Industrial development of a complete system for the traceability of the gas distribution networks based on bar codes linked to the polyethylene pipes and fittings
Gueugnaut, D. Darut, A.
Industrial development of a complete system for the traceability of the gas distribution networks based on bar codes linked to the polyethylene pipes and fittings - 14 p.
Disponible en CD en formato PDF
Transcripción del abstract original del autor: Nowadays more than 90,000 km are polyethylene (PE) pipes are operated on Gaz de France' gas distribution network. Despite the oldest pipes have been laid in the mid-seventies on the domestic network, the number of incidents remain at a very low level, and the major part of these incidents are trapped thanks to the surveyance procedures implemented progressively by Gaz de France. Nevertheless in order to assure a complete under control situation of the quality of the materials along with the surveyance of their evolution with time it is necessary on the one hand to be able to locate whenever these materials when in the ground and on the other hand to be able to have a feedback of their implementation. Such a need can have an emergency purpose in the event when some poor quality elements must be retrieved and excavated rapidly. The bad experience of Gaz de France in this area at the beginning of the nineties has clearly demonstrated the necessity for setting up rapidly a traceability procedure of the materials laid on the PE network, despite the existing specifications and standards which tend to assure the end-users theoretically with a "zero defect". The study regarding traceability has been divided into four major tasks. The first task was to define precisely the traceability data which are necessary and consistent to assess for long term performance of PE components along with the needed storage period of these information in a database on an end-user level. Given the experience of Gaz de France with regards to some divergences in PE fabrication the raw material batch number was chosen as a basic and representative data to be collected at least. Other information concerning the materials, such as the fabrication plant, the component type, the resin trademark, should be also collected and stored in the database. Secondly it has been necessary for Gaz de France to promote both the necessity for integrating the PE resin batch number in the Identity Card of the material to be traced and the use of a reliable and easy-to-use carrier for supporting these data. This has been made in the TC138/SC4 ISO committee from which is born the document 12176-4 "Traceability Coding". This document allows the end-user to get the raw material batch number in a free zone of a 128C-bar code sticker as a first choice made by Gaz de France for technical reasons. Third, a complete system for printing and in-real-time deposit of 128C-bar code stickers has been designed and tested industrially during a nine-month period through an experimental development campaign with the help of Gaz de France's pipes suppliers, under the control of a technical steering committee. Then, a system for both data collection in the field during the PE components laying and further processing of the traceability information has been elaborated and tested by Gaz de France operating units in order to prove its easy-to-use capacity. This system is based on the in situ reading of bar code stickers whose data are coded in agreement with the ISO standard 12176-4. The feedback of this experimental development reveals to be very positive and convincing with regard to the possibility of managing bar code information in accordance with the ISO standard through an original process of printing, in-line deposition and on-site collection of these information on adequate stickers. The success of the controlled development of this complete system, designed initially for the traceability of the PE components to be laid on the domestic gas distribution network, could give way to a generalization of the concept by other end-users.
CD I249 1 0013788
Industrial development of a complete system for the traceability of the gas distribution networks based on bar codes linked to the polyethylene pipes and fittings - 14 p.
Disponible en CD en formato PDF
Transcripción del abstract original del autor: Nowadays more than 90,000 km are polyethylene (PE) pipes are operated on Gaz de France' gas distribution network. Despite the oldest pipes have been laid in the mid-seventies on the domestic network, the number of incidents remain at a very low level, and the major part of these incidents are trapped thanks to the surveyance procedures implemented progressively by Gaz de France. Nevertheless in order to assure a complete under control situation of the quality of the materials along with the surveyance of their evolution with time it is necessary on the one hand to be able to locate whenever these materials when in the ground and on the other hand to be able to have a feedback of their implementation. Such a need can have an emergency purpose in the event when some poor quality elements must be retrieved and excavated rapidly. The bad experience of Gaz de France in this area at the beginning of the nineties has clearly demonstrated the necessity for setting up rapidly a traceability procedure of the materials laid on the PE network, despite the existing specifications and standards which tend to assure the end-users theoretically with a "zero defect". The study regarding traceability has been divided into four major tasks. The first task was to define precisely the traceability data which are necessary and consistent to assess for long term performance of PE components along with the needed storage period of these information in a database on an end-user level. Given the experience of Gaz de France with regards to some divergences in PE fabrication the raw material batch number was chosen as a basic and representative data to be collected at least. Other information concerning the materials, such as the fabrication plant, the component type, the resin trademark, should be also collected and stored in the database. Secondly it has been necessary for Gaz de France to promote both the necessity for integrating the PE resin batch number in the Identity Card of the material to be traced and the use of a reliable and easy-to-use carrier for supporting these data. This has been made in the TC138/SC4 ISO committee from which is born the document 12176-4 "Traceability Coding". This document allows the end-user to get the raw material batch number in a free zone of a 128C-bar code sticker as a first choice made by Gaz de France for technical reasons. Third, a complete system for printing and in-real-time deposit of 128C-bar code stickers has been designed and tested industrially during a nine-month period through an experimental development campaign with the help of Gaz de France's pipes suppliers, under the control of a technical steering committee. Then, a system for both data collection in the field during the PE components laying and further processing of the traceability information has been elaborated and tested by Gaz de France operating units in order to prove its easy-to-use capacity. This system is based on the in situ reading of bar code stickers whose data are coded in agreement with the ISO standard 12176-4. The feedback of this experimental development reveals to be very positive and convincing with regard to the possibility of managing bar code information in accordance with the ISO standard through an original process of printing, in-line deposition and on-site collection of these information on adequate stickers. The success of the controlled development of this complete system, designed initially for the traceability of the PE components to be laid on the domestic gas distribution network, could give way to a generalization of the concept by other end-users.
CD I249 1 0013788
