AST Networks Australia Gas Pipeline PTT Case Study

The Gladstone Transmission Pipeline (GTP) is a 420 kilometre underground gas transmission pipeline, transporting gas from the gas fields in the Bowen and Surat Basins to a two-train LNG processing facility on Curtis Island in Gladstone.

The GTP Maintenance team is tasked with the maintenance of the pipeline as well as providing on the ground support for the remote operation of the pipeline. In this capacity team members regularly travel between various checkpoints along the length of the pipeline. Team members require constant contact with each other, with the Primary Control Centre in Brisbane as well as the Pipeline Operations Centre in Gladstone.

Santos GLNG was looking for a communications solution that would minimise impact to landholders, reduce their support footprint as well as reduce cost and timeframes for implementation. Additionally the solution would have to provide an in-vehicle as well as an in-field communications options. This will allow the team to achieve the following benefits:

Improved field staff safety and potential reduction of Total Recordable Case Frequency Rate (TRCFR), through constant communication with field staff.

• Improved staff productivity allowing faster response times to unexpected events occurring along the GTP.

• Supported decision making through communication with office staff to reduce cost associated with field issue resolution.

The client initially expected to use traditional radio and had progressed to the point where they had budgeted over $5M and up to two years to complete. AST Networks Australia made a successful bid to supply with a solution costing around 10% of the expected that could be deployed in under two months.

The client selected the AST Networks Australia Cobham Explorer product to provide a Push to Talk (PTT) Radio functionality based on the following criteria:

• No need to implement costly infrastructure for a digital radio network for the geographically dispersed area of operation,

• Cost effective switching between mobile 3G data and satellite data networks,

• High system availability

• Easy and timely deployable solution

• Portable and intrinsically safe extension using Motorola UHF portable radios.