Chapter 13 - Leak Detection and Risk-Based Integrity Management

Abstract

This book concludes by exploring the role of leak detection in the larger context of pipeline risk and integrity management. Many risk evaluation approaches manage risk by calculating it as the product of threat, vulnerability, and consequence. This chapter utilizes US Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) data to evaluate the threat and consequence issues in the developed world. Reviews of real-world incident rates as well as leak, spill, and rupture discovery modes are provided, as is a discussion of property costs and other consequences. Mitigation of loss-of-integrity vulnerability issues is explored in a discussion of risk management programs, with a particular emphasis on how an integrated detection approach that uses leak detection system (LDS) technology in conjunction with a program of both targeted/purposeful as well as incidental direct observation can assist in minimizing the consequences of a leak.