Condition-based maintenance decision support system for oil and gas pipelines

Abstract

The 2013 report card of America's infrastructure has scored the condition of oil and gas pipelines as D+ which means that such pipelines are in a relatively poor condition. More than 10,000 failures have been recorded in the US. These failures have resulted in environmental, health and property damages. Therefore, there is a definite need to give more attention to the maintenance of oil and gas pipelines. This paper develops a comprehensive model for the maintenance planning of oil and gas pipelines. The model selects rehabilitation/repair alternatives for oil and gas pipelines based on their condition during their service life. These alternatives are then used to calculate the cash flow throughout the service life of these infrastructures. The model, which uses Monte Carlo simulation and fuzzy approach to address the uncertainties in the estimation of the maintenance operation costs and the economic parameters, calculates the Equivalent Uniform Annual Worth of the identified alternatives. The optimum maintenance programmes consist of the alternatives that have the lowest life cycle cost of oil and gas pipelines. The model is expected to support pipeline operators in the maintenance decision-making process of oil and gas pipelines.