Two sulfur transport pipelines with a total length of 76 km use a heat management system to ensure safe and  reliable temperatures along the route. Although pipeline transport is more cost-effective than road or rail – and the cost-effectiveness increases with the pipeline length – the pipeline and heat management systems have their own unique challenges.

 

 

AP Sensing was selected due to its pipeline expertise, project management capabilities, design proposals and the quality and reliability of our DTS systems.

A total of 5 DTS devices were installed, each with 4 channels. A dual-ended measurement setup was employed, ensuring cable redundancy.

 

The pipeline operators have the complete overview of the entire length of the pipeline in the remote control room, located several kilometers away from the pipeline. AP Sensing’s asset-visualization software SmartVision provides multi-user and multi-DTS device capabilities and database measurement storage. A clear graphical user interface shows the operators color-coded sensor cable routes, indicates the temperature conditions along the lines, and issues alarms if any of the pre-defined conditions for any zone are exceeded.

 

 

 

The initial phase of this large pipeline transport project was completed to everyone’s satisfaction, but it is only a start, because 3 similar projects are in deployment. Valuable assets are protected, thanks to AP Sensing’s fiber optic pipeline integrity and heat tracing solution and expertise in designing, integrating and supervising such complex projects.