Petrofac Awarded Contract to Bertin Technologies for Their Innovative Gas Leak Tracking System for Saudi Aramco’s Jazan Refinery

Petrofac, a leading service provider to the international Oil & Gas industry, awarded a contract to Bertin Technologies, a subsidiary of CNIM group, to supply, install and commission a pioneering gas leak tracking system, Second Sight®, at the Saudi Aramco owned Jazan refinery1. This system opens up a new era in gas detection methods for Oil & Gas industry.

Bertin Technologies has achieved a major breakthrough by customising its own gas imaging camera. Initially developed for defense and civil security applications, Second Sight® 2 has been adapted to IECEx3 hazardous area and Saudi Aramco standards. To enhance the level of safety on site, Bertin Technologies will provide a turnkey solution that detects and monitors explosive gas clouds.

Second Sight® solution has been selected by Saudi Aramco and Petrofac because it offers several benefits that complement conventional gas detection methods. It provides, in real time, a complete scene visualisation. In the case of an alarm activation, it localises the leakage source and direction of the explosive gas cloud in the vicinity.

Second Sight® provides continuous wide area coverage per device, with typical spans of 700m in length by 500m in width (approx. 0.4 mi by 0.3 mi). With fields of view of 30° to 60°, Second Sight® can supervise entire sectors of a plant with detailed spatial resolution.

Second Sight® conveys a rich stream of information: the dynamic representation of gas flux allows users to identify not only the specific zones from which gas plumes originate, but also the direction of dispersal, leading to efficient responses to hazardous events. Its detection capability includes a large number of hydrocarbons such as methane, butan, LPG in addition to toxic industrial compounds such as Ammonia and sulfur dioxide. It can detect multiple gases at the same time.

Due the infrared technology, Second Sight® is unaffected by humidity, carbon dioxide nor other atmospheric constituents present in a plant atmosphere.

eExplosive gas leaks are an ever-present risk that has to be managed at refineries. Any leak has the potential to accumulate into dangerous clouds that can ignite when they reach a certain concentration. Current leak detection methods typically deploy point detectors at various locations in a refinery that measure specific chemicals. These traditional point detectors do not always give a full and accurate picture of the chemical environment. A single explosive incident can cost billions of dollars and to mitigate against such an event, additional layers of gas detection are implemented.

“Bertin Technologies has been supplying chemical and biological detection systems for more than 15 years in France and worldwide, for Defense and Homeland security”, says Philippe Demigné, Bertin Technologies' President. “Our Second Sight® technology already has a proven track record in the monitoring and visualisation of hazardous gas clouds for safety purposes. This solution has been used during large events including the Football World Cup 2014, or in monitoring public buildings, from USA to South Korea.

While setting an advanced level in Chemical and Oil & Gas safety standards, Bertin Technologies has demonstrated once again its agility in combining multiple fields of expertise in order to develop dedicated systems for demanding requirements”.

Second Sight® is an infrared gas imaging camera that automatically detects the presence of gas cloud at a distance up to several hundreds of meters and provides a real time visualization of the gas cloud motion as a colored overlay.

Second Sight® is certified to be used with its accessories in hazardous areas (potential atmosphere explosive area), and under high environmental constraints such as the desert temperature extremes, including sun and sand storms.

To provide optimized coverage of the target area, Second Sight® cameras will be installed on existing plant structure or on high masts, designed and supplied by Bertin Technologies. They will be connected to the main communication infrastructure to send a live view and associated detection information to the operator in the security room.

To manage the complete solution, Bertin Technologies will provide software and hardware for monitoring Second Sight®.

Bertin Technologies provides its expertise throughout all stages of the design process for the Jazan refinery: providing the infrared gas camera Second Sight®, advising the optimum location and positioning, advising the configuration based on application data, supporting the installation, commissioning and test of the complete solution, ensuring the operability and reliability of the system.

Bertin Technologies, a CNIM Group subsidiary, relies on its long history of innovative engineering to develop, produce and market innovative systems and equipment worldwide. With close to €88M in turnover in 2015 and now nearly 750 partners, of which 2/3rd are engineers and high-level managers, the group works in four major fields: Systems and Instrumentation, Consulting and Engineering including a substantial part devoted to risk management and ergonomics, Information Technology and Pharmaceuticals and Biotechs. Based in Paris region, the group is highly active worldwide, in particular thanks to its subsidiary Bertin Corp. based in Washington.