http://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2017/11/hifi-pipeline-leak-detection-technology-adds-digital-capabilities/
Hifi pipeline leak detection technology adds digital capabilities
By Maurice Smith |
Nov. 24, 2017, 3:25 p.m.
Pipeline leak detection company Hifi Technologies says its fibre optic
based technology is gaining traction in the industry after several years
in development.
The Calgary-based company said this week the Vigilant control room
software it developed with GE was installed in the Plains Midstream
Canada control room in Olds, Alberta, to monitor Plains' pipelines in
real time using Hifi's high fidelity dynamic sensing (HDS) technology.
“We will fully admit it is a long and slow sales cycle selling an
innovative technology to the pipeline sector. But now that we can
demonstrate, through recent announcements like the one this week, that
there are pipeline companies deploying this—so you [as a customer] don’t
have to be the first, or even the second or third to deploy—that creates
credibility,” Steven Koles, Hifi's president and chief executive
officer, said in an interview.
Plains collaborated with Hifi last year to deploy the HDS monitoring
system at some pipeline locations. The system works by monitoring high
definition acoustic energy, strain, vibrations and temperature to detect
with a high degree of accuracy pipeline leak signatures, geotechnical
events like landslides and floods, and right-of-way security intrusions.
Plains is now working with Hifi and Baker Hughes, a GE company, to
deploy the enhanced presentation software in its control centre. The
Vigilant system, powered by GE’s Predix platform, provides an “edge to
cloud” platform that allows for real time events and alarms to be sent
to the control room, including multimedia data such as acoustic
recordings from the specific site of the event detected.
“Adding such a high end industrial Internet application platform
integrates well with the performance of the HDS technology, and can
support the industry in achieving 100 per cent pipeline safety,” Koles said.
"The new Vigilant interface is a further enhancement to the current
monitoring applications used in our control centre, which is a key piece
in the safe operations of our pipelines," said Caitlin Heinen, Pipeline
Integrity with Plains.
The versatility and power of Vigilant will allow the product to expand
its capabilities to include other applications such as pig detection and
tracking, as well as other forms of process and event monitoring, Hifi said.
