In partnership with Commtel Networks, Fotech has completed installation and commissioning of its LivePIPE pipeline monitoring system for Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). The system is monitoring activities on 75km of the Mumbai-Pune-Solapur product pipeline.
The specific installation environment is highly prone to nuisance alarms due to heavy industrial and agricultural activity along the pipeline. Fotech developed localization features that effectively segregate nuisance activity from genuine unusual events, thus dramatically increasing the confidence-levels of detecting genuine intrusion incidences.
The System Acceptance Certificate was signed and released in July 2013 by HPCL and the system is now under stablisation.
Based on Fotech’s Helios Distributed Acoustic Sensing technology, LivePIPE is a pipeline monitoring system, which detects and locates intrusions and interference activity along thousands of kilometers of pipeline in real time. Events are detected and classified within seconds to a location accuracy of a couple of meters giving pipeline operators the information to prevent environmental damage and unforeseen cost.
Mr. Shriprakash R. Pandey, Commtel’s CEO, said: “The Fotech LivePIPE system addresses a pressing safety and security need of the Oil & Gas industry where pilferage and accidental damage to pipelines are real problems and the completion of this installation is a key milestone for us and the wider industry. We have worked together with Fotech to commission a highly reliable system. The system is providing an unprecedented level of visibility of activity and threats around the pipeline to our customer.”
Chris Shannon, Fotech’s CEO commented: “With a significant number of system installations underway around the world, completion of the LivePIPE commissioning for HPCL is testament to the success of the Fotech-Commtel partnership. This installation also presented an extremely challenging environment from an acoustic point of view. That we have been able to deliver such an accurate and reliable service while filtering out substantial local ‘noise’ really demonstrates the power of our LivePIPE monitoring system.”
Fotech Solutions, established in 2008, specializes in the development and delivery of Distributed Acoustic Sensing or DAS based solutions. Operating primarily in Oil & Gas & pipeline sectors, Fotech has developed the Helios system which converts an optical fibre up to 40km long into a solution that is equivalent to tens of thousands of individual vibration sensors. Real-time detection of the vibrations caused by acoustic disturbances along the fibre is translated into information that will aid the Oil & Gas operator in exploration, production and delivery activities, or a pipeline operator with intrusion detection, leak detection or pig tracking activities.
Commtel Networks provides advanced engineering and technology solutions focused in Oil & Gas, Power, Transportation and Defense Sectors delivering high performance converged communication and surveillance systems.
