The Value of Data for
Strategic Infrastructure Management
Big Data Analytics Conference 2013
Roma,17 ottobre 2013
Diego Ragazzi
CEFRIEL – ICT Institute Politecnico di Milano
Contents
2
� The Energy Infrastructure
� Complex Systems
� The Value of Data
- Picking Low Hanging Fruits
- Adding a Degree of Sophistication
The Energy System:
the Backbone of Modern World
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The Energy Infrastructure
Fossil Fuels
4
“The fossil-fuel
infrastructure constitutes
the costliest and most
extensive infrastructure that
the world has ever built.”
Vaclav Smil
Main pipelines and processing facilities in Europe and North Africa from www.oilandgasinfrastructure.com
© CEFRIEL - Milano, 17/10/2013
The Energy Infrastructure
Electric Power Grid
5
“It would be difficult to
imagine a world today
without electricity.”
Michael B. McElroy
The North American electricity grid is the world's largest and
most complex system of power generation, transmission, and
distribution. It has 340,000 km of high-voltage transmission lines,
and total assets of more than $1 trillion.
© CEFRIEL - Milano, 17/10/2013
Complex Systems
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“The philosophy of building some slack
into technical systems has given way to a
more refined approach where, aided by
more sophisticated instrumentation and
computing, components can be matched
more precisely to needs. While such
refinement has obvious economic
justifications, it does increase the
vulnerability of the system.”
Alexandra Von Meier, “Electric Power Systems”
Interdependencies between key
infrastructures can create subtle interactions
that often lead to unpredictable behaviors.
Cascading effects of the California energy crisis in late 2000
Source: Rinaldi, Peerenboom, Kelly, “Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies”, IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 2001
The Challenge of Complexity
The 2003 Italy blackout
The power line that supplied
electricity to Italy from Switzerland
was damaged by storms, triggering a
cascading effect that caused ENEL to
loose control of the grid in the next 4
seconds.
The power grid and the SCADA network (shifted above the map)
that were implicated in the worst electrical blackout that occurred
in Italy (September 2003).
The Challenge of Complexity
The Challenge of Complexity
9
According to Tainter, societies become
more complex as they try to solve
problems.
But such complexity requires a
substantial consumption of
resources, and this leads to collapse
from diminishing returns.
Up to now, the “complexification”
of strategic infrastructures has
been made possible by the
spectacular advances in ICT.
Is this trend going to last?
© CEFRIEL - Milano, 17/10/2013
Answers to the Challenge
1. Systems Approach
10 © CEFRIEL - Milano, 05/11/2008
� The systems approach is a process of conceptualizing,
modeling and evaluating things in a “synthetic way” as
opposed to a more analytical, engineering approach
� There are no absolute rules or specific tools to use
� Modeling complex systems is hindered by:
- Diversity of system components
- Cooperation between diversified workgroups
- Large range of abstraction layers required to
describe the problem
• _________• _________• _________• _________
System Models
System
Answers to the Challenge
2. Control
ICT is the only feasible way to control
modern, highly distributed, geographically
widespread systems requiring
� High initial investments
� Easy field installation
� Reduced maintenance
� Ideally, energy autonomous field devices
� Interoperability
� Flexibility and capability of evolution
The Value of Data
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� Leverage existing monitoring
infrastructures (also from
third parties)
� Avoid heavy capital
investments in new assets
� Reduce solution deployment
time
� Potentially switch from
reaction-based to prediction-
based system operations
Case Study 1Data Analytics for System Efficiency
Radio Access Network
Network Subsystem
Network Management
Mobile Telecom Operator
GSM coverage map
Internal Temp
% C
om
pre
sso
r T
ime
• Compliant
• Non compliant
• To be investigated
Data Analytics for System EfficiencyUnderstand your system
Internal Temp
% C
om
pre
sso
r T
ime
Wrong settings
• Compliant
• Non compliant
• To be investigated
Data Analytics for System EfficiencyUnderstand your system
16
Internal Temp
% C
om
pre
sso
r T
ime
Insufficient
cooling
• Compliant
• Non compliant
• To be investigated
Data Analytics for System EfficiencyUnderstand your system
Internal Temp
% C
om
pre
sso
r T
ime
Cooling
system
down
• Compliant
• Non compliant
• To be investigated
Data Analytics for System EfficiencyUnderstand your system
Internal Temp
% C
om
pre
sso
r T
ime
Incorrect
sensor
Incorrect
readings of
temperature
sensor
• Compliant
• Non compliant
• To be investigated
Data Analytics for System EfficiencyUnderstand your system
Internal Temp
% C
om
pre
sso
r T
ime
Maintenance people working on site on a hot
summer day
• Compliant
• Non compliant
• To be investigated
Data Analytics for System EfficiencyUnderstand your system
Possible energy Possible energy Possible energy Possible energy wastewastewastewaste2%2%2%2%
Energy wasteEnergy wasteEnergy wasteEnergy waste5%5%5%5%
OtherOtherOtherOther8%8%8%8%
compressor compressor compressor compressor OFFOFFOFFOFF85%85%85%85%
compressor ONcompressor ONcompressor ONcompressor ON15%15%15%15%
Compressor BehaviorCompressor BehaviorCompressor BehaviorCompressor Behavior
Operational time
(hours)
Operational time
without anomalies
~ 2.4 M ~ 1.8 M
Energy
Inefficiency
21%
Data Analytics for System EfficiencyEvaluate Inefficiency
GOALS
� To assess the seismic and
hydrogeological risk for the gas
network
� To evaluate the potential of risk
reduction provided by new digital
technologies
Courtesy of HERA spa
Case Study 2
Data Analytics for System Safety
e1
e2 e
4
e3
e6
e5
en
s11
s1n
s12
s13
s21 s22
s2n
s31
s32s33
s3n
Events Gas Network
System Modeling
Data Analytics for System Safety
High
Medium-high
Medium
Low-medium
Low
Risk Map
Data Analytics for System Safety
ICT-based Countermeasures: The Infrastructural Approach
Distributed Sensors for
� Gas leakage detection
� Pipeline tension detection
Data Analytics for System Safety
ICT-based Countermeasures: The Data-based Approach
Satellite measures
of landslide
displacements
Calculation of
pipeline stress
Data Analytics for System Safety
ICT-based Countermeasures: The Data-based Approach
Identification of
critical points (e.g.
sharp bends)
Evaluation of
Exposition
Data Analytics for System Safety
GIS Map
Conclusion
THANK YOU
ANY QUESTIONS?
27 © CEFRIEL - Milano, 17/10/2013
