Pipeline Corridor Research Articles

Disturbance amplifies sensitivity of dryland productivity to precipitation variability.

Variability of the terrestrial global carbon sink is largely determined by the response of dryland productivity to annual precipitation. Despite extensive disturbance in drylands, how disturbance alters productivity-precipitation relationships remains poorly understood. Using remote-sensing to pair more than 5600 km of natural gas pipeline corridors with neighboring undisturbed areas in North American drylands, we found that disturbance reduced average annual production 6 to 29% and caused up to a fivefold increase in the sensitivity of net primary productivity (NPP) to interannual variation in precipitation. Disturbance impacts were larger and longer-lasting at locations with higher precipitation (>450 mm mean annual precipitation). Disturbance effects on NPP dynamics were mostly explained by shifts from woody to herbaceous vegetation. Severe disturbance will amplify effects of increasing precipitation variability on NPP in drylands.

Precipitation seasonality and soil texture interact to shape dryland recovery from severe disturbance

Abstract Disturbances drive large changes in plant composition and ecosystem functioning in drylands, but current understanding of how recovery following disturbance depends on the environment is limited due to challenges in analysing effects of disparate disturbances across abiotic gradients. We combined remote sensing and field observations across 5600+ km of natural gas pipeline corridors and adjacent undisturbed vegetation to investigate how recovery from a uniform, severe disturbance varied with factors that influence water availability in drylands. We found that recovery of net primary production (NPP) often remains incomplete, with only 42% of our sites projected to fully recover within 100 years. NPP recovery was quicker and more complete in regions that receive most of their annual precipitation at low temperatures and have fine‐textured soil; recovery of total shrub cover (median timing of 81 years) was faster on fine‐textured soils in locations that receive most of their annual precipitation at high temperatures. Locations with quick recovery of shrub cover were linked with a shift in dominant shrub species and incomplete NPP recovery. Synthesis. Recovery of NPP and shrub cover in drylands were driven by different environmental factors. For both NPP and shrub cover, locations with high pre‐disturbance values required more time to recover to adjacent undisturbed levels than locations with low pre‐disturbance values. Quick recovery of shrub cover or productivity was generally linked with a shift in dominant plant species or functional group.

Numerical simulation of thermodynamic response law of chemical pipeline corridor under jet fire environment

To accurately predict the relationship between temperature rise of chemical corridor pipelines and time under a jet fire environment, a chemical corridor in Shanghai is taken as the research object, and a model of chemical corridor pipeline is constructed with FDS software to study the thermodynamic response law of the petrochemical pipeline under the action of jet fire. The results show that the temperature rise rate of the petrochemical pipeline increases significantly with the increase of the jet caliber, and the heat radiation intensity generated by the jet fire increases first and then decreases with the increase of the horizontal distance from the nozzle. The wind speed and direction affect the cover of the jet fire, and then affect the temperature rise rate and peak temperature of the pipeline. Some variables were selected as the factors affecting the temperature rise of chemical pipe corridor, including jet fire duration, flame combustion heat, combustion efficiency, jet heat radiation intensity, distance between pipeline and leakage port, injection fire length, wind speed, pipeline operating temperature. And the failure time model of chemical pipe gallery in the jet fire accident was constructed by dimensionless analysis and processing, which realized the quantitative calculation of failure time and provided a theoretical reference for preventing the failure of pipe gallery pipeline caused by jet fire.

Study of the effect of pipe wall conduit on the characteristics of methane explosion in the bend pipe

ABSTRACT To improve the efficiency and protection level of combustible gas explosion relief in urban underground pipeline corridors, we built a 150 × 150 × 2000 mm3 transparent pipeline experimental platform to simulate underground pipeline corridors and studied the effect of different positions and diameters of explosion relief conduits on the side of the pipeline on the characteristics of the explosion of methane in the pipeline. The results show that the flame is twisted and deformed at the bend, increasing the contact area between the fuel and oxygen, thus causing flame acceleration. Wall conduit relief bend in the flame has a certain hysteresis, in the front end of the bend, and the back end of the pipe wall conduit were installed, the flame propagation time of 254 ms, and 200 ms, respectively, increased by 71 ms, and 17 ms, the delay ratio of 38.80%, 9.29%, respectively. When the front part of the pipe wall conduit pipe diameter of 60 mm, 80 mm, and 100 mm, the flame propagation time was delayed 71 ms, 82 ms, and 105 ms, the delay ratio of 38.80%, 44.81%, 57.38%, and the position of the front of the pipe wall conduit pipe diameter is larger, the lower the peak explosion pressure.

Study on deformation characteristics of underground pipeline corridors and uneven settlement factors of foundations in sandy chalky soil layer

Uneven settlement phenomenon is very easy to occur in the sandy pulverized ground stratum, the underground pipe corridor longitudinal and transverse stiffness difference is obvious, so that it is easy to crack and deformation due to uneven settlement in this type of stratum. This paper carries out research on uneven settlement and cracking and deformation of Qihe tube corridor, analyzes the reasons leading to uneven settlement and the factors affecting the deformation and cracking of the tube corridor, and provides guidance for foundation treatment and tube corridor repair and mixing and reinforcement. It was found that the concrete structure of the corridor itself had exposed reinforcement, pockmarks and holes, and that cracks on the structure of the corridor sprouted and expanded from these defects. Defects and damages on the concrete structure of the pipeline corridor are contributing factors to the deformation and cracking of the members, and the uneven settlement of the foundation is the main initiating factor for the cracking and deformation. The analysis of the numerical simulation results of similar underground pipeline corridors is carried out, and it is found that the simulation results are consistent with the deformation characteristics of the Qihe pipeline corridor, which further supports the conclusions of this paper. The main stratigraphic factors contributing to the inhomogeneous settlement were found to be the water-rich and loose bodies in the lower part of the strata, as revealed by the physical means and the experimental verification boreholes. Localized hydraulic effects such as pumping further accelerate the uneven settlement of the foundation.

The Monumental Kurgans in Bronze Age in River Kura Basin

The article contains with the archaeological excavations of the Deller Jayir kurgans at 322.700 km of the SCPX (South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion Project) pipeline corridor. These kurgans are located in the territory of Deller Jayir village of Shamkir district of Azerbaijan Republic. About 10 kurgans were recorded in the kurgan field located on a relatively high hill on the right bank of the river, about 100-150 m away from the Jayir River, only 2 of them fell into the pipeline corridor, excavated and explored.
 The surface of the Deller Jayir kurgans consists of stone formations with a clearly visible circular shape and a relatively concave center. They are located close to each other at a distance of 5-6 m. Preliminary analysis of the structures and burial rites in the Deller Jayir kurgans and the forms of the few pottery fragments found in these kurgans show that these kurgans date the transition stage from Middle Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age, to be precisely, to the 15th-14th centuries BC.

World’s largest natural gas leak from nord stream pipeline estimated at 478,000 tonnes

Methane is a potent heat trapping gas believed to account for 30% of the observed global warming to-date. At a capacity of 110 bcm/year, the Nord Stream (NS) pipeline corridor measuring 1,153mm in internal diameter and stretching 1,224km from Russia to Germany is the biggest in the world. The explosions that NS sustained in September, 2022, in the Baltic Sea, have unleashed the largest single methane gas source in recent memory. Over the course of 7days, our transient multiphase pipeline model has estimated that the gas leaks from 3 lines pumped 478,000 tonnes of methane into the atmosphere. A range of pipeline shut-in pressures as a function of leakage time deduced an envelope of gas volume that matched the timeline of observed outflows. Interestingly, the methane gas that escaped from the damaged threads amounted to the CO2 equivalent emitted by concrete sufficient to build about 27 Burj Khalifa towers.

Terahertz gas sensor and its application in gas detection of power pipe gallery

During the operation of a power cable duct, the content of flammable gas is an important element in the safety of the cable duct. The accurate detection and location of gas in the pipeline corridor are important to improve the safety and stability of the power system. In view of the change of the refractive index of the gas in the power cable tube gallery, this paper presents the important application of terahertz one-dimensional photonic crystals with high-quality factors in gas sensing, change of the gas refractive index in the tube gallery simulated, and the gas refractive index change in the tube gallery can be obtained accurately by analyzing the change of transmission peak at terahertz range, the potential of terahertz sensor in gas detection in power tube gallery is verified.

Seismic finite element analysis of underground integrated pipe corridor based on generalized reaction displacement method

Abstract An underground integrated pipeline corridor is a long-line structure that accommodates various municipal pipelines such as water supply, reclaimed water, storm water, communication, heat, electricity, and natural gas. Seismic hazard is the main factor affecting the safety of this important urban lifeline project, so the seismic analysis of the underground integrated pipeline corridor is urgent. To this end, in this paper, based on the generalized reaction displacement method, the finite element model of the standard section of the pipe corridor under the action of the earthquake is established, and the displacement, as well as the internal force response of the pipe corridor under the action of the earthquake, is obtained. The results show that the junction between the top of the standard section of the integrated pipe corridor and the outer slab is the key part for shear and bending tests, and the reinforcement in the span of the outer slab also needs to be focused on. Simulation and calculation by the physical stochastic seismic model in this paper show that the generalized reaction displacement method is more applicable and suitable for seismic finite element analysis of integrated pipe corridor, which lays the foundation for realizing refined analysis of dynamic reliability of underground integrated pipe corridor.

Residual effects of pipeline construction on agricultural soils of the Canadian prairie

AbstractThe return to equivalent capability was evaluated on a >1000 km oil and gas pipeline corridor on the western Canadian prairies. Resource constraints limited this first phase of sampling to soils more likely damaged by disturbance. Three pipelines were selected to span a 55‐year period of construction. Data were collected from four transects established within each of six randomly chosen quarter sections (each 65 hectares) that included reference sites. Laboratory analysis provided data for organic carbon, pH, calcium carbonate equivalent, sodicity, salinity, and particle size distribution. Field procedures were used to obtain data for topsoil thickness, bulk density, aggregate size distribution, and carbonate distribution. The Canadian Land Suitability Rating System was employed to evaluate and compare the land capability (LSRS rating) of three pipelines to that of adjacent reference capability. Pipeline‐reference differences were detected in the topsoil for soil organic carbon (83% of reference), calcium carbonate equivalent (62% higher), and pH (0.4 units higher), and in the subsoil for bulk density (2% higher) and electrical conductivity (a fivefold increase). Carbonates were observed more frequently on the pipelines than on references. Soil organic carbon increased and electrical conductivity decreased with time since construction. The mode of land capability was class 4 on the corridor and class 3 on references. Residual effects remained. Neither soil conservation and reclamation practices, nor natural recovery had yet achieved equivalent capability for the target soil group, representing 17% of the extent of the corridor.

Influence of Aboveground Pipeline and Associated Factors on Movement of Winter-Active Boreal Mammals in the Alberta In-Situ Oil Sands

Aboveground pipelines (AGP) associated with in-situ oil sands may restrict mammal movement, potentially increasing extinction probability and decreasing reproductive success. Our 12-year study used winter track count techniques to assess the response of winter-active mammals to AGP in northern Alberta, Canada. The primary questions were: which species were most prone to movement obstruction by AGP, facilities or natural factor(s)?; and which factor exerted the strongest influence on crossing likelihood? A total of 2,068 trails of 12 different species were observed. All species crossed more than half of the time. Focal species crossed on average 80% of the time. Crossing likelihood of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), ermine (Mustela erminea), coyote (Canis latrans), lynx (Lynx canadensis), and fisher (Martes pennanti) were significantly influenced by predictors including pipeline height, pipeline corridor width, infrastructure age, vegetation type, and proximity to infrastructure. Deer and lynx crossing likelihood was positively affected by pipe height. Deer, coyote, and ermine crossing likelihood was positively affected by age of pipe. Fisher and deer crossing likelihood was negatively affected by pipeline corridor widths. Our investigations show that most species cross AGP with high crossing frequencies of pipe heights, ranging from 130 cm to 160 cm. These findings are important for impact mitigation because of the scarcity of published studies of wildlife movement responses to AGP, our inclusion of small and mid-sized carnivores, and our investigation of multiple factors. We highlight mitigation and design improvements, effects of pipeline corridor widths, and challenges posed by coupling infrastructure with pipelines, serving to reduce movement barriers and fragmentation.

China’s multi-sector-shared CCUS networks in a carbon-neutral vision

China's carbon-neutral vision necessitates carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), which is still in its infancy due to inadequate infrastructure and indeterminate technology diffusion. To address the concerns, this study links spatially explicit CO2 source-sink matching with bottom-up energy-environment-economy planning to propose China's multi-sector-shared CCUS networks, with plant-level industrial transfer and infrastructure reuse considered. Nearly 19000-km trunk lines are needed by a capture of 1.74Gt/yr in 2050, with 12-, 16-, 20-, and 24-inch pipelines enjoying the largest share of over 65%. Inspiringly, some CO2 routes accounting for 50% of the total length match well with the rights-of-way for oil and gas pipeline corridors. Regional cost-competitiveness improvement is observed given available offshorestorage, with 0.2Gt/yr redirected to the northern South China Sea. Furthermore, the interprovincial heterogeneity and intersectoral externality of CCUS scaling-up are unveiled, requiring a rational allocation of benefits and costs inherent in the value chains.

Development of CCUS clusters in Croatia

Carbon Capture and Storage is a concept that is not yet fully implemented largely because of the high costs. Clustering of industrial stakeholders is imposed as a measure for cost reduction. All relevant emitters, possible transport routes, including existing gas pipeline corridors, and their geographic location in relation to potential storage locations are assessed in this paper. Site availability and CO2 storage capacity are examined, summarizing all study results gathered under the Strategy CCUS project. The CO2 enhanced oil recovery is being studied for CO2 storage rather than extra oil recovery. As logical choices, three clusters were recognized. Only less expensive, onshore injection was taken in consideration for assessment of early (economic) feasibility in the Adriatic, Central, and Eastern clusters. Because of the shorter distance between CO2 emitters and injection sites, the Eastern and Central clusters are being investigated in more detail, despite the fact that the largest point source emitter is in the Adriatic region. Because of small number of point source CO2 emitters and huge theoretical storage capacity, further research is needed to better assess the storage capacities as well as possibilities for development of cross-border projects. Based on previous research (particularly regarding the emitters), the number of facilities (fewer facilities, with more concentrated emissions), and the availability of storage objects, the Eastern cluster is recommended to be further studied as the next stage of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage cluster research and development in Croatia and nearby cross-border regions.

A novel approach to touch voltage risk assessment for gas pipelines in shared transmission corridors

Touch voltages are more likely to appear on long-distance pipelines that lie in shared corridors with transmission lines. The touch voltage level varies with soil resistivity and can become hazardous while maintenance is being undertaken, necessitating risk assessment. Therefore, a novel approach is proposed that achieves better accuracy in the risk assessment of hazardous touch voltages appearing on pipelines than current approaches. The proposed approach incorporates soil resistivity measurements taken over a 1-year period, allowing for the derivation of soil models, touch voltage hazard profiles versus time and, thus, a probability reduction factor that can be integrated into a probabilistic risk calculation. Using a probability reduction factor is a key aspect to improving the accuracy of risk assessment, allowing pipeline asset operators to clearly identify whether or not, risk mitigation action is required. Further, the proposed approach allows appropriate risk mitigation actions to be identified. The efficacy and significance of the proposed approach are demonstrated through a case study on an area of land near a shared gas pipeline and transmission line corridor. The case study results show how appropriate safety levels can be achieved by adjusting the number of work day per year and temporary protection settings.

Using high-resolution imagery from 2013 and 2020 to establish baseline vegetation in oil-damaged mangrove habitat prior to large-scale post-remediation planting in Bodo, Eastern Niger Delta, Nigeria

The study area encompasses the largest remedial effort ever undertaken in oil-contaminated mangrove habitats (∼1000 ha) and includes planting of ∼2 million mangrove seedlings to initiate the restoration process. To establish a reference point for both the initial planting and long-term monitoring, and to investigate the longer-term effects of numerous oil spills, mangrove distribution (with minor quantities of nipa palm) was determined using 0.1 and 0.5 m resolution imagery from 2013 and from 2020, supported by numerous ground surveys and low-altitude overflights. A review of pre-spill mangrove location and elimination of pipeline and road corridors determined that 829 ha of former mangrove habitat was suitable for restorative planting.After testing each method, existing vegetation was classified using a supervised object-based classification method (Support Vector Machine) and mean shift segmentation, trained with ten manually classified plots of 1 ha and validated against seven additional plots. Initial classification errors occurred due to false positives caused by surface algae, which were manually removed. The accuracy assessment to determine overall mangrove cover (ha) and ability to encounter mangroves at a specific location within randomly selected 0.785 m2 circles increased to ≥95% within validation plots. In contrast to losses found in other areas of the Niger Delta, vegetation increased in the core area of study (15.6 ha–40.2 ha) but represented only 4.8% of the total 829 ha to be planted. To the west, a 10% vegetation gain was found; to the east where oil theft activities were common, there was a 16% loss. A comparison to a West Africa 20-m data set shows comparative values within 5%, with notable differences when reviewed in detail. Monitoring of the area as it is replanted is expected to continue to 2027 and will use these results as a comparison. This study serves as guidance for analysis and monitoring of future mangrove restorations in the Niger Delta.

Shrubification along Pipeline Corridors in Permafrost Regions

Pipeline corridors have been rapidly increasing in length and density because of the ever growing demand for crude oil and natural gas resources in hydrocarbon-rich permafrost regions. Pipeline engineering activities have significant implications for the permafrost environment in cold regions. Along these pipeline corridors, the shrubification in the right-of-way (ROW) has been extensively observed during vegetation recovery. However, the hydrothermal mechanisms of this ROW shrubification have seldom been studied and thus remain poorly understood. This paper reviews more than 112 articles mainly published from 2000 to 2022 and focuses on the hydrothermal mechanisms of shrubification associated with environmental changes induced by the rapidly degrading permafrost from pipeline construction and around the operating pipelines under a warming climate. First, the shrubification from pipeline construction and operation and the ensuing vegetation clearance are featured. Then, key permafrost-related ROW shrubification mechanisms (e.g., from the perspectives of warmer soil, soil moisture, soil type, soil nutrients, topography and landscapes, and snow cover) are discussed. Other key influencing factors on these hydrothermal and other mechanisms are hierarchically documented as well. In the end, future research priorities are identified and proposed. We call for prioritizing more systematic and in-depth investigations and surveys, laboratory testing, long-term field monitoring, and numerical modeling studies of the ROW shrubification along oil and gas pipelines in permafrost regions, such as in boreal and arctic zones, as well as in alpine and high-plateau regions. This review can improve our understanding of shrubification mechanisms under pipeline disturbances and climate changes and help to better manage the ecological environment along pipeline corridors in permafrost regions.

System Dynamics Analysis of Integrated Pipeline Corridor Based on Risk Loops

System Dynamics Analysis of Integrated Pipeline Corridor Based on Risk Loops

Fire Safety of Integrated Pipeline Corridor Cable Block Based on Numerical Simulation

The comprehensive pipe gallery is a tunnel space built underground in the city, which can centrally lay all kinds of municipal pipes in the tunnel for unified management, which can not only protect the pipes, but also improve the land utilization rate. However, with the increasing of integrated pipe gallery construction and pipeline inclusion, various safety accidents have appeared, among which the fire risk of cable cabin is the greatest. This paper mainly studies the fire safety of cable cabins of integrated pipe gallery based on numerical simulation. In this paper, PyroSim fire software was used to simulate the fire accident in construction. Through the investigation of the construction site, simulation parameters were set to simulate the fire situation in a real and objective way. The temperature, smoke and visibility changes under different working conditions were studied by setting several groups of thermocouples, smoke sensing points and visibility slices.

Ontology-Based Risk Knowledge Construction for Integrated Pipeline Corridors

In the construction process of different integrated pipe corridors, there exist a large number of similar and reusable risk analysis results. In order to improve the efficiency of risk analysis and the efficiency of dealing with accidents in the process of construction management of integrated pipeline corridors and systematize the fragmented risk analysis knowledge, this paper will build ontology-based knowledge for risk response in integrated pipeline corridors. This ontology knowledge base can not only standardize and informatize knowledge through the definition of knowledge attributes and classification of knowledge, which can help reuse risk management metaknowledge at different levels and greatly improve the efficiency of risk management, but also reason out the risk-causing mechanism and response strategy of new integrated pipeline corridor risk through the similarity between risks and the correlation between risk-causing factors, so as to realize the repeated application of risk knowledge.

The effects of site preparation equal those of seeding at a dryland restoration site: 6 years of plant community development

Dryland ecosystems generally require active restoration to recover from severe land degradation caused by resource and energy extraction operations. While seeding remains one of the most used forms of active restoration, land managers in dryland systems have generally had difficulty re‐establishing desirable plant communities, due in part to alterations in supporting ecosystem processes and the episodic nature of resource availability. In this study, we examined the impacts of site preparation, seeding, and livestock grazing on developing plant communities after the construction of a buried natural gas pipeline corridor in the southwestern United States. We monitored plant species cover and composition beginning with the second season of growth through the sixth. Analysis of each individual year show that conclusions from the initial year of data collection did not well represent the findings in the following years. The site preparation and topsoil treatment had an ongoing positive effect on richness and cover compared to the nearby baseline conditions, while seeding only further increased cover and richness in the first year of monitoring (second season of growth). However, without seeding, the plant communities were driven by ruderal, annual species, whereas the seeded plant communities were driven by desirable seeded perennial grasses and forbs. Grazing and trampling effects were not significant overall, and the effects of livestock may have been confounded with effects of small mammals due to the exclosure configuration. We suggest that the site preparation, topsoil treatment, and configuration linearity of the disturbance corridor allowed for high levels of natural recruitment.