30
EIC guest editorial
by Harry Smith Sales and Senior Research Engineer, Atmos International
Atmos Theft Net: the human element of pipeline theft detection A loss of fuel, life and order: the current state of global pipeline theft Whether it’s Latin American drug cartels making nearly US$90,000 every few minutes from pipeline theft, the thousands of lives lost annually from oil theft in Africa or the three million litres of fuel smuggled daily from Malaysia to Thailand, pipeline theft remains a global problem.1 With impacts that vary depending on region, it’s important to have a multimethod approach to theft detection, one which firstly considers the importance of advanced hardware and software. The hardware and software behind a leading theft detection system Hardware instrumentation is now capable of being retrofitted to liquid pipelines without the need to create a new tapping point and can support in the detection of multiple theft events. For example, Atmos Eclipse recently helped identify over 12 theft events on a European customer’s 100km pipeline.2 For areas with power and communication limitations, Atmos Eclipse can function as a standalone solution because it’s electrically isolated from the pipeline and can rely instead on solar and wind energy (90250 Volts AC line or 24 Volts DC).3
Additionally, the small size of data acquisition units like Atmos Odin means that they can provide theft detection to areas with limited power and communications while remaining inconspicuous during active thefts at the scene.4 The data collected by hardware instrumentation like Atmos Odin and Atmos Eclipse can then be analysed by software off site. The volume balance and negative pressure wave methods used in Atmos Wave Flow’s software means it can detect leaks fast and with an accurate leak location by utilising intelligent learning that factors meter errors and data variations into its readings.3 What happens when the human element takes centre stage? The human factor has long been a part of curbing pipeline thefts. From physical line walks to helicopter searches, humans have the potential to provide superior accuracy without the distraction of false alarms in a theft detection system.5 Some Latin American companies have saved billions of dollars in potentially lost fuel after introducing the human element to their theft detection6 and Atmos Theft Net is a service which benefits from the humans behind it.
Figure 1: An example of the human element involved in Atmos Odin’s deployment and an Atmos Theft Net analysis
Get in touch Any Share EIC your members news and whoviews... wish to be profiled in this section contact... Email newsdesk@the-eic.com leliam.castro@the-eic.com Phone +44 (0)20 7091 8600
Atmos Theft Net: the power of real people Atmos Theft Net is an offline data analysis service which combines fixed and portable hardware solutions with advanced software and human engineers who analyse the pipeline data. Only experienced engineers who are trained in the latest theft detection technology interpret the data provided and are able to locate leaks and thefts within 5-10 metres of an actual tapping point. This skilled engineer analysis works in tandem with hardware and software solutions to provide higher sensitivity than a standard online system and with a lower false alarm rate. SCADA systems miss most theft events As pipeline theft continuously evolves and becomes a more sophisticated operation, one of the main fuel theft techniques we’re seeing is the ‘try and remain hidden’ approach. This is characterised by the slow opening and closing of valves for small pressure changes, stealing small amounts of fuel over longer periods and often leaving tapping points untouched for long periods (sometimes years). Standard sensors on most pipelines can at best detect leaks as small as 0.5% of the nominal flow rate, meaning they will miss most theft events because they occur at less than 0.3% of the nominal flow rate. By comparison, the engineers analysing Atmos Theft Net data can detect and locate a theft to within five metres for product losses as small as 0.1% of the nominal flow rate, both in static and running conditions.