Fiber Optic Pipeline Monitoring Solutions
Pipelines carry some of the most critical and hazardous materials in modern industry. A breach in an oil transmission line, a slurry pipe at a mine site, or a buried water main can mean lost product, environmental damage, regulatory exposure, and unplanned downtime. Our fiber optic pipeline monitoring technology gives operators a continuous, real-time view of their entire pipeline network, so threats are caught before they become crises.
We serve pipeline operators across the United States and Australia in industries where the stakes are high and the distances are long.
Where We Put Fiber Optic Pipeline Monitoring to Work
We built our Praetorian pipeline monitoring system for real-world complexity. Here's how it performs across the applications we see most:
Oil and Gas Transmission Lines
Crude, refined product, and gas pipelines cross remote terrain where manual inspection is impractical. Praetorian monitors up to 80km (50 mi) of pipeline simultaneously, detecting pressure drops, unauthorized hot tapping, and third-party excavation the moment they occur, above ground or buried.
Mining Tailings and Slurry Pipelines
Tailings pipe failures carry significant environmental and financial consequences. Our pipeline monitoring system detects vibration signatures and temperature anomalies specific to slurry flow disruption, providing mine operators with pinpoint leak location data rather than a broad alarm zone.
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
Municipal and industrial water systems often run underground through urban corridors where leaks go unnoticed for extended periods. Fiber optic sensing continuously detects the acoustic and thermal signatures of water loss, without the need for inspection personnel on the ground.
Chemical and Petrochemical Lines
Invisible gases and hazardous liquids require monitoring that doesn't depend on visual inspection. Because our system works on pipelines that carry products you can't see or safely access, it fills a critical gap in chemical plant and petrochemical facility safety programs.
Brine and Steam Lines
High-temperature and high-salinity product lines are prone to stress-related degradation. The Praetorian system uses distributed temperature sensing to flag thermal anomalies that indicate developing issues along the full length of the fiber.
Above-Ground and Underground Pipelines
Pipeline infrastructure is varied, and we designed our pipeline monitoring system to perform in both configurations:
Above Ground: Exposed pipelines face mechanical impact risks, thermal cycling, and unauthorized access. Our system flags intrusion attempts and structural disturbances in real time.
Underground: Buried pipelines present unique challenges: third-party excavation, ground movement, and leaks that surface only after significant product loss. Fiber optic sensing monitors the entire buried length without excavation.
Principle of Operation
- Distributed sensors can continuously monitor vibration, strain, and temperature on structural elements of the bridge for the entire length of optical fiber.
- Distributed sensors can continuously monitor vibration, strain, and temperature on the pipeline for the entire length of optical fiber.
- Distributed sensors can continuously monitor vibration, strain, and temperature on structural elements of the rail networks for the entire length of optical fiber.
Frequently Asked Questions
The two key terms are Time of Flight and Rayleigh Backscattering.
- Backscattering is the return light from minute imperfections in the fiber. As physical changes in the fiber, such as temperature, strain, and vibration, alter the fiber's spectrum, the spectrum of this return light is altered. Rayleigh Backscattering is the part of this spectrum that responds to vibration, allowing vibration in the field to be removed from the return light.
- Time of Flight is like a sonar, laser, or radar, in that the time the pulse is traveling relates to a distance. In fiber optic sensing, this is not just measured at the reflection point, but at every section of the fiber through which the pulse travels.
No. Once commissioned, the Praetorian system requires no routine calibration or maintenance. It also includes self-diagnostics that continuously verify system health, so operators know immediately if a fault develops in the monitoring equipment itself.
The Praetorian system is immune to the effects of a broken or cut fiber. Monitoring continuity upstream of the break is maintained, and the system flags the fiber damage as a separate event so it can be addressed without leaving a pipeline segment unmonitored.
Absolutely. A single interrogator unit can monitor up to 80 km of pipeline simultaneously with no field-deployed electronics along the sensing cable. That makes it practical for remote oil and gas lines, long mine-site conveyance runs, and cross-country water-transmission infrastructure in the US and Australia.
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