Environmental Assessment
Volume C-2
Slurry Pipeline
Project Description
Ambatovy Project
14
January 2006
Each activity may impose local or general design requirements on the pipeline
facilities. These requirements will be implemented during the detailed
engineering phase of the project and incorporated into the resulting construction
specifications.
2.2
CONTROL SYSTEM
All pertinent monitoring data will be available at the mine site and plant site local
control consoles. Control will be effected only from the mine site control room,
or locally at the pump station. One operator from the mine site control room will
normally control the pipeline – this is typically a shared duty with other
functions. This operator has the capability of performing all normal system
operations, and most of the emergency procedures, from the control operator
console at the control room.
The control room will be manned around the clock when the pipeline is
operational. The control system monitors all critical pipeline points, allowing
manual set point adjustments. The valve and the terminal stations are not
normally manned. Local personnel will be required only to perform routine
maintenance repairs, and calibrations.
Ancillary systems including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA), telecommunications, remote power supply, and cathodic protection
will be located in the control building. Control of the system will be automatic in
the steady-state mode with operator intervention required during process upsets.
Monitoring will include flow, pressure, density and temperature measurement at
various points along the pipeline. The “expert” software is integrated to the
SCADA system to provide advisories to the pipeline operator. Automatic system
shutdowns will only occur after time is given to the pipeline operator to correct a
potentially dangerous situation.
An intermediate valve station with two pressure monitoring stations and a
terminal station at the Toamasina process plant will also be provided and report
to the control room.
The pipeline will be monitored by a leak detection system. This system analyses
operating data from the SCADA system. During detailed design, the pipeline
hydraulics will be optimized using a computer simulation program that models
the pipeline operation under varying conditions. This program will be
incorporated into the pipeline control system during construction. This
arrangement has been used on several new long-distance pipelines and is being
retro-fitted to existing systems. The benefits of simulation-based control systems
