Reality Check: Improving Real-Time Pipeline Monitoring Using Near Real-Time Fluid Data

MBS, the software based leak detection system employed by Enbridge, is a real time transient model and as such requires fluid characteristics of the various batches that enter the pipeline. In the past, of the 25 plus pipelines modeled, only 4 received fluid identifiers from the field. These fluid identifiers are a sub-string of the batch identifiers stored in flow computers located at custody transfer locations. On the remaining pipelines, Enbridge used fluid density from the field to infer fluid type and therefore characteristics. In the past whenever a number of fluids had the same density, MBS assigned a best-guess of fluid type. The ‘MBS Real Time Injection Batch Data’ project was proposed to bring fluid identifiers to MBS on the remaining lines with the purpose of improving MBS’ selection of fluid properties. Since injection points on the remaining lines were not custody transfer there were no flow computers at these locations. An existing application called Commodity Movement Tracking, or CMT, was used to provide fluid names to the leak detection model. CMT holds past, present, and future injection batch information in an Oracle database. Batch identifiers are queried, placed into the SCADA system, and forwarded on to MBS. This paper explores the new approach, introduced by the ‘MBS Real Time Injection Batch Data’ project, of providing MBS with batch identifiers.