Yokogawa releases new pipeline management software suite

As a result of over 20 years of practical experience in implementing pipeline management solutions worldwide, Yokogawa Electric Corporation has developed and created a modular software suite. On 20 June 2015, the company announced the release of its Enterprise Pipeline Management Solution (EPMS) modular software suite.

Deployment in pipeline operations management

Many of the pipeline systems that currently in use have been tailored to suit a specific set of circumstances and, therefore, lack both a standard system foundation for supporting pluggable application modules and a core design to ensure interoperability with other IT environments and policies. The maintenance and upgrade of tailor-made applications and their often-complex systems, poses increasing challenges for pipeline operators.The EPMS was designed for deployment in pipeline operations management. It supplements the basic pipeline management system with specific gas and liquid applications which enable pipeline operators to manage delivery contracts in both a time and energy efficient manner.

Key benefits of the EPMS

Since no two pipeline applications are identical, the EPMS's templates and functions can be easily modified without having to call in pipeline application experts. Therefore, the EPMS is a solution that can deliver pipeline applications alongside supervisory and monitoring functions in a user way that is both IT friendly and secure.

The EPMS features improved alarm and human machine interface management functions. The system was developed around standards from the American Petroleum Institute and the International Society of Automation, Moreover, it complies with the strict regulations of the US Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The EPMS employs leak detection, compensated volume balancing and hydraulic profiling methodologies to monitor pipeline integrity in every type of operating condition. The above allows personnel to quickly resolve of any problems.

The EPMS continuously adjusts the setpoint so that both compressors and pumps can be operated as to the optimal efficiency point as possible. To identify areas for improvement, the EPMS can also record all key power statistics, thus reducing energy consumption.

To minimise product waste, the EPMS measures and calculates the position of batches as well as anomalies, such as trans-mix, on a near real-time basis and reports on the inventory balances.

Enhanced gas and liquid metering

With its transparent management of parameter exchange and the measurement of gas, liquids, and gas composition, the EPMS easily adapts to the desired measurement methodology and the level of intelligence of intermediate devices like flow computers, remote terminal units, and instruments. It processes the inputs into normalised flow, volume and energy values, in accordance with the American Gas Association standards.

Reducing the effort required for high quality pipeline management

Shuji Mori, a Yokogawa Vice President and Head of Yokogawa Electric International, comments: "The EPMS will significantly reduce the amount of effort required to implement and commission high quality pipeline management applications while guaranteeing easy upgradability, protecting investments across multiple SCADA platform versions".

Edited from source by Elizabeth Corner

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/equipment-and-safety/02072015/yokogawa-releases-new-modular-software-suite/