The Petroleum Authority and the developer reveal how Artificial intelligence and Satellite Technology will minimize human intrusion, and environmental damage, and ensure real-time monitoring of the entire pipeline.
EACOP Security Coordinator, David Francis Muramuzi, at a site where CNOOC has placed its 24-inch diameter pipes that will feed crude into EACOP pipeline in Kabaale. Credit Wambi Michael /URN
Developers of East African crude oil plan to deploy artificial
intelligence to monitor the over 1400-kilometer pipeline from Kabale in Hoima to
the Port of Tanga in Tanzania.
With Artificial Intelligence or AI, the operators of
the pipeline will be able to detect any leakage or tampering in real-time and respond.
The Petroleum Authority of Uganda – the regulator of
the oil and gas sector and the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline Project operator
confirmed that this new technology will be deployed on the longest heated crude
oil pipeline.
Worldwide, Artificial intelligence (AI) is permeating the energy industry, particularly
the oil/gas pipeline sector. There have
been fears the pipeline in Uganda and Tanzania could be targeted by oil thieves
as in Nigeria where stolen crude oil is processed through illicit mini
refineries.
Equally, there have been fears that leakages from the pipeline
could flow undetected to damage the environment and surrounding ecosystems.
Managing
Director, of East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Ltd,
Martin Tiffin confirmed that the pipes for the proposed pipeline will have technologies
to detect loss of heat, leakages, and tampering by humans.
“We don't think that Uganda will be like Nigeria. For
two reasons, one the pipeline itself is like the 21st century pipeline.
So we will have a fiber optic cable that will run on top of the pipeline and enable
us to transmit the data and also help us to monitor the pipeline for attempts
of intrusion or whatever,” revealed Tiffin.
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He further explained that unlike the oil in Nigeria
which can easily flow, the oil in Uganda is waxy and requires constant heat for
it to flow.
“It actually needs to through a big refinery to be tuned in petrol,
diesel, or kerosene,” he said.
URN has been able
to see part of the pipes at the first construction camp located in Kabaale
Hoima.
They are designed like a thermos flask to preserve heat, they are fitted
with to node for tapping electricity to heat the pipeline among others. It will
be insulated so that it does not lose the heat. It will be heated up to 50
degrees.
EACOP
Project Lead, Lawrence Ssempagi revealed that there will be a fiber optic cable
running through the length of the pipeline.“There will be a 24-hour manning to
check. Imagine if that crude oil comes out, the fiber optic cable will detect
the temperature,” he explained.
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The fiber optic cable will also be available for the
two governments to tap into and use it in their data transmissions.
The
pipeline will be buried underground between 1.6 to 1.8 meters below the ground.
“Under the roads, it will be buried deeper but it will not be easy to find,” Ssempagi
explained.
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“When
I look at the system, this oil will never have a spillage under there. Probably
at the above-the-ground installations. In the event that that oil flows out, it
will encounter the normal temperatures below fifty degrees. At 27, degrees this
oil does not flow” Ssempagi explained further.
The
pipeline will be laid under the beds of river Kafu in Kakumiro, then through river Nabakazi closer to where the Kampala-Kasese railway line used to cross towards Mubende. The other crossing on the Ugandan side is at Katonga. The Pipeline will also cross river Sigi in Tanzania.
A technology known as the typical horizontal
drilling method will used to cross the rivers while auger drilling will be used
to cross the pipeline under the road crossing.
According
to the design, there will be an open cut through wetlands-meaning that the pipes
will still be buried under the wetland and then be restored.
Joseph Mukasa, the Environmental Specialist at the East African Crude Oil Pipeline told URN that measures have been put in place to ensure that they don't take a lot of time when laying pipes through the papyrus.
"Of course, we have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). But as you know, seasons change and at times what is
on the ground changes. So before we do the crossing, the environment team will
go ahead and assess how the situation is. Sometimes you find that it is not
wise to cross at that particular point in that season" Mukasa added “That is why we advise
that such points are actually crossed in the dry season. So the environment team
will go ahead to establish the conditions and then with the engineering team we will plan how to cross the wetland"
This
is the first time that EACOP and the Petroleum Authority are coming out to explain
deeply some of the technical specifications of the pipeline whose construction
is expected at the beginning of next year.
There have been local and
international campaigns about EACOP initially over environmental concerns and
later over human rights. The Petroleum
Authority on Friday issued a statement confirming that the East Africa Crude Oil
Pipeline (EACOP will cost about USD 4 billion.
Dozith
Abeinomugisha, Director in charge of Midstream developments at the Petroleum
Authority of Uganda (PAU) said with its extensive fiber-optic network allowing
online connectivity, EACOP promises to be one of the world’s smartest and
safest bulk pipelines with real-time monitoring along its entire length via
satellite.
He
said safety staff will be able to detect
any pressure change
indicative of a leak, sabotage, or pilfering within seconds and isolate the
relevant section of pipe to keep any environmental damage and
commercial loss to a
minimum.
He revealed that the Authority and EACOP’s holding company
will have real-time monitoring centers at their respective offices to receive immediate
updates via satellite
uplink.
"This means that monitoring is not
dependent on local mobile phone or radio networks, guaranteeing greater
reliability,” he said.
The
Ugandan section will be entirely carbon neutral with electricity heating while
the Tanzanian side will have 80MW of solar as well as hydro power providing all the power needed.
The
PAU observes that the design and construction of EACOP, which began in 2018, has been
one of the greatest challenges of African infrastructure engineering in recent
history.
Heating
cables will run down the entire length of the pipe using a technology known as Long Line Heat Tracing (LLHT) which works
on a similar principle as a kettle element, using resistance to generate heat when
an electric current passes through a specially chosen high resistance filament.
The route was chosen to
minimize disruption to the local population and the
environment, but this met a
challenge close to the coastline where a steep slope in
the terrain could potentially cause surges in pressure as the
crude oil flows downhill at high
angles.
Two pressure reduction stations were added to the design to maintain
the pressure for the project’s high safety
standards.
“Local farmers and residents
were consulted in both Uganda and Tanzania where the pipeline cuts across their land. Public information
campaigns were launched to offer compensation to legitimate claimants for loss
of land, assets such as buildings, and grazing rights,”
adds Ali Ssekatawa, Director for Legal and Corporate Affairs at PAU.
In Uganda, the number of people affected is 3,660,
and in Tanzania, 9,513. To date, 90 percent in Uganda have accepted
compensation packages, including 177 who have opted for new homes resettling
them away from the pipeline.
Negotiations continue but
in the case of a failure to agree between EACOP planners and residents, both
countries have a legal regime under which land
can be acquired by the government through
a transparent process of compulsory acquisition and compensation
With the two already-licensed production areas covering the Tilenga and Kingfisher
projects, both located in western Uganda
around Lake Albert, scheduled to peak at 230,000 barrels a day production.
The country is planning to
build its own refinery to deal with its own consumer demand for petrol and
other products, one that will use up to 60,000 barrels a day, meaning
at the current
planned peak EACOP will
pump 170,000 barrels per
day.
Work is already advanced on the pumping stations, work
camps, and storage facilities along the EACOP route as well as the coating plant.
The first 100 km of pipe (5,600 sections each 18m in length) has been manufactured
in China and is expected to arrive by ship in the Tanzanian hub port of Dar es
Salaam early in the New Year. After coating and welding the first sections of pipe
are due to be laid midway through next year.