Referred to as third-party interference (TPI), it is a major cause of damage to transmission pipelines. Secure Pipe™ from Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) provides highly effective and low cost TPI protection for buried pipelines. It minimises the risk and associated costs of injury, damage and environmental rectifications.

TPI on pipelines is responsible for a range of problems for pipeline operators, from relatively minor maintenance issues through to significant environmental damage and serious injury and death scenarios. For a pipeline operator, failure to even be aware that such TPI damage has occurred is of major concern and could be particularly catastrophic.

One such catastrophe were the two explosions of the high pressure gas pipeline at the Ghislenghien Industrial Park in Belgium in July 2004. The incident resulted in the dozens of deaths and over 100 injuries, as well as extensive damage to buildings and facilities. Investigations on the parts of the pipe exposed in the explosion concluded that the most likely cause of the rupture was damage from construction works a few weeks earlier followed by a subsequent increase in pressure in the pipeline. The pipeline operator did not know that any damage occurred to the pipeline, and the conventional operational support systems had no capability to provide such information.

The FFT Secure Pipe System provides early warning of TPI and seismic events, providing a valuable early warning and time for the pipeline operator to implement rectification actions before further damage occurs. The system is designed to protect oil, gas and other buried liquid pipelines against TPI, including illegal tapping and unauthorised excavation that could pose a threat. Secure Pipe can detect a broad range of TPI events such as manual or mechanical excavation and drilling) as well as earth movement caused by a number of naturally occurring events.

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The entire length of a pipeline can be monitored live, in real-time with the capability to locate a TPI event to within 150 metres. The fibre optic sensor cable is buried alongside the pipeline, either as a newly installed cable specifically for the Secure Pipe application or utilising fibres within an existing cable previously installed near the pipeline. The cost-benefit equation is therefore particularly attractive for both new pipelines and for retrofitting of existing infrastructure.

As all field components of Secure Pipe are passive, and therefore intrinsically safe, it is particularly suitable for gas and petrochemical industry applications.

Recently, FFT has observed strong interest in Secure Pipe for protection of high pressure gas pipelines in developed countries with FFT to shortly commission a system for this application in Western Europe. The regulatory regime is being enhanced in the European Union, which has significantly upgraded safety and damage prevention regulations for high pressure gas pipelines.

Whilst developed countries have safety and prevention of environmental damage as key drivers, in developing countries and former Eastern Bloc nations, theft of petroleum products is a major and costly concern.

FFT is an Australian company that is the world leader in fibre optic sensing technologies for security and safety applications. As well as Secure Pipe, FFT has developed security solutions for detecting and locating intrusions on perimeter fences and cable networks. Melbourne-based FFT has supplied a large number of security solutions to major government, military, national security, petrochemical, industrial and commercial organisations.