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GM International supported INTAC in creating a process and emergency shutdown management system for the Baltic Pipe Project.This is a strategic gas infrastructure project for a new gas supply corridor in Europe that will enable the transmission of gas both from Norway to Denmark/Poland, and from Poland to Denmark. A key element in the Baltic Pipe Project is a compressor station near Everdrup (Denmark): its main function is to increase the pressure of the gas, so that it can be transported to and from Poland through the offshore pipeline in the Baltic Sea.

INTAC worked in partnership with a general contractor in the construction sector for an end customer operating in the energy sector, to create a process and emergency shutdown management system of the whole plant.
INTAC is a system integrator with a great expertise in designing and supplying supervisory and control systems for technological plants, in civil and industrial sectors. Working in smart building, smart factory, and industrial automation areas, INTAC integrates systems and technologies to make industrial plants more efficient, safe, and comfortable.

Challenge

The installation needed a station control system to enable continuous monitoring, control, and immediate reporting of operational alarms of plant critical parameters to ensure corrective actions and data transmission to/from centralized SCADA. Moreover, plant facilities have been designed to be unmanned.

The end customer needed project design, supply, manufacture, configuration, inspection, testing, and shipment including erection, commissioning, and documentation of the process control system for all major parts of the compressor station including the associated ancillary plant units.

Solution

In the Baltic Pipe Project, the system is composed by a variety of cabinets with up to 1'500 hardwired signals and more than 10'000 serial signals. Each plant facility is provided with local automation and control which ensure safe and continuous operation, regardless of the presence of the operator. Similarly, the station is capable of being operated safely with or without a communication system and supervision or control from the client’s national control room.

Basic Process Control System (BPCS) and Emergency Shut-Down System (ESD) are the core of process and emergency shutdown management of the whole plant. A basic Process Control System (BPCS) is a system that handles the control and monitor functions of an industrial plant process. BPCS is responsible for the proper operation of the plant, and in many instances is used as the first layer of protection. ESD systems are preventive layers of protection, meaning that they act to prevent a hazardous event from occurring by isolating the leak and ignition sources. The ESD system is a separate supervision unit in addition to the BPCS. The ESD system is installed in separate cabinets with its own process sensors and actuators in the field. The cabinet is hardwired and directly connected without an intermediate junction box. Furthermore, each compressor unit includes an independent compressor ESD system. In addition to the automatic supervision objective, a manual shutdown interface called emergency console is provided to give the operator the opportunity to manually trip a single compressor unit or to shut down the entire compressor station via pushbuttons. This emergency console is directly connected to the ESD system and compressor units and is mounted inside the control room at operation desk.
A hybrid DCS system was adopted to develop the BPCS and ESD. GM International smart relays extend DCS diagnostic capabilities for any kind of load and can detect open or short circuit, power failure, earth leakage and internal faults.

Special attention is drawn to the system’s configuration, operability, reliability, servicing, and safety. The scope of supply included processor modules, communication modules, I/O modules, remote input/output sub-systems, cabinets, programming software, internal wiring and associated hardware, electronic assemblies, and all other requirements for a fully operational system.

GM International also provided INTAC with ATEX certified intrinsic safety barriers. Intrinsic Safety (I.S.) is the method used to avoid the ignition of the explosive atmosphere by controlling the energies involved. Due to the high levels of gas concentration in such kind of installations/plants, it is essential that any equipment used is guaranteed not to cause a spark or reach a high temperature which could easily ignite the explosive atmosphere causing an explosion.
GM International I.S. barriers are ATEX certified, and they have gone through rigorous testing and proved to be safe when used in specific environments with explosive atmospheres.

GM International scope of supply included safety relays as well as SIL rated I.S. barriers installed in the ESD System.

Safety Integrity Level (SIL), as defined by IEC61508 Standard, refers to the reliability of a product or system.
SIL levels measure the impact that a Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) has over the risk associated with a specific hazard. The higher the SIL level is, the more efficient that function will be at reducing the risk it mitigates. In other words, SIL can be seen as an indicator of the acceptable failure rate for a security function. GM International isolators and safety relays are suitable for applications up to SIL 3.

Benefits

GM International supported INTAC from the very beginning of the bidding stage to the modifications directly on site. 
GM International skilled technicians supported INTAC in developing the technical solution and managing this large and multi-disciplinary project.

Moreover, GM International products provided a solution to specific customer requirements:

• SIL2 certification
• More than 1000 Volts insulation from field to IO Cards
• Line fault detection for critical signals (e.g., emergency push buttons)
• Signal duplication for redundancy purposes

INTAC supported the customer by providing services that comprised project design, supply, manufacture, configuration, inspection, testing, and shipment including erection, commissioning, and documentation of the process control system for all major parts of the compressor station including the associated ancillary plant units.