This accuracy is changing the way we do business in ways
that are still being imagined. Objects, easements, structure
location, vehicles, people, camera pictures, utility locations
and equipment can all be accurately measured, captured,
visualised and displayed in real-time to anyone having the
proper log-in credentials, whether that person is sitting in the
office, in their vehicle or standing over a buried asset.
It’s all about the data: delivery, security, and
quality
But how do we know that we can trust the data? Pipeline
operators and their supporting functional partners such
as project designers, constructors, right-of-way agents,
equipment suppliers, surveyors and others need good data in
order to make good lifecycle decisions. Data may have started
out good, but good in the past may not be good enough now.
Positional references may have changed. Data may have been
lost, corrupted, inaccessible, incompatible or inaccurate when
it was first developed or recorded. Garbage in-garbage out
(GIGO) was first termed by the IRS in 1963, popularised by IBM
in the 1970s, and it still applies today. Turning bad data into
good is now possible more quickly and efficiently than ever.
The ability of survey equipment and blue-toothed accessories
to capture specific data on its measurements – the ‘who,
what, where, when and how’ – allows a subsequent reviewer
or user of that data to get a sense of its reliability. Knowing
if that data is original or has been changed in some manner
is also valuable in determining reliability. These processes are
termed the 3Ps of data – precision, pedigree and provenance
(precision and pedigree are trademarked terms of ProStar’s
data applications). The 3Ps can supplement professional
engineers’ or surveyors’ ‘seal’ of data for end-users (Figure 3).
The 3Ps can supplement utility data engineering reliability
standards such as first published in 2002 as ASCE 38 (USA), and
subsequently published as PAS 128 (UK), CSA S250 (Canada),
5488-2013 (Australia), SGUUM (Malaysia) and NTE INEN 2873
(Ecuador).
‘V’ value
The use of all these new technologies results in a large
amount of possible data. The data, when collated and
analysed, i something we commonly refer to today as ‘Big
Data’. Big Data as a concept probably originated with John
Mashey of Silicon Graphics in the mid 1990s. Although its
origins are fuzzy, its concepts are not. In order to make large
amounts of data work, they must contain elements of the ‘Vs’:
volume, variety, velocity, veracity, variability, visualisation and
value. Combining mobile data collection with a) real-time data
back to the Cloud, b) GIS analytics with streamed public and
private databases, and c) the 3Ps, these new technologies now
being implemented in the oil and gas industry can produce
tremendous ‘geospatial intelligence’ with data analytics,
predictive modelling and optimisation of resources.
The right data
Now that necessary background has been established, let’s see
how technologies are being used in the asset lifecycle process
from planning through designing and building and operating.
A specific example may help illustrate how the technologies
integrate over the lifecycle of an asset. Imagine the following
scenario.
Planning
A pipeline operator/owner needs to develop a new pipeline.
Preliminary routes are developed. Google Earth, Bing, or
even private photogrammetry from company data or UAV
surveys are utilised. Parcel information is pulled into the
Cloud from public and private data sources. Values of crops,
tenant income, historical land prices, ownership, wetlands
issues, other easements crossings and other relevant data are
instantly available and visualised in the office.
Various alternative routes are easily investigated as to their
impacts and constructability. A primary route is selected based
upon jurisdictional and company criteria.
Boots hit the ground. Google Directions and other
programmes are launched on a mobile pad or phone to
route the land agent in the most efficient way given current
traffic conditions to a selected starting point. Arriving onsite,
the tablet queries its exact location and knowing the land
agent’s typical functions, pulls up a list of forms that might be
applicable. Many fields within the forms are auto-populated
by Cloud data: owner name, parcel information, tenants,
contact information, and so on. The land agent fills in the
other fields with drop-down menus and may alter auto-
populated fields based upon conversation and observation.
With hands full, voice activated field entry can be used.
Deviations in pipeline routing can be instantly made and
agreed upon by the landowner, with crop values and property
values instantly available and sourced. Deals can be negotiated
on the spot, with real-time submittal of documents for review
to the applicable departments, and signatures obtained
that same visit (if one is really lucky that is). Notes to future
constructors can be annotated, with pictures for clarification,
on where temporary construction can be staged, which gates
are off-limits, and so on. Real-time visualisation of all this
to the property owner hopefully puts a smile on their face,
something spontaneously rare in the easement business.
Design
More details about the selected route are developed.
Mapping of the existing public and private utilities that may
be encountered is performed by engineering and survey
crews. Easements are recorded. For major projects, this may
be performed by crews working under the direct responsible
charge of licensed professionals who will push their sealed
data into the Cloud. Other projects may utilise the services of
in-house locators with field tablets displaying utility record
information and instant recording of their pipe and cable
locating device’s data into the Cloud with 3P attribution
and metadata for later quality assurance checks. When
discrepancies between existing company utility records and
field verifications are discovered, immediate requests for
corrections or for future follow-up can be emailed, texted, or
otherwise communicated back to the relevant departments.
Observance of issues such as missing valve covers, leak odour,
vegetation damage, broken fencing and so on can be instantly
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World Pipelines
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JULY 2015
