Oil Gas Pipelines Research Articles

Risk Analysis Using Simulation Software Applied on a Road Infrastructure Project

Risk management in infrastructure projects has been a very important process to achieve the project objectives, namely: time, cost, quality, safety and environmental sustainability. Huge investments are made in infrastructure construction projects like roads, railways, ports, airports, electricity, telecommunication, oil gas pipelines and irrigation. This growing Increase in investment in infrastructure investment projects demands requires close monitoring of costs to ensure a net return. The evaluation of returns on investment at the conceptual stage plays a vital role in this phase. Software tools help in bringing out near accurate analysis of returns on investments and to support project viability under multiple circumstances. The paper presents an analysis of how software was applied to evaluate and mitigate risk during the case of a six lane road infrastructure project. The unit of analysis was the impact of cost of construction cost, interest rates for loans, methods of depreciation, revenue sharing on various financial indices: IRR, MIRR, DSCR and payback period. The interpretation was that software tools can be used to perform risk analysis, sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis. The case study makes a contribution to the body of knowledge by developing guidelines for using software tools in risk management.

Business Continuity Management (BCM) Applied to Transpetro's National Operational Control Center - CNCO

Abstract TRANSPETRO (Petrobras Transporte S.A.) undertakes oil, products, ethanol, biofuels, and natural gas pipeline transportation and storage activities. It is in charge of more than 14,000 kilometers of pipelines - among oil and gas pipelines - which interconnect all Brazilian regions and supply the country's most remote points. Currently, TRANSPETRO, through its National Operational Control Center (CNCO), undertakes the operations and monitoring of more than 91% of liquid transportation pipelines and distribution lines and 100% of natural gas pipelines for the Brazilian state company, PETROBRAS, and private companies. The centralization of TRANSPETRO's pipelines and terminals operations, started by 2002 with the creation of its Control Center, which uses SCADA technology, changed substantially the way the company operates its pipelines. This decision required a very large cultural change and breaking of paradigms. In addition to requirements for better operational reliability, which involves SCADA Technology and its supporting infrastructure (Electric, Air-conditioning, Fire Detection and Extinguishing, etc), it were also introduced reliability requirements in processes management of the operation and human reliability. In this context, the CNCO is part of the triad of Reliability, covering the segments of the operational, technological and human process. Considering this context, the present work will describe the Program for Business Continuity Management (BCM), which is now being implemented in TRANSPETRO. Methodology and guidelines established for Managing Business Continuity and Incident Response (Crisis Management), focusing on CNCO, using as a ‘benchmark’ the BSI 2231-3 [1] . As a result of the BCM program on the CNCO, will be presented some evidence such as: the benefits arising from the implementation of the Business Impact Analysis (BIA); Qualitative Risk Assessment, based at the FRAAP methodology and a sample of the system used to evaluate the level of maturity (stages) of the implementation of the program, considering as benchmark BSI-2231-3 (BSI PAS 56) Examples of the various documents that make up the BCM will be showed. It will also be presented, a summary of the SCADA architecture, and, as an example, the process of assessing the level of maturity of the model Maintenance Management and Administration applied to SCADA Technology, based on heuristic model, developed by professionals responsible for SCADA, as one of the solutions that can be used, among others, to ensure business continuity.

Improved Design of Machine for Cold Cutting of Oil Pipes and Gas Pipelines

The article describes the methods and equipment for cold cutting of large diameter pipes and shows their main advantages. It presents the design of a new machine for cold cutting of pipes, with independent electromechanical drives. Study was carried out of this design, based on the mathematical model of the drive machinery. The research has obtained dependencies for calculating necessary drive capacities. Results of the study were used to design a test prototype of the new machine. This new design allows to speed up the process of pipe-cutting, eliminates overload-caused tool breakage, enables a remote control of the machine, and makes the operator's work safer.

Risk propagation mechanism: Qingdao Crude Oil Leaking and Explosion case study

Due to China’s acceleration of urbanization expansion, more and more oil/natural gas transmission pipelines, which were originally laid in the urban outskirts, are now in the densely populated urban areas. Therefore, the urban pipeline network security risks in its operation phase are more and more common. And more and more problems are caused. Using the disaster of “Qingdao Crude Oil Leaking and Explosion” as a case study to analyze the inherent principle of risk conduction conducted by the project participants’ behavior, On the basis of the perspective of information economics and engineering philosophy, the origin and essences of principal participants’ risk behavior in the operational stage are revealed. Although there is no transaction behavior in the operation of urban crude oil and natural gas pipeline, the underlying causes of project participants’ risk behaviors are the adverse selection due to information asymmetry, and the opportunistic actions induced by moral risks between the government supervision departments and oil and gas pipeline network operation enterprises, relevant government departments and residents. Finally, found that the nature of the main behavioral risk is asymmetric information and a lack of engineering ethics.

Erratum to: Failure Analysis and Finite Element Simulation of Above Ground Oil–Gas Pipeline Impacted by Rockfall

Erratum to: Failure Analysis and Finite Element Simulation of Above Ground Oil–Gas Pipeline Impacted by Rockfall

Failure Analysis and Finite Element Simulation of Above Ground Oil–Gas Pipeline Impacted by Rockfall

Pipeline is the most important transmission way of oil and gas. Rockfall impact is one of the factors that result in above ground oil–gas pipelines accidents. Deformation of oil–gas pipeline caused by rockfall impacts were investigated using finite element method. Pipeline deformation caused by spherical and cube rockfalls were discussed under radial impact, inclined impact, and eccentric impact. The results show that crater depth of spherical rockfall impact is bigger than the cube rockfall with the same volume. The smaller curvature radius of rockfall’s contact zone has a greater harm to oil–gas pipeline. Angle part impact of irregular rockfall is very harmful for oil–gas pipeline. Under inclined impact, the maximum plastic strain of spherical rockfall impact crater appears when incidence angle α is 45°. Pipeline is prone to rupture when α is small under cube rockfall impact. The plastic strain distribution of the impact crater is more uneven with the increasing of the incidence angle. Plastic strain zone of pipeline decreases with the increasing of eccentricity k under eccentric impact.

A smart high accuracy silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor temperature compensation system.

Theoretical analysis in this paper indicates that the accuracy of a silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor is mainly affected by thermal drift, and varies nonlinearly with the temperature. Here, a smart temperature compensation system to reduce its effect on accuracy is proposed. Firstly, an effective conditioning circuit for signal processing and data acquisition is designed. The hardware to implement the system is fabricated. Then, a program is developed on LabVIEW which incorporates an extreme learning machine (ELM) as the calibration algorithm for the pressure drift. The implementation of the algorithm was ported to a micro-control unit (MCU) after calibration in the computer. Practical pressure measurement experiments are carried out to verify the system's performance. The temperature compensation is solved in the interval from −40 to 85 °C. The compensated sensor is aimed at providing pressure measurement in oil-gas pipelines. Compared with other algorithms, ELM acquires higher accuracy and is more suitable for batch compensation because of its higher generalization and faster learning speed. The accuracy, linearity, zero temperature coefficient and sensitivity temperature coefficient of the tested sensor are 2.57% FS, 2.49% FS, 8.1 × 10−5/°C and 29.5 × 10−5/°C before compensation, and are improved to 0.13%FS, 0.15%FS, 1.17 × 10−5/°C and 2.1 × 10−5/°C respectively, after compensation. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system is valid for the temperature compensation and high accuracy requirement of the sensor.

Effect of Design Parameters on The Separation Efficiency of Vertical Gas/Liquid Separator in Oil Gas Pipeline

The main objective of this work is to size a vertical axis gas liquid separator to separate gas and liquid on a long distance in gas-liquid pipelines. This is necessary to ensure the safe operation of the compressors used along the pipelines.The separator equipped with wave plate demister (vane pack) as the secondary separator.The design is achieved through investigation of the parameters which has an effect on the separation efficiency of the separator. In this study, inlet pipe diameter, vessel bend spacing, vane pack bend angle, momentum breaker, vane pack plate spacing, and the number of bends in pack were used. From the results of this study overall separation efficiency of 99.99% has been achieved.

Does Law Matter in China? An Empirical Study of a Limiting Case

Does law matter in China? According to previous studies, a Chinese law matters in the sense of having measurable effects if it serves vital state interests, is enforced by powerful agencies, and is clear and specific in its statutory language. From all the statutes enacted or amended since 1995, I find one that satisfies all these conditions — the Law on the Protection of Oil and Natural Gas Pipelines. Empirical analysis of the statute’s implementation, however, produces puzzling results. The statute serves core state interests. It is enforced by arguably the most powerful government agencies in China, and the statutory language is clear and specific. Yet, the enforcement of the law shows no impact on the safety of the oil pipelines. Solving this empirical puzzle requires a new theoretical perspective. Because of the weak judiciary and the fragmented state structure in China, legislation and subsequent implementation of a formal rule turns on the power distribution of the implicated parties. A statute therefore may be a mere codification of the status quo that reflects the existing power distribution: hence, the lack of measurable effects of the formal legal change. The findings of this study contribute to the literatures on lawmaking and law enforcement in China, and criminal law and punishment, especially the use of capital punishment.

Potential Calculation on the Oil-Gas Pipeline with Geosynthetic Clay Liners Based on BEM

Put geosynthetic clay liners around underground oil-gas pipelines can reduce the potential damage to environment but it will also affect the distribution of cathodic protection current. Geosynthetic clay liners can be regarded as anisotropic soil structure and the potential distribution on the pipeline between two adjacent cathodic protection stations was calculated based on boundary element method (BEM). The calculation results indicate that potential distribution on the pipeline with geosynthetic clay liner is lower than before. A 1500 m built pipeline with geosynthetic clay liners was selected to be calculated and to perform field test, which shows that the calculation results tally well with the field test results and the validity of the arithmetic in this paper was verified.

Influence of Partitioning Process on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of High Deformability Oil-Gas Pipeline

Multiphase structure of bainite and M/A constituent can be obtained for X80 oil-gas pipeline through a novel heat online partitioning (HOP) technology. The effects of partitioning temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the experimental steels were researched by means of mechanical properties test, microscopic analysis, and X-ray diffraction. The results show that with the increase of the partitioning temperature, the strength of the experimental steel decreases and the ductility increases because of the increase of bainite lath width, the decrease of dislocation density, the increase of retained austenite content, and carbides coarsening. The decrease of the volume content and stability of retained austenite is the key factor, which leads to the increase of strength and the decrease of plasticity in a high range of partitioning temperature.

The Underwater Project Management in 'Dong Fang' Offshore Oil Engineering

CNOOC laid offshore oil and natural gas pipelines for offshore drilling platforms. The engineering included laying the pipelines from offshore drilling platform to landing zone, laying the pipelines between two platforms, and installing vertical pipes for platforms. Aiming at the characteristics in the diving project management, this paper analyzes and evaluates the difficulties and risks of underwater work, puts forward the corresponding safety managements. These measures ensure the underwater operations safely and smoothly. The engineering lasts 195 days, uses 160 diving equipments, and dives 282 person-times. The total diving time is 17900 minutes, and the maximum diving depth is 70 meters.

Mechanical Property, HIC and SSCC Test Analysis of L245NS Anti-Sulfur Bending Pipe

Rational utilization of the anti-sulfur tubes is considerable significance to the reliability and service life of oil-gas pipeline system. Unfortunately, there have been no such researches in the field of anti-sulfur bending pipe. In this paper, the mechanical property test, hydrogen induced cracking(HIC) test and sulfide stress-corrosion cracking(SSC) test were conducted to investigate the Φ406.4×10.31mm L245NS anti-sulfur bending pipe with the technique of induction heating bending. And the test result was analyzed combining with microstructure of pipe. The results show that mechanical properties and HIC behavior of L245NS bending pipe reach the standard with the 890~930°C induction quenching and 580-630°C temper process. The strength and Charpy toughness of inner arc and outer arc are higher than base metal. Most HIC crack initiated at the bainite structure and banded structure. The L245NS anti-sulfur bending pipe exhibits good resistance to SSCC under the NACE TM0177-2005 experiment environment.

The Pressure Drop Calculation of Sea Water Pipe with No Heat Oil and Gas Transferring

This submarine pipeline was used to transport water originally, however, it is an oil-gas mixed transportation pipeline without heat preservation now. Because of the differences between the physical properties of oil-gas and water, we should take the gas and liquid viscosity, density and interfacial tension and other factors into account to establish a new submarine pipeline pressure drop model .In this passage, according to the field data provided by the 20B platform, 20A platform, 251B platform, cb502 platform of submarine pipeline, we apply the methods of comparative analysis and mathematical simulation to establish Beggs-Brill submarine pipeline pressure drop model and the temporary oil-free thermal insulation of the pressure drop and mathematical model, we also make the analysis of a variety of factors impacting on the pipeline pressure drop, including the starting temperature of media, gas liquid flow rates, pipe diameter, angle of inclination，Provide a reference basis to design submarine pipeline.

Prediction reliability, quantitative differences and spatial variations of erosion models for long-range petroleum and gas infrastructure

The main goal of this study was to assess the prediction reliability, the quantitative differences and the spatial variations of the Morgan––Morgan–Finney (MMF) and the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) erosion prediction models along the 442-km-long and 44-m-wide Right-of-Way of Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil and South Caucasus gas pipelines. USLE performed better than MMF erosion model by the accurate prediction of 61% of erosion occurrences. Paired-samples T-test with p-value less than 0.05 and bivariate correlation with the Pearson's correlation coefficient equal to 0.23 showed that the predictions of these two models were significantly different. MMF model revealed more clustered patterns of predicted critical erosion classes with a soil loss of more than 10 ton/ha/year in particular ranges of pipelines rather than USLE model with the widespread spatial distribution. The average coefficients of variation of predicted soil loss rates by these models and the number of accurately predicted erosion occurrences within the geomorphometric elements of terrain, vegetation cover and landuse categories were larger in the USLE model. This supported the hypothesis that larger spatial variations of erosion prediction models can contribute to the better soil loss prediction performance and reliability of erosion prediction models.

Predicting temperature distribution in the waxy oil-gas pipe flow

In the simulation of waxy oil–gas pipeline multiphase flow, the physical parameters and rheological properties of the multiphase fluid are the sensitivity functions of the temperature. The precise temperature distribution of multiphase fluid is the foundation of predicting the pressure distribution accurately, wax deposition rate, optimized design and operating analysis of waxy oil and gas pipeline, and so on. Based on the energy equation of oil–gas flow in pipeline, the explicit temperature drop formula (ETDF) for oil–gas steady state calculation is derived from the energy conservation analysis in micro-element. This new energy equation has considered many factors, such as heat transfer with the surroundings along the line, Joule–Thomson effect and impact of terrain undulation to potential energy. So it is an overall form of energy equation, which could reflect the actual fact of multiphase pipeline accurately. Elimination of temperature iteration loop and integration of the explicit temperature equation, instead of enthalpy energy equation, into the conjugated hydraulic and thermal computation have been found to improve the efficiency of algorithm. The calculation program of temperature drops of waxy oil–gas flow in pipelines is compiled on the basis of the ETDF employing modification of the specific heat of the waxy oil. This model is carried out with a practical waxy oil–gas two phase flow pipeline, and the temperature results are compared with OLGA. It is shown that this model has simulated the temperature distribution very well.

Evaluation and instrumentation of the drop weight tear test

With the use of high strength and high toughness steels in the pipeline industry it has become necessary tobetter understand the factors which influence the reliability and integrity of oil and natural gas pipelines. TheDrop-Weight Tear Test (DWTT) is a common test method to determine the fracture appearance andfracture ductility of steel. Its fundamental purpose is to determine the appearance of propagating fracturesin steels over the temperature range where the fracture mode changes from brittle to ductile. But there arestill many subjects of discussion concerning which results must be obtained, in which manner they shouldbe obtained and how they should be interpreted. Is it still possible to deduce a shear appearance fromsamples which have such an abnormal fracture that they used to be discarded as invalid ? Could resultsfrom the DWTT be correlated with the Crack Tip Opening Angle (CTOA), which is particularly important forfinite element modelling ? What to think about methods such as the two specimen CTOA and the simplifiedsingle specimen method ? How severe is the effect of tunnelling in contemporary linepipe steels and howcan this be dealt with ? Many questions still remain and many aspects are still vague despite the correlatingecological, economical and safety issues. Therefore, there is a major necessity for further investigations.

Analysis of the harmful effects to buried oil pipeline from power line short-circuit fault

Based on the transmission line theory of the buried metallic structures, the concerned harmful effects to the buried oil and natural gas pipelines caused by the power line short-circuit fault are further discussed. A closed-form expression of the induced voltage caused by the short-circuit fault of the ultra-high voltage power (UHVAC) transmission line is given. The transmission line model of the buried pipeline is set up and a set of formulas for calculating induced voltage on the pipeline and the parameters of the buried pipeline in actual environment condition are given. At last, the characteristic of the harmful effects on the buried pipeline from the power line short-circuit fault are discussed.

Energy Equation Derivation of the Oil-Gas Flow in Pipelines

In the simulation of oil-gas pipeline multiphase flow, thermodynamic computation is an important process interacting with the hydraulic calculation and it influences the convergence of the program and the accuracy of the results. The form of the energy equation is the key to the thermodynamic computation. Based on the energy equation of oil-gas flow in pipeline, the Explicit Temperature Drop Formula (ETDF) is derived for oilgas steady state temperature calculation. This new energy equation has considered many factors, such as Joule-Thomson effect, pressure work, friction work and impact of terrain undulation and heat transfer Oil & Gas Science and Technology – Rev. IFP Energies nouvelles with the surroundings along the line. So it is an overall form of energy equation, which could describe the actual fact of multiphase pipeline accurately. Therefore, some standpoints in literatures on the temperature calculation of oil-gas two-phase flow in pipelines are reviewed. Elimination of temperature iteration loop and integration of the explicit temperature equation, instead of enthalpy energy equation, into the conjugated hydraulic and thermal computation have been found to improve the efficiency of algorithm. The calculation applied to both the component model, also applied to the black-oil model. This model is incorporated into the component model and black-oil model, respectively, and two simulations are carried out with two practical pipeline Yingmai-Yaha and Lufeng multiphase pipeline and the temperature results are compared with the simulation calculated by the OLGA and the measured. It is shown that this model has simulated the temperature distribution very well. Finally, we analyzed the influence of the specific heat capacity of oil and gas on the temperature of the mixture of fluids and the influence of the Joule-Thomson effect on the temperature distribution on the pipeline. It is shown that the Joule-Thomson coefficient is a key factor to well describe the oil-gas two-phase flow.

Control of Aircraft for Inspection of Linear Infrastructure

Inspection aircraft equipped with cameras and other sensors are routinely used for asset location, inspection, monitoring, and hazard identification of oil-gas pipelines, roads, bridges, and power transmission grids. This paper is concerned with automated flight of fixed-wing inspection aircraft to track approximately linear infrastructure. We propose a guidance law approach that seeks to maintain aircraft trajectories with desirable position and orientation properties relative to the infrastructure under inspection. Furthermore, this paper also proposes the use of an adaptive maneuver selection approach, in which maneuver primitives are adaptively selected to improve the aircraft's attitude behavior. We employ an integrated design methodology particularly suited for an automated inspection aircraft. Simulation studies using full nonlinear semicoupled six degree-of-freedom equations of motion are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed guidance and adaptive maneuver selection approaches in realistic flight conditions. Experimental flight test results are given to demonstrate the performance of the design.