Nornickel to consolidate Norilsk permafrost data
Nornickel is implementing this unique project to ensure safe and reliable use of buildings and structures in the harsh Arctic climate. The monitoring system in Norilsk, launched last summer, has been piloted since 30 December 2021. About RUB 1.4 bn was invested in the project’s first phase alone.
The monitoring project is focused on using automatic equipment to keep track of temperatures in permafrost soils around bases, deformation behaviour in foundations, and temperature and humidity levels in crawl spaces. It seeks to help prevent accidents at Nornickel’s industrial facilities and, later on, local housing infrastructure and timely identify any hazardous defects or deviations that might result in damage to the buildings and structures or their elements, with special safety criteria developed for all monitored indicators.
If such indicators exceed the threshold, a signal will be sent that the facility needs inspection and fixing. The system is largely automated and can notify those in
.The project’s first phase covered 165 facilities, including office and industrial buildings at mines, eleven backup diesel fuel facilities at NTEC, and buildings where many people may be present at once (Polar Division Office in Gvardeyskaya Street, Arena-Norilsk, Hotel Norilsk, and Community Centre, and other cultural heritage sites.
“We performed comprehensive studies to evaluate the condition and create design models of all buildings and structures included in the first stage. These include tank farms of at least 1,000 cubic metres — three oil depots of Taimyr Fuel Company, NTEC facilities where diesel fuel is stored, and tanks of Norilsktransgaz and Norilskgazprom,” said Anton Pryamitsky, Deputy Chief Engineer at Nornickel’s Polar Division.
According to Mr Pryamitsky, a total of 416 wells were drilled and 340 buildings and structures were equipped with sensors that respond to changes in the temperature of soils at the foundation beds of buildings. A total of 716 inclinometers were installed to monitor the deformation of foundations of all types, as well as 49 sensors recording humidity and temperature levels at facilities with a crawl space. Besides, seismic sensors were installed at several facilities to monitor the longitudinal and transverse motions of the facilities’ structures. Readings of the devices regarding the key safety parameters of facilities are submitted to the control unit of the Buildings and Structures Monitoring Centre in real time. A unique database is being created.
“The launch of an automatic information and diagnostics system set to include information from the city’s integrated control unit in the future will enable us to respond more quickly to changes that may result in industrial incidents. This information is used to create models designed to predict what will happen to the foundations and foundation beds of buildings given global climate change,” said Anton Pryamitsky.
According to him, background monitoring data will be sent for scientific research, including to Fedorovsky Polar State University. This university has established the Research Centre for Construction Technologies and Monitoring of Buildings and Structures in the Northern Arctic. Along with the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it researches permafrost in built-up areas. Other partners are Moscow State University and Moscow State Technical University, some of Russia’s leading higher education institutions. Currently, the Company’s experts are working with researchers to find the best way to develop frost-resistant sensors that will be able to operate at temperatures down to 50—60°C.
The second stage of the project is to be launched this year and completed in mid-2024. The plan is to equip 55 hazardous industrial facilities of NTEC and five tailings dams of Norilsk Division with sensors and wired and wireless data transmission systems. Experts estimate investment in this stage at about RUB 1.7 bn.
The subsequent stages of the project are under development. At the third stage, around 1,500 facilities may be connected to the global information and diagnostics monitoring system, including key pump houses and substations, as well as linear facilities: pipelines used for various purposes, pressure hydrotransport, railway tracks, bridge crossings and, possibly, gas pipelines. There are also plans to monitor new facilities under construction.