Latest Contributions by TomDeWitte

By Tom DeWitte and Tom Coolidge Utilities are the hidden systems of pipes and wires that make modern life possible.  They are critical to the ability of humans to live in increasingly dense urban communities.  Today, many utility industry thought leaders increasingly are wondering “is the future the past?” In the early days of energy being delivered to customers through pipe networks, the energy, gas or steam, was manufactured locally and transported a short distance to local consumers. Over time, in the case of gas, business reasons drove the gas utility industry toward a smaller number of larger utilities. Scale became essential. Achieving scale was made possible through development of a national transmission pipeline system capable of transporting large volumes of gas from distant sources, replacing local production. All the while, locally-produced steam energy continued to be delivered through District Heating and Cooling systems. Now, in many areas, District Heating and Cooling systems are booming, and gas utilities driven by environmental factors are looking anew at local production of bio-methane. Yet, if you asked the average city dweller to name the utility systems existing in their metropolitan area, they would likely mention, water, sewer, electricity, gas, and phone.  But it is unlikely, they would mention District Heating or District Cooling.  District Heating and Cooling is the industry that heats and cools many of the university campuses, hospital campuses and core metro buildings around the world. In the United States alone, there reportedly are approximately 660 systems heating and cooling over seven million square feet of building space! But it is also the utility system that the average city dweller is most likely to be unaware of.  It is the Stealth Utility. The Stealth Utility Just how prevalent are these stealth utility systems? -If you went to college in a northerly location, such as Iowa State University or University of Minnesota, your dorms were most likely heated by a district heating system using hot water to heat your room. - If you went to New York City to see a Broadway play and stayed at a nearby hotel, most likely your hotel room was heated by a district heating system. -If you visited a European city such as Amsterdam, most likely the hotel you stayed at and the restaurant’s you frequented were heated by district heating. -If you visited Dubai, your hotel room was most likely cooled by a district cooling system. -If you are sitting in a major Asian metropolitan community in South Korea, northern Japan, or northern China, it is most likely that your building is heated by a district heating system. There are literally thousands of these heating and cooling systems around the world.  They are so seamlessly integrated into an individual building’s heating or cooling system that most of the building’s occupants have no idea that it is heated or cooled water which is making their dwelling or office so comfortable. Like a military stealth plane, it flies under the radar of most people’s awareness. What is a District Heating System? A District Heating system is at its most basic a pipe system carrying heated water to customers.  The customers use or extract the heat from the water to heat their homes, drinking water and showers. Diagram of District Heating System What is unique about this pipe system compared to other pipe utility systems like water or natural gas, is that the water once shed of its heat returns to the heat plant to be heated again. What is a District Cooling System? District Cooling also uses a pipe system carrying water. Except, this time the water being transported has been chilled. When the chilled water reached the customer, it is used to absorb the building’s heat to cool the building. Diagram of District Cooling System The now heated water is returned to the cooling plant where it will shed its heat and again be chilled. More Efficient District Heating and Cooling systems are considered one of the most efficient methods for providing heating and cooling to an urban community. Having the heat generation and heat dissipation done at a centralized location provides economies of scale that are difficult for individual buildings to achieve. This is especially true for the cooling of large buildings in a business district.  When each building provides its own air conditioning systems, the buildings begin competing against each other.  The heat exhaust of one building can generate heat for its neighbors.  Those neighboring buildings then must have their air conditioning systems work harder to remove the heat from their buildings. Heat Exhaust from One Building Heats Its Neighbors With a District Cooling system, the waste heat can be pumped to the edge of town and removed from the returned water. It’s Not Poisonous Another likely reason for District Heating and District Cooling being a stealth utility system is that it is extremely safe. The commodity being transported through the pipe system is water. It is not explosive, or shocking or poisonous. When a District Heat or District Cooling system fails its does not generate the type of news coverage that a large electric power outage or a natural gas explosion would generate.  Simply put, these systems generally stay off the front page of the news. Stealthy Comfort The next time you visit a major metro business district, look around. If you do not see smoke or steam being exhausted from the building, there is a good chance that is because of District Heating and Cooling. This utility system is keeping everyone in the building in stealthy comfort. PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are our own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more

Welcome and thanks for joining District Heating and Cooling group on GeoNet! To get started we invite you to first review the group features on the overview page and familiarize yourself with the group info, and GeoNet 101 information in the left column.   As you explore the group, you’ll also find tools to connect and collaborate so we encourage you to use them to share files, create blogs, ask/answer questions and read the latest blogs posts and join discussions.   Next, we invite you to post a comment below to say “hello" and introduce yourself and share your ideas on how to leverage the ArcGIS Platform to meet the needs of District Heating and Cooling organizations.     We’re excited to connect and collaborate with you and we look forward to seeing your contributions.   Esri District Heating and Cooling Team ... View more

For 2020 Esri is undertaking the project of researching a new data model to specifically meet the needs of district cooling systems. District Cooling is also referred to as chilled pipe system. This data model will be configured to take advantage of the capabilities of the utility network. To ensure that this new data model meets the needs of our customers we are looking for recommendations on what components of the district cooling system should be included in the Esri data model. So, what assets and system components do you think should be included in the District Cooling data model for the Utility Network? ... View more

For 2020 Esri is undertaking the project of researching a new data model to specifically meet the needs of district heating systems. District Heating is also referred to as steam, or heat system. This data model will be configured to take advantage of the capabilities of the utility network. To ensure that this new data model meets the needs of our customers we are looking for recommendations on what components of the district heating system should be included in the Esri data model. So, what assets and system components do you think should be included in the District Heating data model for the Utility Network? ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte We were struck recently in reading NACE International’s estimate of the money spent each year on corrosion-related costs for monitoring, replacing, and maintaining U.S. metallic pipe networks. The estimated annual tab is $7 billion for gathering and transmission pipelines and another $5 billion for gas distribution pipelines. That’s $12 billion each year!   Metallic pipe has been around for a long time. It has been used by the gas utility and pipeline industries since the 1800s when cast iron pipe first replaced wooden pipe. Advances in metallurgy through the years have steadily resulted in different types and better quality of metal for pipe networks. Today there is a lot of metallic pipe of one kind or the other in the ground. In fact, even after much cast iron and other metallic distribution pipe have been replaced by plastic pipe, there remains today several hundred thousand miles of in-service metallic pipe in America’s gas and hazardous liquids transmission and distribution networks. Much of it is old, and all of it is subject to corrosion.   Most people understand that if you put iron or steel in contact with moisture and oxygen, the metal will begin to rust or corrode. What most people do not understand is that this basic electro-chemical process can be slowed or even halted.   Gas utilities and pipelines understand that, though. That’s why today they dedicate considerable human and financial resources to the cause of cathodic protection. They do it because they are committed to safe operations, and they do it for regulatory compliance as cathodic protection has been required for much of America’s pipe networks since 1971. This is the first blog of a series that explores how ArcGIS provides capabilities for the management of cathodic protection networks.   Protecting the Pipe from Corrosion There are several methods to protect metallic pipe buried in the ground. One method is to apply a coating to the pipe to form a barrier between the metal pipe and the corrosion-causing mixture of water and air. Coated Metallic Pipe This is very common for natural gas and hazardous liquid carrying pipelines.  But it is not perfect, as a single scratch through the coating layer diminishes the protection.  A second method is to manipulate the same electro-chemical process which causes corrosion to instead protect the pipe from corrosion.  This method is called cathodic protection. Two common forms of cathodic protection are galvanically-protected and impressed-current protection. Galvanically Protected We Need a Sacrifice A galvanically-protected cathodic protection system is also called a passive-cathodic protection system.  It is passive in that no foreign electrical energy is needed.  Galvanic protection works by connecting a more electrochemically active metal into the system than the pipe system which is being protected.  This electrochemically active metal is simply a hunk of metal buried in the ground near the pipe system. This component is called an anode. Common materials for anodes are zinc and magnesium. In a galvanic protection system, the anode gives up electrons to the pipe system.  This sacrifice of electrons results in the anode corroding instead of the pipe system. Impressed Current Cathodic Protection Charge It Impressed-current cathodic protection systems are typically used to protect large pipe systems such as transmission pipelines.  The rectifier inserts direct current (DC) voltage into the cathodic protection system.  A rectifier cable connects the rectifier’s positive terminal to the anodes within the anode bed.  A second rectifier cable connects the rectifier’s negative terminal to the pipe system.   The Electric Circuit The foundational concept to keep in mind when trying to understand cathodic protection is that the components of a cathodic protection system are connected to form an electric circuit.  If the circuit is broken, then the metallic pipe system components will lose their protection and the rate of corrosion will accelerate. If not corrected, the pipe system components will weaken and eventually fail.   Soil Is A Conductor With cathodic protection, it is important to remember that the soil between the anode and the metallic pipe acts as a conductor.  The soil as a conductor of electricity completes the electric circuit connecting the anode to the metallic pipe.   Material Type Matters The material of the pipe system components is critical to a cathodic protection system.  Some materials such as polyethylene (Plastic PE) are non-conducting and act as insulators. These insulating materials break the electric circuit. Cathodic Protection System With Insulating Plastic Pipe In addition to plastic pipes and plastic components acting as insulators and breaking the electric circuit, metallic components can be manufactured so that they, too, can be insulating devices or junctions. Cathodic Protection Systems Separated By An Insulating Valve Managing Cathodic Protection Data with UPDM Management of the cathodic protection components in a Geodatabase is not difficult.  The anodes, rectifiers, and test points are typically modeled as point features.  The test lead wires; bonding lines, and rectifier cables are modeled as line features. Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) 2019 provides a template data model for managing these cathodic protection components.   Where data management of the cathodic protection systems gets challenging is the defining and maintaining of the cathodic protection zone.  The cathodic protection zone is the combination of pipeline, pipe devices, pipe junctions, cathodic protection devices, and cathodic protection lines, which together form an electric circuit. Cathodic Protection System 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.    About This Blog Series This blog article is the first of a three-part series explaining how the Esri ArcGIS platform with the Utility Network Management Extension and the Utility and Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) can be utilized to manage a digital representation of a cathodic protection system.  It is intended to provide GIS professionals and IT administrators with enough knowledge of how a cathodic protection system works to be able to correctly configure and deploy UPDM and the utility network.   The second blog article will go into detail on the configuration of UPDM to manage the components which makes up the cathodic protection system.   The third blog article will explain how the utility network uses its capabilities to model 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 Gas utility and pipeline GIS data management is increasingly important.  With a pipe network typically geographically widespread, topologically complex, and buried underground, the performance of many tasks and workflows, in a wide range of functional areas and roles, necessarily involves application software operating on a digital model of the pipe network and the surroundings through which it passes.   These models are only as good as the data available to them.  Today’s pipe network GIS typically contains extensive and detailed information about each and every component of the physical network, what is going on within it, the natural and man-made surroundings through which the pipe network passes, and activity occurring around it. Models most often are built from that data in one of two ways – depending upon whether the objective being examined is around “where is it located” or “how is it connected.”  Linear referencing is the model building method for the first, connectivity modeling for the second.  While both methods create a network model, they do it in different ways.   Before arrival of the shared centerline feature class with ArcGIS 10.8/Pro 2.5, pipe network modelers to satisfy both modeling needs had to create and maintain multiple digital mirror representations of their real pipe network.  One of these was defined by linear referencing.  Linear referencing is a language that expresses pipeline attribute and event locations in terms of measurements along a pipeline, from a defined starting point.  The network model in Pipeline Referencing is established by the sequence of strictly increasing or decreasing measures on a continuous, unbroken non-branching run of physical pipe. Another was defined by connectivity.  Connectivity describes the state where two or more features either share a connectivity association, or the collection of features are geometrically coincident at an endpoint (or midspan at a vertex), and a connectivity rule exists that supports the relationship.  For those to whom connectivity associations is a new term, they are used to model connectivity between two point features (Device or Junction) that are not necessarily geometrically coincident. An example of this in a pipe system is a flange bolted to a valve.  There is no pipe component between the flange and the valve in the physical world.  Now with connectivity associations in the utility network, this point to point connectivity can be correctly modeled in the digital world. Traditionally, each of these ways was enabled by a separate set of data – one for linear referencing and another for connectivity modeling.   Multiple types of operators manage natural gas or hazardous liquids pipe networks and face the challenge of needing to create and maintain multiple models.  One type is vertically-integrated gas companies.  They span all or part of the way from the wellhead to the customer meter and typically operate an integrated pipe network that includes multiple subsystems – for example, transmission and distribution subsystems.  Historically, these subsystems have been modeled separately.   Transmission pipelines also face the same challenge, not because they operate multiple subsystems, but because the range of application software their GIS needs to support requires access to both kinds of models.   Moreover, all types of operators are searching for better interoperability among software systems at the enterprise level.  They also are experiencing the convergence of information technology and operations technology systems.   For all these reasons, a better solution to the need to create and maintain multiple digital models of the real pipe network is needed. The Solution: Unified Pipe Data Management Esri’s vision for pipe network operators is to create a single representation of the entire pipe network that mirrors the real network and can support both types of model building.  This removes the traditional barriers between industry subsystems – for example, between transmission and distribution subsystems – that result in data silos.  A single representation also enables users to work with that digital network just as they do with the real network.  Linear referencing and connectivity modeling now can be performed on the same single network representation.  We call this new data management capability: Unified Pipe Data Management. The solution for vertically-integrated gas companies also is the solution for standalone transmission pipeline operators that, while they don’t operate multiple industry subsystems, have a need for both types of models to satisfy the data input requirements of the range of application software being supported by their GIS.   A single representation of the pipe network requires a unique data organization approach to store the entire pipe system—from wellhead to meter—and support the information model requirements of the ArcGIS Utility Network Management extension and Pipeline Referencing. Esri’s Utility & Pipeline Data Model (UPDM) 2019 is a data model template that provides this data organization. Benefits Of Both Extensions Working On the Same Geodatabase The ability for Pipeline Referencing and the ArcGIS Utility Network Management extensions to work on not just the same geodatabase but the same feature classes within the enterprise geodatabase, provides important benefits to pipe network operators.  First, the two extensions bring important advancements in essential industry-specific data management into Esri’s core technology.  This relieves the need for Esri business partners to fill capability gaps and frees them to extend the capabilities further and focus on adding value to uses of the data.  At the same time, it gives pipe network operators the opportunity to mix and match application software built on ArcGIS from multiple Esri business partners.  In addition, the ability for both extensions to work on the same geodatabase simplifies staff training, provides better management of high-pressure distribution pipe, and improves scalability and performance for operators of larger pipe networks. Summary For decades pipe organizations have had to either implement multiple models stored in separate data repositories or had to settle for one data management method over the other.  With the release of ArcGIS 10.8/Pro 2.5, a single digital representation of the physical pipe system can be created and maintained.  This reduces IT administration and support costs by allowing server systems and database licenses to be consolidated.  For data editors, the process is simplified by providing a single editing experience regardless of where the edit occurs across the vertically-integrated pipe system.  For end users, using the pipe system data is simpler because there is only one representation of the pipe system to work from.   One is better than more. 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   Pipe network modelers have several important enhancements available to them at ArcGIS Pro 2.5 with ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8. ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and Utility Network Integration Enhanced In an earlier blog post, we discussed the introduction of the shared centerline feature class as a key that enables the ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and ArcGIS Utility Network Management extensions to work on the same geodatabase.  A shared centerline feature allows users to utilize those features to create and maintain LRS networks, with routes that are linear referenced, while also continuing to have the centerlines participate in and take advantage of utility network capabilities.  In Pipeline Referencing, an LRS network is a collection of routes measured to a specific location referencing method.  Availability of the shared centerline feature class is the first step in integrating Pipeline Referencing and the utility network.   With the release of ArcGIS Pro 2.5/ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8, support for measures on centerlines has been added to enhance integration with a utility network.  Start and end measures now are stored on centerline pipeline segments.  Also, calibration points are added at these centerline endpoints when a user utilizes centerlines in the create, extend, and realign route tools.   In addition, at ArcGIS Pro 2.5/ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8, two new geoprocessing tools are added to support ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and utility network integration.  One is the Configure Utility Network Feature Class tool.  This tool configures a utility network pipeline feature class for use with a linear referencing system.  Another is the Update Measures From LRS tool.  This tool populates or updates the measures and route ID on utility network features such as pipes, devices, and junctions.   Taken together, these capabilities further strengthen the data management integration essential to the new pipe network modeling era ahead. Benefits Of Both Extensions Working On The Same Data The ability for the ArcGIS Pipeline Referencing and the ArcGIS Utility Network Management extensions to work on not just the same geodatabase, but the same feature classes within the same enterprise geodatabase, provides important benefits to all transmission pipe network operators. This is the case regardless of whether the transmission pipe is part of a standalone or vertically-integrated operator. Those benefits are amplified as the ability is enabled by industry-specific capabilities in Esri’s core technology.   The year ahead promises to be a rewarding one as pipe network modelers take advantage of these new capabilities! PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more

By Tom Coolidge and Tom DeWitte Earlier this year, I was walking down a street in mid-Manhattan. During the walk I noticed a surprising amount of steel plates covering active excavation projects under the streets and sidewalks. There were also many open trenches which exposed an amazing number of pipes and wires.  Not being from New York City, I was surprised at the shear volume and complexity of buried infrastructure. This got me to pondering about recent gas events and the questions an organization asks itself. -Could the damage to the pipe system have been prevented? -What organization processes could have performed better to prevent the damage? This leads to an organization self-examination of processes to determine where improvements need to be made. These self-exams are important and valuable, but they are also reactive.  Typical reactive questions which are commonly asked include:  Did the locator group correctly mark the location? Was the locator provided with accurate and timely information to assist with the locate? Were the correct engineering and construction documents provided? These reactive self-exams often overlook a root cause: inaccurate data gathering methods. The American Gas Association recently published a white paper titled “Implementing Damage Prevention in Field Operations.” The white paper can be accessed at: https://www.aga.org/contentassets/11def1ef52f844b4b06935276b911010/implementing-damage-prevention-in-field-operations-whitepaper--final-for-publish.pdf Included in the white paper is a section on “Mapping/As-Builts” that resonates with important aspects of the role of geographic information systems (GIS) in gas utilities. This blog touches on those important aspects. Inaccurate data gathering with relative offsets The AGA whitepaper allocates two of the nine sections to address the importance of data gathering techniques around the construction and mapping/as-built processes for documenting “where” the pipe components were installed. Inaccurate data gathering methods have persisted in the gas industry since its founding. In early gas company days, locating a buried pipe was based on “relative offsets”.  A relative offset is a measurement from an identifiable above ground feature to the location of the buried pipe asset.  It was not uncommon to see measurements, such as 45ft NNE of the Old Oak Tree. But what happens when the tree falls over after a storm and is removed? Later relative offset techniques switched to using street curb edges or house corners, such as 12ft South of the North curb.  This too is subject to change over time.  How accurate is this measurement when an additional lane is added to the north side of the street? As pointed out in the previously mentioned AGA white paper, these methods are inaccurate over time.  Yet, many in the industry are still using these centuries-old methods to document the location of newly installed pipe. How to proactively prevent damage Now there is an opportunity to be proactive.  To use current cost-effective data gathering tools such as Global Positioning System (GPS), lightweight digital collection tools such as mobile phones and tablets, and data management systems such as GIS.  This allows the location of buried assets to be based on its absolute location instead of its relative location.  Using absolute location eliminates the historical issues of relative features changing over time. An opportunity to improve Today’s gas organizations are undergoing a massive capital improvement process to replace or abandon many old and inaccurately mapped gas pipe components. This increase in capital projects provides the opportunity to accurately locate new infrastructure and decrease future damages.  Gas organizations can update data gathering methods to cost-effectively collect new construction with a sub-foot absolute accuracy. They can implement a geospatial system that is capable of electronically collecting and storing this information. Future engineering, construction, and locate organizations will have the confidence in knowing that their mapped pipe components are spatially accurate and reliable. If you haven’t already read the recently published AGA white paper, we encourage you to do so. It’s well worth your time. There are many other points worth noting. The next time I visit a major city and again see the steel plates and excavation pits, I hope to have the confidence in knowing that the local gas organization has been proactive and is using current data gathering tools and techniques to prevent future damage. PLEASE NOTE: The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Esri’s position, strategies, or opinions. ... View more