| GISdevelopment.net ---> GIS for Oil & Gas Proceedings 2002 |
Building a Pipeline GIS for Threat Assessment and Emergency Response Planning
Thomas A. Marcotte
Project Manager, James W. Sewall Company
147 Center St; P.O. Box 433
Old Town, Maine 04468
Telephone: 207-827-4456,
Fax: 207-827-3641
Email:tom.marcotte@jws.com
Thomas A. Marcotte
Project Manager, James W. Sewall Company
147 Center St; P.O. Box 433
Old Town, Maine 04468
Telephone: 207-827-4456,
Fax: 207-827-3641
Email:tom.marcotte@jws.com
Abstract
Geographic Information System (GIS) Solutions are a useful tool for assessing threats to pipeline systems and planning for emergency response activities. PPL Interstate Energy Company (PPL IEC) has acquired landbase data, organized existing pipeline data from a variety of paper-based and digital sources, and integrated these data sets using a straightforward GIS solution that leverages their existing technology investments. PPL IEC uses this system to manage pipeline data, produce alignment sheets, and provide pipeline mapping and data to the field for emergency response planning activities. The presenters will discuss the process used to acquire, organize, and integrate these data sets, how data are used to analyze threats and plan for emergencies, and other benefits of the resultant GIS.
Company Background
PPL Interstate Energy Company PPL Interstate Energy Company (PPL IEC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of PPL Corporation based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Interstate Energy Company pipeline was built in 1974 for the sole purpose of supplying economical fuel for electric power generation at power plants located in Pennsylvania and western New Jersey.
The pipeline transports No. 6 fuel oil, No. 2 fuel oil and natural gas to PPL’s Martins Creek Power Plant located on the western bank of the Delaware River. The 84-mile, 18-inch-diameter insulated pipeline starts at the Marcus Hook Pump Station adjacent to dock and storage facilities owned by Sun Oil Company, south of Philadelphia, and ends at the 1.9 million barrel oil storage terminal adjacent to the PPL Corporation power plant at Martins Creek, north of Easton, Pennsylvania.
Connected to PPL IEC’s 18” pipeline are the Gilbert Terminal and an 8” lateral pipeline which are owned by Reliant. The 380,000 barrel oil storage terminal is the receiving point for Reliant’s shipments of No. 2 fuel oil. The lateral runs east 10 miles from the terminal to Reliant’s generating station in Holland, New Jersey. PPL IEC operates and maintains the terminal and lateral under an agreement with Reliant.
Natural gas is delivered to the PPL Corporation power plant at Martins Creek. The 18” diameter pipeline is connected to Texas Eastern Transmission’s pipelines near Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and to Columbia Transmission’s pipeline near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The administrative and maintenance center in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, is the headquarters for all operations and maintenance activity associated with the pipeline and terminals.
Prior Data and Methods
Data
For many years, PPL IEC has maintained alignment sheets in a CAD environment. These sheets contained landbase and pipeline data with enlarged aerial images acquired in the 1980s as backdrops. In addition, PPL IEC maintained separate Microsoft Excel files containing bends and foreign crossings. Right-of-way data existed in a separate Microsoft Access database. As a result, updates required time-consuming manual changes to each affected alignment sheet area.
Typical PPL IEC alignment sheet
Methods
Because alignment sheets were manually drafted, they had no connection to the separate data files. Changes to these files had to be manually completed.
Curent Data and Methods
Data
Alignment sheet pipeline and facility data now resides in a database connected to the CAD application. Pipeline data is contained in a master database file instead of individual alignment sheets.
Methods
Alignment sheet data maintenance is performed via the master CAD file and connected databases. Alignment sheets are generated on an as-needed basis. Field data access is available through a variety of data viewing applications. Pipeline asset data is available company-wide via the company Intranet.
Data Acquisition
Aerial Photography
Monochromatic aerial photography was acquired along PPL IEC’s pipeline route in April 2001. The route was flown 6,000 feet above ground level, producing a photo scale of 1"=1,000'. Flight lines were laid out prior to flying to ensure capture of a minimum corridor of 250 yards on either side of the centerline of the pipe.
For a portion of the pipeline, monochromatic aerial photography was acquired at an altitude of 3,960 feet above ground for 1”=660' (1:7,920) scale photography. This scale of aerial photography is very good for definition of structures, foreign utilities, and overall feature identification. This photography was used for mapping along proposed pipeline construction corridors.
An inertial measurement unit (IMU) and airborne GPS technology were used to provide high accuracy data for digital orthophoto production.
Ground Control
Surveyors placed ground control targets and captured target coordinates in order to provide mapping that meets National Map Accuracy Standards (NMAS) and American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Class 1 accuracy standards, suitable for engineeringgrade contour mapping. Control GPS technology was used to acquire control point coordinates.
Pipeline Locating
PPL IEC field crews used GPS units to capture coordinates of above-ground pipeline features. These features included valve stems, casing vents, and road crossings. PPL IEC provided these data in ASCII file format for integration with other pipeline data sources. The Pennsylvania South State Plane coordinate system was selected due to the area covered by the PPL pipeline and the opportunities for direct integration of data from local, state, and federal agencies.
Digital Orthophoto Production
The film was scanned at a resolution to produce 1' pixel. After producing the digital terrain model on softcopy workstations, digital orthophotos were produced from the digital terrain model, scanned imagery, photocenter data, and the camera calibration report. Digital orthophotos were then written to CD-ROM in a TIF/TFW format.
Limited Planimetric Mapping
Limited vector planimetric mapping, consisting of roads and bridges, rivers and streams, and railroads, were added to the landbase for a corridor of 250 yards on either side of the pipeline at a 1"=200' mapping scale. For the areas photographed at 1"=660' photo scale, 2-foot contour topographic mapping were created. This higher accuracy planimetric and contour data will be used for planning, engineering, and construction for new proposed pipelines.
Data Integration
The existing CAD alignment sheets were spliced and merged to form a continuous pipeline file. Next, the pipeline was geopostioned and adjusted based on field-collected GPS data. Pipeline objects were then captured and object attribute data using data collection tools. Captured objects included:
| • Casings | • PI Data |
| • Cathodic Protection | • Pipe Segments |
| • Coatings | • Property Data |
| • Detail Callouts | • Revisions |
| • Ells/Horizontal Field Bends | • Tees |
| • Encroachment Data | • Thrust/Stabilizer Blocks |
| • MAOP | • Transition Sleeves |
| • Match Lines | • Valves |
| • Sheet Boundary and Title Block Data | |
| • Offline Point Data (Iron Pin, Monument, PK Nail, Drain, Stone, Property Corner, Fence Corner, Pole, Manhole, Foreign Utility, Road Centerlines, Bridges) | |
PPL IEC wished to resolve apparent data conflicts that emerged during the data integration process. Identified possible data conflicts were highlighted and transmitted to PPL IEC. After receiving the conflict resolution, the appropriate changes were added to the CAD/database data.
Since prior alignment sheets had ROW data and annotations placed according to the enlarged aerial images, these data were warped to conform to the new digital orthophoto images.
In order to efficiently place images as backdrops in the new alignment sheet map windows, the TIF/TFW images were cropped along the placed alignment sheet boundaries. Because PPL IEC’s field crews expect to find pipeline data on certain alignment sheets, the alignment sheet boundaries were locked, preventing typical system users from repositioning them.
During the data conversion process, a variety of manual and automated processes were used to provide quality control on the converted data. Also, data validation rules were built to check converted data at the time it was entered into the system. The data validation rules provided conversion technicians with an instant feedback mechanism during data conversion.
Database Configuration
The integrated GIS system is built around pipeline objects with known characteristics and behaviors. PPL IEC can use the internal Object Editor to configure database tables for pipeline objects, fields, and values. Database forms are built on-the-fly from database values with no reprogramming required.
Alignment Sheet Generator Configuration
Alignment sheet configuration files were edited to provide alignment sheets that closely matched PPL IEC’s existing alignment sheet layout. PPL IEC’s alignment sheets consist of a ROW/Field Note Band, Map Window, Material Band, Property Owner Table, Ell and Horizontal Field Bend Table, Revision Block and Title Block.
Installation and Training
The data and system were installed, and the users were trained at PPL IEC’s Pottstown offices. This permitted the users to see and use the actual system data as they trained and permitted them to become familiar with system operation and the new work methods. This proved to be an important method of increasing user acceptance of the data, system, and new methods. Threat Identification and Emergency Planning
High Consequence Areas
Forthcoming Pipeline Integrity rules that the Office of Pipeline Safety is promulgating will create a framework for the formal identification of High Consequence Areas (HCA) and will require that pipelines develop strategies for addressing these. HCA’s are considered to be areas that are:
- Class 3 and class 4
- areas where people are confined or have limited mobility, such as day care centers, hospitals and jails
- areas and buildings where 20 or more people will congregate for fifty or more days in any 12 month period, such as camp grounds, and athletic fields
Emergency Response Planning
The emergency response planning element of the process is addressed as part of the mitigation strategy section of the Integrity Management Plan. The development of tools, such as vehicle routing and emergency agency jurisdiction and contact information identification allow for plans to be developed for each identified segment and HCA, based on the threats that are identified and tracked. Multiple scenarios can be reviewed and tested before one is selected, and once selected, the response plan can be tested against the data in the GIS to help the emergency response team become familiar with the necessary steps. A key aspect of the emergency response planning is that all of the data are available to everyone in the organization via the company network. Historically, the data would have been available to those who had copies of it. This meant that those personnel who were potential users of the data, or who required access to the data had to have current copies made of maps and files each time the data were changed or updated.
Benefits
This GIS implementation provided PPL IEC with the following benefits:
1. Current and Accurate Pipeline and Landbase Data
One immediate benefit of the project was the acquisition of current and accurate pipeline geoposition and landbase data. Field crews, familiar with the operation of GPS units, can readily locate points along the pipeline. More current and accurate landbase data allows better emergency response and pipeline expansion planning.
2. Integrated and Organized Data
Having integrated CAD and database data makes pipeline data maintenance more efficient. Changes are made in one place and shown via a variety of reports including alignment sheets. Multiple users can access the data simultaneously, with edits handled through dynamic record locking.
3. Current CAD Environment Utilized
PPL IEC’s new integrated system uses the same CAD environment as the company's previous system. PPL IEC is not required to learn a new CAD system, allowing the system users to use the connected system immediately, avoiding expensive retraining costs.
4. Current Alignment Sheets
Because alignment sheets are now a report from the integrated system, PPL IEC can generate and publish new alignment sheets on an as-needed basis. Alignment sheets can be plotted or transmitted via the company Intranet.
5. Current Pipeline Reports
Similarly, a variety of reports can be run at any time. Reports are user-configurable, allowing anyone with sufficient access credentials to build and generate reports containing pipeline data.
6. Reduced Alignment Sheet Maintenance Effort
The estimated time savings of maintaining alignment sheets in a connected CAD/database system with an automated alignment sheet generation application is approximately 40 percent over the traditional, manual CAD-only process.
7. Integration of External Datasets
Since the pipeline system is now placed as a unified, geopositioned CAD file, vector data can be overlaid with existing pipeline and landbase data. A variety of local, state, and federal agencies make available property owner, environmental, transportation, soil type, and land use data. Similarly, external databases with geopositioned records can be imported or linked and viewed in the CAD environment. Specifically for pipeline companies, integrated data can include corrosion data from in-line inspection tools or bell hole inspections.
8. Publishing of Pipeline Data to XML or SVG Formats for Web-Based Viewing
Pipeline data can be expressed in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) or Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) format. These output files can be stored on an Internet server and viewed via commercially available Internet browser plug-ins.
9. Corporate and Field Data Access
Because pipeline data is stored in a database, corporate users can access, view, edit, and generate reports of pipeline data via the company Intranet. Similarly, data can be published and distributed for disconnected field data viewing and editing. Field crews can use either portable computers or handheld units with attached GPS units.
10. COM-based System
The integrated system is based on Microsoft COM/ActiveX architecture, a variety of benefits are realized. The application is built from multiple COM components. These components can be individually enhanced and replaced without impacting other components. Also, should PPL IEC choose to change CAD or database applications, only the components that interface directly with these systems would require replacement. The use of ActiveX controls allows pipeline object controls and forms to be accessed by users via standard Internet browsers.
11. User Alignment Sheet Format Configuration
System users are free to reconfigure existing alignment sheet format configuration files or to create new files. This capability allows users to add or remove data bands and change the type or appearance of data within individual bands.
12. Open Pipeline Data Model
Since the pipeline database is an open data model, users can add, remove, or change pipeline objects including valves, tees, coatings, and casings and their typical attributes without programming or data model changes. Forms are designed to auto-configure on the fly in accordance with the pipeline object’s characteristics. This technology is a great improvement over traditional systems that require reprogramming whenever data model changes are necessary.
Summaary
The development of automated, accurate, and accessible data is the first step in building an effective and efficient way to assess threats and plan for the response to emergencies. The implementation of these data with GIS and associated software provide the framework for the use of these data. The successful integration of the data and GIS technology rely on assembling an experienced team that understands the business rules and drivers, including regulatory requirements, as well as the technology. PPL IEP has been successful in assessing the threats to its pipeline and in planning for emergency response by following this approach – start with good data, determining what can and needs to be done with it, and then implementing the technology to do it.