Pipelines · Gas & oil

Energy, moved underground.

We manufacture the pipe, the stations and the valves, build the line with autonomous spreads, and watch every metre of it for its whole life.

Phase 8 · 2035+Concept design
The network
SeattleLos AngelesHoustonChicagoNew YorkAtlantaDenverCushingMidlandWillistonPittsburghLake Charles
I · What we manufacture

Pipe, stations, valves, robots.

Every component is built in our plants and carries sensors from the day it leaves them.

Line pipe

X80 steel, a three-layer polyethylene coat and a fibre sensing cable along the crown; concrete weight coat only at crossings.

Line pipe →

Compressor station

A 30 MW gas-turbine compressor every 250 km lifts the line from 110 to 150 bar, unmanned.

Compressor station →

Mainline valve

Automated ball valves at a line site every 32 km; certified controllers isolate a segment in 45 s.

Line sites and valves →

Inspection robot

In-line robot that rides the flow at 3 m/s through every segment every day, measuring wall loss and cracks.

Pipeline robots →
Blueprint · line pipe, valve, inspection robot
SECTION A–A · LINE PIPE, CONCRETE-COATED CROSSING GRADEELEVATION · TWO JOINTS IN THE DITCHNatural gas · ≤ 150 barUp to 48 in (1,219 mm) steel ODConcrete weight coat (crossings)Three-layer PE coat (FBE base)X80 steel wall — up to 25 mmSensing cable — DAS · DTSBore — robot-passable, gentle bendsFlow out of pageCoat and wall shown thicker than scale≈ 36 in coverOne joint ≈ 40 ft · welded into 80 ft doublesGirth weld — robotic, 100% ultrasonicField-joint coating sleeveCP test postThree-layer PE coat, 3.7 mmX80 steelSensing cable at crownBackfillSand paddingCP bond — impressed currentDETAIL C · MAINLINE BALL VALVE, BURIEDDETAIL D · IN-LINE INSPECTION ROBOTActuatorGear operatorStem extension to gradePressure transmitterPosition sensorLine site · fibre linkBall — full bore, turns 90° to isolateSeatsBody — welded endsMainlineNSArticulated jointMFL magnets & wire brushesSensor rings — MFL · EMATOdometer wheelsTurbine & battery — power everything on boardPolyurethane drive cups — pushed by product pressureFlow →Held at 3 m/s by the bypass valveOnboard load 350 W from a 1 kW turbine
II · How we build it

An autonomous spread, working day and night.

Seven battery-electric machines move down the right-of-way in formation, each doing one job, coordinated by The Brain: 5 km and 205 welds a day, with no crew on the spread.

Pipeline robots →
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01Survey drone maps the route
02Autonomous trencher cuts the ditch
03Pipe strung along the right-of-way
04Robotic orbital welding
05Weld inspection & coating
06Sideboom lowers the string
07Backfill & restoration
III · Compression

The engine of a gas line.

A 30 MW turbine-driven compressor restores pressure every 250 km, unmanned and dispatched by The Brain.

Compressor station →
Station gas turbine — rotating view
Air enters through the filter house (left) into the axial compressor (stages drawn in groups), burns with fuel gas from the line in six combustor cans, and expands through the gas-generator turbine and a separate free power turbine (right) that turns the compressor shaft. Exhaust leaves upward.
01Inlet filter house — 88 kg/s of air
02Compressor — axial, 23:1
03Combustor — 6 cans, fuel gas from the pipeline
04Gas-generator turbine — drives the compressor
05Free power turbine — 30 MW to the pipeline compressor
06Exhaust stack — ≈ 460 °C
07Fuel gas — 1.6 kg/s at 40%, 0.23% of the flow
08Unmanned — started, loaded and stopped by The Brain
Centrifugal compressor — rotating view
The pipeline compressor: three impellers spin on one shaft inside a barrel casing between magnetic bearings, taking gas in through the suction nozzle at 110 bar and out at 150 bar. The variable-speed motor at left starts the train and can run the station on grid power when the turbine is down.
01Barrel casing — 150 bar design, forged
02Impellers — 3, 3,600 rpm
03Magnetic bearings — no oil in the gas path
04Suction nozzle — 110 bar in
05Discharge nozzle — 150 bar out
06Coupling — to the free power turbine
07Helper motor — 6 MW variable-speed, start and grid running
08Dry gas seals — vent gas recovered to suction
Naked drivetrain — fuel gas to compressed gas
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01Station suction — stations every 250 kmGas path
02Inlet filter separator · scrubberGas path
03Air inlet filter houseDrive
04Axial compressor — gas generatorDrive
05Combustor — burns fuel gasDrive
06Gas-generator turbineDrive
07Free power turbine — 30 MW station powerDrive
08Exhaust stackDrive
09Direct couplingDrive
10Centrifugal compressor — 3 impellersGas path
11Impeller — end viewGas path
12Fin-fan gas coolersGas path
13Blowdown vent & silencerSafety
14Anti-surge recycle valveControl
15Fuel-gas skidAuxiliary
16Lube oil & seal-gas systemsAuxiliary
17Control building · fibre to The BrainControl
18Mainline valve · MAOP 150 barGas path
IV · Specification

Design specification.

Design specification for the IC pipeline system: line pipe, compressor stations and robots.

Pipe diameter
Up to 48 in (1,219 mm)
Wall thickness
Up to 25 mm
Steel grade
X80
Max operating pressure
150 bar
Laying rate
5 km / day per spread
Compressor spacing
250 km
Station power
30 MW gas turbine
Compressor
3 impellers, 110 → 150 bar, 3,600 rpm
Turbine efficiency
40% simple cycle, fuel gas
Station throughput
≈ 83 million m³ / day
Leak detection
Fibre sensing, every metre
Isolation time
≤ 45 s, automatic
Metal content
≈ 98% of line pipe
Inspection
Every segment, daily
Crew on spread
0
Line sites
Every 32 km
Onboard compute
Two modules at every station, line site and robot
ModulesCompressor station: 2 heavy AI modules + 2 certified safety controllers (SIL 3). Line site every 32 km: 2 light AI modules + 1 safety controller. In-line robot: 2 light AI modules + 1 safety controller.
CPUStation: 32 cores (2 × 16), plus 4 lockstep real-time cores per module. Line site and robot: 16 cores (2 × 8), plus 2 lockstep real-time cores per module.
AI throughputStation: 10,000 TOPS (2 × 5,000, INT8 / FP4 sparse). Line site and robot: 3,000 TOPS (2 × 1,500).
MemoryHeavy: 128 GB LPDDR6, 600 GB/s per module. Light: 64 GB LPDDR6, 300 GB/s per module.
Power drawStation ≈ 0.6 kW with 32 cameras and gas sensing, 0.002% of 30 MW. Line site: 82 W of compute inside a 0.6 kW site load on line-gas fuel cells. Robot: 82 W inside a 350 W load from its bypass turbine.
Process node2 nm-class SoCs; safety controllers on a mature 16 nm node, 15-year supply. Compute is a line-replaceable unit, swapped at mid-life.
RedundancyEvery sensor is wired to both modules. At a station, module A is primary for the train and module B for the yard, traps and perimeter; each is hot standby for the other. A software fault can never drive the pipeline outside its certified safe envelope.
Safety channelThe SIL 3 controllers hold emergency shutdown, blowdown, overspeed, anti-surge and segment isolation on their own sensors: speed pickups, pressure transmitters, flow venturi, gas and flame detectors and valve limit switches. A segment isolates in ≤ 45 s.
SensorsStation: 24 visible and 8 thermal cameras on automotive Ethernet through camera aggregation switches, vibration on every bearing, gas detection. Line: fibre sensing every metre (DAS and DTS). Robot: magnetic-flux, EMAT and caliper rings.
LinkLine fibre to The Brain, 10 Gbit/s, 5 ms over 1,000 km; satellite backup. Robots report at each trap. Valve actuators, the VFD and the fuel valve close their own inner loops at 1 kHz.
A pipeline is quiet compute: two modules per station watch the train, the line fibre and the valves for anything that changes, and each robot carries its own pair and reports at the next trap. Isolation never waits for software: the certified controllers close the valves.