CHARM The Dawn of a New Era in Checking the Tightness of Natural Gas Pipelines Werner Zirnig, E.ON Ruhrgas, Germany Matthias Ulbricht, Adlares, Germany
E.ON Ruhrgas AG, Germany Germany s leading gas company Gas send out of 60 billion m³/a Pipeline system of 11,300 km Münster Flensburg Emden Hamburg Essen Köln Frankfurt/ Main Hannover Waidhaus Leipzig Berlin Dresden Zwickau Saarbrücken Nürnberg Freiburg Stuttgart München Passau The The European Pipeline Network The E.ON Ruhrgas Pipeline System 2 2006
The Company E.ON E.ON is a worldwide integrated power and gas group E.ON is the world's largest investor-owned energy services provider with almost 80,000 employees E.ON AG Corporate Centre Düsseldorf, Germany E.ON Energie E.ON Ruhrgas E.ON UK E.ON Nordic E.ON U.S. Munich Germany Essen Germany Coventry UK Malmö Sweden Louisville Kentucky USA 3 2006
Adlares GmbH, Germany Adlares is specialized in laser-based remote gas detection systems More than 10 years of experience in laser remote sensing: design of lasers and optics mechanical engineering and system integration data acquisition software development 4 2006
Contents Pipeline operators monitoring tasks Today s natural gas pipeline monitoring in Germany CHARM - The helicopter-borne remote gas detection system Automatic measurement beam positioning by use of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) Use of innovative technologies - the key to improved efficiency and safety in pipeline operation 5 2006
Natural Gas Pipeline Monitoring Tasks in Germany Prevent Third Party Interference Inspect tightness of the pipeline system Monitor ground movement... by paying attention to very different surroundings 6 2006
Today s Pipeline Surveillance in Germany Flying-the-line with small helicopters every month or every fortnight helps to identify Third Party Interference 7 2006
Today s Pipeline Inspection in Germany Walking-the-line with gas sensors in built-up areas once a year, or more frequently in mining influenced areas, helps to find hidden damages Source: Sewerin Example of pipeline track in built-up area 8 2006
CHARM CH 4 Airborne Remote Monitoring The Vision: Combine surveillance flights and inspection of tightness, especially in built-up areas Increase automation and efficiency of monitoring tasks while remaining high safety Today s Reality: Helicopter-borne laser gas detection system in operation Flight altitude: up to 150 m Travelling speed: ~ 70 km/hr. 100 measuring spots per sec. Automatic beam positioning Immediate alarm reporting 9 2006
Laser Measurement Principle Backscatter Area DIAL Differential absorption Lidar λ on Lidar Light detection and ranging λ off Methane absorption lines at 1,6 µm 2,3 µm 3,3 µm 2.0 ch4trans.opj Druck = 1000 hpa Receiver Source: DLR [10-18 cm 2 ] 1.5 1.0 Temp = 296 K λ on Wavelength of methane absorption λ off Reference wavelength σ CH4, σ CH4,eff 0.5 0.0 3150 3200 3250 3300 3350 3400 3450 Wavelength Wellenlänge [nm] 10 2006
Information Provided by CHARM Methandetektion bei Befliegung 11.9.03 Datenfile 30 Zeit: 2:59:18 Fundort 4. 7 6 5 Methankonzentration ppm 4 3 2 1 0 1 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101 111 121 131 141 Datenpunkte 11 2006
Principle of Laser Beam Control Automatic laser beam positioning along the pipeline track by use of DGPS and Geografic Information Systems Determination of helicopter position by differential GPS, using the satellite positioning reference network ascos ± 0.5 m Flight route: digital pipeline coordinates from GIS ± 1 m; ± 3 m Inertial navigation system for real-time recognition of helicopter position Flight route prediction and precise scanner control ± 1.5 m GIS 12 2006
Precision of Laser Beam Control Automatic laser beam positioning (green line) along the pipeline (blue line) within ± 1.5 m 13 2006
Use of Innovative Technologies the Key to Improved Efficiency Swift and well-targeted response to any threats Efficient and safe natural gas pipeline operation A34-BCC-89... A35-BCC-99... A36-BCD-87... A37-CDD-68... A38-BCD-56... A39-CCD-88... STOP 14 2006
Pipeline Inspection 1916
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CHARM - The dawn of a new era in remote gas detection 18 2006