Luna Innovations’ fibre optic sensing technology enhances pipeline safety
Luna Innovations, a provider of advanced fibre optic-based technology, has announced that its fibre optic sensing technology is now being used for safety and integrity monitoring on oil and gas pipelines.
Continuous monitoring enables early detection and warning of defects before they become a bigger problems. Detecting a localising complications, such as internal erosion and corrosion, mechanical deformation, leaks and encroachments in pipelines, can be difficult and expensive. Using fibre optic sensors installed along pipelines has proven successful in mitigating these risks.
“This is a great example of Luna’s expanding applications in the oil and gas industry,” said Scott Graeff, president and CEO of Luna Innovations. “Our sensors detect, identify, and localise the conditions that can lead to leaks and breaks in real-time allowing potential emergencies to be addressed immediately, enhancing safety, reducing downtime and lowering maintenance costs.”
The technology has already been proven in the field. A pipeline transport company in Columbia that was experiencing mechanical deformations due to soil and geohazard effects installed Luna’s sensors to diminish these risks.
Using more than 1,000 Luna strain sensors, the company’s Hyperion optical sensing interrogator provides data that allows pipeline operations to understand the mechanical behaviour of buried pipelines under diverse soil conditions.
This information can be used as a predictive measure for the overall integrity of a pipeline installation, which helped the Columbian operator to establish new maintenance protocols and save costs associated with pipeline ruptures and environmental remediation measures.
Continuous monitoring enables early detection and warning of defects before they become a bigger problems. Detecting a localising complications, such as internal erosion and corrosion, mechanical deformation, leaks and encroachments in pipelines, can be difficult and expensive. Using fibre optic sensors installed along pipelines has proven successful in mitigating these risks.
“This is a great example of Luna’s expanding applications in the oil and gas industry,” said Scott Graeff, president and CEO of Luna Innovations. “Our sensors detect, identify, and localise the conditions that can lead to leaks and breaks in real-time allowing potential emergencies to be addressed immediately, enhancing safety, reducing downtime and lowering maintenance costs.”
The technology has already been proven in the field. A pipeline transport company in Columbia that was experiencing mechanical deformations due to soil and geohazard effects installed Luna’s sensors to diminish these risks.
Using more than 1,000 Luna strain sensors, the company’s Hyperion optical sensing interrogator provides data that allows pipeline operations to understand the mechanical behaviour of buried pipelines under diverse soil conditions.
This information can be used as a predictive measure for the overall integrity of a pipeline installation, which helped the Columbian operator to establish new maintenance protocols and save costs associated with pipeline ruptures and environmental remediation measures.
