Latest Contributions by TomDeWitte

This is the third alpha release of the District Heating and Cooling Data model.  It is a version 2.5.0 asset package.  This is a specific configuration of a file geodatabase ,that when coupled with the Utility Network Package Tools, can be used to create, load and configure a full utility network for this industry.   Please post any comments or suggestions to this geonet site.   Thanks Tom DeWitte Esri, Inc ... View more

This is the second alpha release of the District Heating and Cooling Data model.  It is a version 2.5.0 asset package.  This is a specific configuration of a file geodatabase ,that when coupled with the Utility Network Package Tools, can be used to create, load and configure a full utility network for this industry.   Please post any comments or suggestions to this geonet site.   Thanks Tom DeWitte Esri, Inc ... View more

This is the first alpha release of the District Heating and Cooling Data model.  It is a version 2.5.0 asset package.  This is a specific configuration of a file geodatabase ,that when coupled with the Utility Network Package Tools, can be used to create, load and configure a full utility network for this industry. Please post any comments or suggestions to this geonet site. Thanks Tom DeWitte Esri, Inc ... View more

After reviewing everyone's initial feedback on types of linear structures which should be included in the DHC data model, I have compiled an initial list.  Here is the list:  Some specific questions I could use some help on are: 1. Tunnels:  Are there different types of tunnels.  If so, what are they? 2. Are tunnels a shared structure across multiple utility systems (hot water, steam, chilled water, water, electric, telco, etc)  systems? 3. Pipe Casings.  Are there different types of pipe casings.  If so, what are they? 4.Are Pipe casings a shared structure across multiple types of pipes (hot water, chilled water, steam, water, etc)? 5. What makes a concrete trench box different from a trench?  Is a Concrete trench box actually just a type of trench? 6. Are there different types of trenches? 7. What is the difference between a conduit and a duct? Thanks  Tom DeWitte Esri, Inc ... View more

One of the stated requirements for the district heating and cooling data model is to support simple asset management.  This sounds great, but I think everyone has a slightly different opinion on what this means.  So, if you were to make a top ten list of what it means to perform simple asset management of a DHC in a GIS what would that list be.  Here are my thoughts to get the discussion started: Tom's Top Ten List of Simple Asset Management 1. Ability to create and maintain a digital representation of the physical pipe system. 2. Spatial representation and accurate location of the pipes, devices, fittings and supporting structures of a DHC. 3. Each asset has enough physical description (material, diameter,etc) to support analytical needs of hydraulic analysis, risk analysis, and operational management. 4. Each asset knows its manufacturer and manufacturer lot number to support factory recall identification. 5. Pipe system digital representation is of enough detail to support hydraulic analysis. 6. Pipe system digital representation is of enough detail to support emergency management/leak response tasks. 7. Pipe system digital representation is of enough detail to support risk analysis. 8. Pipe system digital representation is of enough detail to support system growth planning. 9. Each asset has a unique assetID. 10. Each asset knows the Project Number and Work Order ID under which it was installed. That's my top ten list.  What is yours? Tom DeWitte Esri, Inc ... View more

Based on the feedback from data model group participants around the world, it looks like the recommended categorization and sub-categorization is as follows: Does this look like the correct method for organizing DHC pipes?  Is this list complete?  Is the list of sub-categories for these different types of pipe complete and correct?  What about these additional potential pipe categories? Let me know what you think? Tom DeWitte Esri, Inc ... View more

DHC Geonet users, I am trying to understand how to model Leak Detection systems within a Utility Network.  This monitoring system seems to be commonly used in District Heating and Cooling systems.  What I have learned so far is that a Leak Detection system is comprised of the following components: -Leak Detection Panel -Leak Detection Test Point -Leak Detection Wire -Leak Detection Withdrawal Point A customer was kind enough to share the following drawing to help explain this system. Here are my initial questions: 1) Is this a complete inventory of the components which comprise a leak detection system. 2) Is the leak detection wire always embedded in the insulation of the main? 3) If the wire is embedded in the pipe insulation, could it be stored as an attribute of the pipe versus being a separate feature? Thanks Tom DeWitte Esri, Inc ... View more

By Tom DeWitte and Tom Coolidge Installing the correct components when constructing a new pipe system or replacing an existing portion of a pipe system is critical to the safety and reliability of the overall pipe system.  When dealing with buried pipe utilities such as natural gas, water, district heating, district cooling, and hazardous liquids, this is a real issue.  Every year field crews inadvertently make the following mistakes:    -install polyethylene assets that have been sitting in the service yard for too long    -contractor installed a component for a utility company that is not on the utility companies’ approved manufacturer list    -field crew installed a pipe system component which is no longer compatible with company standards.  Without real-time field validation, these honest mistakes typically do not get identified until after the construction is complete and the pipe components have been covered over.  This latency in identification leads to expensive post-construction repairs.  Real-time Validation If the field construction crews could be notified that a specific pipe component about to be installed does not meet the requirements for valid installation, the previously listed issues could be eliminated. What field crews need is real-time validation. Configuring Collector for Real-time Validation In early 2019 Collector for ArcGIS was enhanced to support arcade scripting in the web maps which provide the configuration of Collector’s behavior.  As noted in previous blog articles, this opened the capability for real-time decoding of a pipe component’s barcode. -Tracking and Traceability 2019: Part 1 -Tracking and Traceability 2019: Part 2 The ability to add arcade scripts to the web map pop-up provides an advanced configuration ability to provide field crews with real-time validation.   What’s a field person to do? A field person can easily use this real-time validation capability.  Since Collector runs on Apple, Android and Windows mobile devices, they could check the validity of pipe segments, plastic device and plastic fittings while unloading them from the delivery truck.  All the field person would have to do is to use their smart phone running the Collector to scan the barcode using the device’s camera. Screenshot of portion of Collector pop-up Collector will automatically decode the barcode information and open a pop-up window with the validation results.  Invalid pipe segments, devices and fittings never reach the installation trench.          Keeping invalid pipe components out of installation trenches improves safety, system reliability, and eliminates unwanted costs. No one wants to have to re-dig the construction location to remove the invalid pipe components. How is this possible? Esri makes real-time validation possible by allowing arcade scripts to be added to the web map configuration file.  More specifically the arcade script is added to the pop-up configuration in the web map of the pipe, device or fitting layer. Screenshot of portion of pop-up layer configuration With the arcade script added to the desired layer pop-ups, the web map is now ready for real-time validation.  For the field user, initiation of the validation process occurs automatically when the field user presses the “Submit” button in the upper right corner of the Collector display. Screenshot of top portion of Collector application The pressing of the “Submit” button after collecting some information such as scanning of a barcode also automatically opens the pop-up to show the validation results.  It really is that easy to deploy and that seamless an experience for the field user.             What is the script doing? The logic in the arcade script is the key to enabling Collector to perform real-time validation.  What must the script do?  The simple answer is that it must be able to acquire the information needed to answer a question.  For example, a core validation for plastic pipe construction is whether the polyethylene plastic material is too old.  Polyethylene plastic is susceptible to the suns UV rays.  Let a roll of medium density polyethylene pipe site in the service yard for over 3 years and the sun’s UV rays will have degraded the material to the point where it should not be installed. The information needed to assess whether the role of pipe is too old is the date of manufacture and the current date.  The date of manufacture is acquired form the scanning and decoding of the ASTM F2897 barcode.  The current date is acquired from the mobile device itself.  Subtract the manufacture date from the current date and you have a time difference.  If the time difference exceeds the industry recommended shelf life then that roll of pipe is invalid and should not be installed.  Here is a snippet of the arcade script to determine whether the polyethylene plastic pipe or component has exceeded the recommended shelf life. Portion of arcade script to determine material shelf life   Where can I get these scripts? Many people have told me that they find it easier to modify someone else’s script than to write one from scratch. With that statement in mind we have written arcade scripts against a UPDM 2019 data model and the ASTM F2897 barcode standard to address three validation scenarios. Scenario 1: Material for HDPE and MDPE has exceeded its shelf life Scenario 2: The manufacturer of the pipe system component is not on the utilities approved list. Scenario 3: The specific size and model of the component is not part of the utilities set of codes and standards. These arcade scripts are available for download from the following location on geonet. https://community.esri.com/docs/DOC-14615-tracking-and-traceability-2020-scripts In addition to the scripts are detailed instructions on how to configure and deploy the scripts into your ArcGIS Enterprise or Online organization.  That’s right, web map based arcade scripts not only work for ArcGIS Enterprise environments they also work for ArcGIS Online organizations. What else can Collector real-time validations do In addition to the real-time validation scenarios previously listed, there are other opportunities for applying real-time validation.  For example, you could create custom barcodes for welding and plastic fusion operators.  The custom barcodes could embed the worker’s operator qualifications. A Collector web map embedded arcade script could decode that scanned operator’s badge barcode and immediately determine whether the operator is qualified and whether the qualifications are still valid. The advanced configuration capabilities of web maps with arcade scripting open capabilities that previously required complex and expensive customization.  The universal use of web maps in web applications and mobile applications such as Collector allow this configuration to be done once and utilized across Windows mobile devices, Android mobile devices, Apple mobile devices, and web applications.  And did I mention that these real-time validations work even when the device is disconnected from the network? PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are our own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more

This zip file contains the arcade scripts to enhance Collector for ArcGIS with the following capabilities: 1) To decode the ASTM F2897 barcodes used by natural gas industry plastic pipe and component manufacturers. This works in both a network connected and a network disconnected mode. 2) Perform real-time validation of the collected pipe and pipe component information.  Validation checks include:    -Verify medium density and high density polyethylene components have not exceeded industry recommended shelf life.    -Verify the pipe or pipe component manufacturer is a gas organization approved manufacturer.    -Verify the pipe type and size are compliant with gas organization codes and standards. 3) Automatically capture GPS data and write to feature attributes (GPSX, GPSY, GPSZ). 4) Automatically calculate and populate the pipe feature's pipe volume and surface area when record is submitted to server.    Additionally, the zip file contains documentation on how to apply these arcade scripts as attribute rules and as expressions to your web maps for Collector.     If you have questions, or suggestions for further improvement of the Collector for ArcGIS digital data collection process, please post them to Geonet, so everyone can see and share the information.   Thank you Tom DeWitte Esri Technical Lead – Natural Gas Industry ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte   Part 3 of 3 This the third and final blog in a series that explains how the ArcGIS platform with the ArcGIS Utility Network Management extension and the Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) can be utilized to model a cathodic protection system.   What is a cathodic protection zone and why does a pipe organization need to understand it?     Cathodic Protection Zones What is a CP zone? In the second blog of this series we described the components which comprise a cathodic protection zone and how UPDM 2019 provides a template for organizing the information about those components.  But, a cathodic protection zone is more than its components. Cathodic Protection System A cathodic protection zone is really an electrical circuit.  Electricity flows through it to protect the connected components from corrosion. So, to understand what a cathodic protection zone is, we need an understanding of the connectivity between the components.  But even that is not enough. In addition to understanding connectivity we need to understand what connected components have characteristics which will cause the flow of electricity to stop.    This means the GIS model representing the cathodic protection zone needs to know that plastic pipe is non-conducting and will therefore stop the flow of electricity.  The GIS system needs to understand that devices and fittings can be insulated, and this will also stop the flow of electricity.    The ArcGIS Utility Network Management extension provides this higher level of understanding within ArcGIS.   Defining the Cathodic Protection Zone To create a cathodic protection zone within the utility network, all PipelineLine, PipelineDevice and PipelineJunction features must have their CPTraceability populated. Additionally, the test points must be configured as terminals and designated as a subnetwork controller. The logic that defines how the utility network discovers a cathodic protection zone is as follows: Start the trace from the sources (Test Point(s)) Use the utility network connectivity to begin traversing the system. Stop traversing the network when the trace encounters a feature with a CPTraceability = Not Traceable. The tool within the utility network which performs this task is the “Update Subnetwork” geoprocessing tool.   When the “Update Subnetwork” is run, it aggregates the following PipelineLine features to create the subnetwork geometry. Distribution lines Transmission lines Gathering lines   Additionally, the “Update Subnetwork” is preconfigured in UPDM 2019 to summarize the following information and write it to the subnetwork feature record. Number of Anodes Number of Rectifiers Number of Test Points Total Length Total Surface Area Defining Flow for Cathodic Protection In the digital world of flow analysis, there are two types of flow networks; source, and sink. SOURCE — A source is an origin of the resource delivered. For example, for a natural gas distribution system, sources of natural gas are the utility transfer meters within town border stations. SINK —A sink is the destination of the gathered resource. For example, when modeling the Mississippi river basin, the sink of the pipe network is the outflow into the Gulf of Mexico, just south of the city of New Orleans. A pressure system is another example of a source flow system. The source of gas to the gas pressure zone is the regulator device. A single gas pressure zone will typically have multiple regulators feeding gas into the pressure zone. Diagram of Pressure Zone Within the utility network, a single domain may only have one type of subnetwork controller (Source or Sink). The gas pipe system tiers (System, Pressure, Isolation) are modeled as sources.  In UPDM 2019, the Pipeline domain models the subnetwork controller type as a “Source” to support the pipe system tiers.   The cathodic protection system of a pipe system is not as consistent a flow model as the pressurized pipe system. For the impressed current system, the rectifier would be the logical source and the anode would be an intermediate device.  For the galvanically protected system, the anode would be the logical source. Because of this inconsistency, it was decided that the best option was to make the test point the source as it is typically a part of both the galvanically protected system and the impressed current protection system.   Tracing Across a Cathodic Protection Zone Now that the cathodic protection zones have been defined with the “Update Subnetwork” geoprocessing tool users can begin to perform traces across the cathodic protection system.  Some common questions to ask the utility network via a trace are: Where is are the Test Points? Where is the nearest test point? Which pipe system components participate in the zone? Outside of the trace tools simple attribute queries can be run to understand the following: Which pipe system components are bonded? Which pipe system components are cathodic protection insulators With the cathodic protection zones defined in the utility network, these questions can be easily answered.   Conclusion Data management and analysis of cathodic protection systems was a challenge in legacy geospatial systems.  Entering the information has always been a straight forward process.  Maintaining an intelligent representation of the cathodic protection system has historically been the challenge. With the utility network combined with the UPDM 2019 configuration, maintaining and analyzing a cathodic protection system is now an intuitive process. If you missed the first two blogs in this series, we encourage you to check them out. The first blog provided an overview of how cathodic protection systems works to provide GIS professionals and IT administrators with enough knowledge to be able to correctly create a digital representation of a cathodic protection system utilizing UPDM 2019 and the utility network . The second blog went into detail on the use of UPDM 2019 to organize the digital presentation of the cathodic protection system.   PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are our own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte Part 2 of 3 Our first blog in this series provided an overview of how cathodic protection systems works to provide GIS professionals and IT administrators with enough knowledge to be able to correctly create a digital representation of a cathodic protection system utilizing Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) 2019 and the utility network.   This second blog goes into detail on the configuration of UPDM to manage the components which make up the cathodic protection system. Many, many years ago, being new to the natural gas and hazardous liquid industries, the management of cathodic protection was a mystery.  The data about the cathodic protection system was not being stored in the GIS along with the assets of the pipe system.  When I asked the GIS staff about this, the common answer was that the cathodic protection group maintained their data separately. This leads to the next question. What system were they using?  The most common answer I got was paper and colored pencils. That’s right the cathodic protection data was being manually maintained on a set of paper maps with colored pencils.  And every winter the cathodic protection group would manually transpose the data from last year’s paper maps to the current year’s paper maps. Over time, the cathodic protection data started to show up in more gas GIS systems.  Most often it was an incomplete representation of the cathodic protection system.  You might see some test points and anode beds, but they usually were not connected to the pipe system.  Additionally, other important information such as insulators and rectifiers were commonly not mapped.   Some natural gas or hazardous liquid companies did map the entire cathodic protection system. But they needed special tools to manage and maintain this information.   With the release of UPDM 2019 and the utility network, it is now possible to maintain the entire cathodic protection system with the standard data management and editing tools provided by Esri.   No colored pencils required! UPDM 2019 The 2019 edition of UPDM provides a template for organizing natural gas and hazardous liquid pipe system information. This data model is an Esri-structured geodatabase.  It is written to be able to be used and managed with the standard data management tools provided by Esri’s ArcGIS products.   UPDM 2019 and Modeling Cathodic Protection Data The release of UPDM 2019 introduces a new, simpler, and more complete data model for managing cathodic protection data in an ArcGIS geodatabase.  These changes are intended to be used with the ArcGIS Utility Network Management Extension to allow for the modeling of the cathodic protection system. Cathodic Protection Components in UPDM The discrete components of a cathodic protection system modeled in UPDM 2019 are anodes, rectifiers, test points, wire junctions, and insulation junctions.  The anodes, rectifiers, and test points are point features stored as asset groups within PipelineDevice featureclass. These PipelineDevice features are not inline features of the pipe system.  Instead they physically sit adjacent to the pipe system.  These anodes, rectifiers, and test points are connected to the pipe system assets by wires and cables. The location where the test lead wires connect to the pipe system can be identified with the PipelineJunction AssetGroup type of Wire Junction.  The modeling of test junctions is not required, as the UPDM default rulebase for the utility network also allows the wires and cables to connect directly to the PipelineLine pipe segments.   The location of insulators can be specified with the PipelineJunction AssetGroup type of Insulator Junction. The wires and cables are classified as bonding lines, rectifier cables, and test lead wires. Within UPDM they are stored in the PipelineLine featureclass. Modeling Insulating Components Within UPDM 2019, management of insulating pipe components is key to successfully modeling cathodic protection systems. From the perspective of modeling cathodic protection systems, the management of insulators is the defining of whether a pipe system component can be electrically traversed. Pipe system component is insulating       = Not traversable Pipe system component is not insulating = Traversable   In ArcGIS and the utility network, we simulate traverseability with tracing.  This means that if a pipe system component is not insulated, it is traversable which means it is traceable when defining a cathodic protection system. Pipe system component is insulated       = Not traversable             = Not traceable Pipe system component is not insulated = traversable                    = Traceable   In UPDM 2019, determination of whether a pipe system component is traceable is defined with the attribute: CPTraceability.  The following UPDM featureclasses which participate in the utility network have the CPTraceability attribute: PIpelineLine PipelineDevice PipelineJunction   This attribute is assigned a coded value domain called: CP_Traceability.  This coded domain has the following values:   Code Description 1 Traceable 2 Not Traceable Coded Value Domains for CP_Traceability Within the utility network properties predefined in UPDM 2019, this attribute has been associated to the network attribute: cathodic protection traceability. This allows the value to be utilized within the trace definition which is used to define the cathodic protection zone.   Within UPDM 2019, a pipe system asset is defined as being insulated by setting the BondedInsulated attribute to a value of “Insulated”. The following UPDM featureclasses which participate in the utility network have the BondedInsulated attribute: PipelineLine PipelineDevice PipelineJunction   The attribute BondedInsulated has been assigned the coded value domain: Bonded_Insulated.  This coded value domain has the following values:                 Code Description 1 Bonded 2 Insulated Coded Value Domain for Bonded_Insulated Management of Bonding Lines Bonding lines are the wires which are used to extend the electrical connection of the cathodic protection system.  They are used to span pipeline assets which are non-conductive. Example of Binding Wire Spanning Plastic Pipe Segment   In some legacy GIS systems, the management of bonding lines was tedious. Data editors were required to draw in the bonding line and insure that is was connected to the metallic pipe system components on each end of the line.  In the UPDM 2019 configuration, the need for geometry feature creation has been minimized by allowing an attribute on the non-conductive pipe system asset which is being spanned to indicate that the asset has been bonded.  Instead of drawing the spanning bonding line, a user simply needs to change the attribute value of the attribute: BondedInsulated to a value of “Bonded”. This means that within the Utility Network, the spanned feature can be considered traceable. Automating Cathodic Protection Data Management The previously described attributes, Material, BondedInsulated and CPTraceability are the PipelineDevice and PipelineJunction attributes which UPDM 2019 and the utility network use to define a cathodic protection zone. The attributes AssetType, BondedInsulated and CPTraceability are used with PipelineLine.   Attribute Purpose PipelineLine PipelineDevice/ PipelineJunction Determine material type AssetType Material Determine whether bonded or insulated BondedInsulated BondedInsulated Determine CP traceability CPTraceability CPTraceability   To provide automation and improve data quality, attribute rules were written to auto-populate the CPTraceability attribute based on the values of the AssetType, Material, and BondedInsulated attributes.   To explain the logic embedded within the CPTraceability attribute rules here are three scenarios: Scenario 1: Metallic Pipe Segment Asset Type           = Coated Steel Bonded Insulated = null   Scenario 2: Insulated Gas Valve Material                = Steel Bonded Insulated = Insulated   Scenario 3: Plastic Pipe Spanned by Bonding Line Asset Type           = Plastic PE Bonded Insulated = Bonded In each of these scenarios the CPTraceability attribute is automatically populated by the UPDM 2019-provided attribute rules. Scenario 1: Metallic Pipe Segment Asset Type           = Coated Steel Bonded Insulated = null CP Traceability   = Traceable   Scenario 2: Insulated Gas Valve Material                = Steel Bonded Insulated = Insulated CP Traceability   = Not Traceable   Scenario 3: Plastic Pipe Spanned by Bonding Line Asset Type           = Plastic PE Bonded Insulated = Bonded CP Traceability   = Traceable   To have the CP Traceability attribute correctly set, all the editor must do is insure that the Material/AssetType and the BondedInsulated attributes are correctly set.   Conclusion The new enhanced representation of cathodic protection data in UPDM 2019 makes managing a digital representation of your cathodic protection data easier. This enhanced presentation can be created and maintained with the standard tools provided by ArcGIS Pro and the standard capabilities provided by the utility network.    In the third and final blog of this series, we will dive into how the utility network enables organizations to understand cathodic protection zones, discover when an insulating fitting or device stops the electric circuit of the cathodic protection zone, and which pipe materials are non-conducting.    All of this is done without colored pencils.   PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are our own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions ... View more