Solution to Pipeline Vandalism - Any Ideas?

The first step is to define the problem adequately. Some information on the size of the lines, the nature of the materials within them, their temperatures and pressures, and some indication as to how the vandalism and theft are taking place, is a pre-requisite for doing this and it is disappointing that these data are absent from the original post.

line size ranges from 24inch and 16 inche for crude and 8 to 12inch for PMS,DPK and AGO. temperture is ambient, operating pressure is about 55bars. vandalism and theft is via valve insertion on the line and out right perforation. thanks for your response.

you might consider hiring some of the off duty security guards that were hired by shippers to protect vessels sailing off Somalia. they gave them M16s and a few lessons, now we don't hear about piracy anymore in those waters

GA

Not to mention the loss from the theft and vandalism, this will determine decision making ROI on anti-theft/vandalism procedures.

My first thought is to patrol it regularly with teams of 2 or 3 persons, with the ability to summon extra help if needed. Some of my other thoughts are inhumane.

that would appear a good idea until you consider that the line streaches over 5100km across the length and breath of the country. line patrol is currently being done but successes have been limited. what are the inhumane thoughts? lol.

They are along the lines of insulating the pipe electrically and making it 600 volts to earth...(insert devil smiley)

I think you need a lot of cameras on poles, and, a central control room.

Not sure if drones would be cheaper nowadays.

Here some options:

- put pipeline in different country

- if you cannot do this change the country where pipeline is in!

- install pipe line monitoring system. That at least will tell you when there is a breach and you can react.

These would act as a deterrent; I'm not sure if they're in use, buy they are essentially the same shock as police tasers deliver.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3650-nonlethal-landmine-zaps-intruders-with-50000-volts.html

Mix a dye that could be refined out. That would unknowingly stain the perpetrators and the pipe. Then follow the trail to the buyers. Arrest the buyers for the stolen pipe. The pipe has no value if their is know one left to buy it. As long as know one knows how you were able to trace to pipe to the buyers other will think twice about taking the chance and buying stolen pipe.

Another deterrent would be to invest in a having the pipe permanently marked. Company logo and a serial number stamped every so many feet.

I don't think they're stealing the pipe itself, but the contents inside the pipes.

I undid your OT, because some type of marker might work...

I wonder if they could magnetize the pipe, and have an alarm go off if the magnetic field is interrupted or changed.

They would still have to identify the exact location of the break.

As far as dye is concerned, they already are using it; at least here. Diesel for farm use is dyed red, and if someone gets caught using it in a private vehicle, there's hell to pay.

I am sorry to say that taking into consideration the country with its political and economical situation only "inhuman" solutions (taser equivalent) could lead to a result and ONLY temporarily since solutions to avoid them will be found. It is a problem of human behavior based on history, traditions aso.

Suggested solutions are "american" way of thinking not possible to apply in the African conditions.

The usage of drones seems to be the most promising solution. The drones should for instance be able to project a stream of indelible color and make and transmit pictures with geographic coordinates with help of GPS and satellite phone connections.

Due to the huge area it will be difficult to find the perpetrators and punish them.

NO!

And, I don't want to, either.

[[ actually, for *lyn*...]] the words:

"Seen Detroit lately?" should have been hyperlinked-to some "fine examples"...

It is simply astonishing to take-in ALL (if that's even remotely possible) of the examples of decay and abandonment taking place in THIS very nation, the ("supposed") 'envy of all others'...

I recently ran-across photos of (the ruins at) California's Salton Sea (which I lived *near*, during its heydays, yet never once visited)... and, whilest perusing those images, I sensed an almost eerie cognizance of a "never-ending-shift".

As Bombay Beach was slowly disintegrating, L.A., Reno, Las Vegas etc were taking up the slack, so-to-speak. There is always "new growth" to replace death.

These "new" ruins (from north-to-south and east-to-west) will one day ... collectively ... teach us something very profound.

"Dollars to donuts"...

This is off topic......but let get this straight, a lot of Detroit's problems, are the effects of the history of Detroit's corrupt management practices.

And Detroit's poor management practices is Detroit's problem.

or Chicago, for that matter.

You have said it all with Avarice rules!

I have no doubt if the powers to be wanted to bury the line or place the best available technology to safeguard the pipeline, they could.

From Wikipedia: "While Nigeria's oil revenue has totaled $340 billion in exports since the 1970s and it is the fifth largest producer, 70% of its population lives on less than $1 a day, and 43% have no access to clean water."

Kind of like the Favelas of Brazil and their electrical grid.

Article here shows depth of this problem....

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/analysis/features/38681--illegal-oil-refining-a-frightening-wave-of-economic-sabotage

I agree with this guy! After all, it is technically their oil too, it is coming from the countries land and should have cheap access to it. Along with double lined pipes, this could change everything!

A quick look will show the enormity of the problem. I first thought that it was simply port to port, in which case you could load it on ships, but there appears to be many inland terminals as well.

The only alternative I can think of is doing like they do in Colombia, continuous convoys of trucks between processing points, horrible on the traffic, but nobody can steal the stuff (ok, so a few fall of the roads when they wash out).

Re: "The only alternative I can think of is doing like they do in Colombia, continuous convoys of trucks..."

20+ years ago I was part of a team sent to repair a pipeline (damaged by an anchor that 'dragged') just offshore El Salvador. Ships would offload their oil to the pipeline, which transported it to a refinery on the beach.

That refinery had been "purpose-built" primarily to provide fuel for the new power plant 30+ miles away at the capital (San Salvador), which was in turmoil due largely to the rolling brown-out/black-out problems.

Decision had to be made, whether to build a pipeline from the coast "up-the-mountains" to the capital, OR, build a road and buy a fleet of tanker-trucks.

You guessed it.

We were driven UP that "road", AS it was under construction. Hundreds of guys with sledge hammers banging-away at rock... and many more walking back-and-forth to the steaming 'Water-Buffalo' (as we called them in the Army)... but these didn't have water in them. It was hot tar, into which they flopped pails having holes in the bottom, which were then used to distribute tar over the pulverized substrate.

Quite the scene ... with oxen-pulled plowing going-on in the background....

Progress certainly does come ... at a cost...(!)

You may be able to contact the same people that are trying to stop animal poaching, (government?), join efforts, and have teams to work double duty.

If it's okay to shoot poachers, it should be okay to shoot the people that are stealing your stuff.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-14/africa-battles-poachers-to-save-its-wild-lions/4464518

Put a sleeve pipe around your pipes and fill the outside cavity with sewage.

Good question. This is not an easy 1 item fix. It will take multiple measures implemented at the same time to make this happen. I have spent some time in a couple of African countries and much like Lyn says there is much poverty and not much hope. There are many, many people who would burn an entire forest to sell the charcoal, or shoot the last elephant alive to sell the ivory and not think twice about it, and sleep great at night. I think drones is a viable option however it will not be nearly enough and will need to be backed up by Boots on the ground and will get expensive to patrol the entire pipeline. S.E.'s Idea of placing taps (Well i was going to suggest he get some sleep or drink coffee) however He is probably on to something. If you identified some of the higher risk area's and placed a local authority over that area and gave them access to a discounted product you could lean on them in turn to police a length of pipe and reward or offer bonuses based on their stewardship. Example -A company gets a contract for 200 km. of piping with 3 taps in it in exchange for their ability to resell at a reasonable price to the end users and they would be responsible for ensuring the integrity of the line if they don,t there will be 50 more ready to try.

Some remote areas you may not need much security. You probably have a good idea where most of the problems occur.

Using these steps will reduce the length of areas needing drone surveillance and security forces. Saving a lot of money.

In the harder areas you can add:

Electric Fencing in some area's will help and using a leaky cable system that will detect when and intruder approches the fence in those area's

Camera's - There are alot of Sophisticated camera systems out there, that can trigger alarms when they detect movement, It is a very simple technology that has been exploited to enhance cctv in recent years. there are systems that can distinguish between a man and a deer and determine the direction of movement.

Placing a dye in the petroleum products is good as well to help you track where the product is going.

lastly, I would begin as you can trying to bury the pipe, focusing on the worst area's and working down the line.

One of the reasons we don't have a problem in the U.S. is that there are very few above ground petroleum lines around. We have people taping in to Power company lines, bypassing the gas company lines. Shoplifting, There were so many gas pump drive offs that providers had to introduce pay in advance fueling. I know a few of you old timers remember when you could drive up, fill up, and go in and pay for your gas and soda.

Americans at heart are no different than the poorest Africans and most people in general they are all concerned with their own welfare and comfort and will beg, borrow or steal to get what they want.

Good Luck!

Having once worked in a "not very nice" area of Brooklyn, NY, I can appreciate what you are saying. The only problem with hiring locals as guards is "How do you tell the difference between the local good guys from the local bad guys?" I don't have a good answer for it. From my own experience and that of other management personnel in nearby industries, the best way to protect a facility or an asset in such an area was to build it or renovate it so that guards are not required or fewer guards are needed. For a 205,000ft² facility, with some buildings up to 5 stories, this was accomplished by bricking/blocking off all unused or unnecessary windows and doors on the first floor, bullet proof plexi on the office windows, parking personal cars and company vehicles within the buildings, razor wire on any low roofs and other similar methods. This greatly reduced the thefts and assaults attributable to the local people.

The area referenced was so bad that the "corporate security", ex-FBI, manger wouldn't leave his mid-west office to visit for a consultation on facility security!

Again, I don't have a proven and infallible answer, just what has worked best for pipelines, burial.

Good Luck, Old Salt

The only problem, is separating the locals from the local vandals.

Fit one of these to the underside of the pipeline...

How much of the profit from thsse pipelines actually goes to the inhabitants, and how much is siphoned offshore? Catch my drift? Theft is sometimes legal. If your solutions include punishment for poverty, I have no sympathy. Set up a 4Glte cell phone network along the pipeline, pass out cell phones and offer a reward for snitching on the thieves. Throttle service if thefts occur unreported. Use drones, steered by cell phone, to paintball mark the thieves trucks. Use a radioactive tracer in the product to identify it when the marked trucks are tracked to destination. Spread rumors about radiation. Use Fukushima as an example. It's the new sewage! Bribe lots of cops. Profit. That's what it's all about isn't it? Not helping the poor.

Digging a trench and burying the pipeline is one way, however the clever buggers in Libya use more explosives and STILL blow up the pipeline. The DDF (Desert Defence Force) are limited by numbers and capabilities and if their friends turn up with a few tonne of cemtex, they look or run the other way!

There is no real solution!

if it's your home country try educating the potential hazzard makers - i assume such scale enterprise fill a signifficant share in state budget - that then reaches those guys somehow - if the prev. doesnot apply - you could train these party as - pipe health monitor team - make them responsible and for guarding - supposing such'd be less expensive than piracy repairs

on the other hand (we find that time) :

the aromatic hydrocarbons are very toxic - we don't have in "western world" gas stations any notice about it (whitch is very interesting) - so it's more impossible for you to educate locals of the consequences ... on the other hand it may be better possible since they might preserve the spiritual knowledge that makes it more important for tem to keep away of such trouble

Despite his opening statement of dissension, I think ormondotvos has the best (short term) solution.

Put a bounty on the thieves. Pay 75% of what you would have lost to the locals for theft prevention. Stop the payouts when the thieves are successful.

You make the rules if you write the checks. I bet in a short time you could have a cottage industry of "private contractors" patrolling your pipeline in hope of getting a payout.

. . . Now that I think about it. This will probably lead to innocent people being brought in with pipe wrenched tied to their hands. TIA.

-A-

Bury the pipe where most of the vandelism occures and patrol the rest.

How about double walled pipes? One inside the other? This should be implemented EVERYWHERE to use against spills. Even here in N. America. In fact, they should be mandatory like double hulled tankers!

Cost prohibitive.

That's the problem. Everyone puts monetary value over spill protection and the environment. Have you seen the track record in that country? The whole area is spilled upon! Yknow what? Please don't respond to this message. I already know what you are going to say.

Forgive my response but i wanted to chime in, I do agree largely with what you have written, One of the ways to raise the standard of living is to use/sell the resources that they (the people) own and for others to pay them fairly for those resources. When large companies come in and exploit people and rob them of their resources and give them nothing in return but a rusting and decaying infrastructure when they leave is revolting to most people. the question is what to do about it. If you gave everyone 20 gallons of free fuel per week, there would be 1000s who still would bunker petrol to sell it because they need more than a tank of gas. There also is quite a bit of corruption in Nigeria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Nigeria

So much care must be taken to make sure that the aid and not just aid but the resources go to the right people and is not intercepted by some warlord.

There are lots of greedy people in the world, some wear suits and run oil companies, some lay around and commit Medicare, disability, or insurance fraud, and some run around in fatigues with guns and jeeps and rob medical relief workers.

what a crazy world! Thanks for the post

ecogeek-

What would prevent the bad guys from cutting a hole, large enough to accommodate the hot tap with additional working room in the outer wall? They could then do a hot tap, or anything else they are handy with, into the inner petroleum containing pipe just like they do now with the single wall. This is similar to how they do now but just takes a little longer.

The outer pipe theoretically does not contain any product or vapors from the product. They could simply take an oxy-acetylene cutting torch or a plasma cutter to gain access to the outside surface of the inner pipe.

Perhaps though, the space between the inner and outer pipes could be filled with a gas volatile enough to hurt/kill the bad buys but not damage the inner pipe and only minimal damage to the outer pipe. Light the torch, make your piercing cut and meet your maker!

If any "bad guy" scenarios are needed, contact me. Wife says I think to much like the bad guys, think not act like though. I guess it was too many Haz-Ops during my career!

Good Luck, Old Salt

Bond a strand ( or more )of fiber optic cable to the pipe. When the cable is damaged it is easy to detect and the system will also measure the distance to the damage or cut. In theory it works perfectly!

excuse me ? off topic ? putting a fiber optic line along the pipe in areas of great concern could be done and powered by solar. any damage to the fiber line could be remotly read and located prompting an immediate physical inspection . paying a bounty to discover damage only increases the risk of purposeful sabotage for financial gain . the whole system could be solar powered and otherwise Wireless. blah blah blah . it works

Ship by rail in tank cars. It's easier to build a railroad line than a pipeline. And it's easier to move.

It's also easier to blow up a rail line than it is to blow up a buried pipeline! Blowing up rail lines has been a very popular and successful thing to do. This was successful during at least, the civil war, world war 1, world war 2, and Viet Nam. Takes at least one person and a charge to blow up a rail line. Takes many more people, a lot more time and a much bigger charge to blow up a buried pipeline.

A train can be held up and cars diverted to a convenient siding for them to be emptied. If the financial incentive is there for the thieves, they will continue to choose the easiest ways first. Bury the pipeline and their source "dries up".

Good Luck, Old Salt

My solution would be to post warnings along the pipeline and offer a reward for every person who is reported.

I'm not familar with the PMS, DPK or AGO designations. Are these products that can be used right out of the pipe (heating fuel, Automotive fuel, other) or does it have to be further processed for intended use? I'm guessing the vandals are hitting the latter three and ignoring the crude line, as crude isn't of much use in it's present form.

Burying the pipe is not a good idea because it makes it difficult for maintenance. Maybe a small army of well paid guards recruited from the local communities would work best. At the least, it could cut down the amount of vandalism.

Out right perforation indicates to me an act of vandalism, while tapping with a valve indicates theft. They are actually two different problems, requiring two different solutions. Vandalism tends to be an infrequent act. Theft may be done by someone with some knowledge of pipelines and valves.

You have heard of the poor person that had his hand cut off for stealing a loaf of bread. You may have the same situation there of poor just trying to survive.

Pay a bounty.

Make it serve a dual purpose...like high tension electricity as well. Biggest bug zapper ever built.

I assume the pipe is metal. I don't know if it would work, but I would experiment with vibrational/sound sensors to see how far contact noise might propagate along the pipe. If the distance is long enough, then sensors placed underneath at intervals might be able to detect a signature frequency of tampering. Also, the implementation might need to be RFID, or similar, like collars to track wild animals. May be a screwy idea. That's my first thought, though. Kind of like placing one's ear on a railroad track to hear an oncoming train.

My second one would be trained dogs. They can be trained for detecting whatever with their wonderful sense of smell and hearing.