Honeywell technology selected for major Asian natural gas pipeline

Automation and safety technology from Honeywell Process Solutions has been selected for the third phase of a pipeline project supplying natural gas from central Asia to China, the company has announced.

Asia Trans Gas selected Honeywell’s Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) and Safety Manager technology to manage operations and to help prevent safety problems in a third pipeline to be built as part of the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline (CACGP) project. The same Honeywell technology is in use in the first two pipelines of the project, which are already in operation. Asia Trans Gas is a joint venture of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Uzbekistan national holding company UzbekNefteGas.

“Pipelines present unique challenges because their length makes them more difficult for operators to monitor and respond to problems, but an integrated approach provides unparalleled visibility into their operations,” said Aldous Wong, regional general manager, Honeywell Process Solutions, Greater China.

“The Honeywell system will increase operators’ access to information and help them make faster, better-informed decisions to promote the integrity and safety of the pipeline.”

Honeywell’s Experion PKS will be the main integration and control software platform for the 530 km pipeline to give operators a complete view of how the pipeline is functioning. By integrating Honeywell’s Safety Manager software into the overall system, Experion will help improve safety practices such as emergency shutdowns, equipment protection, fire and gas monitoring, and critical control.

“Natural gas from Central Asia plays an important role in providing cleaner energy for China and we expect demand to grow at 8% per year,” said Li Lin, general manager, Asia Trans Gas. “Asia Trans Gas is pleased to continue to partner with Honeywell to manage these critical pipeline operations efficiently and safely.”

The third pipeline in the CACGP network, named Line C, will run in parallel with the existing twin pipelines, Lines A and B. The pipelines start in Turkmenistan and cut across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before reaching China’s western Xinjiang province. The A and B lines, which were completed in 2009, also use Honeywell’s Experion PKS and Safety Manager. The existing main control centre (MCC), which currently controls lines A and B, will be upgraded and become the control centre for all three lines, leveraging Honeywell’s distributed system architecture