A high-tech UK security system has been chosen to protect a vital part of India’s energy infrastructure, the 670-kilometre-long Mangala oil pipeline.

The Mangala is the world’s longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline. Operated by Cairn India it will have access to 75 per cent of IndiaÕs refining capacity after it reaches Bhogat in Gujarat.

The state-of-the-art security OptaSense system – developed by Qineti, the UK’s largest international defence and security technology group – is designed to detect, classify and locate potential threats to buried pipelines.

OptaSense is a buried cable fibre-optic sensor system that can detect multiple, simultaneous disturbances every 10 metres over a 40-kilometre length of existing or installed optical fibre.

In border and perimeter security applications, anyone climbing or cutting wire fences or digging near the perimeter alerts the sensor and sets off an alarm.

The system then classifies the disturbance, provides the position and cues other aids/sensors, such as cameras, to ensure the operator instigates the appropriate response.

In cable and pipeline protection applications, any activity – such as the approach of a digger or the lifting of a manhole cover – also generates an alarm.

The system’s acoustic sensitivity can also be used to listen to the flow through a pipe, to allow the location of blockages and leaks.

OptaSense has huge implications for pipeline operators, where a real-time alert of a leak and its location could save millions of dollars. Vandalism, terrorist attacks or problems with these assets can impact on the environment, the economy and on the lives of staff and consumers.

The contract was awarded by Cairn India and ONGC Joint Venture through Qineti”s distribution partner, Optilan, following tests in 2010. Under the contract, Qineti”s OptaSense system will be installed along the whole length of the pipeline to provide highest-level security.

“Pipeline integrity and safety are of prime importance to us and we believe the addition of OptaSense technology will help us prevent incidents to our new pipeline,” said Mr H P Bhalla, director of Midstream of Cairn India. “We believe the OptaSense system to be a cost-effective way of monitoring the security of our pipeline.”

The Mangala Development Pipeline (MDP) originates from Mangala Processing Terminal in Barmer, Rajasthan and passes through eight districts in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat before it reaches its end point at the coastal location of Bhogat near Jamnagar on the western coastline of India.

Magnus McEwen-King, managing director for QinetiQ OptaSense, said: “This new contract with Cairn India will extend our reach into India and coincides with a major upgrade of the system functionality. The contract builds on our existing security and monitoring solutions for other linear assets principally in the oil and gas industry. We look forward to providing valuable security and monitoring information to protect this important pipeline.”

The OptaSense system will be installed into existing pipeline block valve stations and will use the existing communications cable installed adjacent to the pipeline. The installation and commissioning of the project will be carried out by Optilan; its sales director Bal Kler said: “We are excited to be introducing this technology to the MDP project and India.”

The contract with Cairn India follows a contract with BP to install the OptaSense system on the 1,770-kilometre Turkey section of the BTC pipeline. OptaSense is part of “a global technology products portfolio and demonstrates its approach to delivering the full potential of emerging products to existing and new customers”.

OptaSense has been deployed on many pipelines in order to prevent third-party damage, the most common cause of serious pipeline failure. It supports inline inspections, prevents problems and can provide acoustic analysis of the pipes’ condition.

qineti is Europe’s biggest science and technology research organisation and employs nearly 10,000 staff, including some of the United Kingdom’s leading scientists and internationally acclaimed experts.

nextSTEP

Visit: www.qinetiq.com