Reliability Assessment of Gas Pipelines with Corrosion Defects Based on In-Line Inspection

Abstract

As the natural gas pipeline system in China is extremely complex and busy, people are coming to realize that existing system safety evaluation methods, which are premised on single pipelines or small-scale pipeline networks, are in fact not technical and rational enough for assessing the safety of a large-scale pipeline network. Therefore, ideas for ensuring the reliability of a large-scale natural gas pipeline network have recently been proposed. To calculate system reliability, the primary task is assessing the reliability of individual system components, such as pipelines and gas stations. This paper advances a reliability calculation model based on the Monte Carlo simulation for pipelines with corrosion def ects determined through in-line inspection. An example of the calculation method is provided; in this example, the reliability of a particular PetroChina natural gas pipeline project is ascertained in order to offer some experiences and references for pipeline reliability assessors.