CriticalControl: serving the information management needs of Energy

Petroleum Pipeline Management Applications

Petroleum pipeline transport companies fight battles every day. Running the gauntlet between the refineries that produce the products and the tank terminals where customers expect to receive the product exactly when it is promised. Throw in terrain that by its varying peaks, valleys, water crossings, passages under highly populated areas or environmentally sensitive zones, and the pipeline transport business proves itself a marvel of intricate scheduling, fluid dynamics, co-operation on a very large scale and plain hard work. Dealing with the day-to-day challenges of making accurate, timely deliveries to customers under conditions that can change as fast as the spot price of oil or gas while keeping operations within strict governmental regulatory controls means only the most well-managed companies thrive in the industry. CriticalControl focuses on the batch scheduling and real-time leak detection aspects of petroleum pipeline transportation management. With a highly integrated suite of products delivered to customers by a team of experienced pipeline hydraulics specialists, CriticalControl is a recognized leader in the select industry of pipeline applications software suppliers.

Products and Services that help Petroleum Companies manage their pipelines:

• PipeWorks LeakWarn, Scheduler, Trainer
• LeakWarn Classic
• Simone Gas Applications

PipeWorks is an integrated suite of software tools that assists petroleum companies in managing a pipeline system. PipeWorks is made up of a number of modular applications that perform real-time modeling, look-ahead modeling, and training simulation. It also includes a complete set of utilities and tools that allow effective use of PipeWorks including graphical user interface, object oriented database management system and a number of ancillary tools and utilities.

The PipeWorks system has been designed to include a complete selection of pipeline operation applications. Some applications exist in the current PipeWorks offering while others will be added in the future.

  • Real-time Transient Model
  • Training Simulator
  • Look-Ahead Model
  • Predictive Model
  • Pipeline Integrity Monitor
  • Instrument Analysis
  • Batch Tracking
  • Batch Scheduling
  • Composition Tracking
  • Scraper Tracking

PipeWorks incorporates standard third party software for its database and uses JAVA for the user interface. This ensures ease of interfacing and also ensures that the product will stay current with industry standards.

The common platform, consisting of the database, GUI and application interfaces means that users pay only for the added functionality once. Add additional functionality without rebuilding or replicate databases. The system is easier to maintain since data is entered only once into a common database. This architecture also allows for modules to interact, reducing the individual complexity but allowing for sophisticated functionality. For example, the scheduler can call on the pipeline model to check for hydraulic violations of a particular schedule without the need to incorporate a full hydraulic model into the Scheduler.