PG&E installs 100th automated valve through safety enhancement plan

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) have announced that it has automated its 100^th valve through the company’s pipeline safety enhancement plan (PSEP).

The valve automation programme, which began in August 2011, improves PG&E's ability to quickly shut off the flow of gas in the event of a significant change in pressure. Valves can be opened or closed from PG&E’s newly designed gas control centre, instead of requiring an employee to travel to the site to manually open or close the valve.

Increasing safety and reliability

“We're working every day towards our goal of becoming the safest, most reliable gas company in the nation,” said Nick Staropoulos, PG&E’s Executive Vice President of Gas Operations.

“We have a lot more work ahead, but the programme we have made on installing automated valves – which allow us to stop the flow of gas immediately to reduce damage during an emergency and allow community firefighters and police to respond more quickly – is unmatched by any other utility in the country. I’m exceptionally proud of the crews working around-the-clock- to make it happen.”

Targets

PG&E’s valve automation programme is roughly at the halfway point in the company’s PSEP work plan, which sets a target of automating a total of 212 valves by 31^st December 2014. The company’s proposed plans are to eventually install approximately 670 valves, with the majority located in densely populated areas.

PG&E has also installed a total of 14 automatic shutoff valves where its transmission pipelines cross major fault lines. In these areas, the shutoff valves have been designed to close automatically when local sensors at the valve site detect a possible pipe rupture.

PG&E has instituted new training programmes and simulations for control centre employees, emphasising how to use electronic tools that provide a comprehensive view of pipeline conditions in real-time and how to evaluate the potential effects of isolating a pipeline segment.

Valve automation is one component of PG&E’s system-improvement efforts, such as strength testing, inline inspections, leak patrols, pipeline assessment and integrity management work.

Edited from various sources by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/13112013/pge_installs_100th_automated_valve_through_safety_enhancement_plan/