Extraction of energy from hydrocarbon sources requires significant infrastructure. One component are pipelines, which are a key transport mechanism for the Oil & Gas industry. Integrity of these assets, and their safe performance with respect to external events, can be improved via monitoring. RINA ASSET TRACE is a novel remote monitoring tool for submarine pipelines. The system allows the owner to pre-emptively diagnose safety issues and make quick decisions regarding operation.
The application is hosted on the RINA CUBE digital platform. CUBE integrates data from multiple sources and utilizes machine-learning driven analytics to create unique business insights, helping companies take evidence-based decisions. The application's key functions include monitoring of: i) Seismic Events ii) Weather and Metocean conditions; iii) Third Party Activities.
Logging on to RINA CUBE, the operator can view and download all the parameters of interest via a PC, tablet or smartphone. Notifications suggest priorities for inspection, intervention, and maintenance programs, minimizing inspections in areas not significantly affected by geohazards/third party hazards.
Extraction of energy from hydrocarbon sources requires significant infrastructure. One component are pipelines, which are a key transport mechanism for the Oil & Gas industry. Integrity of these assets, and their safe performance with respect to external events, can be improved via monitoring. RINA developed a novel remote monitoring tool for submarine pipelines. The system allows the owner to pre-emptively diagnose safety issues and make quick decisions regarding operation.
The application monitors seismic events detected by local and international agencies, evaluates the potential effects of each detected earthquake at along the pipeline corridor, and compares estimated ground acceleration/velocity at each corridor sub-section with defined threshold values. Three main steps are needed to implement the system for a new pipeline:
• identify preferred earthquake bulletins;
• select Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs) for acceleration/velocity estimates;
• define threshold values and levels of alarm.
The system identifies earthquakes which have the potential to damage the pipeline in near real time. The identification requires accurate earthquake data such as date and time, location, magnitude, magnitude type and focal depth. This data is obtained by downloading publicly available seismic network databases.
