Recent advances in Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology have provided energy companies with new, powerful tools that can bring unprecedented accuracy to the tasks of operating, maintaining and managing pipeline systems.

The ability of new SCADA instruments and software to enable pipeline operators to monitor, manage, and record pipeline operating conditions in real-time can significantly enhance Pipeline Integrity Management (PIM). As beneficial as the new game-changing SCADA capabilities can be, however, keeping up to speed with the rapid technical advances can be a daunting task. Ascertaining the most productive strategies for utilizing new measurement and analytical tools can be even more difficult.

Of course, most pipeline operators are extremely knowledgeable about the capabilities of existing equipment and instrumentation on their systems and how the various components work together to provide the oversight and control they need. But many pipeline operators lack either the expertise or experience to understand how legacy SCADA equipment can best interface with new SCADA components or how to reconfigure their systems most effectively when new capabilities are installed. If a pipeline company hasn’t upgraded the SCADA equipment on its system in the past few years, it might not even know which vendors handle the latest technology or who to trust with the formidable task of installing and integrating new state-of-the-art flow computers or software packages.

But that’s the bad news. The good news is that fully integrated pipeline operating and maintenance service companies have anticipated such complex issues and can provide the knowledge and manpower a pipeline operator needs to evaluate new SCADA technology, to select the equipment and instrumentation that best fits each pipeline’s unique needs, to determine where in a given pipeline system to install new components, and to work through the technical issues that arise every step of the way.

Fit-for-purpose solutions
Perhaps foremost, an integrated pipeline services company understands that each company is different, with unique needs and goals, because experience has proven that each pipeline system is uniquely configured and transports different throughput under variable conditions using different equipment, different instrumentation, and different applications.

At the same time, most integrated pipeline services companies are up-to-date with all the newest SCADA technologies and have valuable hands-on experience working with state-of-the-art SCADA instruments and applications, including integrating new technology with time-proven legacy equipment still functioning efficiently in the field.

These insights enable an integrated pipeline services company to quickly evaluate a given pipeline system’s SCADA strengths and weaknesses, to work with the pipeline owner-operator to validate the system’s needs, and to prescribe fit-for-purpose solutions for overcoming monitoring and control shortcomings in the most efficient manner possible—at whatever level of intensity is required.

Pipeline companies of all sizes, transporting every kind of fluid and gas imaginable, are beginning to turn to integrated pipeline services companies for help managing the integrity of their systems, and SCADA-related services are a big part of the trend.

One-stop-shopping for turnkey services
The benefits of using an integrated pipeline services provider go far beyond solving complex SCADA issues or achieving specific data monitoring and management goals, to encompass the entire gamut of PIM products and services. From initial concept through design and engineering, construction, installation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance, an integrated pipeline service company can provide whatever technical support and services a pipeline company might require, on a turnkey basis through a single point of contact.

A fully integrated service company has the knowledge, experience, and technical capabilities to comprehensively evaluate and support every aspect of a pipeline, including a system’s equipment, instrumentation, components, and configuration; operating practices and parameters; maintenance program and schedule; data collection, management, and analysis; and recordkeeping and reporting.

This means that products and services not only can be tailored to fit a pipeline operator’s specific needs; the needs, themselves, also can be examined carefully within the context of the service company’s better-informed perspective, and issues and problems can be identified that could affect the proposed solution, but which might be outside the scope of a pipeliner’s original inquiry.

Perhaps even more important than achieving operating and financial objectives, at a time in which public safety and environmental protection have become high-priority issues, the support and services available through an integrated pipeline services company can help ensure pipeline operators of all kinds are aware of and complying with or exceeding all applicable environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations, then document those measures to regulatory authorities.

Whatever the opportunities and risks encountered by a pipeline company at any point in the value chain, integrated service providers can help identify them, define them, and the work with the pipeline owner or operator to create a solution tailored to fit his company and put it into action.