Avoidance of Leak/Rupture through Implementation of Digital Integrated Pipeline Integrity Assurance System i-PIMS

Abstract

In PETRONAS, there are on-going initiatives at petrochemical plants, gas processing plants, Upstream's well engineering and retail business in pursuing the digitilisation in line with the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4. The aim of the initiatives is basically to improve the efficiency of critical processes thus at the end will reduce overall cost and improve production margin and revenue/profitability. This paper will present the initiative of PETRONAS' Pipeline fraternity consisting of pipeline experts, managers and engineers in the development of intelligent and integrated pipeline integrity management system. The system is designed to have minimal people intervention as data will be automatically uploaded by Inspection & Maintenance (I & M) vendors and field technicians through interface software and utilising artificial intelligence/ machine learning for descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics. It is envisaged that by having the system, critical decision-making pertaining to integrity, safety and reliability of pipeline system could be done in ‘split seconds’ extending the asset's life and eliminating unwanted incidents i.e. leak/rupture. Furthermore, standardisation of pipeline risk and integrity software/tools among Operating PETRONAS Units (OPU)/regions will provide cost savings in the long term compared to current practice of having off-the-shelf software/tools. Integration of relevant corporate software/tools and the intended software/ tools will further provide cost savings in terms of database management and enhanced efficiency. There are few other initiatives running in parallel with the i-PIMS i.e. using advanced acoustic emission technology to detect corrosion anomalies using new developed sensors and also establishing algorithms/analytics for corrosion's growth, location and position throughout pipeline length; formation of dynamic free spanning for offshore pipeline; and predicting/monitoring 3rd party impact occurrence. Development of pipeline predictive analytics is to gain significant improvement in PIMS for better integrity status verification, faster decision making and optimization for I&M activities. The overall outcome/results/algorithms will be integrated into i-PIMS as part of final assessment. It is PETRONAS' aspiration that eventually, descriptive analytic of i-PIMS i.e. critical pipeline integrity performance indicators and critical processes can eventually able to be accessed via mobile apps which will be a ‘pace-setter’ in overall pipeline integrity management scheme i.e. ‘effectively managing pipeline at fingertips’.