Schneider Electric is working with Israeli fibre sensing company Prisma Photonics to deliver real-time intelligence and precise monitoring of oil and gas infrastructure.

This should help oil and gas pipeline owners and operators prevent accidental and malicious activity, so they can drive efficiency and sustainability through energy and resource loss avoidance.

With this commercial agreement, Schneider Electric says it is strengthening its technology and expertise to help its customers expand the reliability and sustainability of their pipeline operations.

Oil and gas pipelines are critical assets, and pipeline integrity and leak detection are part of an operator’s toolbox for safe and environmentally conscious pipeline operations. Driven by regulatory demand, environmental awareness and public safety needs, most operators employ at least one leak detection system, if not multiple technologies.

Prisma Photonics’ PrismaFlow, a pipeline monitoring offering comprising hardware and software, reduces positive and negative false alarm rates compared with other fibre-sensing options with its Hyper-Scan technology offering more sensitivity.

The system’s machine-learning unit improves signal-to-noise ratio, allowing for accurate event classification. By leveraging pre-existing fibre-optic cables as sensors, PrismaFlow eliminates the need to invest in dedicated fibres and the installation and maintenance of thousands of dedicated sensors along the pipeline.

The technology essentially makes for faster oil and gas pipeline management and prevents accidental, criminal or malicious activity, thus ensuring a secure pipeline infrastructure.

“Prisma Photonics’ pipeline monitoring technology fits in well with our overall promise of delivering enhanced reliability and safety to our midstream oil and gas customers,” said Astrid Poupart-Lafarge, Schneider Electric’s oil, gas and petrochemical segment president.

Efficient pipeline management can positively impact the environment, according to Matthew Carrara, Schneider Electric vice president, who added: “With methane emissions at top of climate change agendas, this partnership will help our customers achieve their emission goals easier and faster. PrismaFlow can have a direct impact on decreasing methane emissions caused by leaks in pipelines.”

PrismaFlow can detect and flag events such as leaks, mechanical and manual digging, theft, vandalism, third-party interference, inline pigging devices, pedestrian activity, vehicle movement, and drone activity. Operators receive real-time event locations to take immediate action without worrying about noise or false alarms.

By detecting leaks early, oil and gas companies can mitigate problems before they harm people or the environment. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), downstream emissions can be reduced by 75 per cent with existing technology that includes pipeline infrastructure.

“It is a true honour to partner with Schneider Electric and take part in one of the greatest challenges of this generation and generations to come,” said Eran Inbar, Prisma Photonics’ CEO. “Allowing operators to take responsibility over an immense scale of critical infrastructure can make a true impact on the environment.”

Eyal Assa, chief business officer at Prisma Photonics, added: “We are looking forward to long and profound relationships between the two companies and teams. PrismaFlow is a complementing solution to Schneider Electric’s suite of tools for pipelines operators worldwide.”

Prisma Photonics was founded in 2017.