Canadian pipeline CP protection specialist MobilTex has introduced an industrial IoT measurement device to extend protection and preventive maintenance to long range hazardous liquid pipelines in North America and beyond. The CorTalk RMU1 LITE, is designed as a robust device to allow operators to quickly and easily automate the collection and transmission of pipe-to-soil potential measurement data from Cathodic Protection (CP) test stations in virtually any location.

The CorTalk RMU1 LITE is derived from the CorTalk RMU1 device.  It is designed to provide a cost-effective high-volume deployment to CP test stations, and provide corrosion engineers with the advantages of IIoT-based remote monitoring.

The battery-powered CorTalk RMU1 LITE transmits data by cellular or satellite networks, eliminating the need to physically visit CP test stations to obtain annual pipe-to-soil potential measurements. Test stations are often in remote, difficult-to-reach sites, exposing technicians to hazards in isolated locations, mountainous regions, swamps, airport or train right-of-ways, and high-voltage infrastructure.

The RMU1 LITE addresses the need of pipeline operators, as regulations continue to expand, to prove their infrastructure is adequately protected and stay within operational budgets.

The CorTalk RMU1 LITE offers user-selectable intervals, greatly enhancing the amount of pipe-to-soil data that is automatically collected. Pipeline operators can take advantage of this capability to collect multiple measurements throughout the year, providing a richer data set to understand seasonal variations and short-term operating irregularities that can negatively impact CP system performance.

Data that is transmitted by the RMU1 LITE, and other MobilTex remote monitoring devices, is received and stored by CorView, a cloud-based software platform. CorView creates trending graphs and reports, and automatically sends alerts if measurements received from the RMU1 LITE are outside of set thresholds or if data is not received at scheduled intervals.

“Millions of CP test stations are installed on pipeline assets throughout North America and much of the data is only collected annually in a time-consuming, manual process,” said Marc Bracken, CEO. “MobilTex developed the CorTalk RMU1 LITE to bring pipe-to-soil potential measurement into the IIoT world with a fit-for-purpose design and an affordable price for large-scale deployment. Benefits are realised in many areas including safety, operational efficiency, and providing engineers access to a much richer and complete dataset in order to improve CP performance and, ultimately, better protect assets and infrastructure. We’re confident pipeline operators will quickly see tremendous value with an investment in CorTalk RMU1 LITE devices.”