Articles

As physical entities, pipelines are subject to numerous points of failure including corrosion, mechanical damage, and natural hazards. Despite being infrequent, pipeline failure can have disproportionate consequences resulting from environmental clean-up and lost production. Best practices in pipeline risk management employ both leak-prevention…

You have certainly noticed it already: the ptj now looks different than before. This is the result of an extensive improvement process to which we have committed ourselves in order to provide the international pipeline community with even better content. Of course, the appearance plays only the smallest part, even if it is the most conspicuous at…

Pipelines may observe significant axial displacement or force at the ends that tie-in with connected equipment and/or facilities. These axial forces are mainly driven by pipe size, temperature, pressure, length and surrounding soils or supports, and can have devastating effects on connecting facilities if not properly accommodated in the design.…

The global production of natural gas is increasing continuously leading to development of gas fields with challenging contents such as sour gas containing highly toxic hydrogen sulfide. In a process called “gas sweetening” the hydrogen sulfide is removed, yielding liquid elemental sulfur. This substance is not just a by- product of the natural gas…

Pressurized fluid transport structures are subject to regulatory obligations for which the system operators must ensure compliance with the administration. In order to meet the obligations and ensure safety of the networks, in addition to the regulatory documents, the managers demand from the holders of laying contracts, the provision of documents…

Airborne bathymetric laser scanning delivers the same results as regular airborne laser scanning, but with one major difference, this technology is able to penetrate water. The technology has matured through the past years, meanwhile it is used for the bathymetric survey of lakes, harbors, coastal shore lines and rivers. The Trans Austria…

Each year at DNV GL we produce a report which is an industry benchmark study on the outlook for the year ahead in the oil and gas industry. The 2019 report, ‘A test of resilience’ is based on a global survey that incorporates the views of 791 senior industry professionals.  Our survey found that digitalization is comfortably the leading R&D…

Scenario of oil prices fluctuations has not only forced inefficient Oil & Gas companies to improve their productivity and supply chain costs, but it will also push the efficient companies to find ways to protect their top & bottom lines. A set of new digital technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 promises to aid Oil…

Natural Gas distribution companies have been historically slow to adopt new technologies, especially so-called “Smart” technologies, in their networks. Their counterparts in electric utilities, process plants, and even gas transmission have widely adopted connected components and solutions to quickly give them access to data to make decisions,…

There are approximately 4 million miles of pipelines spanning some 120 countries across the globe, carrying oil, gas and other potentially volatile liquids and gases. The pipelines cross deserts, oceans and some of the most inhospitable environments known to man. Honeywell have provided control systems for pipelines for over 30 years, and now we…

In recent years attacks against information infrastructures have become ever more frequent and complex, while at the same time perpetrators have become more professional. Every day the mass media around the world releases news related to cyber activities, which report the attempts of one country trying to get advantage over another country using…

The massive growth in Permian production further underscores the role Midstream companies play in the Hydrocarbon value chain. A lack of processing facilities and pipeline capacity adversely impacts the value of E&P onshore pure plays.  The access to markets is curtailed for these E&P companies by lack of capacity to process and transport…

Benefiting from the vast capacity and speed provided by cloud computing, remote sensing technology is quickly expanding from infrequent projects to becoming an integral part of on-going operations. We have seen many innovative applications in this arena, particularly at oil & gas, pipeline, and power companies, where their large spatial…

The “Pipeline Technology Conference”, ptc is known and recognized worldwide despite its young age of 14 years. It is the most international and balanced Pipeline Technology Conference in the world. Participants and exhibitors come from over 55 countries. They are roughly from the following sectors: Operator/Authority/Research (30%) planning/…

This paper discusses pipeline internal deposition mapping and the benefits to operators of end-to-end pipeline internal diameter mapping, the practical application of this unique, nonintrusive technology, and insight about the full technical reach of this diagnostic service. A pulse of pressure is induced in a pipeline by using the operation of a…

The costs of pipeline failure are immense i.e. fatalities, environmental damages, loss of revenue and reputation. EGIG and OGP provides solid evidences and causal analyses of pipeline failures. PETRONAS has a structured methodology and system in eliminating pipeline failure. Nevertheless, failures do happen on newly constructed pipelines and those…

The relationship between company Dow Deutschland Anlagengesellschaft mbH (DOW) with its underground brine chamber sites around Ohrensen, Germany and Reinhart Hydrocleaning SA (RHC SA) is a success story in itself. Prior to explaining the different ways of mechanical cleaning brine pipelines one has to know that RHC SA has worked with DOW since…

This keynote presentation looks at the causes of engineering failures from many industries (aviation, construction, petro-chemical, medical, etc.). It suggests we can reduce failures in the pipeline industry by using the lessons learnt from these other industries, and emphasizes how the ‘root’ cause of a failure differs from the ‘failure’ cause.…

In many technical applications pipelines are used for the transport of potentially flammable or hazardous gases and liquids. Vibration problems at pipelines often depend on the volume flow. Vortex shedding is a typical result of flow induced pulsations and may cause severe piping vibrations and failures. Another excitation source for critical…

Oil and natural gas are still the world’s leading energy sources with a market value larger than valuable raw material markets combined. An enormous number of pipeline networks across the globe are used to transport these energy resources from exploration and production sites to consumers through extreme geological and hazardous environments.…

Oil and gas pipelines around the world are facing a number of challenges that will shape our industry in a severe way and require us to work even more closely together than ever before in order to develop innovative solutions to these challenges. At the annual Pipeline Technology Conference (ptc) in Berlin and in the Pipeline Technology Journal (…

A critical step in ensuring that a pipeline is fit and healthy for operations is continuous scraping “cleaning” and frequent scraping inspection. If scraping activities are not properly performed, pipeline integrity can be at risk. In a case study, numerous networks of pipelines were found to be operated with different experiences and internal…

A highly sophisticated and well coordinated active and passive corrosion protection is mandatory for a long-lasting integrity and an error-free operation of a new pipeline. Furthermore, importance from an economic point of view it is of essential importance for the achievement of the target lifetime. The passive corrosion protection includes all…

In the recent years, the “integrity” issue has become a popular topic with pipeline operators and the development companies. Generally, it means the use of more advanced diagnostics tools, the corrective interventions that are based on the results and advanced SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) application. The advanced technical…

Under this well-known slogan one should classify what can currently be observed in pipeline technology: Large TSO with their technology subsidiaries from Asia and Eastern Europe (e.g. Transneft, Sinopec and others) are pushing their way into the markets in North America and Western Europe. This development naturally has several facets: On the one…