Game changer
Game changer: Tors
Game changer Tunnel vision could see robotic connections
In the first of a series championing innovation, Jane Gray looks at a pioneering technology that National Grid is on the verge of commercialising.
I
t sounds fanciful: completing underground utilities connections without digging holes. Yet, thanks to a new product from National Grid and technology partner Synthotech, achieving this engineering utopia may be far more than a pipe dream. The Tier One Replacement System (Tors) is a “mechatronic snake” that can perform mains-to-service connections from inside an existing mains pipeline. National Grid hopes the technology will make a major contribution to its target of halving all excavations in the UK by 2017, as well as increasing productivity in the gas distribution part of the business by 20-30 per cent by slashing the time it takes to complete replacement connections. Since it will significantly reduce the number of excavations needed to complete replacement connections for any given street or business site, the platform is also being hailed as a means of achieving a gas customer experience revolution. The modular, flexible platform has been in development since November 2012 and has received about £2 million of funding from National Grid’s innovation allowance
under RIIO (Ofgem’s new regulatory regime). Tors made its public debut at the Low Carbon Networks and Innovation Conference in October 2014 and attracted attention from visitors to the National Grid stand. This year it is due to begin field testing at sites across the UK and there is an ambition to see it become fully operational by early 2016. While engineers have dreamed of using robotics to achieve remote subterranean connections for years, the capabilities of Tors have only recently become possible thanks to a concatenation of technological advances, many centring on the ability to miniaturise the sensors, motors, tools and processing power on board. The University of Leeds, a centre of excellence for robotic design, has been a valuable partner to Synthotech throughout the development of Tors. “This is a world first,” says Darren White, innovation portfolio manager at National Grid. “Ofgem’s funding has allowed us to exploit Synthotech’s potential and create something that is really cutting edge. Without the Ofgem funding mechanism, this kind of partnership could not take place.”
“Since the 1970s people have been saying, ‘if we could do this using a robot, wouldn’t it be great’. But the technology didn’t exist. They couldn’t work out how to physically do it.” Wez Little, innovation director, Synthotech
“Our investment in Tors shows our commitment to working with innovative companies to create solutions which will radically improve customer experience.”
Darren White, innovation portfolio manager gas distribution, National Grid
Project timeline November 2012-January 2013: Synthotech works on initial proof of concept for Tors in large scale (250mm). The concept is developed from an existing platform called Synthotrax but adds the capability to identify service connection points from within a polyethylene inner and then drill a new connection.
10 | 30th January - 5th February 2015 | UTILITY WEEK
January 2013-November 2013: Further proof of concept work under the new RIIO funding regime (April 2013). Synthotech explores the viability of miniaturising the platform and its ability to successfully perform all necessary tasks for a remote service-to-mains connection.
November 2013-April 2014: Having demonstrated the Tors concept at Nat ional Grid’s Hinckley centre for gas distribution, Synthotech lays the foundations for development of a commercially viable prototype. Synthotech conducts a global technology and patent search and works collaboratively with a wide range of potential stakeholders at National Grid to understand how Tors will have to work for the business.
Game changer: Tors
Tors stage 2, the proof of concept model
National Grid: 100,000
Metal service pipe replacements carried out each year.
£380 million
How does Tors work? Tors is a “polymorphic” robot that can intelligently perform a range of tasks from with a gas mains pipeline, including identifying connection points, drilling, welding and pressure testing. Short modules with different tools and capabilities can be added, subtracted or changed in sequence to increase its flexibility. National Grid required Tors to help with its UK-wide programme of iron mains replacement. This involves inserting polyethylene liners into the ageing iron pipes that have carried gas around the country to date. Once the new main is in place, service-to-mains connections need to be reinstated, and this is currently a labour-intensive process. On a typical 100 metre-long street in the UK, using conventional methods, this might entail 22 excavations. Using Tors, once the plastic inner pipe has been inserted, the robot can enter the pipe, propelling itself with a wall press technique. Using onboard sensors, it can detect where replacement connections need to be made, drill a hole and complete the new connection before pressure testing it. The robot is designed to operate in 75mm to 180mm pipes. Five patents have so far been filed for Tors relating to its tools and processes, including a first of a kind spiral drive. Although Synthotech needs to protect its intellectual property, National Grid is obliged by the rules of RIIO to share the benefits of its innovation investments. Consequently, information about the design and functionality of this platform is already being shared with gas distribution networks internationally. A key reason for this, in addition to maximising its impact, is to ensure resources are not wasted in the industry because of project duplication.
Amount spent annually on metal service pipe and gas main replacement.
11 million Number of service points to customers, spread across four gas distribution networks.
81,000 miles
Amount of gas distribution mains pipelines.
CAD modelling of the Tors platform in action
Could it be you? Over the course of the past six months, National Grid Gas Distribution has grown its internal innovation team from four to 16 people. The team is responsible for project managing programmes such as Tors, but also for seeking out new partners and potential problem-solving technologies or processes which might be game changers for gas distribution. Under RIIO’s innovation allowance rules, National Grid has circa £10 million a year to spend on such projects and Darren White is keen for potential partners to come forward with proposals on how to put this money to best use. “We are looking to increase our innovation community,” says White. “Not just within the gas sector, but across all sectors. Our portfolio at the moment includes projects with companies in the water sector and pharmaceuticals sector, for instance.”
I’m a game changer Utility Week’s Game Changers series seeks to champion disruptive innovation in the utilities sector. To put forward a technology for coverage contact Insights Editor Jane Gray, email: janegray@ fav-house.com
Field testing this summer will put Tors and associated business processes to test in real life scenarios
What happens next? April 2014-October 2014: Synthotech begins stage-gated development of Tors prototype in earnest. In October, National Grid showcases the Tors prototype for the first time at the Low Carbon Networks & Innovation Conference, Aberdeen.
This summer will see field tests at sites across the UK to establish what still needs to be done before Tors can become a business-as-usual technology for National Grid and other UK gas distribution operators. This process will include skills base and training reviews, a close look at business processes, and testing the interoperability of operational and business IT systems. If field trials are successful in establishing a clear plan for mobilisation, National Grid will adopt Tors for everyday operations in early 2016. With an eye to the longer-term future, Synthotech is already working on ways to apply what it has learned through Tors to robotic platforms for gas transmission. It will do this via a £5.7 million Ofgem-funded innovation programme called Graid, which challenges Synthotech to build a robot able to negotiate its own route around the network and withstand pressures of up to 100 bar.
UTILITY WEEK | 30th January - 5th February 2015 | 11
Game changer Tunnel vision could see robotic connections
In the first of a series championing innovation, Jane Gray looks at a pioneering technology that National Grid is on the verge of commercialising.
I
t sounds fanciful: completing underground utilities connections without digging holes. Yet, thanks to a new product from National Grid and technology partner Synthotech, achieving this engineering utopia may be far more than a pipe dream. The Tier One Replacement System (Tors) is a “mechatronic snake” that can perform mains-to-service connections from inside an existing mains pipeline. National Grid hopes the technology will make a major contribution to its target of halving all excavations in the UK by 2017, as well as increasing productivity in the gas distribution part of the business by 20-30 per cent by slashing the time it takes to complete replacement connections. Since it will significantly reduce the number of excavations needed to complete replacement connections for any given street or business site, the platform is also being hailed as a means of achieving a gas customer experience revolution. The modular, flexible platform has been in development since November 2012 and has received about £2 million of funding from National Grid’s innovation allowance
under RIIO (Ofgem’s new regulatory regime). Tors made its public debut at the Low Carbon Networks and Innovation Conference in October 2014 and attracted attention from visitors to the National Grid stand. This year it is due to begin field testing at sites across the UK and there is an ambition to see it become fully operational by early 2016. While engineers have dreamed of using robotics to achieve remote subterranean connections for years, the capabilities of Tors have only recently become possible thanks to a concatenation of technological advances, many centring on the ability to miniaturise the sensors, motors, tools and processing power on board. The University of Leeds, a centre of excellence for robotic design, has been a valuable partner to Synthotech throughout the development of Tors. “This is a world first,” says Darren White, innovation portfolio manager at National Grid. “Ofgem’s funding has allowed us to exploit Synthotech’s potential and create something that is really cutting edge. Without the Ofgem funding mechanism, this kind of partnership could not take place.”
“Since the 1970s people have been saying, ‘if we could do this using a robot, wouldn’t it be great’. But the technology didn’t exist. They couldn’t work out how to physically do it.” Wez Little, innovation director, Synthotech
“Our investment in Tors shows our commitment to working with innovative companies to create solutions which will radically improve customer experience.”
Darren White, innovation portfolio manager gas distribution, National Grid
Project timeline November 2012-January 2013: Synthotech works on initial proof of concept for Tors in large scale (250mm). The concept is developed from an existing platform called Synthotrax but adds the capability to identify service connection points from within a polyethylene inner and then drill a new connection.
10 | 30th January - 5th February 2015 | UTILITY WEEK
January 2013-November 2013: Further proof of concept work under the new RIIO funding regime (April 2013). Synthotech explores the viability of miniaturising the platform and its ability to successfully perform all necessary tasks for a remote service-to-mains connection.
November 2013-April 2014: Having demonstrated the Tors concept at Nat ional Grid’s Hinckley centre for gas distribution, Synthotech lays the foundations for development of a commercially viable prototype. Synthotech conducts a global technology and patent search and works collaboratively with a wide range of potential stakeholders at National Grid to understand how Tors will have to work for the business.
Game changer: Tors
Tors stage 2, the proof of concept model
National Grid: 100,000
Metal service pipe replacements carried out each year.
£380 million
How does Tors work? Tors is a “polymorphic” robot that can intelligently perform a range of tasks from with a gas mains pipeline, including identifying connection points, drilling, welding and pressure testing. Short modules with different tools and capabilities can be added, subtracted or changed in sequence to increase its flexibility. National Grid required Tors to help with its UK-wide programme of iron mains replacement. This involves inserting polyethylene liners into the ageing iron pipes that have carried gas around the country to date. Once the new main is in place, service-to-mains connections need to be reinstated, and this is currently a labour-intensive process. On a typical 100 metre-long street in the UK, using conventional methods, this might entail 22 excavations. Using Tors, once the plastic inner pipe has been inserted, the robot can enter the pipe, propelling itself with a wall press technique. Using onboard sensors, it can detect where replacement connections need to be made, drill a hole and complete the new connection before pressure testing it. The robot is designed to operate in 75mm to 180mm pipes. Five patents have so far been filed for Tors relating to its tools and processes, including a first of a kind spiral drive. Although Synthotech needs to protect its intellectual property, National Grid is obliged by the rules of RIIO to share the benefits of its innovation investments. Consequently, information about the design and functionality of this platform is already being shared with gas distribution networks internationally. A key reason for this, in addition to maximising its impact, is to ensure resources are not wasted in the industry because of project duplication.
Amount spent annually on metal service pipe and gas main replacement.
11 million Number of service points to customers, spread across four gas distribution networks.
81,000 miles
Amount of gas distribution mains pipelines.
CAD modelling of the Tors platform in action
Could it be you? Over the course of the past six months, National Grid Gas Distribution has grown its internal innovation team from four to 16 people. The team is responsible for project managing programmes such as Tors, but also for seeking out new partners and potential problem-solving technologies or processes which might be game changers for gas distribution. Under RIIO’s innovation allowance rules, National Grid has circa £10 million a year to spend on such projects and Darren White is keen for potential partners to come forward with proposals on how to put this money to best use. “We are looking to increase our innovation community,” says White. “Not just within the gas sector, but across all sectors. Our portfolio at the moment includes projects with companies in the water sector and pharmaceuticals sector, for instance.”
I’m a game changer Utility Week’s Game Changers series seeks to champion disruptive innovation in the utilities sector. To put forward a technology for coverage contact Insights Editor Jane Gray, email: janegray@ fav-house.com
Field testing this summer will put Tors and associated business processes to test in real life scenarios
What happens next? April 2014-October 2014: Synthotech begins stage-gated development of Tors prototype in earnest. In October, National Grid showcases the Tors prototype for the first time at the Low Carbon Networks & Innovation Conference, Aberdeen.
This summer will see field tests at sites across the UK to establish what still needs to be done before Tors can become a business-as-usual technology for National Grid and other UK gas distribution operators. This process will include skills base and training reviews, a close look at business processes, and testing the interoperability of operational and business IT systems. If field trials are successful in establishing a clear plan for mobilisation, National Grid will adopt Tors for everyday operations in early 2016. With an eye to the longer-term future, Synthotech is already working on ways to apply what it has learned through Tors to robotic platforms for gas transmission. It will do this via a £5.7 million Ofgem-funded innovation programme called Graid, which challenges Synthotech to build a robot able to negotiate its own route around the network and withstand pressures of up to 100 bar.
UTILITY WEEK | 30th January - 5th February 2015 | 11
