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Fluxys Field Trials - Brugge, Belgium 27th of July till the 1st of August 2008 As part of my departments push forward into the pipeline monitoring environment myself and another person drove to Belgium with lots of our equipment to test it out in essentially a competition with some other companies. We had one days notice of the trial, we had confirmation of Thursday night and the trial started on Monday. We rushed to get everything together on Friday and boxed up all the equipment. It wasn't too much of a rush, we just had to make sure we didn't forget anything important. Due to the unfortunate need to get to Brugge on Monday to start the trial, we set off on Sunday morning and drove in a big white transit van with all our gear. From this point on the weather got very hot and carrying big boxes around isn't really want you want in that heat. We drove from Southampton, to Dover then took a SeaFrance ferry to Calais. Then it was just a short drive to Brugge where we checked into the Martins Brugge hotel. Not a bad hotel, but our van wouldn't fit in their underground car park, just a bit too tall. After some conversations with the reception they advised us to use a big public car park on the edge of the city near the train station. 2.5 Euros a day for the van and a free bus pass which goes from the train station to the central square of Brugge... a mere 30 seconds walk from our hotel. After sorting out the van and our hotel rooms we went for the first of many free meals on the company, we ate in the central square, the tourist trap zone. We got up earlyish on Monday morning and got the bus to the van and then drove the 10 miles to Zeebrugge where the pipeline operators site is located. It wasn't a very reassuring place, they made everyone watch a safety video before entering the site but they didn't have an English version. Very strange when their company logo is in English. We ended up watching the video in French and did the test in Dutch with some help from the security woman. Truly one of the biggest jokes for safety I have ever seen. Later on that week I saw something incredibly dangerous that makes me think they should be shut down. but I digress... After we got through security we walked into a building site; they are updating the pipeline system in this area and installing lots of new stuff. Perfectly reasonable, yes, safe... no. We had a meeting with one of the representatives and were given a room to work in so after getting four pieces of paper signed we were allowed to bring our van on site and unload our equipment... not that anyone checked the paperwork. We set up our equipment separately from the other competing companies because we don't have a non disclosure agreement with them and we cant reveal company secrets. We got the box set up in no time along with our dell power edge server.. the bigger the better. We logged some background data and then set off to the nearest petrol station to buy some lunch. Breakfast and lunch for most of the rest of the week was enjoyed buying sandwiches at the petrol station as there was nothing else really for miles. The following day was the first pig launch. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that pig :( The pipeline is about one meter in diameter and carries pressurised natural gas, the launch pigs through the pipeline to clean it out and scan the metal to make sure that it is safe. The process is quite simple, they pick up the pig with a crane and load it into the pig launcher (last picture). They pressure up the launcher to the same pressure as in the pipeline then use a bit more pressure to force it into the pipeline. Once in the pipeline it is pushed along by the flow until it pops out of the other end about 60km away. In preparation for this launch we ended up getting up at 5:30am local time to be there before 7am when the launch could take place. We had to be there to turn our equipment on and to visually check that we could track the pig as it moved through the pipeline. We track it using a distributed vibration sensor (fiber optic cable) installed along the pipeline. After a few hours of watching the pig, it passed the end of our detectable region and we spent a little while looking over the data before going into town for some waffles :o) The next day was the second launch of a heavier pig. This was where I saw the most shocking thing I've seen in a while. The large truck in the pictures with the crane on was running its engine and they opened up the pig launcher and there was a rush of gas as it opened and you could see a big haze in the air. A diesel engine still running only a few meters from this. I asked the company safety representative what gas was coming out with the hope that it was nitrogen, but no, natural gas... apparently one of the valves was leaking and gas escaping... After they loaded the pig we did the same old follow the pig on the computer routine and then we were free. We then spent the rest of the trip looking at data during the day, doing a bit more recording here and there and eating well on the company. I enjoyed a few waffles but unfortunately there was not even one waffle van. When I was in the capital they were everywhere !! On Thursday we packed up our equipment in the van and carried it back to the van through the site (big crane in the way and we couldn't find anyone to help fill in the paperwork). After moving most of the boxes we wait for the crane to lift something before passing and eventually when we got around we saw another smaller crane with a generator suspended about a meter in the air and no one in sight. There is a big rule that you don't leave a load suspended unless it has to be, and you never leave it unattended like that. Too many cowboys !! On Friday we set off back to Southampton, we went back on the ferry and shortly after we restarted the van it failed and we ended up having to pull over at a petrol station and then it refused to restart. We called the AA out to take a look at it. The van started again without his help but he agreed that there was definitely something wrong with it. He followed us for a bit on the motorway but there was nothing he could do. The fuel tank was running low on fuel so we will filled it up before getting to Southampton and as soon as we did it made the van much better. The van ran so much smoother and no longer had trouble getting to 70. The consensus was that the last person may have put vegetable oil in it to save money on refuelling. And then it was over, one week passed and back to work And yes... the seagull was huge, just doesn't show up very well on the pictures |