DESIGN AND IMPLIMENTATION OF PIPELINE VIBRATION MONITORING SYSTEM.

A PHD RESEARCH TOPIC PROPOSAL IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERNG BY MUSA ABUBAKAR

INTRODUCTION The oil and gas industry occupies a very important place in Nigerian economy, but the industry is being crippled by acts of vandalism against the gas pipelines. To ensure the proper running of the sector the integrity of the pipelines must be preserved. In this project a general monitoring scheme is to be designed to sense and analyse the condition of pipelines. Before a pipeline is broken for theft of products certain vibrations will be generated by the activities of the vandal. Sensors will be placed along the pipeline at strategic points to monitor the vibrations generated due to vandals activities. The signals will be transmitted to a central computer where the nature and location of the vibration will be determined. This will ensure that speedy response is expedited at the point of origin of the breakage. Since the location can be pinpointed with greater precision, thiefs will not have time to steal a lot of the product.

MOTIVATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The motivation for this project arises from the desire to ensure that the breaking of oil and gas pipelines for theft is reduced or eliminated to ensure that maximum benefit is gained from the oil installations. With the proposed monitoring system on ground a lot of potential thiefs will be discouraged from the beginning. The remaining ones who attempt to break into the pipeline will be apprehended easily and speedily. The resulting savings will be tremendous.

AIM The aim of this research is to design and implement a vibration sensor monitoring system for oil and gas pipelines.

SCOPE OF WORK This project is targeted mainly at the oil and gas pipelines, though the concept may be extended to water pipelines. METHODOLOGY 1. Measure vibration signatures for different activities along an oil/gas pipeline. 2. Design sensors for detection of relevant vibration types according to the observations in 1. 3. Design an appropriate power scheme for the sensors. 4. Design an appropriate transmission system for the observed signals.

EXPECTED RESULT The expected end product of the research is a test model of the vibration monnitoring system.

REQUIRED DATA Data on various vibration signals produced by different activities on pipelines will have to be measured and analyzed.

RELEVANCE IN THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR The pipeline monitoring system will be relevant even to non oil industries. Apart from theft, pipeline damage due to earthquakes and other natural disasters can also easily be located and appropriate mesures taken to ensure minimal damage and/or loss.