GITA Conference 30: Planning, Design, and Engineering Sessions

Learn the primary drivers behind distribution integrity legislation.
Understand how GIS will provide a core foundation for complying with distribution integrity.
See how to leverage your GIS data to produce meaningful distribution integrity analysis.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is in the final stages of new legislation focused on the safety of natural gas distribution. The legislation, referred to as Distribution Integrity, will have a significant impact on the way utilities store and analyze their data. GIS will be the centerpiece of many utilities' distribution integrity solutions as utilities develop applications and processes around the core aspects of the legislation: third-party damage, leak management, risk management, and performance-based metrics.

10:00–10:45 a.m.
Utility Design for Reliability—Optimization with Six Sigma Tools
Robert P. Laudati, GE Energy
Track: Planning, Design, and Engineering
E

Learning Objectives:

Get a review of utility performance and reliability metrics.
See an introduction to Six Sigma tools.
Discover techniques for optimizing design for reliability systems.

This paper explores the potential integration of engineering design, operations management, and enterprise asset management systems to help designers develop the next generation of utility infrastructure. The Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodology incorporates performance characteristics into design decisions by analyzing the effects of variation before construction begins. By using enterprise asset management systems to provide performance characteristics and reliability metrics from operations management systems, a framework for leveraging DFSS in a utility design scenario can be developed.

1:00–1:45 p.m.
Streamlined Utility Infrastructure Maintenance
Douglas L. Laslo, Autodesk, Inc.
Track: Planning, Design, and Engineering
E, G, T

Learning Objectives:

Show efficiency gains possible with improved approach and integration.
Give examples of utilities that have made significant improvements in processes.
Show specific examples of the process changes and integrations necessary.

Utilities are faced with demands of improving quality of service, becoming more responsive to customers, and reducing costs. In most utilities, the engineering design and infrastructure maintenance process is inefficient, slow, and expensive. Estimates suggest cost savings are feasible when the engineering design and maintenance processes arestreamlined. We will report on the real-world experience of electric utilities as they streamlined their processes.
Copresenter: Keith Miller, FirstEnergy Corporation

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

9:00–9:45 a.m.
Leveraging GIS to Support Full-System Utility Modeling
Laura Jacobsen, Las Vegas Valley Water District
Track: Planning, Design, and Engineering
E, G, PL, T

Learning Objectives:

Understand the issues presented by full-system utility modeling.
Discuss the potential theoretical solutions to full-system modeling.
Learn how a large utility implemented a full-system model.

Utility modelers are no longer restricted to skeletonized models. Taking advantage of technological advances and creating models of an entire system allows for better emergency response, a more reliable maintenance and quality control process, and streamlined model updates—especially for a rapidly growing system. Topics for this discussion will include parallel construction of individual zone models, model customization to enable all pipes capability, integration with GIS data, and the benefits of full-system models.
Copresenters: J. Russ Coffey, Las Vegas Valley Water District; Sri Kamojjala, Las Vegas Valley Water District

Questions about Annual Conference 30? Contact us!
Phone: 303-337-0513 Fax: 303-337-1001 E-mail: info@gita.org