Pipeline Control Systems: A Review of Surveillance Methods and Applications in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Sector

Abstract

The pipeline is a very important infrastructure to the oil and gas industry that is used to transport petroleum and its associated products from one location to another. Improper monitoring, control and surveillance of pipeline infrastructures would lead to serious damages to the environment in the form of oil spillage and gas flare. This paper reviews existing surveillance methods and their applications in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria. The human/biological method employs dogs, human personnel, smart pigging and helicopters as its technique; having the highest industrial penetration of 47.5%. The Remote sensing method consists of satellite remote sensing and unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) having 0% industrial penetration in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The supervisory control method consists of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Distributed Control System (DCS), Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) with 16.9% industrial penetration in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. The robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) method is a very recent method yet to have any significant industrial penetration in the oil and gas sector but has a promising future in the industry. This paper will serve to guide stakeholders in choosing the appropriate surveillance methods for pipeline surveillance and control.