Superior Utility Locators

Managing energy cost is becoming increasingly more important in staying competitive in a global economy. Companies today have to face a multitude of facility issues and cannot afford the personnel or time to focus on a single media. Compressed air, gas leaks and municipal water company loss will for most manufacturing companies represent more than 10% of the energy bill. However one should be aware that it is probably also the most expensive form of energy a company uses. Only 5% of the energy used to compress the air becomes usable energy. Therefore it is an area where measures taken to reduce it's use have an unusually high return on investment.

Utility Location Info

The most common cause of a natural gas pipeline rupture is someone digging into the pipe—whether it is a contractor doing construction or a homeowner digging in the backyard. Superior Inspection & Utility Locators responds to locate requests (someone asking where underground lines are) by marking the location of mains and service lines. This helps ensure that digging in the area will be conducted safely.

Superior Inspection & Utility Locators is committed to accurate locates every time. We stay up to date on the latest and most advanced technologies and procedures to provide the best service. We always take the time needed to verify our work with several methods to insure an accurate, precise locate.

· Combustible Gas Leak Surveys
· Compressed Air Leak Surveys
· Compressed Air Audits

Superior Leak Surveys can save your facility money by helping to reduce excessive energy costs.
Our technicians will conduct a through survey of your site, locate all Water, Gas or Air leaks and provide you with a detailed report including photographs, actual cost per leak and recommendation as to repairs required. The surveys are conducted without having to interfere with the day to day of your business with large areas of plant being able to be surveyed in a single day.

What The Survey Involves

We deploy our consultant technician to perform Water Leak Surveys, Gas Leak Surveys And Compressed Air Surveys, Using High State Of The Art Electronic Ultrasonic sensing equipment to conduct our surveys and typically our surveys follow the format below:

1. Walk through your plant or jobsite location to observe misuse of compressed air, gas and water such as valves left wide open also determining the best route for inspection survey.
2. Leaks are located using sensitive Ultrasonic Sensing Equipment, Water Leak Correlation , LD 12 Acoustic Leak Detectors and Gas Leak Detection Equipment as each leak is identified it is tagged and it's size and location logged as well as photographs taken of the leak and location.
3. When survey is complete a debrief meeting is held with the plant/facilities manager to discuss the survey and our findings.
4. A comprehensive report is compiled which contains details of each leak including location, size, cost of leak and repair recommendations.

Water Leak Management & Leak Surveys
Superior provides a Water Resource Management Service. We are able to provide a remote water usage monitoring service. This is done by connecting a data logger to any water meter which allows the consumption to be monitored remotely so that any sudden increase can be investigated before a significant volume of water can be lost. The data is normally transmitted via telephone lines or the GPRS network.
A second advantage to monitoring consumption is that it enables the water demands to be examined so that any unnecessary usage can be reduced. This is done by identifying where water is being consumed and comparing that to the volume passing through the meter at any given time. By then introducing systems that minimize the water demand or by changing the way water consuming activities are carried out the overall consumption can be considerably reduced. This will usually give energy savings that will far out way any initial setup or monitoring charges.
Knowing where your valves are and that they are in good working order will maintain and prolong apparatus life and make sure that any work you undertake is done efficiently and cost-effectively.

If you have a burst mains, for example, locating the valve and isolating the burst quickly and easily will mean reduced water loss and easier repairs – less labor costs for you, less disruption for your customers, less impact on the environment.

Our team can fully assess your networks, identifying the most efficient way of setting up your site, with minimal disruption to you and your customers. The Network validation process includes an apparatus audit, a survey of flow rates and pressure control, but you can also tailor a package to suit your needs.

Our technicians will identify and isolate current and potential leaks on your network. Our Network Inspectors use a range of special equipment for accurate leak detection surveys and effective leak correlation. All our services can be customized and adapted to suit your needs.

LEAKAGE SURVEY
If you want to take a pro-active approach towards detecting leaks, we can undertake a leakage survey in a particular District Metered Area , town or reservoir supply zone. Our Network Inspectors will record water leak sounds that are propagated along the pipe walls, using leak correlation technology and ground microphones to find the exact location of the leak. Urgent leaks that may impact on your customers are reported immediately for emergency repair.

LEAK CORRELATION
Our Network Inspectors use the latest computer technology to pinpoint the precise location of water leaks, significantly reducing your excavation costs.

FLOW LOGGING
If you manage a large water network – serving schools, universities and hospitals, for example – flow logging gives you a quick and inexpensive picture of how water is being used. Regular logging provides the best way to accurately determine the level of leakage and the value of water being lost.

STEP TESTING
If a system survey has detected a leak, we can use step testing to find it. Particularly effective on extensive water systems, we can test out of hours or on a zone-by-zone basis, so your customers have minimal disruption to their water supply.

Using drop testing, we can check for vital water tightness of storage reservoirs or tanks.

PRV MAINTENANCE
Pressure Reducing Valves (PRVs) allows you to actively manage your water supply demand, saving money for your business and helping with water conservation. Our expert team can advise you on optimizing pressure management, implementing pressure zones where necessary, plus commissioning and logging PRVs.

To prolong the life of PRVs, we also provide maintenance, verification and calibration of water flow meters – a valve free from dirt will function for years with minimum attention, saving you time, inconvenience and cash.

NIGHT FLOW ANALYSIS
Take action before you lose water and revenue. Establishing the minimum night flow rate is a key tool in identifying leakage potential and developing diurnal water use patterns. Using our expertise, you can develop a comprehensive history of night flow rates, identifying leaks before they become a problem.

WATER METERS
With specialists in domestic and commercial water meters, we can offer services from installation to meter reading to data logging, helping you understand, manage and control the water being used on your site.

Hazardous Gas Detection
Energy facilities to find and catalogue large leaks, from which significant amounts of methane and its equivalents (all of which are greenhouse gases) are lost. The possible leak points are first recorded and then they are tested for leaks. Big leaks that may cause problems with health, safety, environmental impact should be fixed immediately if simple enough. If not, the costs of both the gas loss and the repair must be compared so that economically feasible repairs shall be made as soon as practicable (such as during the next facility shutdown.)

Leak Detection Methods
What is a good way to do this? We start with this comparison of leak detection methods. One technique is to compile a survey of emissions on all equipment and connections on site and flag them for repair.

When using this method, program costs are minimized, but no data that would allow for strategic planning and preventative measures is kept. So planning a schedule for future natural gas leak detection surveys and ongoing quality control might remain quite cumbersome.
A second method used by groups of gas leak detectors assigns a code to each component before testing and classifying fugitive testing results using the well-known three-stratum system. It uses one category for small leaks, resulting in less than 1000 ppm of methane equivalent, a large category for greater than 10000 ppm and a medium layer for leaks between these two levels. With the three-stratum approach, all leaks are estimated and the data used by operators to keep up a maintenance program, thus catching leaks before they grow. It is a costly program. However, once the database is established, it can be reused efficiently for a variety of purposes Superior Inspection & Leak Detection of Southern California, came up with an effective intermediate plan. As the plants in this geographical area need to report greenhouse gas emissions annually to the government, they had been using previous information to support the GHG calculations. This practice has been deemed inadequate, so Superior Consulting put forth that companies use the less-expensive scanning survey method, so that they get the data plants can use to make economic feasibility decisions on whether to repair the leak or not.
Other regulations are: 1) A quantified leak needs to be repaired only if the annual value of the lost gas is greater than the repair costs. 2) All detected but non-quantified leaks need to be fixed in no more than 45 days after the natural gas leak detection reveals their existence.
What does Superior do?
First of all they come up with Quality Assurance Plans for plant operators who need to implement and maintain the Program on the site. These plans are relatively convenient for regulators to audit, making that undesirable step quite painless. as they are known, spell out plan objectives, data control systems, program descriptions, lists of targeted components, a description of the natural gas leak detection methods, gas detection meters and schedules. Then quality control procedures are outlined in great detail to ensure a fool proof plan for each facility.

Secondly, the environmental consultancy staff comes to the site with natural gas leak detection instruments to perform a survey. Our service personnel comes prepared with a portable gas monitor, and a TVA 1000 Flame Ionization Detector. This safe, inexpensive and easy-to-use device gives empirical data obtained in accordance with Method 21 spelled out by the United States EPA, thereby satisfying the demands of the US governing bodies as well. The leak inventory is extracted from the gas detection equipment display, and important leaks are photographed and recorded by the team.
Thirdly, natural gas leak detection reports comes from the data processing team, who forward them to facility staff. All major leaks on site are identified and leak repair tracking forms are ready for the plant operator to use and complete for each leak.

Each form gives a photo and an extensive list of required data for each leaking item, such as the date and location, the quantity and cost of the leak, a record of actions taken and a space for staff signature. From the form, an operator can know when and how the leak was repaired or why it was not fixed.
Several Superior Consulting teams have gone out to hundreds of oil and gas facilities in California. Although facilities should now have their programs fully in place by now, Superior can help companies catch up and maintain the programs. The unique approach was designed to allow consultants to use the data for other regulatory programs, saving substantial costs for multiple regulatory compliance programs in the long run.

Air Leak Detection Surveys

It is estimated that 30% of the compressed air generated in the USA is wasted through leakage. Our leak detection surveys use ultrasonic leak detectors to identify and pin-point the location of any leaks in a system. The location, nature and magnitude of each leak is recorded in a spread sheet and the leak is physically tagged with a label to aid its location for repair. When a system drawing is available, the location of the leak is also marked on the drawing.
The tabulated summary also details the annual cost of the leak, which allows their rectification to be prioritized in order of the savings that will be achieved.

Compressed Air Utility Systems & Energy Services offers a wide range of services and products to reduce the energy costs associated with your industrial compressed air system. "The most expensive plant Utility."

Ultrasonic Leak Detection

One 1/4-inch leak in a compressed air system that is operating at 100 psig will lose 104 cubic feet of air per minute (cfm). A 25 horsepower air compressor is required to produce 104 cfm at an electrical energy cost of $2.20 per hour. That 1/4-inch leak if left unchecked for a year in a 24-hour facility will cost $19,272.00. We have found that it is not uncommon to find cumulative leak totals far in excess of this figure.
Our Certified Ultrasonic Compressed Air System Leak Surveyors are equipped with the tools to find, identify and quantify the compressed air leaks in your plant. Your return on investment for this service is realized in mere weeks in reduced energy costs with the added value of incorporating this service into an overall corporate energy management plan.

Compressed Air System Audits
Find out how much your compressed air system is costing to operate and how to reduce these costs. Develop strategies for managing and maintaining your compressed air system as the costly utility that it is. Arrange for a free consultation to determine the benefits of an audit in your plant.

Heat Recovery Packages
As much as 90% of the energy that goes into your air compressor is rejected as waste heat energy, either air-cooled or water-cooled, this energy can be recovered and used in process or plant heating. A 100 horsepower air compressor will reject 252,000 btu of heat energy, enough heat to warm a shipping area if you have air-cooled compressors or perhaps boiler feed water in the case of water-cooled air compressors.

Utility Color Code Chart

RED	Electric power lines, cables or conduits, and lighting cables.
YELLOW	Gas, oil, steam, petroleum or other hazardous liquid or gaseous materials.
ORANGE	Communications, cable TV, alarm or signal lines, cables, or conduits.
BLUE	Water, irrigation, and slurry lines.
GREEN	Sewers, storm sewer facilities, or other drain lines.
WHITE	Proposed excavation
PINK	Temporary survey markings.
PURPLE	Reclaimed water, irrigation and slurry lines.

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