and environmental pursuits in this market.

There are three critical phases of pipeline integrity that must be addressed: prevention, detection and mitigation. Prevention is paramount. This includes monitoring operating pressures, conducting internal and external inspections and regularly recording temperatures, flowrates, strain and vibration. Moreover, having objective data that can map decline trends over time is key to scaling preventative efforts.

Oil and gas companies should also monitor the operational and structural conditions of a pipeline to detect commodity releases. Acoustic sensors, computational pipeline monitoring (CPM), and imaging are all sound techniques. If prevention and detection are done well, mitigation can be avoided. However, if a release does occur, the leak must be detected immediately and recovery decisions made swiftly with cleanup beginning directly thereafter.

The most common causes of a pipeline failure include corrosion, incorrect digging near a pipeline, mechanical failure and human error. Pipeline companies provide employee training and ongoing education, work with professional excavators, and practice emergency response protocols. This is good, but it’s not enough. The main ways structural properties of a pipe are currently monitored is through either an engineer digging to the pipe and looking at it (which is time-intensive) or through drones and infrared cameras (which is cost-intensive and hard to scale). Pipeline businesses need new, innovative methods to monitor the structure of a pipe and the liquid or gas that runs through it. It needs to be effective, affordable and scalable in order to cut losses, respond quicker to crises and accelerate sustainability.

Prevention: the next generation of pipe monitoring Pipe leaks can be avoided if we have continuous visibility into them and understand how they degrade over time. That’s where new technologies like sensors can come into play. Sensor technologies that surround pipes can monitor the forces applied on a pipe and the flow inside the pipe without the use of cameras, drones or excavation. Wrapped around the entire surface of the pipe, these sensors can capture multiple measurements concurrently – allowing pinpoint, around-the-clock monitoring. Operators can then monitor for stress, strain, distortion, vibration, flow, temperature, moisture, light, and density.

Putting pipe monitoring to use Remote monitoring systems enable companies to increase productivity and avoid unplanned interruptions. According to a study by the Aberdeen Group, unplanned maintenance downtime issues result in upwards of US$260 000 per hour and more than US$20 billion per year in repair costs and loss of product. Another report from GE found that fewer than 24% of operators describe their maintenance approach as a predictive one based on data and analytics. In other words, over three-quarters of operators make reactive or time-based decisions.

By implementing proactive measures, leak prevention can yield an increase in asset lifespan while lowering maintenance costs and improving company production. For example, fuel retailers recognise that loss of fuel is a loss of money, whether through a release or decreased flowrate. A slower flow in gas at the pump can cause consumers to leave the station before their gas tank is full, or force them to use other stations altogether. Being able to monitor the characterisation of the fluid running through the pipes, in addition to potential pipe damage, is critical to revenue gains.

Continual visibility into pipelines enables operators to identify possible hazardous conditions before they occur, which is key to limiting exposure to petroleum products and improving the overall safety and compliance protocols in the workplace. By tracking objective data overtime, companies can forecast when maintenance should be completed to avoid issues, save on costs, and keep employees safe.

The short and long-term impact of pipe monitoring There are many risks at play in pipeline management. Pipe infrastructure in the US is old – some were installed as long as 150 years ago. They are disintegrating at various rates throughout the nation, which makes failure hard to predict. Without continuous monitoring through new technologies, the deterioration of pipe systems won’t be detected until it’s too late and we are faced with a major crisis.

Sensors can be fused into legacy supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and fill in critical holes that may have gone unmonitored. In the short term, this means if and when a leak happens, it can be detected within seconds versus days and weeks, mitigating the environmental and economic ramifications. In the long term, and as pipeline companies gather more information they passively monitor, vital information on the evolution of a pipe failure will be available.

Nevertheless, pipeline management and remote monitoring systems will only succeed if new technologies are seamlessly embedded into the management and control of procedures and are present throughout the process of building, operating and maintaining pipelines. We need to use technology to better understand how pipeline maintenance can be optimised, how we can extend the lifespan of pipes, and how we can build better businesses focused on revenue growth and sustainability best practices. Improving pipe integrity must be made a priority for the oil and gas industry. By upgrading pipe infrastructure and monitoring methods, we can not only avoid critical product loss and optimise business growth, but also prevent environmental devastation.