Infrastructure is a major area of opportunity for big data, and it’s being explored more each year as opportunities to improve efficiency and safety present themselves. Smart grid systems are becoming more common as aging systems are upgraded, resulting in lower energy usage and savings. Gas pipelines, another important piece of our global energy infrastructure, are also being improved with big data ”but unfortunately not all of them.
The Pigs That Clean Pipelines
Data collection in infrastructure relies on sensors, which can provide valuable information in many different contexts. Smart grid sensors detect what times of day demand more power, while sensors installed on pigs that clean pipelines offer insights that can improve safety and maintenance. The catch? These pigs, which look like cylindrical robots, can’t be used on all pipes worldwide. In fact, they can only be used on about a third of the world’s gas lines. That’s a shame, because pigs are a great way to use predictive analytics to ensure proper maintenance and cut costs for manufacturers.
Because keeping pipes in tip-top shape is an important safety issue, pipes that can’t be cleaned and monitored using pigs must be maintained using the old-fashioned methods of conservative prediction based on experience. This results in the pipes being repaired more often than they need to be ”which means higher costs for operators.
What Can Pigs Sense?
Though the original purpose of pigs was just to clean gas pipes, big data has made their role far more important. Today, sensors are attached to the pigs, which allows them to measure the thickness of pipe walls, keeping operators in the loop about current levels of corrosion in the walls and giving them a benchmark to analyze. Using that benchmark, they leverage other data collected by the pigs, including soil pH, they can gain an accurate picture of which pipes will need maintenance ”and when. Even local weather data is used in this type of predictive analytics. With this method, it’s possible to keep gas lines safe without doing unnecessary maintenance, as is routinely performed on two-thirds of the world’s gas pipes. The sensors on pipe pigs use either ultrasound energy or magnetism for their measurements, and while they’re still only being used on a small number of pipes, that number is expected to grow in the near future.
Other Uses of Big Data in Oil & Gas
Sensors also play an important role in other oil & gas activities, such as drilling. Sensors in the oil well shaft, or on the equipment itself, monitors the drilling activities, and can predict problems before they occur, as the information is sent up to workers in real time. Because drilling for oil can be very dangerous, this helps reduce injury and can help prevent the equipment from encountering problems, particularly in offshore drilling.
Making Energy Safer
While big data technology like smart grids are making local governments and communities work toward a cleaner and more efficient world, sensors in the oil & gas industry play a different role: keeping energy safer. Predictive analytics and remote monitoring aren’t yet standard in all aspects of oil & gas, but the technology continues to improve, and more operators will have the opportunity to use these tools. For a safer, cleaner world, we need to use all the options we have available.
