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Energy & Utilities Assessment & Optimization

Tick, tock, drip, drop: Why we need leak detection technologies for utilities

03/01/2022

by Molly Gillil and

Companies in the utility industry – whether it’s water, electric, or gas – are continuously improving their integrity management programs, leak detection technologies, organizational processes, and updating assets to maintain a safe and compliant system.

In addition to companies striving to practice organizational due diligence, governing bodies such as the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC) develop and enforce strict regulations that companies must adapt to quickly.

One major challenge in the utility space is pipeline leak detection. Because of the severe repercussions of an undetected leak, companies must aim to be proactive rather than reactive. Regulatory compliance organizations hold utility companies accountable for their assets and ensure their systems can detect potential leaks based on threats in the surrounding environment.

Why are Leak Detection Technologies and Interactive Threats important?

So why must utility companies prioritize dynamic pipeline leak detection programs? Consider the following in the eyes of a large utility provider serving numerous customers.

1. Risk management and reduction are vital to avoid severe incidents, stay compliant, and ensure power, water, and gas to consumers.

2. Governing bodies are expecting companies to utilize technology and support their integrity management programs with accurate data.

3. Reducing emissions that potentially minimize product losses, increase safety, decrease the exposure of the surrounding community, decrease emissions fees, and help facilities avoid enforcement actions.

Another aspect of pipeline leak detection is assessing the risk level of the threats that are interacting with assets in the system. With the expansion of technology and data availability in the industry, companies are expected to use these resources to practice operational due diligence. Currently, many utilities are advancing their integrity management programs (IMP), training their compliance managers and operators, and implementing GIS-based systems to ensure their organization is ahead of the curve.

Reactive Leak Detection: Where do we start?

The EPA provides a Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR): Best Practices Guide which includes the industry best practices in building out a leak detection program. The guide lists the following as important elements of an LDAR –

• Identifying Components
• Leak Definition
• Monitoring Components
• Repairing Components
• Recordkeeping

This guide also includes information about the importance of regulating pipeline leak detection, the benefits of a strong LDAR program, and other aspects in safely implementing a full-proof risk assessment model. Within each of these elements, utility companies are embedding advanced technology and using complex data-driven formulas and methodologies to identify risks on assets. As stated in PHMSA’s February 2020 bulletin titled, Pipeline Risk Modeling, risk models are an integral part of integrity and risk management and provide a representation of the risk throughout a pipeline system by combining likelihood and consequence aspects of unintended pipeline releases.

Incorporating Interactive Threats

In more recent years, Interactive Threats have become a hot topic within the utility industry. Data Leak Detection programs have previously focused on the potential effects of one threat acting on an asset, but what if there is a specific area that identifies multiple threats acting on the system? Understandably, if two threats are acting on an asset rather than one, the risk will inherently increase… but by how much? Companies are now asking how to calculate the slight increase of risk and maintain the integrity of their system.

Sendero has experience helping companies implement enterprise-wide leak detection technology solutions that incorporate the interaction of multiple threats. Within this industry-accepted Distribution Risk Assessment Model, the company based its interactive threats methodology on ‘Final Report No. 05-12R: Evaluating the Stability of Manufacturing and Construction Defects in Natural Gas Pipelines.’ This report details specific circumstances under which otherwise stable construction and manufacturing defects can become unstable when interacting with other threat mechanisms. With this report as the basis of understanding interactive threats, the company decided which threats had the potential to interact with one another and built out a statistical methodology to estimate the overall increase in Frequency of Failure (FoF).

What is the industry doing now?

PHMSA and NTSB have identified general weaknesses in risk models and want to challenge companies to invest in Leak Detection programs that incorporate multiple threats acting on the system. While this is not an easy task, many companies are successfully implementing dynamic integrity management programs (IMP) that keep employees, operators, and consumers safe from the inherent risk of the utility industry.

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Is your organization ready for this challenge? Sendero can support your company every step of the way, whether that is implementing applications to gather data, facilitating vendor selections, or managing dynamic Geographic Information Systems-based projects. Sendero’s consultants can help your company stay compliant with regulatory guidelines and also be set up for further digital transformation in the utility industry. Use the “Drop Us a Line” form at the bottom of this page to contact one of our consultants today.

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