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Oil and Gas Pipelines Monitoring

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Significance

Oil pipeline ruptures in recent years have attracted considerable public attention and outcry due to the adverse impact on the environment and economy of the region in the vicinity of failure. Such failures are not surprising given the size of the oil and natural gas pipeline network in the country and the economic imperatives that compel energy companies to rely on pipelines to transport fuel supplies. The gas transmission pipeline network is currently over 300,000 miles long and much of the infrastructure was put in place immediately after World War II. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reports that annually, on an average, over 80 incidents resulting in either fatalities, injuries, release of gas, service interruption and/or property damage occur.
Hence there is a need for reliable methods for detecting corrosion, cracking and evaluating the structural integrity of aging pipelines. Pipeline corrosion is usually detected by launching in-line inspection tools called pipes periodically inside the pipe. These in-line nondestructive evaluation (NDE) tools collect data relating to the condition of pipe, which is analyzed off-line to estimate the size, shape and location of defects in the pipe.The information is utilized to estimate the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of the pipe using either well-established empirical procedures. Third party damage is best detected using on-line systems has handicapped pipeline operators severely.

Gas Pipe

Objectives

- Development of new technologies for ensuring accurate and consistent assessment of the safety and structural integrity of existing pipelines.
- Development of computational models for simulating Magnetic flux leakage inspection of pipelines.
- Development of automated signal analysis system for rapid analysis of pipeline inspection data.

Diagram of gas pipe

Approach

A computational model based on finite element analysis was developed that incorporates non linearity of material properties of ferromagnetic pipelines. The model was used to visualize field/flaw interaction and also optimize design parameters of the new NDE sensors that are sensitive to circumferential SCC colonies in the pipe wall.
A stand-alone data analysis software was also developed to provide rapid, consistent, and accurate analysis of the field data collected during pipeline inspection. this software is now developed by industry for magnetic flux leakage data analysis.

Diagram of gas pipe analysis