IndianOil replaces 40-year-old pipes at Rs 98 crore to prevent leaks

CHENNAI: In the wake of several incidents of oil leakage from aging pipelines, IndianOil has replaced 40-year-old underground pipelines that connect a 5km stretch from its Foreshore (Royapuram) terminal to the Korukkupet terminal. The three new sets of multiproduct pipelines, laid at a cost of Rs 98 crore, have been rerouted along the railway corridor to avoid residential areas. They will be used to transport white oil, black oil and lube oil from the Foreshore terminal located within the Chennai port premises.
On Monday, IndianOil director (pipelines) Anish Aggarwal opened the facility for use at a ceremony in Royapuram. Chennai Petroleum Corporation’s (CPCL) 11-million tonne refinery at Manali refines and pumps products through pipelines to Trichy, Madurai, Sankari (Salem) and Bengaluru. Pipelines, traversing a distance of about 10km, transport products from CPCL to IndianOil’s Tondiarpet, Korukkupet and Foreshore terminals.

These multiproduct pipelines have been hooked up to the existing dock lines at the Foreshore terminal. Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid along with the pipelines for providing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and data transfer. The SCADA system facilitates leak detection, surge relief and automatic shutdown of the facility.

The new pipelines are bi-directional and piggable, meaning that they can be cleaned by inserting a device called PIG. “This effort of rerouting of pipelines has been undertaken for better management of pipeline network to improve the overall safety and enhancing environment of the ecosystem,” the official added.

Aggarwal said, “The commissioning of these re-routed dock lines is a milestone as it will feed the Chennai market with surplus products and the advanced technologiy will lead to ensure high-end efficiency and safety to these lines.”