Water Extraction Reel & Y Branch

Completed

Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas)

Applied Research and Development

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Project Contact
SGN

Network Innovation Allowance

Ofgem

01 November 2013

01 January 2016

26 months

£100,480

Energy

South East

Network Innovation Allowance

Project Contact, SGN

The key objectives of this project are to design and develop a single-line water removal system, to be used in conjunction with the current camera systems, to detect and remove water from the network from one excavation. To achieve this the key objectives will be: Pipetech to research, develop, and produce working drawings of productPipetech to produce two working models of product and factory testTraining, for the purpose of the field trial, on the use of the new equipment provided by PipetechSGN to field trial new equipment on suitable sites yet to be identifiedSGN to present the outcome of the project to the other Licensees The success criteria for the project is to develop a product which: Allows water ingress incidents to be dealt with only 1 excavationCan identify the location of the water and extract the waterIn order to determine whether this project has been successful or not at various stages it will be reviewed at key milestones set throughout the project, this will ensure value for money is received by the customer, with the avoidance of unnecessary expenditure. The new product will be trialled on the network in a number of different environments from urban to rural settings. Following field trials a review and product evaluation will be carried out to determine whether this equipment is suitable and successful in aiding the detection and removal of water from the network.

The safety of our assets and ensuring they operate to their full potential is of paramount importance. A not uncommon problem on our networks is water ingress. Water ingress is most commonly caused by water entering the gas mains through small pockets of corrosion on metallic mains or due to third party damage. Water ingress can lead to a loss of system pressure and a loss of supply to customers, both of which can have cost and safety implications. Currently there are a number of basic techniques used to find water build up points inside the main. A common approach to identifying the location of the water is to carry out pressure surveys on the area of the network where the pressure problem has been identified, this helps narrow down the possible location of the water. The water in the main always travels to the lowest point, therefore in order to extract the water, the low point must be found and excavated around and below in order to fit a siphon point to drain the water. However, unless there is a visible change in ground level, it is very difficult to determine the low point of the main. Therefore, an informed estimate has to be made where to dig down. It is very rare that the location is correct first time and most often a camera is inserted into the main at this location and pushed along the pipe until the location of the water (ie the low point) is established and then a second excavation is made to fit the siphon. The problem with this method is that it is time consuming and costly. This project aims to design a prototype piece of equipment that will combine a camera and a water extraction device, therefore negating the need for more than one excavation and thus providing a quicker and safer method for dealing with water ingress incidents with considerable financial and environmental benefits. This project will focus on the design and development of an original prototype developed by SGN to aid the removal of water in conjunction with our current camera systems to remotely across long distances remove water from the network. The solution will be mobile, compact in size, lightweight for manual handling purposes and require minimal maintenance. The method proposed by this project is, after establishing the rough problem area using pressure surveys, to excavate the gas main and insert the camera through a drill point. The camera will be attached to a water extraction hose which will be feed along the main until the camera identifies the location of the water. The extraction hose will then suck out the water in main. This project will seek to develop a solution that allows licensees to become more efficient in the way that they detect and remove water ingress. The Project will collaborate with Pipeline Technology Ltd (Pipetech) in order to design and develop the prototype.Note : Project Documents may be available via the ENA Smarter Networks Portal using the Website link above

17/12/18