Digitalization

Pipelines are crucial to daily life, requiring ongoing monitoring and protection. Vibroacoustic Technology (VT) offers reliable pipeline monitoring by detecting various phenomena through vibroacoustic waves. However, even the best field solutions and software lose effectiveness without a user-friendly interface. Timely detection and localization of...

Third-party interference, particularly construction-related damages, is a critical risk for gas pipeline infrastructure. To address these risks, CSE PreFerenceE, a specialized module within the Pipeline Integrity Management System (PIMS), provides high-precision GIS-based threat analysis and recommends mitigation strategies. Using machine learning...

Prediction of external corrosion using data from in-line inspections (ILI) can be instrumental in making proactive pipeline integrity management decisions, especially when integrated with geospatial data. This work investigates how a relationship may be established between the presence of bending-strain areas and the initiation and or progression...

The distribution of natural gas through Istanbul's pipelines requires the control of temperature, pressure, draft, consumption, and composition to securely reach 16 million people. The digitalization journey begins at the gas takeover points and extends to the combi boilers of residents. SCADA is integrated into all regional and central metering...

This paper presents a pipeline monitoring system designed to detect, locate, and classify leakages and Third-Party Interference (TPI) incidents along a pipeline right-of-way using Vibroacoustic Technology. The system is ideal for retrofitting existing pipelines and focuses on real-time asset monitoring to detect activities such as excavation or...

The rapid growth in digitalization and automation results in industrial plants increasingly interconnected through IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operational Technology) networks. While this interconnectedness offers significant operational advantages, it also makes plants vulnerable to cyber-physical attacks. Such attacks can lead to major...

As pipeline industry challenges continue to grow, it’s never been more important to make maximum use of the data available for leak detection. Crucial to this is the deployment of hardware that allows pipeline operators to access more data, resulting in a more effective leak detection system. In this article, Sales and Senior Research Engineer...

This article describes an approach to the assessment of steel pipelines regarding their potential suitability for hydrogen transportation. The assessment is made based on pipeline inventory data available in georeferenced form in a GIS, as well as in supplementary databases, and uses the software platform trascue. PIMS by GEOMAGIC GmbH, combined...

Shortly after the war in Ukraine had begun, it became clear that Germany needed to diversify its sources of natural gas supply to reduce its dependency and ensure its national energy security. The import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the Wilhelmshaven port required a strong connection to the national gas transmission network. OGE had to...

Pipeline Integrity Management Systems (PIMS) have significantly improved the safety of pipelines in Europe and the United States. New technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and modern Geographic Information System (GIS) visualization can and will elevate pipeline integrity to a new level. However, challenges for pipeline integrity have...

Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing is a highly sensitive technology for leak detection that can provide rapid detection and precise locating of small leaks. The evidence from field trials and real-world leaks is becoming increasingly available and more and more pipelines are implementing the technology for leak detection. Under controlled testing, it...

Effective monitoring and anomaly detection are fundamental prerequisites for safeguarding the efficiency, integrity and reliability of pipeline systems. Here, we explore both physics-based and machine-learning approaches for operational asset monitoring and anomaly detection, as well as evaluate their performance and appropriateness across a...

This study rigorously validates run comparison (RC) software, essential for accurate corrosion growth rate assessments in pipelines, using an extensive synthetic dataset and an experimental K-nearest neighbours-based algorithm across 2,000 diverse spools. Detailed within the paper are the synthetic data generation, in-line inspection (ILI) run...

Operators need to keep their pipelines fit for purpose, maximize life and control costs. External corrosion is one of the main threats faced by operators, costing millions annually in identification, mitigation and repair. Although many methods exist to model the growth of corrosion features, the situation is often most complicated for “unpiggable”...

Conventional inline inspection (ILI) tools use odometer wheels to determine the location of identified defects. On top of that, above ground markers (AGMs) are used to confirm and potentially correct for odometer wheel slippage. Free-floating unconventional ILI tools use information from a variety of sensors to accurately locate defects. Accurately...