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Buried Pipelines
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More details and background
Corrosion Monitoring Approaches
Corrosion Monitoring for Maintaining Pipeline Integrity
Direct Current Voltage Gradient (DCVG)
technique for locating coating defects
Close Interval Potential Surveys (CIPS)
Multi-technique pipeline monitoring
Remote monitoring in gas distribution system
Leaks in Water Pipelines
Problems of Leaking Water Pipelines
| In North America alone, the total length of high pressure gas
transmission lines is greater than 300,000 miles. In
such a large diameter gas pipelines, outage costs can be as high as $500, 000 to
$1,000,000 per day. The above assets have a capital replacement value close to $3
trillion.
Source: M. Fingerhut and H. Westlake: "Pipeline fitness-for-purpose
certification", Corrosion Prevention and Control, March 2000, pp.3-14. |
A gas pipeline explosion (August 19, 2000) near Carlsbad, New Mexico,
resulted in 11 fatalities. The pipeline concerned was an aging one,
dating back to 1950. The failure is being investigated by the National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) and it will probably take considerable time before an official report
on the cause is released. As a result of this fatal blast, inspection and monitoring
requirements for the US aging pipeline system have come under the spotlight again.
Information published by the Office of Pipeline Safety, U.S. Department of
Transportation at:
http://ops.dot.gov/carlsbad/carlsbad1.htm
Oil and Gas Pipeline Ruptures (Canada):
A feature article in the Toronto Star (May 3, 2003 - "Danger Below: When pipelines
go bad" by Robert Cribb) has indicated corrosion as the leading factor in ruptures of
federally regulated pipelines in Canada. The underlying factors of 26 major ruptures since
1992 in this aging system (43,000 km) were categorized as follows:
Corrosion: 57%
Operational: 15%
Natural Forces: 12%
Materials defects: 8%
Vandalism: 4%
Other: 4%
| The OQ Rule: This rule became law on October 26, 1999 and its
formal designation is "Pipeline Safety: Qualification of Pipeline Personnel
Rule". The rule administered by the U.S DOT / OPS (Department of Transportation /
Office of Pipeline Safety) requires pipeline operators to develop and maintain a written
qualification program for personnel performing so-called covered tasks.
Details on the OQ rule can be found on the OPS web site at: http://ops.dot.gov/regulate.htm
|
| "The future of pipeline integrity is in the management and
interaction of collected survey data." Source:
Supplement to Materials Performance, February 2000, sponsored by Corrpro
Companies, Inc. |
The above statement emphasizes the importance of
combining data from multiple survey techniques.
Resolution and response time of
techniques for subsea oil and gas production equipment
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