Swiss firm ABB has introduced smart technology to help detect leaking natural gas pipelines in urban environments. Left alone, these can result in explosions and fires.

The ABB MicroGuard will work alongside ABB’s MobileGuard to pinpoint dangerous gas leaks. Faster and easier detection with this patented laser-based technology can help reduce fatalities, environmental damage and material loss.

Cities around the world are seeking to reduce the inherent risks of gas leaks to public safety and the negative impact on global warming.

MicroGuard can be used as a stand-alone device but becomes more powerful when reading the maps generated by MobileGuard to enable surveyors to quickly find leaks on foot, generally within minutes.

Doug Baer, ABB product line manager, said: “Our LGR-Icos laser absorption technology constitutes the analytical engine at the heart of MobileGuard and MicroGuard, and provides fast, highly sensitive measurements in air that enable us to distinguish quickly and reliably between naturally-occurring methane – from livestock or landfills, for example – and gases leaking from a buried pipe or other potentially dangerous source.”

The hardware is selectively sensitive to natural gas, continuously measuring methane, ethane, wind velocity and local coordinates. Proprietary software incorporates these measurements into detailed fluid dynamics calculations, virtually eliminating false positives and reducing search areas to provide surveyors with the data they need to locate leaks reliably and quickly.

Digital reports can be generated and shared in real time on a user-controlled and secure cloud server and continuously maintain rigorous cyber-security protocols. The field data and reports generated allow crews to prioritise resources and repairs intelligently.

Compliance with relevant regulations becomes easier because data are digitally available, immediately.

MobileGuard can be used in vehicles driven at speeds of up to 88km/h. MicroGuard will read maps generated by MobileGuard, which enables surveyors to leave their vehicle and search on foot to pinpoint leak locations precisely and four times faster than conventional technology.

The ABB patented technology has also been developed for HoverGuard that can be mounted on an aircraft or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to survey locations that are inaccessible by vehicles or technicians, and EverGuard for fixed locations, which can continuously monitor high-risk areas in well pads, gathering lines, pipelines, factories, distribution stations and storage facilities. 

Altogether, the complete gas leak detection platform makes it possible to find leaks throughout the entire natural gas infrastructure – upstream, midstream, downstream and from utilities – with higher reliability and speed by combining cyber-secure measurement technology with data analytics.

“These mobile technologies, used separately or in combination, will change the way utilities and service providers search for natural gas leaks in distribution and transmission pipelines, at oil and gas facilities and other industrial sites,” said Baer. “Detecting and finding leaks fast makes it possible to fix them quickly, boosting safety and decreasing harmful emissions to the environment.”