Dr. Premkumar Thodi, Mike Paulin, Larry Forster
and Glenn Lanan, INTECSEA, Canada,
take a
closer look at fibre optics for leak detection in
the challenging Arctic.
T
he next frontiers for oil and gas development are the Arctic and sub-Arctic
waters, but these regions bring many challenges to safety, the environment
and economics. With their remote locations and harsh environments, safe
transportation of the hydrocarbons will most likely be accomplished via
pipelines.
Arctic conditions bring a myriad of challenges to pipelines such as ice gouging, frost
heave, strudel scour and permafrost thaw settlement. These conditions and other types
of failure mechanisms – notably corrosion and third party damage – could lead to
potential pipeline leaks.
Leak detection systems (LDS) will be of primary importance in these pipelines. While
large leaks could be identified easily and rapidly, small chronic leaks that go undetected
for a period of time could have serious consequences, especially if the pipelines are
buried in remote locations or under seasonal ice cover.
Conventional LDS
At the present time, conventional pipeline LDS use a variety of flow condition monitoring
devices to detect leaks. Such technologies as monitoring internal pressures,
flowrates and acoustic signatures are all used to detect large and
small pipeline leaks. However, technology to detect
sub 1% leaks is rarely used and, when
it is used, it can expose
projects
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