Digital transformation has revolutionised the way gas utilities, including city gas distribution (CGD) companies, operate and deliver services to their customers. Established in 2018, Think Gas is a relatively new organisation. Within a short period of time, the company has commissioned almost 11 city gas stations (CGSs), and one liquefied compressed natural gas station in Bhopal. Moreover, it has commissioned over 550 km of steel pipelines and laid over 3,000 km of medium density polyethylene (MDPE) pipelines to cater to industrial, domestic and commercial users. Furthermore, it has established over 100 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations.
Since its inception, Think Gas has adopted distinguished technologies to reduce cost and improve efficiency of its operations as well as increase safety of its network. Some of these technologies are quality construction management, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), geographic information system (GIS), and journey management application (JMA).
Issues prior to implementation of SCADA
The CGD industry was faced with many issues prior to the implementation of SCADA. Earlier, the entire process was manual. The most challenging part in CGD is assessing the remote location of assets. Thus, it is very difficult to monitor assets effectively, without automation. Another challenge is the timely detection of incidents in case of gas leakage. Also, even if gas leakage is detected, responding to it remains a challenge when one does not have remote controlling capabilities in the system.
SCADA
SCADA was developed to overcome challenges faced by the CGD industry. Think Gas started using SCADA in late 2020. By March 2021, the company was able to connect almost 20 CNG stations with its SCADA system and all live data became available on SCADA by July 2021.
As per the company’s management directives, data should be available in the SCADA system for any station to be commissioned. This automatically improves data reliability. In response to this, the company has installed remote terminal units (RTUs) at CNG stations and CGS stations which require certification from the International Organization for Standardization. Along with RTUs, the company has modem, 4G connectivity, etc. There is field equipment in CGSs, such as computers and check meters. The odorant system is one of the critical equipment which ensures that the system is live and in working mode. There are gas detectors as well. Besides, the company has installed actuation walls. In case of any leakage, one can immediately isolate the gas supply through the control room. The compressors are directly connected with RTUs and dispensers are also available. The district regulating station (DRS) is one of the critical components. It converts high pressure 30 bar to 4 bar in the MDPE network, which is spread across congested areas. Thus, DRS monitoring remains essential in the CGD sector.
At present, Think Gas has 26 DRSs and all of them are connected with SCADA. The company has also installed a pressure transmitter in the upstream as well as in the downstream side of the DRS to monitor the pipeline pressure. Furthermore, a gas detector is installed inside the DRS which directly gives signals if there is any gas leakage. Since there can be leakage in the MDPE network, gas supply needs to be isolated. Thus, the company has installed gas-operated solenoid operated valve in the DRS to immediately shut DRS supply. These are connected with the SCADA system in real time. The systems are checked every three months during preventive maintenance.
In the piped natural gas (PNG) sector, electrical volume correctors (EVCs) have been installed at each industry location. The EVCs send real-time data to the SCADA system via modem and send an alarm in case of any issue. Similarly, for commercial customers, the company provides prepaid meters up to G6, that is, 10 standard cubic metres per hour (SCMH) flow, and the remaining are post-paid meters. The company ensures that all consumption data with once-in-a-day frequency is available and is uploaded on the SCADA system for gas reconciliation purpose.
Other initiatives
The monitoring of various systems is being done through control rooms that have customised alarms and other equipment. There is a dashboard where live parameters are monitored. It is expected that a system or any station should be connected with SCADA first before being used in the field. The technology which is being developed by the company should be accessible to the end users in order to maximise the outcome. The company has also developed a web application, so the team no longer needs to depend on vendors. Thus, it has become easier to get information through SCADA and generate reports. However, the SCADA system provides raw data, which needs further analysis to get insights and information as required.
The Think Gas SCADA system is the first of its kind in the Indian oil and gas industry, which is on the cloud platform, and the cloud infrastructure is handled by the company itself. The control room can be easily shifted with the cloud platform, as it allows access to the server from anywhere. This results in cost optimisation and security enhancement. Think Gas has developed a mobile application, which provides information on sales (station-wise, geographic-area-wise and segment-wise) to the company’s management team. This information can be compared with the data of the last seven days. With cost optimisation and SCADA, the company has been able to do away with operators from its daughter booster (DB) stations. Besides, live data on equipment, compressor, meter, electric volume corrector (EVC), and flow computer data is available to the field engineer on mobile application. The field engineer gets a notification in case of critical alarm. The team has done multiple integration of SCADA with other applications, such as the GIS platform and JMA. This integration has been done for effective utilisation of real-time monitoring of heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs). The journey manager receives information on the pressure in HCVs at CNG stations. This HCV pressure calculates cascade inventory available at DB stations, and the JMA transfers this information to SCADA through integration. Almost 80 per cent of the company’s stations are in the DB format, where supply goes through the mother station in HCVs. So, it’s essential to optimise these HCVs and ensure that these do not dry out at any CNG station.
Challenges faced during project implementation
Key challenges faced during project implementation include incompatibility of equipment with SCADA systems, non-standardised communication protocols and mapping, and installation of RTUs. The integration with third-party software is another challenge as third parties are hesitant to share their data.
Plans ahead
The company is working on the analytical part of its SCADA system. It has already developed prototypes on some compressors, but it is still in the process of making a uniform solution. Going forward, the company will be able to demonstrate artificial intelligence for compressors and equipment.
Based on remarks by Sachin Mathur, Deputy General Manager, Think Gas Distribution, at a recent India Infrastructure conference