Altus Sistemas de Informática is one of the few Brazilian companies from the industrial automation field that survived the end of the protected market by the Brazilian government. In the 1990s, the market was opened to international competition, and several multinationals settled in Brazil. In 2007, the company completed 25 years of activities and has just signed a contract worth about $18 million with Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras), the largest Altus business deal in its history. The system includes automation, instrumentation, electric and telecommunications. Altus will be responsible for getting initial information, basic and executive projects, materials supply, electromechanical assembly, start-up and attended operation. The automation system is for the Petrobras Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline—a 662 kilometers extension in the middle of the Amazon Forest. It will transport, in the final phase, 10 million cubic meters of natural gas daily.The sale includes the automation of 23 control stations along the gas pipeline, using 23 programmable controllers from Série Ponto, interlinked through redundant fiber optic cable. Communication will be by satellite with the Petrobras Transporte (Transpetro) National Center for Operational Control system. Micro-turbines will be mounted in the stations that generate power in the control stations from the transported gas, along with the generation of electric power distribution in those points. Altus also is responsible for project, installation and calibration services of all instrumentation along the gas pipeline. The telecommunications system is Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) equipment. A CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) system is also planned for operation in all control stations of the gas pipeline for patrimonial and operational safety. The project is scheduled for completion in 15 months.
About the authorSílvia Pereira, [email protected], is a freelance journalist based in Brazil.
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