Beijing Gas Group is the largest urban gas enterprise in China, and the second largest distribution network in the world. The group supply 18 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year to over 5.89 million customers, who rely on it for heating, refrigeration, power, industry and gas-powered vehicles.
With a pipeline network spanning over 20,000 kilometres, effective monitoring and control is crucial. That’s where remote monitoring specialist Ovarro comes in — working with partner KXCit, they have provided Kingfisher RTUs to support oil and gas processes and to ensure the smooth running of the system.
The pipeline is managed from a Production Dispatching Command System originally constructed in 2002. This system includes consumption forecasting, pipeline simulation systems, and a geographic information system.
It also offers supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) — a centralised system for monitoring, management and control of devices and processes, even at remote sites. This supports both transmission and distribution networks.
These systems are duplicated between two other control centres – the Master Control Centre (MCC), and the Emergency Control Centre (ECC). This allows control from either centre and ensures 100% uptime consistently.
The network now consists of over 200 stations, with DDN lines running to each. They use fibre-optic cables and have a wireless backup channel. Remote telemetry units (RTUs) are mounted in the field — these units are located at the site of a managed device or asset and provide data collection, monitoring and analysis for SCADA applications.
Distributed Network Protocol (DNP) 3, a common set of protocols used in oil and gas, is used for communication between control centres and the RTUs, which offers interoperability between data acquisition and control equipment.
There are currently 381 Ovarro Kingfisher RTUs installed in the pipeline system, which collect data and monitor and control gas storage, metered off takes, CNG stations and pressure regulation stations.
Ovarro’s partner in China, ZKCiT, have provided technology services to the Beijing Gas Group for over a decade, and ensure that the Kingfisher RTUs are equipped with upgraded hardware and firmware as they evolve. Beijing Gas Group continue to use the Kingfisher product group as their systems are expanded and upgraded.
The resilience and modular configuration of Kingfisher RTUs means that they can offer a secure automation platform to meet the critical demands of SCADA applications in the oil and gas industry. This is highlighted by the continued trust that the Beijing Gas Group have in this technology to support their critical operations.
