Paper wound puts engineer at cutting edge

A lecturer’s paper cut sparked a brainwave which could save oil firms and the water industry a fortune by detecting and plugging pipeline leaks, it emerged today.

Dr Ian McEwan, from the University of Aberdeen, had his Eureka moment when he cut his index finger while reading a research paper during a train journey.

As the cut congealed, the engineering lecturer wondered if the way the human body stops bleeding could be used in industry.

He had the idea of fitting artificial platelets to pipelines which mimic the way blood congeals around a cut to stem the flow.

A company, named Brinker, has been set up to develop his idea which has already attracted investment from major North Sea oil firms.

Analysts say the invention has huge potential across a range of industries, preventing expensive losses and protecting the environment.

Dr McEwan said: “This project promises to be a breakthrough in pipeline management with the potential for uses worldwide in the prevention of oil leaks.

“It could save lives, help prevent environmental disaster occurring and prevent huge financial losses to the oil companies.”

Named ATLLAS (Advanced Technology for Leak Location and Sealing), the process uses fluid flow inside the pipeline to deliver specially-designed platelets to a leak.

When these platelets reach a rupture, the pressure pulls them towards it and holds them against the pipe wall.

The extreme pressure causes the platelets to merge, plugging the leak.

Tiny transmitters embedded in each platelet allow the pipeline’s operators to pinpoint the exact location of the fault.

Jake Molloy, general secretary of the oil union OILC, said the idea could save the industry vast amounts of money.

“If you look at the Brent Bravo field, that’s been shut down since September because of a leaking pipeline, that’s million pounds a day that’s been lost.

“The Brent Charlie field too is shut because of a leak and is not likely to reopen before March, that’s another million pounds a day. This could clearly save companies a fortune.”

The oil industry has been at the centre of a number of high-profile environmental disasters in recent years caused by ruptured pipelines.

In 2000, 340,000 gallons of oil leaked into Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, after a pipeline burst.

In the 1990s, a pipeline fault in Russia’s Komi district transformed thousands of acres of pristine taiga forest into an oily quagmire.

In October 2001, a drunken huntsman with a rifle shot at the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline, which spewed 285,600 gallons of oil and saturated the tundra.

Brian Nixon, head of Scottish Enterprise’s energy team, said: I believe that this is one of the most exciting new pipeline integrity technologies for years. It has huge market potential.”