Located at our hub in Houston, the state of the art EMS Control Center, controls and monitors systems throughout North America, carrying over 5 bcf of products per day, ranging from natural gas to phenol. Such work gives us a unique understanding of the importance of product visibility to pipeline operators. At EMS, our standard for Control Center operations is ensuring 100% availability for pipeline uptime.

Safety is our number one priority. We have the ability to control our customer’s emergency shut down valves (ESD’s), therefore providing us the ability to stop product flow at the valve remotely within seconds, incase of an emergency. Annually, these valves are also required to be thoroughly tested.

By calling our Control Center with any issue with the pipeline, we will evacuate the pipeline and notify the proper personnel and/or authorities immediately.

EMS’s Control Center has five full-time, rotating Operators and one Supervisor. When not on location, the Supervisor is always on call – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for emergencies or support. On-site SCADA personnel are also available for trouble shooting and updating our systems and read points. We report any and all communications issues to appointed personnel who will perform repairs, installations and calibrations as they are needed.

Operating and Monitoring:
The Control Center provides 24/7 remote pipeline operation and monitoring. From any single location, we operate field equipment on a real-time basis for multiple systems and numerous parameters as set by our customers, such as pressure on the line, differential pressure, temperature, flow rate, volume, concentration of H2S to natural gas, daily gas nominations, etc. Real-time monitoring allows us to react quickly to abnormal operating conditions to prevent or minimize damage and downtime.

Alarming:
We perform alarming services for pipelines, compressor stations, wells, storage facilities, and terminal operations. When a predetermined set point reaches an undesired level, audio and visual alarms are both triggered. Our highly trained and OQ’d operators will then set in place all necessary, remedial actions and notify all proper personnel. Our operators have notification lists for each and every customer, containing assigned customer contacts.

Coordinating and Reporting:
EMS coordinates gas transfers between buyers and sellers as an integral third party to plant operations. If any irregularity or undesired activity is found within the pipeline, we notify our customers immediately. Our operators will call, e-mail, or text customer contacts per each customer’s individual specifications. We collect and send reports to our customers and our customers’ clients every day.

Contingency:
The Control Center has its own after hours air conditioning system, lighting system and is located behind three levels of security doors. In case of an emergency, EMS has a mirror imaged, back up facility. Also located in Houston, our back-up facility is a military grade security system with a structure capable of withstanding a Category 5 hurricane, guaranteeing power and internet connectivity at all times. Should we need to evacuate the Houston area altogether, our Control Center operators are equipped with lap-tops that can be used to operate remotely from anywhere with internet access.

During the 2008 Hurricane Season, Houston was in the direct path of Hurricane Ike. Throughout this time frame EMS’s Control Center had absolutely no disruptions.

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