Technical Centre Teams Take Home Prestigious Industry Awards

PSQR Model and 4D Inspection Tool win CEPA Foundation Awards

Two Technical Centre teams have won Canadian Energy Pipeline Association Awards in the categories of Quality and Innovation. These industry innovations not only make our business more efficient, but safer and more reliable.

The P-Square Methodology developed by Technology, Development and Innovation has won the award for Quality while the 4D Inspection Tool which was developed by Project Delivery Excellence in partnership with an external vendor has won for Innovation.

TC Energy is proud of our team and appreciate the recognition from the industry. It’s inspiring to see our Tech Centre teams pursuing innovative solutions that support our partners in the business units and make our industry more resilient and sustainable.

P-Square Model: A laser vs an axe 

The Plausible Profiles Corrosion Assessment Model or ‘P Square’ for short is an industry disrupting model has been extensively reviewed and is endorsed by global industry experts as a significant improvement to existing models. It has been presented to regulators, international industry organizations and standards committees and welcomed by operators across the world.

The model provides a more accurate representation of corrosion features in pipelines; allowing operators to make better decisions for preventative maintenance, integrity digs and other pipeline integrity activities.

“The P-Square Model adds an element of precision to our decision making. It’s like using a laser rather than an axe,” says Director of Risk and Engineering Strategy, Shahani Kariyawasam.

Development of the P Square Model involved an immense collaborative industry review and validation process, which culminated in 2019 with endorsement from Pipeline Research Council International industry experts. The current industry model was published in 1989 and is incorporated by reference in Federal regulations worldwide.

“The P Square Methodology is the first industry-wide improvement to that model in the ensuing 30 years and work is ongoing to incorporate this into referenced standards,” adds, Shahani.

The P-Square Model has been nominated for multiple international awards including a Global Energy Award and ‘Best Paper’ at the International Pipeline Conference 2020.

4D Inspection Tool: Real-time digital quality reporting  

The 4D Inspection Tool is a tablet-based inspection reporting platform developed by TC Energy, with Project Consulting Services (PCS), replacing manual clip-board style field inspection reporting with a digital, real-time reporting system. A Tech Centre team from the Project Development Excellence (PDE) group kicked off the concept of a digital platform on a pilot program in 2018 with efforts to achieve the following benefits to construction inspection activities:

• Early identification and resolution of non-compliance issues
• Efficient and improved access to inspection data for audit and regulatory purposes
• Automation, standardization and improved efficiency for completion of inspection forms
• More efficient and accurate progress reporting for projects
• Improved review and approval process for inspection forms
• Ensure construction information is maintained in a secure electronic environment while minimizing cybersecurity threats

“For the past 20 years, inspection reporting has been completed using pen and paper. 4D has not only revolutionized how inspectors report, but also creates insight into construction that has never existed before,” says Sukhi Gill, Program Lead, Project Delivery Excellence.

4D has been instrumental in transitioning field inspections from manual to digital reporting and combines all the inspectors’ reports in one area with intuitive, enterprise level dashboards allowing TC Energy to closely manage construction activities as they progress.

The 4D inspection platform is striving to create a central hub of construction inspection and quality information to enable data driven decisions in other parts of the organization, such as project controls, estimating and supply chain. TC Energy is continuing to use the valuable data that is being gathered through the 4D tool to enhance construction inspection quality – continuing our commitment to building safer and more reliable energy infrastructure.

Innovation underscores our values

Our innovative spirit radiates across our business – it’s part of who we are – and now more than ever, it’s time to enable ideas and act boldly. These awards are a wonderful validation of the creative and innovative culture we are building at TC Energy. We continue to challenge the status quo and age-old assumptions by putting all ideas on the table and collaborating to deliver transformational business outcomes.

Congratulations to the teams behind these wins!