A MONITORING SYSTEM FOR PETROLEUM PIPELINE VANDALISM IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA

Abstract

Petroleum pipeline vandalism has, over the years, become a torn in the flesh of successive administrations in Nigeria as the nation losses 12 billion dollars yearly to pipeline vandalism related issues. There is an urgent need to permanently address the rising scourge in the nation. In this study, an approach for synthesizing a monitoring system to curtain pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is presented. The design was done in stages starting with the power supply subsystem and culminates in the simulation of the whole subsystems to give the overall monitoring system. The simulation of the subsystems was done using the procedural programming application Proteus 8. Most of the components used in the design of each sub systems was according to design specifications from data book with alternatives used in cases where they are unavailable. The overall system was tested to perform the required task of monitoring pipelines. It is found that the overall system is able to monitor petroleum pipelines and reduce acts of vandalism on the nation’s pipeline topology.