The fear of oil spills remains a major obstacle for those in the energy industry trying to push through pipeline projects, but one company thinks it has a solution to shore up safety.
Two major companies, Enbridge and TransCanada, will be experimenting with a new leak detection system in both Canada and the U.S.
Hifi’s President and CEO Steven Koles said the High Fidelity Dynamic Sensing (HDS) technology can accurately measure acoustics, temperature, vibration and strain.
“We can also focus on events that might be precursors to a leak: a construction crew that’s digging to close to a pipeline — an earthquake that might create a geo-technical event,” he said.
There are many other leak detection systems out there, but HDS claims to be the most sensitive.
“You literally get an alarm in a second,” Koles said.
“We actually take information or data that’s being sensed in real time on the pipeline and we transmit this into what’s called GE Predix, which goes into the control room of Enbridge and TransCanada.”
The start-up is in the middle of pipeline politics.
“But we are actually quite proud to say we are a fully made-in-Canada solution to a very relevant Canadian problem, and so, we think we can help,” Koles said.
But, Hifi has the backing of the provincial government and will be partnering with the two major industry players with help from the Alberta Innovates program.
Both ends of the Keystone pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Houston, Texas and Enbridge’s new Norlite pipeline will be fitted with the technology.
