PIN December 2015 Web

ISSUE 26 | DECEMBER 2015
Cover story:
Record pipelaying in the
Norwegian Sea
Page 42
Investigating pipeline
airborne leak
detection
Creating an effective
crack management
programme
Page 14
Page 34
Protecting your assets,

preserving the beauty.
Nature is our greatest asset. It needs to be preserved and

protected as pipeline networks grow and operational efficiency
becomes a key requirement.
NDT Global provides pipeline inspections with a top first run
success rate, superior data quality and rapid inspection report
delivery to protect your assets and to preserve nature in all
its wilderness and beauty.
www.ndt-global.com
Canada | Germany | Malaysia | Mexico | Russia | Singapore | Spain | U.A.E | USA
CONTENTS
Issue 26 | December 2015

REGULARS
INSPECTION
From the editor 4

World wrap 6
News in brief 8
Events 58
Advertisers index 60
Effective implementation of a crack in-line

inspection programme 34
Unpiggable Forum offers solutions for the
industry 38
INDUSTRY NEWS
Interview with Professor Andrew Palmer 40
Pipeline postcards 10
Young pipeliners lead the way 12
PROJECTS
NEW TECHNOLOGY
INTERVIEW
Record-breaking Polarled Pipeline opens up

new gas route 42
ISSUE 26 |
DECEMBER
2015
Liquid pipeline leak detection from airborne

platforms 14
Real-time demand for a gas pipeline design:
dealing with modern challenges 18
SCADA virtualisation 22
PIPELAYERS AND SIDEBOOMS

Choosing the right pipelayer for your needs 26
AGEING PIPELINES
Ageing Pipelines Conference is a hit
in Belgium 30
INTEGRITY MANAGEMENT
Cased pipeline integrity management 46
RISK MANAGEMENT
Certifications: The Leaning Tree Incident 48
UPCOMING EVENTS
How to get the most out of the 2016 PPIM
Conference and Exhibition 50
PPIM Exhibitors 52
PPIM Conference Programme 54
Pipeline industry experts to meet in Bahrain
as region prepares for pipeline development 56
Cover story
:
Record pipela
ying in the
Norwegian Sea
Page 42
Investigating
pipeline
airborne leak
detection
Page 14
Creating an
effective
crack manag
ement
programme
Page 34
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2 | Pipelines International | December 2015
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AWARD WINNING INNOVATION.

We invest over 15% of our revenue in Research and Development to deliver
superior, innovative solutions for the challenges you face today and tomorrow.
www.rosen-group.com
FROM THE EDITOR
I
From the editor
Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Associate Editor
Sales Director
Sales Manager
Senior Account Manager
Sales Representative
Design Managers
Events Manager
Data Manager/Analyst
Publisher
Cover story:
Norwegian Sea
Page 42
Investigating pipeline
airborne leak
detection
Creating an effective
crack management
programme
Page 14
Page 34
John Tiratsoo
Lyndsie Clark
Josie Emanuel
Julie McConachy
Tim Thompson
David Marsh
Megan Lehn
Bianca Botter
Katrina Rolfe
Luke Rowohlt
Gareth Weaver
Zelda Tupicoff
Pipe storage at the

recently completed
Polarled Pipeline project,
which set new records
on the Norwegian
continental shelf.
Source: Statoil
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n our September issue, Pipelines International

published an important article from the
American Petroleum Institute (API) announcing
the publication of its new Recommended Practice
(RP) 1173 entitled Pipeline safety management
systems which is intended to achieve zero pipeline
incidents. The RP is the result of two years of
collaboration between the industry, the United
States National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB), and the countrys Pipeline Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Public
stakeholders and academia were also a part of the
RPs development and approval.
The new RP takes important ideas from other
industries in order to address pipelines specifically. A
key component is the requirement for operators to
have an evergreen system, the core principle of
which is the plan-do-check-act cycle, which
necessitates companies to determine the steps
needing to be taken, complete these, periodically
review them, and then enact any necessary changes
or improvements. Ultimately, the API intends that
this requirement will drive the industry toward its
zero incident goal by ensuring that the various
components of the safety management system (SMS
not to be confused with short message service) are
regularly reviewed and continually evolve.
In its article, the API points out that this RP
differs from its other publications because of the
performance-based nature of its approach. Where
many standards are prescriptive and provide a
detailed checklist that has to be completed, this RP
allows operators to determine what specific tactics
are needed to ensure success in their SMSs
implementation. Periodic checks of the process will
be required, ensuring the company is constantly
evaluating and improving, leading to an effective
safety culture.
In late October, the NTSB announced that RP
1173 exceeded the Safety Boards recommendation
to facilitate the development of a safety
management system standard specific to the pipeline
industry.
The NTSB issued its recommendation that gave
rise to the APIs decision to prepare RP 1173 as a
result of its investigation of the July 2010 rupture of
a 30 inch diameter pipeline owned and operated by
Enbridge Incorporated which released more than
840,000 gallons of crude oil into nearby wetlands
and a creek that flowed into the Kalamazoo River in
Marshall, Michigan. Unaware that the pipeline had
ruptured, the operators staff continued pumping oil
into the ruptured pipeline for 17 hours until a local
utility worker discovered the oil and contacted the
company.
The rupture was caused by fatigue cracks that

grew and coalesced from crack and corrosion defects
under the disbonded polyethylene tape coating. The
NTSB found that contributing to the accident were
weak regulations for assessing and repairing crack
indications, as well as ineffective oversight of
pipeline integrity management programmes, weak
pipeline control centre procedures, and a low level
of public awareness.
To address this recommendation, the API formed
its multi-stakeholder group which met monthly,
surveyed the public, and created this important new
framework for the pipeline industrys goal of
continuous safety improvement. As the NTSB points
out, the API RP 1173 establishes a pipeline safety
management system framework for organisations
that operate hazardous liquid and gas pipelines that
fall under the jurisdiction of the US Department of
Transportation.
Improving safety is a collaborative effort, the
NTSBs Chairman Christopher Hart said recently.
APIs broad and inclusive approach to addressing our
safety recommendation shows [its] commitment to
increasing safety in the pipeline industry. He went on
to thank the API and all the participants who assisted
in developing the new document. We call upon the
industry for a widespread adoption of these
Recommended Practices, from the largest international
pipeline operating companies to the smallest
municipalities, to ensure continuous improvement and
safety in pipeline operations, he said.
As a result of the accident investigation, the
NTSB issued 19 safety recommendations to seven
entities. Action has been successfully completed on
nine of these recommendations, including the API
recommended practice; work is progressing on the
remaining ten recommendations.
Bearing in mind the increasing significance of
cracks to the pipeline industry, the forthcoming
edition of the Pipeline Pigging and Integrity
Management (PPIM) conference will have a specific
session in which issues involving locating and
identifying cracks in pipeline walls, and assessing
their severity, will be discussed. Technologies are
rapidly emerging and being evaluated for this
specific task. Full details of this session and the
programme for the overall event (being held in
Houston on 8-11 February) can be found on page
54 or at www.clarion.org.
John Tiratsoo
Editor-in-Chief
WORLD WRAP
TAP awards onshore line pipe

contract
Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP)
has awarded a contract award for
approximately 170,000 tonnes of
line pipe to Salzgitter Mannesmann
International GmbH, part of the
Salzgitter AG Group. The contract
comprises supply of approximately
270 km of the onshore 48 inch line pipe.
The company will provide 48 inch line
pipes and bends for the onshore sections
of the pipeline in Albania, Greece, and
Italy, and 36 inch bends for the offshore
section across the Adriatic. The award
of offshore 36 inch line pipe and the
remainder of the 48 inch onshore line
pipe will be announced in the near future.
TAP will transport natural gas from the
giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to
Europe. The 878 km pipeline will connect
with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline at the
Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, cross
Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea,
before coming ashore in Southern Italy.
WORLD WRAP
Record-breaking Polarled Pipeline comes in under budget
Gazprom to reduce TurkStream capacity in favour of Nord Stream II
The final pipe has been laid in the Polarled Pipeline, which will open up a new highway for gas
from the Norwegian Sea to Europe. The 482.4 km, 36 inch pipeline was laid at a depth of
1,260 m and is the first pipeline on the Norwegian continental shelf that crosses the Arctic Circle,
as well as the deepest pipeline on the Norwegian continental shelf. The pipeline extends from
Nyhamna in Mre og Romsdal, western Norway, to the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian
Sea, and was laid by the worlds largest pipelaying vessel, Solitaire from Allseas. It is the first time
that a 36 inch pipe has been laid at such a depth. The pipelaying work commenced in March
this year and consists of more than 40,000 pipes, each of which is 12 m in length. The pipelines
capacity will be up to 70 MMm3/d of gas.
Gazprom has said it will reduce the planned capacity of its proposed TurkStream gas pipeline
project in favour of expanding the existing Nord Stream gas pipeline. The capacity of the
TurkStream pipeline is now expected to be 32 Bm3/a of gas. Proposed as an alternative to
Russias South Stream Pipeline project, which was cancelled due to opposition from the European
Union, the TurkStream project initially planned to carry 63 Bm3/a of gas from Russia to Europe
via Turkey. Turkey is expected to use 16 Bm3/a to meet domestic needs, while the remaining will
be transported to Europe. The project is estimated to cost approximately 11.4 billion
(US$12.5 billion). Gazprom has said that 660 km of the offshore pipeline route will be laid
within the old corridor of the South Stream pipeline, and 250 km within a new pipeline corridor
toward the European part of Turkey. The offshore pipeline will run across the Black Sea from
the Russkaya compressor station near Anapa to Kiyikoy village in the European part of Turkey.
The 180 km onshore section of the pipeline will run to Ipsala on the border between Turkey and
Greece via Luleburgaz. The first pipeline section is expected to be complete by December 2016.
Read more about

this record-breaking
project on page 42.
Research commences into potential Iran-Oman gas

pipeline
Head of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) Alireza Kameli
has announced that contracts have been signed with two Iranian gas companies
to study construction of a pipeline that would export gas to Oman. The Iranian
Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) has been tasked with
conducting studies on the offshore section of the pipeline. The contract has been
signed by the managing directors of the NIGEC and IOEC, as well as Director
General of Planning and Projects Evaluation of the Omani Ministry of Oil
and GasSaif Bin Hamad Al Salmani. The studies on the onshore section of
the pipeline have been undertaken by Pars Consulting Engineers. According to
a previously signed agreement to finalise the construction of the pipeline, Iran
will export 28 MMm3/d of gas to Oman for 15 years. Earlier this year, Rahim
Tabrizi, a senior official with the IOEC, announced that the company plans to
construct a pipeline for exporting gas from Iran to Oman.
Welding begins on 2,050 km GAIL gas

pipeline
BC gas pipeline project gets Oil and Gas Commission
go ahead
TransCanada Corporation has received final permits from the BC Oil and Gas
Commission (BCOGC), giving regulatory approval for the construction and
operation of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipeline Project (PRGT) in
northern British Columbia, Canada. The PRGT Project - approximately
780 km of land pipeline and 110 km of marine pipeline - will connect the natural
gas production in the Montney fields of northeastern British Columbia with the
proposed Pacific NorthWest (PNW) LNG liquefaction facility on Lelu Island. The
BCOGC permits cover the entire 900 km route from just north of Hudsons Hope,
British Columbia, to Lelu Island, off the coast of Port Edward, near Prince Rupert.
The permits also approve construction of three compressor stations and a meter
station where the gas is to be delivered to the PNW LNG facility. In order for PRGT
to proceed with construction, PNW LNG must receive a positive decision from the
federal government under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.
Pipeline welding has commenced on the first phase

of GAIL (India) Limiteds 2,050 km Jagdishpur
Haldia natural gas pipeline. The first phase of the
project includes constructing a 341 km trunk pipeline
from Phulpur (Allahabad) to Dobhi (Gaya), and a
228 km spur pipeline to Barauni and Patna from
Dobhi. Welding commenced on a 12 inch pipeline
connecting the Hindustan Fertiliser Corporations
Barauni fertiliser plant to Indian Oil Corporations
Barauni refinery. The entire Rs 10,000 crores (over
US$2 billion) Jagdishpur Phulpur Haldia Pipeline
project will be 2,050 km and plans to connect
eastern India to the national gas grid by transporting
natural gas to West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and
Uttar Pradesh. The pipeline will consist of a 36 inch
diameter, 922 km mainline, and 1,128 km of spur
lines and feeder lines of between 12 and 30 inches
diameter. The first phase of the pipeline will have a
capacity of 16 MMm3/d, which would be augmented
to 32 MMm3/d in the second phase of the projects
development.
550 km Horn of Africa Pipeline agreements signed

The Ethiopia and Djibouti governments have signed framework
agreements for the construction of the US$1.55 billion Horn of Africa
Pipeline, which will transport refined oil products between the two
countries. Ethiopia and Djibouti signed framework agreements for the
pipelines construction with the pipeline joint venture partners Black
Rhino Group and Mining, Oil & Gas Services. The 20 inch diameter,
550 km pipeline will transport diesel, gasoline and jet fuel from port
access in Djibouti to central Ethiopia. The pipeline will have a capacity
of 240,000 bbl/d of fuel. The project also includes an import facility
and 950,000 bbl/d of storage capacity in Damerjog, Djibouti, linked
to a storage terminal in Awash, Ethiopia, near Addis Ababa. A final
investment decision on the project is expected in 2016, with construction
to be completed two years later. The pipeline is expected to be fully
operational by the end of 2018.
Russia, Pakistan sign agreement for pipeline

The governments of Russia and Pakistan have signed an agreement
to construct a 1,100 km gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore, which
will be built, owned and operated by Russias RT-Global Resources.
The project, known as the North South pipeline, is planned to
have a capacity of 12.4 Bm3/a of gas, and will connect the LNG
terminals in the port of Karachi in the south of Pakistan, to the city
of Lahore in the countrys north. The Pakistani Government has
plans for large-scale development of the countrys energy sector.
Regasification terminals for LNG are currently under construction
in the city of Karachi, and power plants are planned to be built in
the countrys north which would be supplied via the North South
Pipeline. The agreement was signed by Russias Energy Minister
Alexander Novak, and Pakistani Petroleum and Natural Resources
Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
December 2015 | Pipelines International | 7
NEWS IN BRIEF
Signature pipeline
inspection system
hits 1,000 successful
runs
PII Pipeline Solutions (PII) recently
celebrated 1,000 successful pipeline
inspection runs of its next generation
MagneScan inspection tool for assessing
metal loss features, deformation, and
geometry, as well as advanced integrity
assessments in oil and gas pipelines.
Using high resolution magnetic
flux leakage technology (MFL), PIIs
signature inspection system has
distilled and enhanced the capability
of all multiple legacy MFL, caliper,
and inertial measurement unit (IMU)
mapping systems into a single system,
reducing the number of runs required
to meet a specification.
Launched in 2009, the inspection
tool has delivered over six years of
year on year growth in numbers of
runs. This super-high resolution, multi
mission tool has provided increasingly
high levels of first run success and
reliability to customers across the globe
and offers a higher specification of
data than previously available from a
single run.
The tools have completed more than
50,000 km of inspections in pipelines from
6-36 inches, with a longest run of 560 km
since launch. The tools achieved 95 per
cent first run success in 2013, 2014, and in
2015, at the time of publication.
NEWS IN BRIEF
PRCI elects new Chair and board members

At its recent meeting, the Executive
Assembly of Pipeline Research Council
International (PRCI) elected Phillip H.
DePriest as Chair for a two-year term ending
in September 2017. Mr DePriest is Manager
of Integrity, Damage Prevention & Risk
Management at Marathon Pipe Line LLC, and
replaces Christophe Renier, Industrial Assets
Programs Vice President at France-based Engie,
who will continue serving on the Executive
Assembly and Executive Board as Past Chair.
The Executive Assembly also elected Jeff
Whitworth, Manager, Reliability & Integrity
- Americas at Shell Pipeline Company, as
Vice Chair. The Board also seated three
new members on the Executive Board:
Gary Buchler, Vice President, Operations
& Engineering with Kinder Morgan; John

Haldiman, Director - Energy Management &
Technical Services with Plains All American
Pipeline; and Phu Phan, Regional Director,
Western NGL Pipelines & Terminals; with
Enterprise Products.
PRCI is a non-profit research organisation
that is comprised of energy pipeline operating
companies located in the United States,
Canada, Europe, China, South America,
Australia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Augmenting the pipeline membership are
associate members drawn from companies in
the United States, Canada, Europe, China,
Mexico, Japan, and Australia that serve the
industry as pipe and equipment manufacturers,
service providers, and vendors.
Fast-track delivery meets Middle East pipeline

isolation demand
STATS Group were recently retained
by a major oil producer in Qatar to provide
fast-track delivery of a high-pressure isolation
tool to facilitate safe and reliable isolation of
a 24 inch pressurised gas line. With a verified
double block and bleed isolation in place,
valve replacement and maintenance work was
successfully carried out.
Conventional repairs of this type would

typically require the entire pipeline to be
completely hydrocarbon free and nitrogen
purged to enable a safe intervention. STATS
DNV-type approved Tecno Plugs provide
leak-tight double block and bleed isolation that
minimise system downtime, reducing costs and
environmental impact.
JIP to improve non-destructive tests of pipeline

properties
DNV GL is currently conducting a joint
industry project (JIP) that is intended to
further develop the ability to non-destructively
determine the mechanical properties of
operating steel pipelines.
A recently completed JIP conducted by
DNV GL successfully demonstrated the validity
of the procedure described in ASME report
CRTD Vol. 91 for determining pipeline yield
strength based on the results of hardness testing.
The current JIP builds upon those results by
using in-situ, non-destructive determinations
of hardness, chemical composition, and
microstructure to improve estimates of yield
strength for both the pipe base metal and for

ERW seams and flash weld seams. The project
will also determine if the combination of those
three datasets can be used to estimate likely
ranges for base metal and seam toughness.
Good estimates of mechanical properties
are important for accurate fatigue analysis
and flaw assessments, and for supporting the
historical determinations of maximum allowable
operating pressure. Project results have already
demonstrated the ability to detect significant
differences in properties between base metal and
seams using in-situ analyses.
Keystone XL permit
denied
US President Barack Obama has
denied a Presidential Permit to build the
proposed 1,897 km, 36 inch diameter
Keystone XL Pipeline.
TransCanada Corporation has
flagged the option of filing a new
application for a cross border crude oil
pipeline from Canada to the US.
Notice something
new?
Rosen Group introduces new in-line inspection

services
Rosen USA has unveiled a new concept
for in-line inspection services in the oil and gas
industry, its new R Service.
At the official unveiling in Houston, Texas,
a mobile diagnostic unit was onsite for viewing,
as well as inspection tools specifically designed
and allocated to accomplish R services.
Rosen also presented a new approach to
IN BRIEF
data evaluation that allows for access to reports

onsite, thereby allowing oil and gas pipeline
operators to respond in a more timely manner
to areas of concern regarding pipeline integrity.
Attendees at the unveiling represented
pipeline operators around the US and
were able to provide feedback regarding its
utilisation.
Pipelines International has a fresh

new look! Tell us what you think and
dont forget to send your news, views
and article ideas to
OMV to divest gas

pipeline subsidiary
Austrian oil and gas company OMV
Group plans to sell a stake of up to 49
per cent in its wholly-owned subsidiary
Gas Connect Austria, which builds
and operates high-pressure natural gas
pipelines in Austria.
Get social
Pipelines International is now on
Facebook! Join your industry peers by
connecting with us at www.facebook.
com/PipelinesInternational
TransCanada to sell
gas pipeline stake
TransCanada Corporation has
entered into an agreement to sell
a 49.9 per cent interest in Portland
Natural Gas Limited Partnership to
its master limited partnership, TC
PipeLines, for a purchase price of
US$223 million.
ABOVE: STATS Group completed isolation of a 24 inch pressurised gas line in Qatar.
ABOVE: Rosens mobile diagnostic unit was onsite for viewing at the unveiling of the companys new R Service.
INDUSTRY NEWS
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Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan.
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Finalist Infrastructure Partnerships Australia 2015 Project of the Year
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TDW UKs Samantha on
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Senso-ji temple, Tokyo, Japan.
BUILDING CIVIL ELECTRICAL FABRICATION MAINTENANCE MARINE MECHANICAL PIPELINES RAIL TUNNELLING
INDUSTRY NEWS
Young pipeliners lead the way

By Eric Alvarado, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, San Ramon, CA, USA
With the baby boomer generation heading towards retirement within the next decade, leaders of the pipeline
industry have recognised the need to transfer the wealth of knowledge to the younger generations, so that they
may accept the duty of care for the pipeline industry.
enior Executive of Dynamic Risk

Assessments USA, Patrick Vieth, saw an
opportunity to create an avenue for young
professionals to acquire the skills and knowledge
they needed, and called on his industry colleagues
for support.
For more information on the YPP and

its activities, contact Tara McMahan at
tara.podnar.mcmahan@dnvgl.com
BELOW LEFT: YPP USA meeting in March 2015.
BELOW RIGHT: YPP USA networking happy hour in
Houston, Texas.
THE YPP IS FORMED

In March 2015, with the support of Vieth and
the other senior advisors, more than 25 pipeline
industry professionals, all under the age of 35,
were brought together to form what is now the
USA Young Pipeline Professionals (YPP)
organisation.
The YPP, led by Chair Tara McMahan of
DNV GL, has the following objectives: educating
young professionals about the pipeline industry,
creating leadership opportunities for the next
generation of professionals within the YPP, and
fostering relationships and building a network for
the betterment of the industry.
The founding members have built several
working groups within the organisation, each of

which assist the YPP in achieving its objectives.
These working groups include Chapter
Development, Education, Volunteerism, and
Event Planning, to name a few.
The YPP made its first public appearance at its
launch at the Southern Gas Association (SGA)
Operating Conference in Houston, Texas, in July.
There, the YPP had a booth in the exhibitor area,
and was given the opportunity to host a breakout
session to promote themselves as well as get
feedback on what people would expect from the
organisation if either they or their employees
joined.
The YPP has since hosted several events for its
members, including a site visit to the Pipeline
Research Council International (PRCI) facility in
Houston, happy hour networking events in the
Houston area, and two technical training
webinars. The webinars to date have been hosted
by leading industry professionals Bryon Winget of
Pacific Gas and Electric, and Dr Keith Leewis of
Dynamic Risk Assessments.
MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS
Two types of memberships are offered within
the YPP organisation: Student Membership,
which is free to students interested in the pipeline
industry, and Standard Membership.
The YPP is actively seeking partnerships with
universities across the country to encourage their
students to join the organisation. The YPP has
also partnered with several long-standing pipeline
associations such as the American Society for
Mechanical Engineers, SGA, PRCI, and the
Interstate Natural Gas Association of America to
promote leadership and encourage their young
employees to join.
As the YPP membership pool expands, the
YPP has plans to formulate local chapters across
the nation and continue its education and
networking efforts.
12 | Pipelines International | December 2015 www.pipelinesinternational.com
NEW TECHNOLOGY
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Liquid pipeline leak detection

from airborne platforms
By Corey Drake and Tyler Johnson, C-FER Technologies (1999) Inc.,
Edmonton, AB, Canada
The pipeline industry is investigating the implementation of airborne leak detection surveys that utilise
various sensor technologies in an effort to identify pipeline leaks that may be lower than the detection limits of
traditional CPM (computational pipeline monitoring) methods.
hese methods rely on changes in flow

parameters, such as pressure, volumetric
or mass flow, to identify potential
pipeline leaks. To date, airborne leak detection
systems have generally been used to monitor gas
pipelines. The overarching goal of the current
work being done by industry is to determine
which of these technologies is best suited to detect
small fluid leaks from pipelines carrying liquid
hydrocarbon products.
NATURAL GAS VS LIQUID PIPELINE

LEAKS
A: Overhead view of the ELDER Test Apparatus.
B: Isolation Flux Chambers installed on ground surface in
the ELDER Apparatus.
Traditionally, liquid pipeline leaks are detected

through CPM systems which compare computer
models of the flow parameters to measured flow

characteristics such as pressure, temperature,
density and flow rate to identify irregularities that
might be associated with leaks. These systems are
typically limited to detecting leaks greater than
approximately one per cent of the total pipeline
flow, due to the sensitivity of the instrumentation
used and the ability of the models to predict the
flow parameters over the full range of operating
conditions in the pipeline.
To complement these systems, operators have
used a variety of pipeline leak detection
technologies, ranging from in situ sensors such as
fibre-optic sensing cables, to visual aerial patrols
and aircraft mounted sensors that periodically
monitor a pipeline right-of-way (ROW). The

primary focus of aircraft mounted leak detection
sensors has been on natural gas pipelines.
Unintended releases from natural gas pipelines
produce methane plumes, which are easier to
detect due to the distinct absorption spectrum
characteristics of methane, the short time for the
gas to reach the surface of the ground, and the
Joule-Thompson cooling effect produced at the
leak location as the gas expands.
Leaks from liquid pipelines, however, produce
very different signatures, with the leaked liquid
following the path of highest permeability, until it
ultimately reaches surface. The goal is to detect
these pipeline leaks before the liquid reaches
surface. Sensor manufacturers have been adapting
and developing sensors used in other applications
for this purpose.
AIRBORNE LEAK DETECTION

SENSORS
Through a comprehensive market survey, it was
determined that the majority of airborne leak
detection sensors that are commercially available
fall into the following categories:
Laser Absorption: This technology is based
on the principle that each individual gas species
absorbs electromagnetic radiation (EMR) at
different wavelengths. A laser is tuned to the
wavelength of the gas of interest. When the laser
light passes through a gas plume of interest, the
gas absorbs some of the beams energy, thereby

weakening the reflected signal. By measuring this
energy change, the sensor can determine the
presence and concentration of gas along the path
of the laser.
Gas Filter Correlation Radiometry: A
band pass filter is used to select the excitation
frequency of the gas of interest from ambient light
(i.e. sunlight). This filtered EMR is passed through
two gas cells. The correlation cell contains the gas
of interest, whereas the reference cell is evacuated.
When sunlight passes through a plume of interest
and then into the cells, the reference signal from
the evacuated cell will decrease from the energy
absorbed in the plume, but the correlation cell
signal will remain unchanged. The difference
between the two cells signals allows the sensor to
identify the presence of the gas of interest.
Thermal Imaging: This method uses a
camera to measure the EMR emitted in the
infrared range (i.e. thermal energy) of all objects
in the field of view. The leaking products are
usually at different temperatures than the
surrounding air and soil due to the thermal
signature of leaking fluids, evaporative processes
that cool the leaked product, or frictional heating
as the product passes through the small hole or
crack in the pipeline. This technology is often
used to detect fugitive gas emissions from oil and
gas facilities. This methods biggest advantage is
that it can optically locate the leak.
Flame Ionisation: As the sensor passes

through a gas plume, a portion of the gas vapour
is collected and burned in a hydrogen flame. This
process generates ions, which are proportional to
the number of carbon atoms present in the gas
sample or the hydrocarbon concentration.
Visual Inspection: High definition recording
equipment, such as still and/or video cameras,
are often used to record the condition of the
pipeline right-of-way. The images are traditionally
reviewed by an operator trained in visual
inspection, but new automated methods are being
developed to identify signs of leaks such as
disturbance of the ground surface or leak-induced
stress on vegetation overlying the pipeline.
To increase the accuracy of their surveys, and
to avoid false positives, most technology vendors
use a combination of the above technologies.
However, there are currently no standards to
verify the ability of these technologies to detect
sub-surface liquid hydrocarbon leaks. Therefore,
it is imperative that these sensors be
independently tested to evaluate their
performance on simulated subsurface liquid
pipeline leaks and to determine their operational
lower detection limits, which will assist pipeline
operators in selecting appropriate technologies.
LEAKAGE INDICATORS
To evaluate these technologies effectively,
C-FER Technologies and Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF), with support from
Enbridge, TransCanada, Kinder Morgan
(Canada) and government agencies, carried out
laboratory testing and numerical modelling to
gain a better understanding of possible leakage
indicators produced from a liquid pipeline leak.
These indicators include temperature
differentials, volatile organic compound (VOC)
concentrations, and induced ground
displacement. The numerical models focused
upon subsurface liquid hydrocarbon leak
behaviour and provided information regarding
the dispersion and evolution of VOCs migrating
from the leakage point through the soil to the
ground surface.
Once the VOCs breached the surface, the data
acquired were used to develop atmospheric
dispersion models to predict the VOC gas plume
characteristics at several elevations within the
atmosphere in the vicinity of the fluid leak
location. A variety of wind conditions and
altitudes were analysed to fully characterise the
gas plume. In addition to VOC models, AITF
also numerically modelled the fluid dispersion,
NEW TECHNOLOGY
and associated temperature distribution and
geomechanical effects resulting from a subsurface
liquid release.
THE ELDER APPROACH

In an effort to validate these numerical models,
AITF completed soil column tests and C-FER
completed full-scale testing using their External
Leak Detection Experimental Research (ELDER)
test apparatus located in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada. The ELDER, as shown in Figure A, tests
various in-situ sensors for external pipeline leak
detection (i.e. fibre-optic cables, vapour sensing
tubes, among others). A full-scale 24 inch pipe
with various independently controlled leak ports
was buried inside the ELDER and instrumented
to monitor the migration of the leaked oil
through the soil. Efforts were taken to ensure that
the soil conditions, such as water content and
compaction, were generally representative of real
world conditions. Liquid hydrocarbons may be
released at any specified leak port, while the leak
parameters such as flow rate, pressure, and
temperature are controlled.
To benchmark the VOC data obtained from the

numerical models, C-FER installed isolation flux
chambers on the ELDERs soil surface as shown in
Figure B. Total VOC concentrations within each
flux chamber were monitored throughout the test
duration (approximately four days) to determine
vapour breakthrough times and expected
concentrations at the soil surface. The VOC flux
rates measured in the lab tests agreed well with
predictions of the numerical models. Other leak
characteristics such as temperature distribution and
ground surface heave will be assessed in future tests.
UNDERSTANDING LIQUID PIPELINE

LEAK SIGNATURES
The lab testing and numerical modelling
completed to date have served as a preliminary
analysis to better understand liquid pipeline leak
signatures. These test conditions have been
idealised in that they do not include
environmental conditions such as soil
heterogeneities, snow cover, or precipitation,
which might influence the performance of
airborne leak detection sensors. It is paramount
The Best Protection for Your Pipe
that these sensors be tested in the field, under less

than ideal conditions.
Therefore, the ultimate goal of this project is to
deploy and test these sensors in the field using
multiple simulated leak stations. The leak
locations and parameters would be unknown to
the vendor during testing, similar to a real
pipeline ROW survey. Controlled field tests may
determine the performance of each sensor, based
on the overall detection rate of the leaks and
lower detection limits, and identify the range of
application for each technology.
Continuous improvements are being made in
pipeline leak detection technologies. Some vendors
have already adapted and miniaturised their leak
detection technology for use on unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs). In the future, UAVs could be
utilised to economically survey pipeline ROWs and
complete surveys in high risk or otherwise
inaccessible areas. These technologies will be
developed and proven through ongoing numerical
modelling, lab testing, and field trials to allow
pipeline operators to detect liquid hydrocarbon
leaks before they reach surface.
Our SPD line of padders will yield

a thicker dirt cover in a single pass.
An oscillating cabin offers unobstructed
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Duplicate controllers on both sides
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Gradient-adjustable escalator
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Insulated engine compartment
Five models/sizes available
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Worldwide Group family of companies
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Real-time demand for a gas

pipeline design: dealing with
modern challenges
By Sidney Santos, At Work Rio Solutions Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
There were the days, decades ago, when a gas pipeline designer would punch some cards and go to another
room of his company, or even to an outside office, to run a gas pipeline design configuration, and then return
at a scheduled time to get the results. Since then, pipeline design has developed signficantly.
echnology development has improved

dramatically, and nowadays the gas
pipeline designer must respond very
quickly to management demands wherever
they are is and whenever required. In addition,
CEOs are more deeply involved in envisioning
new business opportunities and want to check
for themselves the feasibility of a prospective
project and then lead the process from the start
to the end, promoting interaction between all
departments involved in the decision making
process of a gas pipeline project.
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
BELOW: Laptop computer applications for gas pipeline
design.
At Work Rio has designed a resourceful and

innovative mobile application that provides
CEOs, managers, and designers with the means

to face the challenges of the ongoing business
environment in the context of gas pipeline design.
The application is designed to work on iPhones
and similar hand-held devices, and comprises:
GasPipelineDesign: performs cost
estimates, feasibility studies with J-curves,
and thermo-hydraulic simulations, and
produces an executive report, a technical
report, XML files (thermo-hydraulic
model), and a data file for export to
GasPipelineExpansion.
GasPipelineExpansion: performs cost
estimate for a gas pipeline expansion,
adds compressor stations to an existing
project, does capacity ramp-up and
availability studies, and works with GIS
information and elevation profiles.
CompressorStationDesign: performs
the calculation for a compressor station
design and produces a report with the
technical information necessary to specify
the compressor station units, drivers, and
aftercoolers.
CompressorPerformance: performs
the detailed and accurate calculation for
an existing compressor unit and supports
operation with a technical and economic
tool to decide if and/or when a
maintenance intervention will be required
to re-establish the optimum efficiency of
the compressor unit.
These mobile applications have been developed
by Sidney Santos, who retired from Petrobras in
2012 after working for more than 25 years as a
senior consultant and a gas pipeline design
engineer. Using his extensive knowledge of the
technology of pipeline design, as well as
Get the big picture.
Clearly see the most accurate data available to confirm your pipelines integrity
and meet or exceed stringent pipeline regulatory requirements.
Our vast experience and full range of high-resolution pipeline inspection
technologies reliably deliver precise anomaly information for use in your asset
integrity planning decisions.
Visit BakerHughes.com/Inspection and clearly see how to make the best pipeline
business decisions.
2015 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 43460 10/2015
NEW TECHNOLOGY
programming on spreadsheets, Visual Basic, and

C#, Mr Santos has worked with qualified
software developers to perfect his applications.
His most recent projects at Petrobras prior to
retiring were the design of the Bolivia-Brazil Gas
Pipeline (GASBOL), and the expansion of the gas
pipeline network in Brazil. Mr Santos has also
had key participation in many prospective
projects such as the Venezuela-Brazil gas pipeline
(GASVEN) and the Integration gas pipeline
(GASIN). He has also provided consulting
assistance to KazTransGas and Intergas Central
Asia for the Kazakhstan section of the Trans-Asia
Gas Pipeline.
DRIVING PRINCIPLE
At Work Rios applications rely on these key
drivers:
Must be practical and speedy
Must be simple
Does not require any training.
The application has therefore been designed so
that managers, planners, and engineers can start
using the application immediately and will take
advantage of it. It is practical, in that it supports
the complete design process for a gas pipeline
while substantially reducing the working time
normally required for a conceptual design.
Pipeline modelling is done for each configuration
in the case of GasPipelineDesign and
GasPipelineExpansion and does not require any
additional work, saving time and resources.
It is rapid and has been designed and optimised
to run hundreds to thousands of simulations in a
very efficient way to get the results, including the
reports, within seconds, depending only on the
quality of the internet connection.
CHALLENGING SCENARIO
Imagine yourself at a meeting, a restaurant, or
even playing golf, and a fellow CEO asks you
about a new gas pipeline or a branch expansion
but they only know basic information such as

capacity and length. Then what? Do you quickly
call your commercial, planning or engineering
department, or do you take your smart phone or
tablet and run the case? By using
GasPipelineDesign you can get results by yourself
right away, and can then provide your fellow
CEO with reliable information that may start a
promising business case.
INNOVATIVE MOBILE PRODUCTS

With At Work Rios GasPipelineDesign mobile
application, you only need your smart phone,
tablet, or notebook, and a couple of minutes.
With a user-friendly interface that allows access to
a solid and well-designed application running on
a certified environment, a feasibility study in an
executive report containing the five best
alternatives for the gas pipeline project with cost
breakdowns and a very handy J-curve can be
obtained in just a moment.
GasPipelineDesign also provides a technical
report containing detailed thermo-hydraulic
information including diameter, flows,
temperatures, number of compressor stations
required, compressor-station spacing, power
requirements, and fuel-gas demand that defines
the configuration of each of the best five
alternatives. It can also export the thermohydraulic models to third-party gas pipeline
simulator software if required.
At Work Rios GasPipelineExpansion mobile
application has two functionalities: (i) a
supplement to GasPipelineDesign; and (ii) an
independent application. It works with the
elevation profile and GIS information on the
route and supports capacity expansion studies for
an existing gas pipeline and capacity ramp-up for
new ones. It also precisely locates compressor
stations along the pipelines route. The
application undertakes both technical and
economic evaluations, and runs detailed
thermo-hydraulic simulations for steady-state gas

flows. It uses a responsive, user friendly, and
flexible interface to run on a variety of mobile
devices and platforms. It evaluates CAPEX and
OPEX for the gas pipeline configuration, and
thereby helps selection of the best economic and
strategic alternative for a capacity expansion.
Compressor stations for the project can be
allocated with accurate spacing and detailed
capacity, power, and fuel requirements. Detailed
information from conceptual, basic, and executive
design such as diameter changes, class locations
and their impacts on pipeline wall thickness, gas
supplies, and deliveries can be incorporated
easily in the gas pipeline model to update the
project. Both executive and technical reports are
produced, with exportable XML files for the
detailed thermo-hydraulic model and a KML file
for Google Earth visualisation of the project.
CONCLUSION
This innovative technology is designed to
improve the design process of a gas pipeline. It is
multiplatform (Mac OSX, Windows, Linux, iOS,
Android) based on mobile devices (smart phone,
tablets, and notebooks), as well as being able to be
run through the web by simply using a web
browser. Following the concept summarised by
Harvards Michael Porter that Companies
achieve competitive advantage through acts of
innovation [1], At Work Rios focus is to provide
its clients with state-of-the-art, innovative, and
mobile applications that will improve their
productivity in gas pipeline conceptual designs
and feasibility studies through the use of simple,
practical, accurate, and rapid solutions.
Reference
1. Michael E. Porter, 1990. The competitive
advantage of nations. Harvard Business Review,
March, https://hbr.org/1990/03/thecompetitive-advantage-of-nations/ar/1
NEW TECHNOLOGY
SCADA virtualisation
By Kelly Doran, Schneider Electric, Calgary, AB, Canada
In the past several years, virtualisation has been transforming the information technology world. Organisations
are faced with ongoing challenge of IT budget reductions, stricter regulatory requirements and the need to
support changing business initiatives and drivers.
hese factors, and more, compound

the IT challenges of modern SCADA
systems used to monitor and control
remote critical infrastructures. Virtualisation
offers an efficient opportunity to overcome those
challenges, as well as additional opportunities for
SCADA users.
LIMITED EARLY ADOPTION

As SCADA systems are relied on extensively for
critical architectures, the command and control
sector has to be very cautious about adopting any
new technologies, including the application of
virtualisation.
Early adopters in the SCADA field
experimented with partial visualisation,
virtualising the less vital components of the
overall architecture such as test and development
systems, decision support systems, and
engineering systems, leaving the production
(polling servers) on their native physical machines.
After learning about virtualisation technology,
and seeing how well it worked in practice, more
and more companies have extended the
integration of virtualisation into their SCADA
architectures, to the point where the entire system
platform is virtualised, including the production
servers.
Virtualisation of a companys SCADA systems
can address:
Server consolidation
For example, a control room could reduce
its server footprint from 12 to two because
the SCADA physical infrastructure is
virtualised as guest virtual machines and
put on two redundant host servers.
Test and development optimisation
With virtualisation it is easier to maintain
a more complete test system with all
components of the production system
represented (a complete copy of all the

production servers).
Disaster recovery
Because of the easy relocation, virtual
machines can be very effective in disaster
recovery scenarios and control room
relocations.
Online platform upgrades
Virtualisation can play an important role
during a SCADA upgrade process by
virtualising the current system and
moving it to a newer hardware platform,
increasing performance until the new
system is ready.
SCADAS OPERATIONAL ROOTS

With a typical SCADA architecture it is not
uncommon to have upwards of twenty servers
associated with its operations, not including the
human machine interfaces and remote clients.
With the advent of virtualisation, it is possible
to replace the majority of those physical servers.
You can take each of the servers and virtualise
them using a relatively straightforward process.
Heres how thats possible: to create a new
virtual machine you are guided through the
process by a wizard that asks which operating
system youll be installing. The wizard will then
choose the appropriate defaults for your operating
system of choice, capture all of the hardware
functions of the existing system, and convert it
into a software file. The file is the quest virtual
machine that is placed on a higher performance
server known as the host.
You place several virtual files on just one server
to create the SCADA architecture. To provide the
redundancy needed for high availability, you
would place the backup servers as virtual files on
a second physical server. In the end you have
achieved a major footprint reduction by cutting
NEW TECHNOLOGY
the number of servers to two per site, which is a
major server consolidation.
THE VIRTUALISATION
REVOLUTION
On older systems, if a CPU is running close to
its capacity, there is some risk it could slow down
computing to an unacceptable level or lock up
and result in a failover to another server.
In some cases, through virtualisation, a
SCADA system could gain as much as a 75 per
cent boost in performance based on increased
computing power of the newer, more powerful
host servers.
By providing a system where the CPU
utilisation is significantly reduced, it clearly
impacts the computing performance. Lower CPU
numbers result in faster and safer systems and a
better user experience for all users.
Virtualisation is a business strategy that can
reduce costs, strengthen resiliency of the SCADA
system, and enhance capacity for more robust
and advanced IT analysis.
The worlds
largest global
LNG event
ABOVE: A SCADA control room.
CM
MY
CY
CMY
You are invited to join the
18th International
Conference & Exhibition on
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG 18)
in Perth, capital of Australias largest state
Western Australia and the foundation
of Australias LNG industry.
Register before
4 November 2015
and save
www.lng18.org
Why you should attend LNG 18

LNG 18 features the largest number and highest level
of LNG industry leaders worldwide as plenary speakers
will jointly open the plenary program on The Transformation of

Global Gas
Australia is developing the fastest growing LNG projects
worldwide and is on track to become the largest LNG exporter in
the world by 2020
of FLNG,
subsea technology and coal seam gas to LNG
for delegates with
all lunches and social functions included in the registration fee
Networking will be unprecedented with high level
representatives from over 95 countries and 750 companies
to the newest LNG projects
around Australia
Event Owners
Host IGU Member
Supporting Association
PERFORMANCE
AT WORK.
Choosing the right pipelayer

for your needs
Pipelayers and sidebooms are a key piece of machinery on any pipeline construction site. With a wide variety
of machines currently available, and issues such as safety and the environment driving further developments
within the industry, Pipelines International outlines key considerations for selecting the equipment that best suits
your needs.
W
ABOVE: The 71H pipelayer offers the pipeline industry
a solution for a utility-capacity machine in the Tier 4
Interim/EU Stage IIIB class, designed for lifting 27,200 kg
(60,000 pounds).
hen selecting a pipelayer or sideboom

for a pipeline construction project,
there are many considerations to take
into account. A pipelayer will be selected based
on the size and weight of the pipe to be installed
and topography of the construction site. These
considerations impact on the lifting capacity of
the pipelayer, transportability and ease of service
required for the project.
The all-new Cat PL83 pipelayer is purpose-built to meet your unique demands providing increased lift capacity,
enhanced slope capability, ease of operation, performance and transportability. The Cat C15 ACERT engine meets
global emission standards for U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final/EU Stage IV or Tier 3/Stage IIIA equivalent emission standards,
depending on your region. And like every Cat machine, the PL83 pipelayer is designed for long life, serviceability and
rebuild capability to help keep your owning and operating costs low.
PipeLine Machinery International (PLM) is your global Cat dealer for the pipeline construction industry and
delivers maximum performance through quality machinery, solutions and people were ready to go to work for you.
PIPELAYER SPECIFICATIONS
Lift Capacity at Tipping Point (ISO 8813):
77 111 kg 170,000 lbs.
Operating Weight:
50 492 kg 111,316 lbs.
Net Power (ISO 9249, Tier 4 Final/EU Stage IV):
238 kW
319 hp
Net Power (ISO 9249, Tier 3/EU Stage IIIA Equiv.): 245 kW
329 hp
Boom length and machine visibility are two

important factors when selecting pipelayer
equipment. The shorter booms are easier to
handle when moving pipe in slope applications,
PipeLine Machinery Internationals (PLM) Dawn
Rivera says.
Visibility is just as important, because the
operator needs to be able to see what is going on
around them. Visibility is key for all operations
USA: +1-713-939-0007
Canada: +1-780-377-0336
China: +1-86-10-5960-1509
Netherlands: +31-70-353-8279
Australia: +61-423-394-730
www.plmcat.com
Your Global Partner for Pipeline Solutions
2015 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT, their respective logos, Caterpillar Yellow, the Power Edge trade dress as well as
corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

LEFT: The new Cat PL87 pipelayer is designed to meet
the demands of the pipeline industry for increased lift
capacity, 97,976 kg (216,000 pounds), and meets Tier
4-Final/EU Stage IV or Tier 3/Stage IIIA equivalent
emissions standards, depending on your region.
well as the introduction of mirrors, see-through

points in the cab and shorter blocks, giving better
visibility to the boom.
New models promise to have a host of safety
features not commonly seen on pipelayers, she
says.
In addition to built-in safety features or
mechanisms, adequate training is imperative to
ensure safety on the construction site, and this
includes knowing how to properly operate
pipelayer and sideboom equipment. Well-trained
operators and well-maintained equipment are
both crucial to safe pipe laying operations.
Proper operator education, daily inspections,
and a good general understanding of the general
capabilities of the machine leads to a healthier
tractor, Ms Rivera says.
INTERNATIONAL PIPELINE CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION

LEADING AND INNOVATING
THE CONFERENCE
THE EXPOSITION
INTERNATIONAL PIPELINE CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION
THE ENVIRONMENT
and is a feature Caterpillar has worked diligently

to increase on its newer model pipelayer machines
for safety.
If limited access to the right-of-way is
encountered, transporting the pipelayer to site
can be an issue.
Contractors can consider using machines with
a lower lift capacity, but use more of them to lift a
section of pipe. On remote access pipelines or
projects with tight completion timelines, ease of
service can be a crucial consideration.
The contractor could also choose to purchase a
large pipelayer machine with the ability to
self-disassemble.
The Cat PL series pipelayers have been
engineered to be user friendly for variations, such
as the draw-works now being pinned on, in
tear-down for transport, Ms Rivera says.
STABILITY
Machine stability remains a known issue with
pipelayer and sideboom machinery.
According to Caterpillar distributor PLM,

Intense scrutiny of the Cat PL models has
proven that the high drive is every bit as stable, if
not more so, than the low drive of the older
machines. Courtesy of extensive engineering
changes, the new Cat pipelayers maintain their
centre of gravity.
In addition, the track roller frame length
remains extended, with rear idler positioned
downward, resulting in more track on the ground
to enhance machine stability, especially in slope
applications.
SAFETY
Safety improvements are continually being
made within the pipelayer/sideboom industry.
Caterpillar pipelayers have a number of
features that have been adapted with safety in
mind.
Ms Rivera says Caterpillar has engineered the
application Roll Over Protective Structure
(ROPS) for each specific PL model pipelayer, as
The pipeline industry is becoming increasingly

mindful of reducing the carbon footprint of
pipeline construction projects. Companies that
manufacture and distribute pipelayer and
sideboom equipment are responding by
developing pipelayers with engines that have
lower emissions.
Ms Rivera notes that Caterpillar meets or
exceeds in every jurisdiction and region of the
globe for emissions standards in all applications
required.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Each pipeline construction spread is different,
requiring contractors to think carefully about the
machinery that would best suit the project.
Pipelayer and sideboom manufacturers offer
many different options for pipeline projects, while
taking key issues such as safety and the
environment into consideration.
In addition, pipelayer and sideboom machinery
is continually developing. The industry continues
to improve the transportability of the equipment,
develop accessories to improve operator comfort
and efficiency, and to engineer machinery
required for new trends in the pipeline industry.
PLM is heavily involved in the regulatory and
the industry associations as it walks its way into an
ever-changing world of safety and quality, Ms
Rivera says.
September 26 - 30, 2016
Hyatt Regency Calgary & Calgary TELUS Convention Centre

Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The definitive conference for

pipeline professionals. Dont miss
this five-day experience!
300
1,500
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September 27 - 29, 2016
Calgary TELUS Convention Centre

Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Participate at the worlds leading

marketplace for pipeline
technology and services!
Attend 8 Technical Tracks

with 300+ presentations,
keynotes and tutorials.
Visit 200 companies

exhibiting todays
foremost technologies,
products and services.
200
Network with over 1,500

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at sessions and official
functions.
Connect with 5,000

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leaders and business
executives.
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Join representatives
from 45 countries
spanning the globe.
Follow us on social media for important

Conference details and dates.
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Conference Patrons
Source from a global

marketplace converging
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internationalpipelineexposition.com
Media Sponsor
AGEING PIPELINES
AGEING PIPELINES
Ageing Pipelines Conference

is a hit in Belgium
By John Tiratsoo, Editor-in-Chief, Pipelines International
The first-ever conference to discuss issues concerning ageing high-pressure oil and gas pipelines was held in
Ostend, Belgium, on 5-9 October.
rganised by the Soete Laboratory of

the University of Gent, Belgium, and
Tiratsoo Technical, a division of Great
Southern Press, UK, and in association with
Clarion Technical Conferences of Houston, the
event attracted 110 delegates to its programme
of 30 papers and presentations. We hope here to
give a flavour of the topics discussed: sadly, there
is not space to cover each of the papers in detail.
AGEING VS OLD
Dr Phil Hopkins of his UK-based company
PHL set the scene with a keynote address that
discussed not only issues of ageing, but also of
competence and the importance (in increasing
order) of training, monitoring, and experience in
achieving this.
Integrity management plans for ageing pipelines will

need to place an increasing emphasis on monitoring
fatigue due to pressure cycling.
A: Delegates enjoyed the networking opportunities offered

at the conference.
B: Delegates listen intently to Bill Bruces presentation at
the Ageing Pipelines Conference.
C: Part of the value of attending conferences such as this
one is the opportunity to network. The conference dinner
was attended by many delegates and speakers, including
co-organizers Prof. Rudi Denys (fifth from left) and Prof.
Stijn Hertel (4th from right).
D: A social function was held at the end of the second day.
Pictured here (facing the camera) are Bill Bruce (left) and
William Mohr (right), both of whom gave presentations at
the event.
As far as ageing infrastructure is concerned, he

pointed out that ageing is about a plants
condition, not about how old the equipment is.
This means that old does not necessarily mean
that there is significant deterioration or damage,
and ageing is not directly related to
chronological age.
Continuing this argument, Dr Hopkins said
that ageing assets are often described as old, and
this word infers substandard; however, old
simply represents a system that has not been
designed and constructed using contemporary
standards. Substandard, however, refers to a
system that does not comply with its original
fabrication standards. Therefore, old does not
mean substandard. The USAs National
Transportation Safety Board concurs, with the proviso

that Although age alone does not indicate that a
pipeline is unsafe, it does make determining the
integrity of pipelines increasingly important.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Papers that followed from the first session of the
conference covered various new and emerging
technologies that can help operators in inspecting
and identifying issues to do with ageing in their
infrastructure. These included a description, by
Michael Tarkanian of Massachusetts Materials
Technology, of an exciting new concept for
in-the-ditch measurement of the mechanical
properties of steel pipelines with a portable NDT
device, and the use of optical emission spectrometry
for analysing low-carbon steel, described by Otto
Jan Huising of Nederlandse Gasunie.
Robotic internal inspection devices were
introduced by Alexandre Reiss of Inspector
Systems of Germany, following which Gary
Senior, of Pipeline Integrity Engineers of the
UK, described Project GRAID (Gas Robotic
Agile Inspection Device), an interesting
collaborative project that has begun in the UK to

develop a robotic system for inspection of
buried pipework.
MAINTAINING FITNESS-FORSERVICE
The next session of the conference started to
focus delegates interest on how to deal with the
ageing infrastructure itself, and the decisions that
are required to maintain long-term integrity and
fitness-for-service. Both Dr Brian Leis (of his
consultancy BN Leis Consultants, based in
Worthington, Ohio) and Bill Amend of DNV GL
in Dublin, Ohio, gave their views of the
challenges faced by North American pipeline
operators, and suggested some solutions. Chuck
Harris, of T.D. Williamson in Houston, then
looked at the issue of missing data, which is often
discussed when operators gather together, and for
which there are emerging solutions.
DESIGN LIFE AND PIPELINE

FATIGUE
Dr Andrew Cosham, of Atkins in the UK, then
reviewed issues concerning fatigue in a paper
co-authored with Dr Phil Hopkins. As Dr
Cosham pointed out, the design life of a pipeline
is often an arbitrary quantity and does not reflect
the true life of a pipeline, and such an approach
to design life does not accommodate two
RESEARCH PROJECTS
The second day of the conference had a more
scientific focus, with various presentations on
research projects that are both completed or
underway. Among these, Ton van Wingerden and
his co-authors of DNV GL in Netherlands
discussed dealing with ageing gas pipeline assets;
Paul Roovers of Fluxys, Belgium, and his
co-authors introduced European Pipeline
Research Group project 177/2014 on the
assessment of corrosion associated with girth or
long-seam welds in vintage pipelines; and one of
the events co-organisers, Prof. Stijn Hertel of
the Soete Laboratory, University of Gent, and his
co-authors described the development of collapse
equations for corroded girth welds in vintage
pipelines.
Further equations appeared on the screen in the

presentation by Kamel Tahir of MACAW
Engineering in the UK, with his detailed
presentation of pipeline reliability analysis based
on corrosion-rate updating using Bayesian
inference; and in the presentation by Tobias
Fletcher (of Origin Integrity Management in the
UK) and his co-authors on the application of
inverse advanced defect assessment methodologies.
AGEING PIPELINES
time-dependent degradation mechanisms:
corrosion and fatigue. This qualitative approach is
partly due to relatively few pipeline failures
having been attributed to fatigue. However, as
pipelines age, this might change, and it is worth
noting that two of the most serious pipeline
failures in recent years in North America have
been partly blamed on fatigue.
Dr Cosham went on to show that the fatigue
life of a pipeline subjected to in-service pressure
cycling can be estimated using S-N curves, or
fatigue-crack-growth calculations using fracture
mechanics. The similarities and differences, and
the advantages and disadvantages, of these two
methods were discussed, and the presentation
outlined the common pitfalls in fatigue
calculations, including the reliance on software
(the black box approach), the paucity of
toughness data, and the limited understanding of
the rates of fatigue crack growth in a pipeline.
This paper concludes that integrity
management plans for ageing pipelines will need
to place an increasing emphasis on monitoring
fatigue due to pressure cycling. Recording and
retaining pressure cycling data is important and,

particularly in the absence of data, crack
detection tools will play an increasingly important
role.
CASE STUDIES
The final session of the conference included
two case studies. Dr Bob Andrews of MACAW
Engineering reviewed an onshore pipeline failure
investigation in which a 26 inch gas pipeline
constructed in 1972 failed in 2012: after a
detailed investigation, repeated ductile tearing
from large pressure changes was considered the
most likely cause. Moving offshore, Hugo van
Merrienboer of Netherlands-based TAQA
Energy then considered the use of a negative
exponential expression to predict the failure
frequency of a flexible pipeline from casuistic
failure data, and how this process can define
preventative maintenance challenges.
EXTREME-VALUE THEORY
The events final paper was a second
presentation by Tobias Fletcher, describing the
application of extreme-value theory to pipeline

integrity analyses. As he says in the paper, few
methods exist for estimating failure probabilities,
partly due to the fact that pipeline corrosionrelated failures are rare events. Extreme-value
theory is a branch of statistics that can be used to
estimate the probabilities of the occurrence of
rare events, and the objective of this paper is to
demonstrate how these techniques may be
applied to pipeline integrity assessments to refine
failure predictions and save operator costs.
EXPLORE & DEVELOP

YOUR INDUSTRY
June 7- 9, 2016 | Calgary, Alberta, Canada
globalpetroleumshow.com
LOOKING AHEAD
Despite the problems raised by the increasing
age of the pipeline infrastructure (and, maybe, of
those who operate it), comfort can be taken from
the fact that failures do not occur as a
consequence of age alone. This event, which it is
hoped will develop into a series, showed that there
are processes and solutions available for many of
the issues involved and, with care and diligence,
there is no reason why the infrastructure should
not continue operating safely for many decades
to come.
Exclusive exhibit, sponsorship and advertising

opportunities are available.
@petroleumshow
INSPECTION
INSPECTION
Effective implementation of a
crack in-line inspection
programme
By John Munro, Millan Sen and Larry Heise, Enbridge Pipelines Inc.,
Crack in-line inspection (ILI) technology plays a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of a pipeline.
However, a robust crack management programme requires a safety management system approach, utilising a
comprehensive suite of tools.
xtensive field validation is crucial to assess

ILI tool performance. In some cases,
re-analysis of raw data is required to
learn from and mitigate ILI miscalls identified in
previous ILI reports. Multiple ILI runs may also be
necessary to establish required levels of certainty.
This article examines a liquids transmission
line that underwent such a programme. Following
a release, previous ILI data was re-analysed, and
the line was re-inspected with a crack ILI tool.
After completion of an extensive excavation
programme, the associated field non-destructive
examination (NDE)-ILI correlations were used to
validate the ILI. A hydrostatic test was then
completed, and its successful outcome confirmed
the effectiveness of the crack management
programme for the pipeline.
2012 LINE 14 FAILURE

Enbridges Line 14 is a 740 km (460 mile)
liquids transmission line located in the USA
(Figure 1). It has a high-frequency electric
resistance welded (ERW) long seam and wall
thicknesses ranging from 0.33 to 0.5 inches.
In 2012, a release occurred under normal
operating conditions (Figure 2), and post-incident
investigations revealed the following:
The failure was caused by a pre-existing
lack of fusion manufacturing defect
within the ERW seam, which then grew
in-service by fatigue crack growth.
The pipeline was inspected with an
ultrasonic crack ILI tool in 2007, and an
anomaly had been detected at the failure
location. However, it was not included in

the ILI report.
2007 AND 2012 FEATURE

ASSESSMENT COMPARISON
Following the 2012 release, the 2007 crack ILI
data was reviewed to better understand why the
defect associated with the failure was not
reported. The review found that the ILI tool had
interpreted the anomaly as a benign
manufacturing feature, with the characteristics
identified being below required reporting
thresholds.
These findings were assessed against current
crack ILI analytical approaches to understand
potential consequences and requirements for
change. From 2007 to 2012, Enbridges crack
management programme had evolved considerably:
The ILI vendor had improved the
precision of its analysis algorithms when
classifying anomalies.
Enbridge had improved its crack ILI
excavation criteria to better account for
tool uncertainty when assessing feature
failure pressures.
The post-incident review found that given the
above changes, the defect attributed to the failure
would have been targeted for excavation under
2012 crack management criteria. This is
summarised in Table 1.
As a result of these findings, the entire 2007
data set was re-analysed, and subsequent
excavations were carried out.
In addition to the aforementioned analytical
advancements, crack ILI technology had evolved

considerably since 2007. Following the 2012
release, the pipeline was also re-inspected using a
newer generation tool. This allowed both an
updated condition assessment of the line, and an
opportunity to assess the capabilities of a recently
developed tool.
2012 CRACK ILI RESULTS

Based on the 2012 ILI run, 323 excavations
were conducted on Line 14 to investigate 602
ILI-reported features. These excavations found:
113 crack-related true positives (ILIreported features that were field verified),
with corresponding field measured depths.
481 true positives that were not crackrelated.
8 false positives (ILI-reported features that
did not have a corresponding field
indication).
0 false negatives (features that should have
been detected by ILI but were not).
To support identification of false negatives,
pipe joints targeted for excavation were
completely exposed, with all welds being
inspected. 396 features identified and measured in
the field were unreported by ILI. However, all of
these were below tool reporting thresholds, and
thus none were classified as false negatives.
The ILI validation process showed that:
Approximately 95 per cent of ILIreported features had field-measured
depths within +1 tolerance or shallower
(more conservative) than that reported by
the tool. A comparison of ILI and field
depth measurements is shown in Figure 3.
Approximately 95 per cent of true
positives with field-measured depths had
field predicted failure pressures higher
than that calculated using the tool.
Root cause analysis was conducted on ILI
outliers to understand variances, and the data was
calibrated in accordance with those outliers.
Completion of the 2012 crack management
programme signified that Line 14 was deemed
safe to operate. The ability to make this
assessment was based on having a statistically
relevant quantity of data obtained through
extensive field correlation with ILI results. This
enabled a thorough understanding of the
detection capabilities of the ILI tool.
FIGURE 1: Location of Line 14.
Crack Assessment
Year
Maximum
Operating Pressure
(MOP) (psi)
Calculated Failure
Pressure (psi)
Met Excavation
Criteria?
2007 approach
1378
2032
No
2012 approach
1378
1698
Yes
TABLE 1: Assessment of Failure Defect (2007 vs. 2012 Crack Management Criteria).
Advancements in analytics need to be retroactively

applied to previous data. This may involve
re-calibration of ILI data, or necessitate re-inspection
using newer crack ILI technology.
INSPECTION
INSPECTION
VALIDATION OF PROGRAMME
PERFORMANCE THROUGH
HYDROSTATIC TESTING
LESSONS LEARNED AND THE

EVOLVING APPROACH TO CRACK
MANAGEMENT
Following completion of the 2012 crack

management programme, hydrostatic testing was
conducted. Enbridge routinely undertakes these
tests upon completion of new construction
projects to verify readiness for operation.
However, once pipelines are in service, hydrostatic
testing is primarily used for scenarios where ILI
tool passage is not possible or an ILI technology
suited for the threat is either not available or not
deemed sufficiently reliable. For the case of Line
14, hydrostatic testing was used as an additional
validation of the crack management programmes
performance.
Based on an assessment of the portions of Line
14 that were susceptible to fatigue related failure,
approximately 317 km (197 miles) or 43 per cent
of the pipeline were tested. The hydrostatic test
was successfully completed without any leaks or
ruptures, confirming the effectiveness of the prior
crack management programme.
Maintaining the integrity of a pipeline requires

a safety management system approach and
multiple layers of protection. Learnings from the
2012 incident have been applied throughout
Enbridges programmes, with three areas being
highlighted as critical to effective crack
management:
FIGURE 2: 2012 failed pipe section.
Effective management of change

Advancements in analytics need to be
retroactively applied to previous data. This may
involve re-calibration of ILI data, or necessitate
re-inspection using newer crack ILI technology.
A robust management of change process needs to
be in place to ensure this is successfully achieved.
The post-incident review found that
modernised approaches to crack management
would have identified the feature, but the 2007
data was not re-assessed prior to the incident.
Enbridge now updates historical ILI data using
the newest analytics, and also examines the
impact that modern techniques would have had
on past incidents in a retroactive manner.
Extensive field validation of ILI

results
The strong confidence in the performance of
the 2012 crack management programme was a
result of extensive field data correlation with ILI
results. API 1163, which outlines ILI qualification
guidelines, reinforces the need to calibrate ILI
technology with statistically relevant quantities of
field data. The volume of data understood to be
required to achieve this increased significantly
from 2007 to 2012. Furthermore, in 2012 greater
emphasis was placed on ILI outliers and analysis
of their root causes. These developments allowed
a much higher level of certainty regarding the
integrity of the line prior to hydrostatic testing
than would have been possible in 2007.
It should be noted that API 1163 was revised in
2013 to reflect industry learnings since the
original 2005 edition, and it contains significant
updates on areas such as feature characterisation,
quality of field non-destructive examination, and
ILI vendor engagement regarding missed defects.
A data-driven reliability approach
FIGURE 3: 2012 ILI Tool Depth Trending.
Use of a data-driven integrity management

model enables the application of reliability
science principles, which provides a quantitative
assessment of ILI performance and uncertainty in
API 1163, which outlines ILI qualification guidelines,

reinforces the need to calibrate ILI technology with
statistically relevant quantities of field data.
a line. It is this modernised reliability engineering

approach that allowed hydrostatic testing to be
considered as an additional form of validation,
rather than a necessity. Hydrostatic testing is a
tool that may be leveraged in necessary cases
within a crack management programme;
however, a safe and effective integrity programme
can be achieved without expending the significant
resources required for this measure.
CONCLUSION
Crack ILI tools have been in use in North
America for over 20 years, and throughout that
timeframe there have been considerable
enhancements in crack detection and sizing
capabilities, data analysis techniques, and overall
execution of integrity management programmes.
The 2012 failure on Line 14 revealed that the
2007 crack management programme was
insufficient for establishing the integrity of the line.
It is only through implementing a comprehensive
crack management programme, in which safety
management principles are incorporated, that
crack ILI technology can be truly effective.
This case study highlights the criticality of:
Retroactively applying advancements in
analytics to previous ILI data to ensure
anomalies are appropriately identified.
Validating ILI tool performance using

extensive field data correlation, as
outlined in API 1163.
Embracing a data-driven integrity
management model, which enables
application of a reliability engineering
approach (this also positions hydrostatic
testing as an additional tool, rather than a
necessity).
It is important that operators continually assess
crack management programme performance, and
also share experiences and learnings through
communication and collaboration with the
industry, as part of ongoing efforts to improve
pipeline safety.
Disclaimer
Any information or data pertaining to Enbridge Employee
Services Canada Inc., or its affiliates, contained in this article
was provided to the authors with the express permission of
Enbridge Employee Services Canada Inc., or its affiliates.
Enbridge Employee Services Canada Inc. and its affiliates
and their respective employees, officers, director and agents
shall not be liable for any claims for loss, damage or costs, of
any kind whatsoever, arising from any errors, inaccuracies or
incompleteness of the information and data contained in this
article or for any loss, damage or costs that may arise from
the use or interpretation of this article.
This article is the second in a series of three to be published in Pipelines International detailing
Enbridges experience with best-in-class inspection technology and associated analytical
approaches. Details of the third article in the series, to be published in the March 2016
edition, are below:
Reliability engineering: a target-driven approach to integrity management
In the past several years, Enbridge has gathered an extensive amount of data from ILI,
investigative excavations, pipe replacements and hydrostatic tests. This collation of evidence,
and the analytics that have followed, have resulted in a data-driven model using principles
of reliability engineering to advance pipeline safety.
This methodology allows pipeline conditions to be objectively assessed in terms of the level
of remaining uncertainty by using probability statistics, which are benchmarked against
historical incident data. The effectiveness of additional measures such as hydrostatic testing
can be quantified, allowing operators to determine actions within an overall integrity
management programme decision framework in order to meet required thresholds of safety.
INSPECTION
INSPECTION
Unpiggable Forum offers solutions

for the industry
Dr Keith Leewis reports on the May 2015 event held in Houston, Texas
The Unpiggable Pipeline Solutions Forum (organised by Clarion Technical Conferences and Tiratsoo
Technical on 12-13 May) aims to present a range of practical and proven solutions that could provide some
inspiration when thinking about how to tackle a unique inspection difficulty, whether it is on- or offshore, or
found in a pipeline or a related facility.
A: Dr Keith Leewis (right) chaired the session at which

Harvey Haines gave his presentation.
B: Exhibitors found an audience who had an enthusiastic
interest in their technologies and services, as seen on
Platinum Sponsor Quests stand.
perators routinely use in-line inspection

(ILI) to monitor the integrity of their
pipelines. They all track internal
and external corrosion threats plus mechanical
deformation, but it is possible to address other
threats with ILI.
The first day of the Forum included a Q & A
session which allowed discussion of questions that
had been submitted in the registration
questionnaire and enabling participants orally to
articulate, or email (or tweet), some of their needs
and expectations to the moderator on stage.
A number of needs and desires were raised.
One question was to change the name from
unpiggable to challenging to inspect. Those
present thought unpiggable in the events main
title was apt; however, in recognition that all lines
are piggable, the organisers suggested the phrase
non-traditional approaches for internal

inspection of any pipeline would be a more
accurate description of the success presented over
both days.
The discussion raised considerably more
offshore-related questions than expected:
Can we provide examples of cost effective
external inspections?
Can we pig smaller-diameter NPS6 to
NPS18 pipe, for 25 miles (40 km)?
We used sonar bathymetry but really need
a better way to determine wall thickness.
Spot checks by divers and ROVs are a
start but we need a full UT survey for
integrity.
Eddy current works well for clad steels but
how can we find the pits? Do we have to
X-ray?
Each UPSF programme offers additional unique solutions and can help
determine what the problem is, address unique construction obstacles, and
envision alternate solutions.
Can we solicit an example to help me

confidently pig offshore deep water single
flow-line oil tie back?
How do I know if the line is clean
enough?
Are EMATs better than laser for IC
profile development?
Are there checklists that could help choose
what records to retain?
Since the presentations had already been
prepared, the authors were asked to keep these
questions in mind and, where appropriate, add
comments to help address these needs. This
programme arrangement appeared to be an
improvement over the prior Forum in which three
breakout sessions were organised with the aim of
encouraging smaller groups and lively discussions
before coming back and reporting to all.
The presentations during the Forum reported
multiple successful ILIs with different tools and
successful inspections in difficult sections of pipe.
Among topics discussed were:
Robotic tools for inspection of onshore gas
and oil facilities: one paper showed how a
tool was developed to navigate around
large dents and provide three-dimensional
profiles for analysis; another showed how
headers were inspected in a pump station

after cleaning and adding access.
Multiple case studies of on- and offshore
distribution pipelines provided helpful
practical successful examples.
Planning, scoping, and execution
experiences were discussed in the context
of a non-traditional ILI programme for
the inspection of pre-WWII pipelines and
other vintage onshore pipeline facilities.
Tool requirements for navigating telescoping
diameters and tight bends, as well as
addressing unique mechanical blockages
with alternate inspection technologies.
Planning experiences for small-diameter
(NPS 4 and NPS 8) offshore pipelines
between the subsea manifold and the
platform, including cleaning, tight bends,
heavy wall segments, pumps for bidirectional movement, storage tanks for
solvents, water, and dewatering liquids,
filters, temporary launchers and receivers.
New promising prototypes, including one
portable unit capable of measuring
mechanical properties across ERW and
other seam welds.
Alternate guided-wave tool experiences
for external inspection on- and offshore.

Eddy-current inspection of partially
buried offshore pipe.
Computed tomography, which provides
a C-Scan of the pipe, pipe bundles, and
their contents, such as scale build-up or
blockages.
Multi-disciplinary approaches to solving
offshore inspections.
Fracture mechanics to determine crack
detection criteria and a review of the
volumetric wall loss and crack sizing
technology improvements.
Alternatives to ILI for inspecting offshore
risers and pipelines.
The 2017 Unpiggable Pipeline Solutions
Forum (UPSF) is coming and new solutions that
solve difficult problems are always welcome for
instruction and discussion.
Each UPSF programme offers additional
unique solutions and can help determine what the
problem is, address unique construction obstacles,
and envision alternate solutions. Most smart
inspection tools travel on the inside of the pipe,
like pigs, but not all are internal. Think outside
the box and consider placing the inspection tool
on the outside of the pipe.
C: Dr Keith Leewis opens the Forum.
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
Interview with Professor

Andrew Palmer
Education is hugely important, and the industry

needs to take it more seriously.
Pipelines International Editor-in-Chief John Tiratsoo had

the recent privilege of sitting down with pipeline veteran
Professor Andrew Palmer. Professor Palmer has been
instrumental in subsea pipeline engineering design and
solutions and is the author of an impressive body of
work of pipeline literature.
JT: Your name is synonymous with the
well-known pipeline engineering
consultancy that has now become part
of the Penspen group. You formed your
consultancy in 1985: how did this come
about?
AP: It is not complicated! I was pushed out of
R.J. Brown and Associates. My respect and
admiration for Bob Brown did not falter, but
other people were involved. I talked to two or
three other consultants, but I decided that this
was the right moment to try being a consultant
on my own.
JT: What sparked your original interest

in subsea pipeline engineering? How
did you and Bob Brown, and the other
early pioneers of subsea pipeline
engineering, get together?
AP: That is a more complicated question, and it
includes many elements of luck. I had done a
PhD at Brown University (no relation!) in the
USA. That was on the application of plasticity
theory in geotechnics, nothing to do with
pipelines, but as a sideline I did some research
on frozen soil, which is a way of getting at the
thermodynamics of soil/water interaction. Five
years later Brown University wrote to me. It had
some money to support research on
environmental aspects of geotechnics,
remembered that I had worked on frozen soil,
and knew that the Alaska pipeline was much in
the news.
If I could somehow put that together, the
university could support me for a summer. I was
keen to go, so I networked with contacts in
Cambridge and went to see BPs pipeline
engineers in London. I told them that I was not
looking for money but that I was looking for an
interesting problem. Impressed by my nave

approach, they told me about differential
settlement on thawing permafrost, and said that
they would be interested if I had any results.
After a month I had made a little progress, and
went with the BP group to the project team in
Houston. A year later they called me again, a
phone call that changed my life. We have some
problems with underwater pipelines, they said.
That sounds awfully interesting, I replied, but
I dont know anything about underwater lines.
We think thats an advantage, youll bring a
fresh mind to it. Come up here tomorrow!
I knew nothing, so they had to start off by
telling me what a laybarge is. There were two
urgent problems, one the mechanics of laybarge
pipelaying and the other buckle propagation. I
was able to contribute something, and we went
on from there.
Four years after that, I was tired of university
teaching, and I thought that pipelines had given
me an opportunity to move into engineering
practice, and so I wrote to R.J. Brown and
Associates.
JT: After you and Andrew Palmer &

Associates had parted company, you
became the Jafar Research Professor of
Petroleum Engineering, and a Fellow of
Churchill College, at Cambridge
University in the UK. Had you always
been involved in petroleum engineering
as well as in pipelines, and how did
these two interests combine at the
University?
AP: Andrew Palmer & Associates and I had
parted company on good terms. I had built the
company from one person in a back bedroom to
55 people in three offices, I had sold it to SAIC,
and it was time to move on. One cannot work in

pipelines without becoming interested in other
aspects of the industry. It would be foolish to try
to be an expert in everything, but Cambridge
was trying to expand its engagement with
petroleum, several other departments were
working on it, and Hamid Jafar was keen and
generously supported my professorship.
JT: You subsequently were appointed

Professor in the Center for Offshore
Research and Engineering of the
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at the National University
of Singapore, which appears to be
another change of academic discipline.
In your time at this University, were
you able to pursue all your previous
interests in pipelines and petroleum
engineering, or did one or other of
them have to take a back seat?
AP: NUS let me do what I wanted. Pipelines
were a starting point, and I initiated a course
and got some truly excellent research students.
I picked up research on gas hydrates from
another professor who had left, and broadened
from that to start courses on petroleum, in a
stimulating collaboration with geologists.
JT: While at the University in Singapore,

and also now that you are living there
having retired from the University, you
are learning Cantonese. Is this an
enjoyable challenge for you, or are you
learning this language for other
reasons? Have you similarly challenged
yourself with learning other languages?
AP: Not Cantonese but standard Chinese, what
they call putonghua (common speech) and we
for some reason go on calling Mandarin. It is

certainly a challenge: the grammar is
extraordinarily simple, with no genders, no
singular and plural, no tenses, no conjugations,
but on the other hand I find the characters hard
to remember and the four tones difficult to get
right, especially for someone like me: completely
nonmusical. I am doing it for fun, not really
because I need it, because almost everyone in
Singapore speaks some English.
As for other languages, I did French and
Spanish at school, German hitch-hiking, in
workcamps, and because of a girl with a beautiful
smile (now a very old lady, I fear), Dutch, because
I didnt want to live somewhere and not belong
and be able to talk to my neighbours and
colleagues, and Russian for my research, so that I
can read theorems in applied mechanics but find
it difficult to order a glass of beer.
AP: Education is hugely important, and the

industry needs to take it more seriously. I think it
is best done by a combination of traditional
courses in core areas such as hydrodynamics and
structures, concentrated short courses on
specialised bits of the subject, and most of all
hands-on experience in design and construction.
Online courses certainly have a role.
JT: As well as your pipeline engineering

consultancy work, you are also well
known for your Subsea Pipeline
Engineering course that you have
developed with Dr Roger King and
which has been made into an
eponymously titled textbook, now in its
second edition. How did this training
course originate, and how did you get
to know Dr King in this context?
AP: It is for other people to judge achievement.

The areas I have most enjoyed are buckle
propagation, Arctic pipeline construction (with
Bob Brown), ploughs (with Allan Reece), and ice
forces on offshore structures.
AP: Roger King and I were both working at

UMIST (the University of Manchester Institute
for Science and Technology), and it was
encouraging academic staff to put on short
courses. We tried it, thinking we might run the
course once or twice and then the market would
be used up. Thirty years later we are still doing
it, though the course has changed a great deal
and we are constantly trying new things.
JT: What are your views about the

importance of training and mentoring
in the pipeline industry? Other than
degree or post-degree academic
courses, are conventional training
courses such as your own one the best
way of helping those in the industry to
improve their knowledge, or do you see
a better way of doing this in the future?
JT: Many of your subsea pipeline

engineering designs and solutions have
resulted in developments that were
previously unfeasible, and you have
published many papers featuring
elegant engineering solutions to
difficult problems, among which has
been your work on icebergs and their
seabed-scour potential. Which of these
do you see as your greatest
achievement, and why?
JT: What challenges does the subsea

pipeline industry have yet to meet, and
will it be able to conquer them?
AP: The challenge is to do things faster and
more cheaply.
In 1944 there was a requirement to construct
small-diameter pipelines across the sea between
England and France, some 100 km wide and up
to 100 m deep, in order to supply the Allied
armies with gasoline. A pipeline had to be
constructed in a single night. The engineers
assigned to the problem came up with two
original and radically different ideas. The first
trial was a week after the first meeting. Twenty
pipelines were built over the following year.
None of that could be done in 2016, more than
70 years later: is it because we know so much
more about it? I think we need to find ways of
thinking adventurously, and to encourage
innovation rather than discouraging it. But
perhaps that is a subject for another day?
Professor Andrew Palmer

Professor Andrew Palmer is known for
his contributions to pipelines and the
offshore industry, his work as a professor
of engineering, and his successes in
engineering consulting.
Prof. Palmer earned his Bachelors degree
in engineering from Cambridge University
in the UK in 1961 and his doctorate in
engineering from Brown University in the
USA in 1965. He spent the next 10 years
in research and teaching at the Universities
of Liverpool and Cambridge. In 1970
he became interested in pipelines, first in
differential settlement induced by thawing
permafrost as part of design studies for
the Alaska Pipeline, and later in several
structural questions that arose in the
construction of the Forties Pipeline in the
North Sea.
In 1975, Prof. Palmer joined R.J. Brown
and Associates, the leading consultant
in underwater pipelines. He worked on
underwater ploughs, pipeline construction,
and new techniques for Arctic pipelines.
He was the project manager for the first
Arctic offshore pipeline, built off the coast
of Melville Island in Canada.
In 1985 Prof. Palmer founded Andrew
Palmer and Associates, a company of
consulting engineers specialising in marine
pipelines. It became engaged in pipeline
projects on every continent. After selling
his company in 1993, he remained as
technical director until he returned to
university teaching as Jafar Research
Professor of Petroleum Engineering at
Cambridge University in 1996. He was
a visiting professor in the Division of
Engineering and Applied Sciences at
Harvard University in 2002-2003. Prof.
Palmer retired from Cambridge in 2005
and became Keppel Chair Professor in
the Department of Civil Engineering at
the National University of Singapore, and
retired again in 2015.
Prof. Palmer is a Fellow of the Royal
Society, a Fellow of the Royal Academy
of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution
of Civil Engineers, a Chartered Engineer,
and a member of the Society of Petroleum
Engineers. He is the author of five books
and more than 270 papers on pipelines,
offshore engineering, geotechnics and ice.
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
LEFT: The pipeline was laid by the worlds largest
pipelaying vessel, Solitaire from Allseas.
All images source: Statoil.
Record-breaking
Polarled Pipeline
opens up new gas route
The final pipe was recently laid in the Statoil-operated Polarled Pipeline,
which will open up a new highway for gas from the Norwegian Sea to
Europe.
tatoil will be tapping into the rich resources

in the Norwegian continental shelf and
transporting the gas via a subsea gas
pipeline to the shore of Norway, in the worlds
deepest laying operation for the size of pipe.
The 482.4 km, 36 inch pipeline was laid at a
depth of 1,260 m and lays claim to a host of
record achievements.
The Polarled Pipeline extends from Aasta
Hansteen to Nyhamna, north of Bergen in
southern Norway. The pipeline will facilitate the
development of Aasta Hansteen and other fields
in the Norwegian Sea.
The pipeline is the first on the Norwegian
continental shelf that crosses the Arctic Circle,
and will also be the deepest pipeline on the
Norwegian continental shelf by the Aasta
Hansteen field the water depth is 1,260 m.
According to Statoil, it will be the first time a 36
inch pipe is laid in such deep waters anywhere in
the world.
The project includes expansion of the
Shell-operated gas plant at Nyhamna. A separate
pipeline between Polarled and the Kristin
platform will connect new infrastructure to
existing infrastructure on Haltenbanken (sgard
Transportation). In addition, preparations will be
made for the tie-in of existing and future
discoveries in the area.
FIELD DEVELOPMENT
The Aasta Hansteen field will be run from
Harstad, Statoils new Operations North organisation.
The supply base will be located in Sandnessjen and

the helicopter base in Brnnysund.
Field development includes a SPAR platform,
the first such installation on the Norwegian
continental shelf. SPAR is a floating installation
consisting of a vertical column moored to the
seabed. The installation features conventional
topsides with processing facilities. The risers
transporting the gas from the seabed to the
platform and further to Polarled will be pure steel,
which will be first of its kind on the Norwegian
continental shelf. The hull will be fitted with
storage for condensate, and the condensate will be
loaded to shuttle tankers at the field.
ACHIEVEMENT IN THE ARCTIC

CIRCLE
In August, the gas pipeline construction project
reported crossing 66 degrees and 33 minutes
north of the equator, becoming the first pipeline
to take Norwegian gas infrastructure across the
Arctic Circle, opening a new gas highway from
the Norwegian Sea to Europe.
With this pipeline, we open up the export of
gas to Europe from a completely new area,
Polarled development Project Director Hkon
Ivarjord said.
RECORD PIPELAYING
Adding to the impressive scale of this project,
the Polarled Pipeline was laid by the worlds
largest pipelaying vessel, Solitaire from Dutch
installation contractor Allseas.
PROJECTS
11-14 APRIL 2016
GULF CONVENTION CENTRE, BAHRAIN

A
Pipeline Operations & Management Middle East - POMME 2016 is a major,

multi-track conference that will bring together experts from within and
outside the Middle East to discuss some of the latest technologies and
concepts for maintaining and operating oil and gas pipelines in the most
efficient, cost effective, and professional manner, while taking account of the
environmental and other concerns of the communities through which they pass.
C
The pipelaying work commenced in March this
year and consists of more than 40,000 pipes, each
of which is 12 m in length. The pipelines
capacity will be up to 70 MMm3/d of gas.
During the start-up in March the pipeline was
pulled in to Nyhamna and during September,
arrived at the Aasta Hansteen field.
DEVELOPING THE NORWEGIAN

GAS INDUSTRY
In late 2012 Statoil, together with the other
Leading international speakers will be presenting papers covering a wide

range of topics within the four technical streams. The papers will be of the
highest standard and deal with the current issues facing the industry.
D
partners in Polarled, submitted the plan for the
pipelines installation and operation to the
Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The
investment for the Polarled development is
estimated at US$4.38 billion.
Initially, only gas from Aasta Hansteen will be
transported through Polarled, however the
pipeline has space for more.
We have therefore installed six connection
points or future slip roads to the new gas
highway, said Mr Ivarjord.
Polarled will open up for gas export to Europe

from a completely new gas province, and with the
infrastructure in place it will also be more
attractive to explore the surrounding area.
PLATINUM ELITE SPONSOR
A: Welding on the Polarled project.

B AND C: During operations, it took six boats in shuttle
traffic to keep the two cranes on Solitaire supplied with
pipe around the clock. Each pipe is 12.2 m long and weighs
1215 tonnes and the pipelaying vessel laid around 4 km
of pipes a day. This meant that it needed a supply of more
than 300 pipes a day, filling two to three boats every day.
D: Pipe with this diameter has never before been laid this
deep. Polarled will also be the deepest pipeline on the
Norwegian continental shelf.
www.clarion.org
ORGANIZERS
Cased pipeline
integrity
management
By Murielle Bouchardy and Karine Kutrowski, Bureau
Veritas, Paris, France; and Anne Chauvancy and
Christophe Drevond, TIGF, Pau, France
Frances Bureau Veritas and TIGF have developed a smart sampling
approach which delivers better allocation of inspection resources for the
integrity management of cased pipelines.
ased pipelines present operators with

a particular problem for asset integrity
management. They are safe and
protected by their casings, and so should have
an extremely low failure rate. At the same time,
however, the casing makes inspection and repair
expensive and consumes a lot of resources.
There have been occasional incidents of cased
pipe failure, so they cannot be ignored. The
problem operators and regulators face is to find
a proportional and pragmatic way to allocate
inspection resources so that potential failures of
cased sections of pipeline are found before they
become a problem, while not wasting inspection
resources.
The answer lies in a risk-based approach which
identifies different types of cased pipeline and
different threat environments, categorises them
into corrosion families with the same corrosion
behaviour, then uses a Bayesian approach to
develop a smart sampling rate. Enough sections
of cased pipe of each type have to be opened up
for inspection to give a reasonable certainty that
they present a statistically valid picture of the
condition of the whole family, but no more
than that.
RISK-BASED APPROACH
TIGF, a gas transmission operator with an
extensive pipeline network in France, decided to
build an integrity system for its network and chose
Bureau Veritas as its partner to develop its
risk-based approach since 2006. Specific work
about cased pipelines began in 2014 and the
baseline data gathering for the integrity system
implementation is currently underway.
A cased pipeline is a section of pipe protected

by a casing that acts as a mechanical barrier.
These usually appear at crossing points with road
or rail and the sheathing material may be
concrete, steel, or, in exceptional cases, some
other material. Some of these sections of cased
pipe may be inspectable by pigging, but many are
not fitted to this type of inspection method due to
shape, size or fluid conditions.
ECDA (External Corrosion Direct Assessment)
can give a one shot picture of pipeline condition,
and other methods such as endoscopy and guided
waves can be used to assess some sections or parts
of them. Unfortunately, none of these methods
give a full, reliable and ongoing picture of the
condition of the entirety of the cased pipes. The
only way to do that is to dig them up, open the
casing and physically inspect the pipeline.
Opening casings is expensive and time
consuming, but international best practices based on
risk-based methods are acceptable. These can be
coupled with a sampling regime that means only a
limited number of cased pipes need to be opened to
give confidence in the integrity of the network.
A correctly-configured system will include a
self-feedback mechanism which incorporates the
results of sampling and inspection to adjust the
risk levels of each corrosion family, and so in turn
adjust the inspection rates. The model innovates
itself constantly as inspection results reinforce
confidence in the model or are used to adjust the
model to what is discovered on the ground.
DATA COLLECTION
Building the asset integrity system for cased
pipes begins with collecting the data on all the
different types of cased pipe within the system,

and building risk trees showing the threats to each
type. Age, the presence of water table, and
coating type are some of many determinants of
risk level.
A good database is needed to collate the data
and threat types that can then be analysed to
divide the cased pipelines into families, which we
call ISO-Groups. Each ISO-Group gathers
different systems with similar corrosion behaviour
and characteristics and similar criticality of
failure. We set five different threshold levels of
corrosion behaviour to enable us to divide the full
system into manageable ISO-Groups with
statistically similar potential of failure. Setting the
correct threshold corrosion levels or KPIs is vital,
as these are correlated with other characteristics
such as age and presence of water to determine
into which ISO-Group each section of cased pipe
should fall.
The sampling rate for each ISO-Group is then

determined. We chose to use the approach set out
in ISO 2059, which imposes a sampling rate of
between zero per cent for ISO-Groups with very
low potential of failure, to 100 per cent for
ISO-Groups with a very high risk level.
In practice, for the TIGF network, this
produces a zero rate for just under half the
network and inspection rates of between two
and nine per cent for the bulk of the
remainder.
This sampling rate should provide the
confidence that the model reflects the condition
of the network. If initial samples do not confirm
this then the model can be recalibrated by
adjusting the threshold risk levels or KPIs, which
will feed through to a higher, or lower, targeted
inspection campaign rate.
A: Opening a cased pipeline is time consuming.
CAPTURING INSPECTION DATA

We are still working on ways to capture and feed
back the inspection data, and, as the data collection
continues across the system, we expect to modify
the model. This is one benefit of the system; that it
is alive and can change as data changes. The heart
of the model is the correct assessment of risk and
the identification of each section of pipe and its
environment so that it is placed in the appropriate
ISO-Group. The model and system has been
developed for TIGF but its principles are equally
applicable to other networks, other databases, and
other regulatory environments.
The ISO-Group system will deliver confidence
for both operator and regulator that the integrity
of cased pipelines is being managed effectively
while delivering an optimum allocation of
inspection resources.
B: Excavations may be required.

C: Inspecting a cased pipeline.
Bureau Veritas is a world leader in

testing, inspection, and certification
services. It delivers a wide range of
risk-based asset integrity management
solutions for O&G operators.
For more information go to
www.bureauveritas.com
TIGF is a natural gas storage and
gas transport company operating two
underground storage tanks and more
than 5,000 km of pipelines in France.
For more information go to
www.tigf.fr
RISK MANAGEMENT
RISK MANAGEMENT
Certifications:
The Leaning Tree Incident
By W. Kent Muhlbauer, WKM
Consulting, Austin, TX, USA
risk estimation by assuming perfect information

inputs allows a better evaluation of the
appropriateness and capability of the risk
estimation itself. The role of data accuracy is very
important but confuses the evaluation of other
components.
An operator recently experienced damage to their

pipeline when a metal pipeline marker post was driven
into the ground by a falling tree the leaning tree
incident. This is certainly not a common pipeline failure
scenario. How much criticism against a risk assessment is
warranted if this obscure event is missed?
CERTIFICATION
With growth in both the number of pipelines
and their neighbouring receptors, there is more at
stake from pipeline failures. Formal pipeline risk
management is now an essential aspect of owning
and operating pipeline facilities. Stakeholders are
requiring increasing levels of assurance that the
risk management programme is truly effective.
This article begins a discussion on certification of
risk management processes, i.e., gaining
assurances for stakeholders that currently used
processes are at least appropriate, if not robust
and optimum.
Terms like validation, verification, and
calibration, while not universally defined, logically
seem intertwined. Lets adopt the term certification
to cover all and say that a certified process is one
that meets or exceeds minimum acceptability
requirements. More on that in a later article.
FOCUS ON RISK ESTIMATION
For more information visit

www.pipelinerisk.net
Until a long track record demonstrates how

well risk management was done, a programmes
effectiveness is best evaluated in terms of its
components. First and foremost, good risk
management requires good risk assessment. If the
risk is not well understood, how can management
of risk be effective? So, assurance of good risk
management logically begins with an examination
COMPLETENESS
of the embedded risk assessment process.

Risk assessment involves the general steps of
data collection, data integration, assignment of
values for missing information, and production of
risk estimates. As a first step in certifying an
overall risk assessment, it makes sense to begin
with the last task producing risk estimates.
Why focus on risk estimation, i.e., the risk
models, first? Two compelling reasons include
that 1) it is a current area of US regulator
concern and 2) good risk estimation offers some
assurance of effective downstream processes.
The first general question in the certification
effort is: Can the risk assessment model produce
true risk values? That is our topic now. For future
certification steps, the words does and will
replace can in the same question. Answering this
requires subsequent evaluation of the other parts
of the overall risk management process again, a
future topic.
Ideally, subjectivity will be largely removed
from the certification process. In this first
certification step, objectivity is achieved by having
certification-seekers produce risk estimates from a
set of information for which the risk issues are
well known. That is, perform a risk assessment
with a standardised, assumed-accurate dataset
and compare results with the previouslydetermined risks. Isolating the mechanics of the
It is not practical to capture all possible risk

issues in a certification or test dataset. Therefore,
a test using a provided dataset will likely not prove
model performance against all possible risk issues.
Think again about our leaning tree incident.
At first glance, it is tempting to say that missing a
one-in-a-million threat like that is not as serious
as missing a more frequent threat. However, what
is generally a miniscule threat when viewing
thousands of miles of pipe over many years can
be the primary threat for a specific location at a
specific time. The one-in-a-million scenario is
only appropriately ignored when it truly is that
low everywhere (and will not become significant
when aggregated).
OPPORTUNITY FOR
COMPLETENESS
For certification purposes, we make a
distinction between actually recording the threat
versus having the opportunity to record the
threat. If we see the dead tree leaning over the
marker post directly over the pipeline, but have
no way to capture this in the risk assessment, the
risk assessment is flawed. On the other hand, a
risk assessment that is ready to capture and assess
this obscure scenario meets minimum
requirements, even if that threat was not input.
Falling objects should already be a consideration,
and this particular scenario should be additive to
all similar scenarios e.g. falling buildings, utility
poles, rockslides, etc. All threats are analysed via
independent evaluations of the exposure,
What is generally a miniscule threat when viewing

thousands of miles of pipe over many years can be
the primary threat for a specific location at a specific
time.
mitigation, and resistance elements

(see previous articles).
ACCURACY
So, a certification-seeker has produced risk
estimates using their risk estimation processes on
the test data. What if their risk estimates differ
significantly from the benchmark results? Without
agreement on true risk estimates, how can
certification be accomplished? The answer is that
correct risk assessments can produce a wide
range of risk estimates for exactly the same
scenario, depending on factors such as:
assumptions employed when information
is missing or weak
target level of conservatism desired.
Furthermore, since our risk estimates must
contain elements of probability, we will usually
not know their true accuracy for decades, so
insistence on matching certain numeric values is
not appropriate. For certification purposes, as for
many other uses, the risk profile is the key. The
profile is often the most useful output of the risk
assessment. This means it is also a central element
of a certification.
A profile shows changes in risk along the
pipeline route and demonstrates aspects central to
acceptability of risk estimation:
locations of directional changes (up or down)

magnitudes of changes
drivers of changes
aggregations of multiple issues at the
same location
comparisons between any points
comparisons between similar pipelines
(e.g., perhaps identical routes with
different products or operating
characteristics).
All of these profile-demonstrated aspects
should be fully consistent with the underlying
science and engineering of the pipelines failure
potential. That is what makes the risk estimation
process acceptable and worthy of certification.
Matching exact numerical estimates of risk are
not necessary other objective criteria that allow
for numerical differences can be employed.
GAINING CERTIFICATION
To conclude this initial discussion, lets
recognise that 1) growing stakeholder concerns
can be at least partially addressed by independent
evaluation of pipeline risk management processes
and 2) producing a fair and useful evaluation of
risk management processes requires some thought
and planning. As described here, the effort is
underway!
UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
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811 February 2016,

Marriott Westchase Hotel,
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How to get the most out of the

2016 PPIM Conference and
Exhibition
Now in its 28th year, the Pipeline Pigging and Integrity Management (PPIM) Conference and Exhibition, being
held on 8-11 February, attracts over 2,000 attendees active in the pipeline integrity sector from around the
world. As official media partner of the event, Pipelines International provides you with some tips to get the most
out of the four-day event.
eld annually in Houston, Texas, USA,

the PPIM Conference and Exhibition
is the worlds only forum devoted
exclusively to pigging for maintenance and
inspection, and pipeline integrity evaluation and
repair.
The event is supported widely by the industry,
including major event sponsors ROSEN, RCS
NDE Specialists, Precision Pigging, SGS, NDT
Global, Integrity Solutions NDE, A.Hak,
N-SPEC Pipeline Services, T.D. Williamson, and
RSH Energy.
The event draws engineering management and
field operating personnel from both transmission
and distribution companies concerned with
improved operations and integrity management.
Organised by long-standing pipeline industry
training and conference providers Clarion
Technical Conferences and Tiratsoo Technical,
the event is designed to provide attendees with the

opportunity to tailor a programme to meet their
needs whether interested in in-depth learning,
industry and technology overviews, or hands-on
discussions about the latest products and services.
TIP 1: UPGRADE YOUR SKILLS TO

INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICE
A range of technical training courses will
precede the PPIM conference, allowing delegates
the opportunity to upgrade their skills to industry
best practice.
In an industry driven by innovation, keeping
your skills up-to-date is crucial. The technical
training courses are an excellent opportunity to
make sure that your industry capabilities are
taken to the next level.
The courses will run from 8-9 February and
will include:
TIP 3: REVIEW THE EXHIBITION

FLOORPLAN AND HIGHLIGHT
COMPANIES OF INTEREST
The sold-out exhibition is an excellent chance
to see the latest products first hand and speak
one-on-one with company representatives who
can provide tailored advice to specific queries.
In 2015, over 100 of the worlds top providers
of pigging, ILI, and integrity management
services will be represented, so it is important that
you know where the companies you are interested
in are located.
See the floorplan on pages 52 and 53.
A: Delegates at the 2015 PPIM Conference.

B: The exhibition hall provides a great opportunity to
network with other industry professionals.
C: Delegates the latest products with PPIM exhibitors.
D: Technical papers at the conference will cover a variety of
topics. Turn to page 54 for more information.
Defect Assessment in Pipelines

Pipeline Integrity Management
Pigging and In-line Inspection (ILI)
Advanced Pipeline Risk Management
DOT Pipeline Safety Regulations
overview and guidelines for compliance
Introduction to Excavation Inspection
and Applied NDE for Pipeline Integrity
Assessment
Defect Assessment Calculations Workshop
Pipeline Repair Methods, Hot Tapping
and In-service Welding
Managing Cracks and Seam Weld
Anomalies on Pipelines.
TIP 4: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Full details of the courses, including the

syllabuses and information on course presenters,
can be found at www.ppimhouston.com
TIP 2: PLAN YOUR CONFERENCE

SESSIONS AHEAD OF TIME
PPIMs strong history ensures the conference
attracts the industrys best speakers to its
programme. Technical papers will cover utility
tools and new applications, ILI interpretation,
cracks and their identification, welds and
materials, offshore issues, risk assessment, ILI data
assessment, and a number of case studies.
This year, the PPIM conference programme
will again include a two-stream section on Day 2.
Make sure to carefully review the papers in each
so you dont miss out on your topic of choice.
See the draft conference programme on pages
54 to 55. Updates will also be available on
Clarions website leading up to the event.
The exhibition is also a great place for

networking opportunities not only throughout the
day, but also at evening networking receptions.
Dont miss out on your chance to re-connect
with management and field operating personnel
from transmission companies concerned with
improved operations and integrity management,
product and service providers, and researchers
and developers leading the way in technology
innovations for the industry.
HOW TO REGISTER
Registrations are available now via the event
website: www.ppimhouston.com
Make sure you start 2015 informed of the latest
practices and products shaping the pigging and
in-line management industry register before
4 January 2016 for the PPIM Conference early
bird discount.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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GOLD SPONSOR
NDT Global provides in-line inspections (ILIs) operating with a group of highly
skilled pipeline specialists. For offshore and onshore ILI, NDT offers highresolution magnetic-flux leakage and ultrasonic wall-thickness and crack-detection
tools. NDT also provides sophisticated mapping, data- integration and data-management
capabilities.
Visit NDT Global at booths 114 and 116.
Enduro is a vertically integrated manufacturer/supplier of all
types of pipeline scraper metal body, uni-body (all uerathane) for
uni-directional and bi-directional applications used to clean and
maintain pipe international surfaces, complete line of attachments
offered to accomplish all pigging applications and uses.
Visit Enduro Pipeline Services at booths 211, 213, 215, 310, 312 and 314.
EXIT
PATIO SEATING
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SILVER SPONSOR
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PLATINUM SPONSOR
Precision Pigging is pleased to be a Platinum Sponsor of PPIM 2016. Providing high-resolution geometry/
deformation services to the pipeline industry for over 15 years, Precision Pigging continues to experience an
Precision Pigging, LLC
extraordinary rate of growth. State-of-the-art technology, ongoing research and development, and commitment to
providing the highest level of customer service distinguish Precision Piggings approach to integrity management.
Rapid onsite deployment capabilities with single-contact project management allows Precision Pigging to meet the scheduledependent needs of their clients with ease. 2016 will mark a new era of further growth for Precision Pigging.
Visit Precision Pigging at booths 117, 119, 128 and 129.
Quest Integrity Group provides turnkey pipeline integrity management services, including highly
accurate, technology-enabled inspection and advanced assessment solutions focused on unpiggable
and difficult to inspect pipelines, as well as project management and in-line inspection support.
InVistaTM is an ultrasonic in-line inspection technology that accommodates 324 inch diameters,
is bi-directional and provides 100 per cent overlapping coverage of geometry and metal-loss features in a single pass.
LifeQuestTM Pipeline software provides advanced fitness-for-service assessment using 100 per cent of the inspection
data. The advanced inspection and assessment solution provides maximum allowable operating pressure for the entire
pipe length and follows API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 local thinning assessment methodology. Quest Integrity Group is a
TEAM Industrial Services company.
Visit Quest Integrity Group at booths 132 and 133.
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Clock Spring will be exhibiting several products at PPIM 2016. As always, the original Clock
Spring for pipeline repairs and reinforcement will be the focal point, in addition to several
derivative products. New to the Clock Spring booth this year will be the demonstration of
the Conformable Eddy Current Array. The array is a corrosion mapping tool used to create a digital rubbing of corrosion
on a pipeline. The device can quickly scan, map, and calculate maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) in a matter
of seconds, and the files can be easily emailed from a laptop computer that is used in the field. The array is essential to
confirming in-line inspection data and MAOP verification.
Visit Clock Spring at booth 218.
HIGH RESOLUTION PIPELINE GEOMETRY/DEFORMATIVE SERVICES
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PLATINUM ELITE SPONSOR

Rosen is a leading, privately-owned, company providing innovative product and
service solutions for the inspection, integrity and rehabilitation of complex oil
and gas infrastructures. For over 30 years, the company has provided the industry with advanced
inspection solutions to ensure safe and economical operation of a wide range of assets and facilities.
The Rosen Group operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 2,000 people.
Visit Rosen at booths 201 and 300.
SILVER SPONSOR
Attending PPIM 2016 next February? If so, you probably know that this
international exhibition and conference provides attending operators with
exceptional technical presentations and hands-on opportunities. However, did you
also know that this years attendees will benefit from several new opportunities to
further their professional development, increase the throughput of their systems, and ensure
the long-term integrity of their assets? Global pipeline service provider T.D. Williamson will be
in attendance as an event Silver sponsor to present topics such as acquiring actionable in-line
inspection data in low-pressure, low-flow conditions, as well as to provide one-on-one training for
revenue-driving technologies, such as automated pig launching and receiving. Schedule time in
advance with a TDW expert: TDWonTour@tdwilliamson.com
Visit TDW at booths 120, 122 and 124.
704
603
Pigs Unlimited International, Inc. has been a trusted manufacturer of pipeline pigs
for over 20 years, but as its unlimited name suggests, the company offers much more.
Stop by Pigs Unlimiteds booth to check out its full line of innovative pigging products
which include several styles of closures, launcher/receivers, pig detectors, revolutionary
transmitters and receivers as well as the companys new disposable transmitters,
featuring industry leading run-time and a completely sealed body at a reasonable price.
Visit Pigs Unlimited at booths 316 and 217.
507 509
EXIT
MEN
BREAK
Check out the latest technology, products and services at the PPIM
Exhibition. Over 100 of the worlds top providers of pigging, in-line
inspection, and integrity management services will be represented. Here,
Pipelines International highlights its key supporters in attendance, and the
events major sponsors.
GOLD SPONSOR
60
PPIM Exhibitors
UPCOMING EVENTS
T-26
T-27 T-29 T-31 T-33
T-8
T-25
T-28 T-30 T-32 T-34
T-9
T-24
T-10
T-23
T-11
LUNCH & BREAK STATION
BAR
T-22
T-13
T-20
T-14
SILVER SPONSOR
EXIT
ONLY
T- 16 T- 15
Halfwave is a global leader in inspection services based on acoustic resonance technology to the oil
and gas industry. The companys Pipeline and Subsea Inspection division offers services including
the ART Gas Scanner and other services under development.
Visit Halfwave at booth 410.
T-12
T-21
T- 19 T- 18 T- 17
STATS Group is a specialist engineering company and service provider that

operates in the field of piping and pipeline integrity and maintenance. STATS
provides full-service capability for the maintenance, repair and modification of
oil and gas installations and pipelines, on- and offshore. Its range of products and
services enables piping and pipeline isolation, intervention, inspection, repair,
connection, and testing work scopes.
Visit STATS Group at booths 109 and 111.
SILVER SPONSOR
Girard Industries
has been a leading
manufacturer of
pipeline pigs since 1968 and continues
to manufacture a full line of pipeline
cleaning pigs including steel-mandrel
pigs, polyurethane spheres, polly-pigs,
soli-cast polyurethane Turbo Pigs, as well
as replacement cups and discs for any pig
on the market. Girards product line also
includes spheres cups and discs in both
neoprene and nitrile, pig detectors, pig
tracking equipment, and other piggingrelated products.
Visit Girard Industries at booth 705.
Champion Process Inc. (CPI) is a global leader in pipeline

filtration and process equipment. Whether a project requires
the removal of pipe scale, or dirt or debris to prevent damaging
downstream equipment, CPI has the solution.
Visit CPI at booths 503 and 505.
Power Associates International, Inc. provides a
single source for a complete line of hydrostatic
testing equipment and supplies. Much of
its equipment is also available for rental and export. The company has
30 years in the business, serving the needs of the pipeline industry, and
is in a unique position to assist in solving your problems quickly and
cost effectively. The company utilises its engineering and technological
expertise, as well as practical experience derived on-site, to deliver a holistic
solution that provides all equipment and supplies for pipeline testing.
Visit Power Associates International at booth 411.
UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
Thursday 11 February
PPIM Conference Programme

Technical papers at the PPIM Conference will cover utility tools and new applications, ILI interpretation,
cracks and their identification, welds and materials, offshore issues, risk assessment, ILI data assessment, and a
number of case studies. See below for the events draft programme at the time of print. Visit the PPIM website
for updates closer to the event, www.ppimhouston.com
Crack topics
Data topics
8:00
[16] Lessons learned from ILI-to-field data

comparisons
by Dr Tom Bubenik, Matt Ellinger, and
Pamela Moreno, DNV GL, Dublin, OH,
USA
[23] Successful management of the pipeline

cracking threat using an ultrasonic ILI tool:
a case study
by Millan Sen, Enbridge Pipelines,
[30] Big-data analytics applied to pipeline

management
Mauricio Palomino, GE Oil and Gas, USA,
Matt Nicholson, Columbia Pipeline Group,
USA, and Elaine Horn, Accenture, USA
8:30
[17] Utilizing spray-pig technology to treat

top-of-the-line corrosion
by Stephen Miska, Woody Smith, and Eric
Freeman, T.D. Williamson, Tulsa, OK, USA
[24] Detection and depth sizing of

stress-corrosion cracking in pipelines using
tangential-eddy-current array
by Jol Crpeau, Eddyfi NDT Inc, Canada
[31] Utilizing modern data and technologies

for pipeline risk assessment
by David Mangold and Ryan Huntley,
Integrity Plus, USA
9:00
[18] Sensors on everything: a new strategy

for pipeline inspection
by Steve Banks, i2i Pipelines Ltd, UK
[25] Deterministic and probabilistic

approaches for scheduling mitigations of
crack-like anomalies
by Jing Ma and Michael Rosenfeld, Kiefner/
Applus-RTD, Columbus, OH, USA
[32] Overcoming missing or incomplete

pipeline data in ageing assets
by Chuck Harris, T.D. Williamson, Houston,
TX, USA
9:30
Coffee
Tuesday 9 February
Exhibition opens, 5:00 pm Reception in Exhibition
Wednesday 10 February
8:30
Introduction
8:45
[1] Competency in engineering

by Michelle Unger, Rosen Group, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and Dr Phil Hopkins, Phil Hopkins Ltd, Whitley Bay, UK
9:15
[2] Benefits of automated pigging

by Roxy Mounter, WeldFit Energy Group, USA, and David Wint, Audubon Field Solutions, USA
9:45
[3] Automated pigging systems: what are the real benefits?

by Abdel M. Zellou and Dr Mike Kirkwood, T.D. Williamson, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and P.J. Robinson, T.D. Williamson, Tulsa, OK, USA
10:15
Coffee
11:00
[4] Hydrotesting and ILI: now and the future

by Dr Mike Kirkwood, T.D. Williamson, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Jerry Rau, RCP, Houston, TX, USA
11:30
[5] Rational test pressure levels for mitigating the pipe manufacturing defect integrity threat in natural-gas pipelines
by Michael Rosenfeld and Jing Ma, Kiefner/Applus-RTD, Columbus, OH, USA
12:00
[6] A predictive model for optimizing hydrostatic test pressures in seam-welded pipelines
by Dr Ted Anderson, Team Industrial Services, Denver, CO, USA
12:30
Lunch
1:30
[13] Caliper ILI experience in deep water: the Brazil pre-salt area
by Vinicius Lima, Jose Augusto da Silva, and Rodrigo Antunes,
PipeWay Engenharia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2:00
[8] A case study on intelligent pigging at CB/OS2

by Satish Jami, Cairn India Ltd, India
[14] Implementing a pipeline-integrity-management system for life

extension of the mature offshore NW Java field
by DedyIskandar, PT Pertamina Hulu Energi, Indonesia
2:30
[9] Robotic ILI of a Transco pipeline in an urban area

by Casey Lajaunie, Williams, USA, and Jonny Minder, Diakont,
USA
[15] ILI concept studies for challenging offshore systems

by Michael Schorr, Rosen Technology & Research Centre, Lingen,
Germany
3:00
Coffee
3:30
[10] Better data: methodologies and best-practices for achieving

higher-quality inspection results
by Ron Maurier, Quest Integrity, Denver, CO, USA
4:00
[11] A validated assessment methodology for dent fatigue

by Aaron Lockey, Penspen, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
4:30
[12] Risk maturity: moving towards risk as a competitive advantage

by Matthew Hastings and Matt Bayne, Williams, Oklahoma City,
OK, USA
Panel Session
In-Ditch NDE Technologies for Detecting and Sizing Cracks
and Seam-Weld Anomalies
Moderator: Sergio Lmon, Stress Engineering Services
Panelists:
Stephen Cox, SGS Pipeline Integrity Assured Solutions
Harvey Haines, Applus RTD / IWEX
Shayan Haque, JENTEK Sensors
Sean Riccardelli, Riccardelli Consulting Services (RCS)
Greg Schow, Athena Industrial Services/ECHO 3D
Martin Theriault, Eddyfi
End of day: Reception in exhibition
[26] Detection of crack initiation based on

repeat ILIs
by Michael Palmer and Christopher Davies,
MACAW Engineering, Newcastle upon
Tyne, UK, and Markus Ginten, Rosen
Technolgy & Research Centre, Lingen,
Germany
[33] Comparison of in-situ, non-destructive

procedures for determining the grade of
station piping and fittings
by Bill Amend, DNV GL, Dublin, OH,
USA, and Troy Rovella, Pacific Gas &
Electric Co, USA
10:45
[20] Using helical-field EMAT to

characterize stress-corrosion cracking
by Shanker Shrestha, Adrian Belanger, and
Robert Meyers, T.D. Williamson, Tulsa,
OK, USA
[27] A study of crack-detection ultrasonic

calls relating to the different types of
cracking discovered in pipelines when using
CD ILI
by Geoffrey Foreman, Jeff Sutherland, and
Petra Senf, PII Pipeline Solutions, Calgary,
AB, Canada
[34] Effect of truncating pipe properties

distributions on reliability results
by Charles Watt, Stephen Bott, and Syed
Haider, Enbridge Liquids Pipelines,
11:15
[21] How the latest enhancements in

ultrasonic-wall-measurement ILI technology
benefit engineering-criticality assessments: a
case study
by Stephan Tappert, Albrecht Schmid,
Irinya Lachtchouk, and Jane Dawson, PII
Pipeline Solutions, Calgary, AB, Canada,
and Amanda Kulhawy and Stpehen Bott,
Enbridge Liquid Pipelines, Edmonton, AB,
Canada
[28] Applications of relative calibration of

crack and corrosion ILI data
by Mona Abdolrazaghi, Sherif Hassanien,
and Janine Woo, Enbridge, Edmonton, AB,
Canada
[35] A portable NDT device for mechanical

properties of pipelines during integrity digs
by Michael Tarkanian, Steven Palkovic,
Brendon Willey, Kotaro Taniguchi, and Dr
Simon Bellemare, Massachusetts Materials
Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
11:45
[22] Aspects and definition of ILI anomaly

sizing accuracy
by Johannes Palmer, Rosen Technology &
Research Centre, Lingen, Germany
[29] Continuous depth sizing of ILI

ultrasonic crack detection
by Marius Grigat, Abdullahi Atto, and Jens
Vos, Rosen Technology & Research Centre,
Lingen, Germany
[36] Exploration of physical and chemical

properties of steel of aging pipelines and
estimation of their remaining safe service life
by Yuriy Lisin, Transneft Research Institute
for Oil and Oil Products Transportation,
Moscow, Russia
12:15
Lunch
1:30
[37] Correlating ILI with direct examination: comparing apples to apples

by Richard Desaulnier, Lake Superior Consulting, Bloomington, MN, USA
2:00
[38] Predicting the future: applying corrosion-growth rates derived from repeat ILI runs
by Jane Dawson, PII Pipeline Solutions, Cramlington, UK, and Lautaro Ganim, PII Pipeline Solutions, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2:30
[39] A new way of meeting the timing requirements of the HCA IMP with ILI
by Bryce Brown, Rosen USA Inc, Houston, USA
3:00
Coffee
3:15
[40] Retrofitting pigging functionality in unpiggable pipelines: using type-approved double-block-and-bleed isolation plugs
by Dale Millward, STATS Group, Aberdeen, UK
3:45
[41] Asset integrity management of a high-pressure natural-gas pipeline

by Bhanu Dhiman, Manish Tyagi, Pavan Sharma, and Prateek Wate, Shell India, Hazira, India
4:15
End of conference
Register now at www.ppimhouston.com
Materials topics
[19] Effect of calibration of measurements
on integrity reliability analysis
by Karmun Cheng, Mona Abdolrazaghi,
Sherif Hassanien, and Alex Nemeth,
Enbridge Liquids Pipelines, Edmonton, AB,
Canada
Offshore topics
[7] Preparing for successful ILI runs: a case study
by P.J. Robinson, T.D. Williamson, Tulsa. OK, USA
5:00
10:15
UPCOMING EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS
Pipeline industry experts

to meet in Bahrain as region
prepares for pipeline development
International pipeline industry experts will meet in Bahrain in April to discuss pipeline management,
technologies, and operating developments and issues, as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain prepare for the development
of a new oil pipeline between the two countries.
he third in a series of international

technical events for the pipeline industry,
the multi-track Pipeline Operations and
Management Middle East (POMME) Conference
and Exhibition will be held in Bahrain from 11 to
14 April 2016.
The three-and- a-half-day conference
organised by Tiratsoo Technical (a division of
Great Southern Press) and Clarion Technical
Conferences, in association with Global Webb
Energy Consultants will be held at the Gulf
International Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Established now as the Gulf regions definitive,
essential congress on pipeline technology and
management, the event has drawn more than
1,100 industry professionals from 33 countries.
WHY THE EVENT IS A MUSTATTEND FOR THE INDUSTRY

This major conference brings together experts
from within and outside the region to discuss the
latest technologies and concepts for maintaining
and operating oil and gas pipelines in the most
efficient, cost-effective, and professional manner,
while taking account of environmental and other
concerns of the communities through which they
pass.
These issues will be discussed against the
background of a new 115 km, 350,000 bbl/d oil
pipeline project between Saudi Arabia and
Bahrain. The pipeline will replace an ageing
230,000 bbl/d pipeline and enable Bahrain
Petroleum Company (Bapco) to expand the
processing capacity of its 267,000 bbl/d Sitra
refinery. The pipeline is to be operational
by 2018.
Saudi Aramco Pipelines Departments general
manager Mohammad Sultan Al-Qahtani says the
event provides a great opportunity for us
This major conference

brings together experts
from within and outside
the region to discuss the
latest technologies and
concepts for maintaining
and operating oil and gas
pipelines in the most
efficient, cost-effective,
and professional
manner, while taking
account of environmental
and other concerns of the
communities through
which they pass.
pipeliners to gather and share knowledge. There

are many challenges we ought to overcome and it
will help a great deal if we can solve them
collaboratively.
The event will be held under the patronage of
His Excellency Dr Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza,
Bahrains Minister of Energy.
The event is also supported by Platinum Elite
Sponsor Saudi Aramco, and Silver Sponsors
Rosen, ClockSpring and Bapco.
KEY INDUSTRY TOPICS ON THE

AGENDA
The conference will begin on 11 April 2016
with five topical workshops. Dr Abdul Hussain
bin Ali Mirza will formally open the main
technical sessions at the Plenary Session on
12 April, and will be accompanied by a major
exhibition reflecting the widest interests of the
pipeline industry.
The simultaneous tracks for the technical
programme of the event will include:
planning, design, construction and
materials
operations and maintenance best
practices, repair and rehabilitation
asset integrity management, inspection
and cathodic protection
automation and control, leak detection.
PREVIEW THE LATEST PIPELINE

OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT
TECHNOLOGY
A: Delegates listen intently at the opening plenary session at the

2013 conference.
B: HE Shaikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister in
Charge of Oil and Gas Affairs for the Kingdom of Bahrain, cuts
the ribbon at the opening of the exhibition at the 2013 conference,
flanked on his right by Abdulrahman Al-Wuhaib, Senior Vice
President Downstream for Saudi Aramco, and Abdulhakim
Al-Gouhi, General Manager of Saudi Aramcos Pipelines
Department.
C: Delegates at one of the conference sessions.
D: HE Shaikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister in
Charge of Oil and Gas Affairs for the Kingdom of Bahrain.
E: Shawn Laughlin, of event Silver Sponsor ClockSpring, discusses
his companys activities with the Minister and other dignitaries at
the 2013 exhibition.
F: Dignitaries and other VIPs at the exhibition opening in
2013, including HE Shaikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa
(fourth from left), Abdulrahman Al-Wuhaib (third from left), and
Abdulhakim Al-Gouhi (second from left).
An associated technical exhibition will be

conveniently situated parallel to where the
technical papers are presented. The exhibition
will feature the leading providers of solutions for
best practices in pipeline operations and
management.
The exhibition hall will open at 9.00am on
Tuesday 12 April after the plenary session, and
close at 1.30pm on 14 April, and will host the
latest developments in the oil and gas sector with
leading industry professionals.
To register, or view a full list of exhibitors

and the conference programme, visit
www.pipelineconf.com
EVENTS
201
6
Dont forget these events

for 2015/16:
28th
YEAR
February 811, 2016, Houston
Register today | www.clarion.org
PUMPS, VALVES, PIPES & COMPRESSORS

EXPO MIDDLE EAST
1517 DECEMBER 2015
Abu Dhabi, Middle East
www.pvpcexpo.ae/wp/
28TH PIPELINE PIGGING & INTEGRITY

MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 811 FEBRUARY 2016
Houston, TX, USA
www.clarion.org
ONSHORE PIPELINE
ENGINEERING
COURSE
Exhibition space available

www.pipelineconf.com
29 FEBRUARY4 MARCH 2016
right on your desktop?
Newcastle, UK
www.tiratsootechnical.com
PIPELINE OPERATIONS &

MANAGEMENT MIDDLE EAST 2016 1114 APRIL 2016
LNG 18 CONFERENCE &

EXHIBITION
1115 APRIL 2016
Perth, WA, Australia

www.lng18.org
GLOBAL PETROLEUM SHOW 2016
79 JUNE 2016
Calgary, AB, Canada

www.globalpetroleumshow.com
INTERNATIONAL PIPELINE
CONFERENCE AND
EXPOSITION
Technical Training Courses

ENGINEERING
13 MARCH 20165
Manama, Bahrain
www.clarion.org
For more information and to purchase the online courses,
visit www.tiratsootechnical.com
PIPELINE
Newcastle, UK
PIPELINE DEFECT ASSESSMENT

COURSE
What if you could have the acclaimed Pipeline
Engineering courses from Clarion Technical
Conferences and Tiratsoo Technical
JOURNAL OF
If you are a pipeline engineer, The Journal of

Pipeline Engineering is a vital tool that will keep
you up-to-date on the latest technical research
around the world.
Published four times a year, it stands alone
as the premier technical publication for the
pipeline industry.
As a peer-reviewed journal it provides quality
information to keep you at the forefront of
industry developments.
Subscription is just $US350 per year and also
includes access to theelectronic archive.
Visit the website to subscribe today.
2630 SEPTEMBER 2016
Calgary, AB, Canada

www.ipcyyc.com
www.j-pipe-eng.com
ADVERTISERS INDEX
American Augers
Baker Hughes
Enduro Pipeline Services
Girard Pipeline Pigs
Global Petroleum Show
IPC 2016
LNG 18
21
19
OBC
32
33
29
25
Maats B.V.
McConnell Dowell
Nacap Australia Pty Ltd
NDT Global
Pigs Unlimited
PipeLine Machinery International
Power Associates International Inc
23
11
1
IFC
24
27
20
Quest Integrity Group

Romstar Sdn Bhd
Rosen Technology And Research
Center Gmbh
STATS Group
Worldwide Machinery
13
17
3
5
16
In the next edition of
THE MIDDLE EAST ISSUE

We gear up for the Gulf regions definitive congress on pipeline
technology and management
ALSO FEATURED
API 1176
Pipeline isolation
ILI
RP for Assessment and

Management of Cracking in
Pipelines
Isolation of a 24 inch pressurised

gas line in Qatar
Final instalment of the Enbridge

case study
For editorial enquiries contact Josie Emanuel: jemanuel@gs-press.com.au

For sales enquiries contact Megan Lehn: mlehn@gs-press.com.au
DONT MISS
AN ISSUE!
Purchase your Pipelines International
subscription online at
pipelinesinternational.com/subscribe
Contact us at
subscribe@pipelinesinternational.com
or call us on +61 3 9248 5100
Cover story:
Norwegian Sea
Page 42
Liquid pipeline leak

detection
Part 2: Enbridge ILI

case study
Page 14
Page 34
Have you seen our maps and wallcharts?

MAJOR PIPELINE SYSTEMS OF THE USA
MAJOR PIPELINE SYSTEMS OF CANADA

Fort Good Hope
The Major Pipeline Systems of Canada map provides an overview of existing major
pipeline systems in Canada that are over 100km in length. The map includes the
name, owner, product, approximate length and diameter of the pipeline.
Norman Wells
YUKON TERRITORY
Information used to collate this map was directly provided by companies, the
National Energy Board (NEB) and the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association
(CEPA).
N U N A V U T
Whitehorse
Ontario (16%)
Yellowknife
Toad River
Summit Lake
Old Fort Nelson
20
Prophet River
Trutch
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Saskatchewan (19%)
Anzac
Richmond
Edmonton
Calgary
Hope
CEPA members transport 97% of Canadas

daily natural gas and onshore crude oil
production from producing regions to markets
throughout Canada and the United States.
15
97%
Moose Jaw
Avonlea
Auden
Deer
Brandon
9 10
Winnipeg
Hudson
Domain
Kirkland Lake
Thunder Bay
Normetal
NEW BRUNSWICK
Edmundston
Moncton
14
Oromocto
San Jose
Trois-Rivieres
Drummondville
Laniel
Lachute
PRODUCT
Crude oil
LENGTH
1,069 km
INDIANA
30
DELAWARE
Washington D.C.
13
Topeka
Victoriaville
Saint John
3 Grand Bay
NOVA
SCOTIA
Natural gas
1,560 km
3642 inches
Natural gas
143 km
30 inch
VIRGINIA
29
Canadian Mainline
TransCanada Pipelines
Natural gas
14,114 km
36 inch
Brampton
Cochin Pipeline System
Kinder Morgan
Propane and ethane-propane
995 km
12 inches
Hamilton
Natural gas
175 km
Enbridge Pipelines (NW) Inc. System
Enbridge Inc.
Crude oil
855 km
Enbridge Mainline *
Enbridge Inc.
Crude oil
2,306 km
Enbridge Westspur Pipeline
Enbridge Inc.
Crude oil
175 km
12 inches
Enbridge Southern Lights (Line 13) *
Enbridge Inc.
Crude oil
1241 km
20 inches
11
Express-Platte Pipeline System *
Spectra Energy
Crude oil
434 km
24 inch
Foothills Pipeline System
Natural gas
1,241 km
3642 inches
Crude oil
1227 km
3036 inches
14
Martimes and Northeast Pipeline
Spectra Energy (77.53%); Emera (12.92%); ExxonMobil Corporation (9.55%)
Natural gas
575 km
30 inch
15
Nova Gas Transmission Pipeline System (NGTL)
Natural gas
24,373 km
1642 inches
16
Ontario-Quebec Pipeline
TransNorthern Pipeline Inc.
Refined fuel products
850 km
17
PTC Pipeline
Spectra Energy
Natural gas liquids
930 km
Natural gas
417 km
19
Trans Mountain Pipeline System
Kinder Morgan
Crude oil and refined products
1,142 km
20
TransQuebec and Maritimes Pipeline Mainline
TransCanada Pipelines (50%), Gaz Metro (50%)
Natural gas
572 km
21
Westcoast Pipeline System (B.C Pipeline)
Spectra Energy
Natural gas
2,900 km
22
Dawn to Parkway Trunkline
Union Gas
Natural gas
257 km
London
21
Dawn
3036 inches
9
10
12
2436 inches
2442 inches
* Pipeline continues into United States of America.
22
Phoenix
OKLAHOMA
25
Raleigh
TENNESSEE
Charlotte
SOUTH CAROLINA
Memphis
Little Rock
Columbia
10
MISSISSIPPI
33
LEGEND
NORTH CAROLINA
Nashville
Atlanta
27
38
Cities 0-74,999
Montgomery
Dallas
ALASKA
Cities 75,000-249,999
El Paso
CANADA
GEORGIA
ALABAMA
Jackson
Cities 250,000-899,999
Cities 900,000-2,999,999
Montreal
LOUISIANA
TEXAS
Province Capitals
Jacksonville
Tallahassee
34
32
11
Austin
National Capital
San Antonio
Houston
Kingston
Encana Corporation
NEW MEXICO
San Diego
Goldboro
Bickerton West
6
Halifax
MARYLAND
Richmond
WEST
VIRGINIA
KENTUCKY
14
ARKANSAS
Annapolis
Charleston
19
Frankfort
Jefferson City
15
NEW JERSEY
Trenton
Philadelphia
Baltimore
OHIO
KANSAS
12
Harrisburg
Columbus
Indianapolis
RHODE ISLAND
New York
PENNSYLVANIA
16
ILLINOIS
CALIFORNIA
16
DIAMETER
36 inches
Enbridge Inc. (50%); Versan (50%)
ExxonMobil Canada Properties
CONNECTICUT
Detroit
IOWA
Springfield
Charlottetown
Truro
Fredericton
Quebec
19
Rouyn-Noranda
Ottawa
OWNER
Enbridge Inc.
Emera Brunswick Pipeline Company
Sable Offshore Energy Pipeline
Des Moines
Lincoln
31*
MASSACHUSETTS
Hartford
Lansing
Chicago
36
Denver
COLORADO
Oklahoma City
Coral
Arnes
17
5
Alliance Pipeline *
18
Milwaukee
NEBRASKA
Cheyenne
23
UTAH
Boston
39*
MICHIGAN
17
Salt Lake City
NEVADA
PRINCE
EDWARD
ISLAND
Regina
13
Brunswick Pipeline
Keystone Pipeline *
24
Carson City
O N T A R I O
Saskatoon
Duval
12
13
6
Madison
San Francisco
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Albany
MISSOURI
Sovereign
Deep Panuke Pipeline
WYOMING
Augusta
Concord
NEW YORK
21*
WISCONSIN
Pierre
Santa Fe
KEY
VERMONT
Montpelier
Saint Paul
SOUTH DAKOTA
Boise
ARIZONA
Bromhead
NAME
Alberta Clipper (Line 67) *
MINNESOTA
Bismarck
35
OREGON
NOTE: This is a schematic representation

and shows approximate routes of major US
pipelines. It does not show exact pipeline
routes. Route, length, and capacity
information is approximate and intended
as a guide only, and is correct as at
May 2015.
Los Angeles
Swift Current
500 miles
500 km
MAINE
IDAHO
This map is intended as a general source

of information only.
Q U E B E C
Tilley
Taber
250 miles
250 km
MONTANA
NORTH DAKOTA
125 km
40*
20*
Helena
Hardisty
Onefour
26*
Salem
St. John's
125 miles
18*
37
Rutland
11
Lethbridge
SASKATCHEWAN
10
Indus
Furman
WASHINGTON
Olympia
Portland
For additional copies of this poster

and for advertising enquiries, email
Fort Saskatchewan
Leduc
Camrose
Red Deer
Bergen
Vancouver
Fort Mcmurray
Hondo
Vega
Nestow
Devona
Saunders
28*
Seattle
Product information and graphic design

Great Southern Press, 2015.
Source map courtesy Map Resources.
www.mapresources.com.au
Sacramento
Fox Creek
18
Kamloops
With the support of:
NEWFOUNDLAND
&
LABRADOR
Pipelines sustained an
estimated 25,000 full-time
equivalent jobs and generated
about $US1.94 billion in
labour income in 2012.
M A N I T O B A
Grande Prairie
Cinema
Victoria
Other (20%)
A L B E R T A
Notikewin
Briar Ridge
20
Exeter
Mica Creek
For additional copies of this poster and for advertising enquiries, email
Steen River
Rainbow Lake
15
Attachie
Enterprise
$US8.8
billion
Sikanni Chief
Dawson Creek
Compiled and published by Great Southern Press Pty Ltd. Tel: +61 3 9248 5100
Product information and graphic design Great Southern Press, 2015.
Source map courtesy Map Resources. www.mapresources.com.au
Alberta (45%)
Pipelines added more than

$US7.9 billion to Canadas GDP in 2012.
Alberta received just under half of this
benefit, followed by Saskatchewan and
Ontario.
Fort Simpson
Information on this map is intended as a general source of information only.
Iqaluit
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
A detailed overview of select existing major pipeline systems in the USA.

Compiled and published by Great Southern
Press Pty Ltd. Tel: +61 3 9248 5100
0
0
150
150
300 KM
300 Miles
Pipelines by numbers
Toronto
1853
115,000 km
Canadas
pipeline
history
dates back
to this date
Network of underground
energy transmission
pipelines that operate
every day transporting
oil and natural gas.
0
0
500 miles
Pipelines marked with * indicate a pipeline

route that begins in Canada.
500 km
FLORIDA
3 million
KEY
KEY
KEY
Coming soon
Major Pipeline Systems of the Middle East map
Barrels of crude oil
transported by transmission
pipelines in Canada every
day the equivalent of 200
Olympic-sized swimming pools
CAPACITY
LENGTH (miles)
PRODUCT
CAPACITY
LENGTH (miles)
El Paso Natural Gas Pipeline System
Kinder Morgan
Gas
6,182 MMcf/d
10,200
15
Southern Star Central Pipeline
Southern Star
Gas
2,801 MMcf/d
5,803
29
Columbia Gas Transmission
NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage
Algonquin Gas Transmission
Spectra Energy Partners
Gas
3,347 MMcf/d
1,129
16
Dominion Pipeline
Dominion Resources
Gas
6,655 MMcf/d
3,505
30
National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation System
National Fuel
4,099 MMcf/d
4,300
31
Keystone Pipeline*
TransCanada
Crude oil
2,311
32
Seaway Pipeline
Enterprise Products Partners; Enbridge
Crude oil
850,000 bbl/d
Crude oil
700,000 bbl/d
NAME
$US84 billion
97%
Estimate of Canadas
underground natural gas
and liquids pipeline network
(gathering, transmission
and delivery lines)
Value of Canadian crude oil

and natural gas exports in
2012 most of which was
transported by pipeline
The percentage of
Canadian natural gas
and crude oil production
transported by
transmission pipelines
PRODUCT
Texas Eastern Transmission
Spectra Energy Partners
Gas
7,332 MMcf/d
Tennessee Gas Pipeline
Kinder Morgan
Gas
6,686 MMcf/d
840,000 km
OWNER
NAME
OWNER
9,022
17
Colorado Interstate Gas Pipeline
Kinder Morgan
Gas
13,900
18
Alliance Pipeline System*
Alliance Pipeline
Gas
19
Columbia Gulf Transmission
2,053 MMcf/d
33
Gulf Coast Project
OWNER
Gas
Gas
CAPACITY
LENGTH (miles)
9,350 MMcf/d
10,365
2,312 MMcf/d
2,300
2,840 MMcf/d
Gas
2,386 MMcf/d
4,124
Northern Natural Gas Pipeline
Northern Natural Gas
Gas
7,442 MMcf/d
14,700
20
Northern Border Pipeline*
TC PipeLines; ONEOK Partners
Gas
2,400 MMcf/d
1,408
34
Longhorn Pipeline
Magellan Midstream Partners
Crude oil
ANR Pipeline
ANR Pipeline Company
Gas
7,129 MMcf/d
10,600
21
Great Lakes Gas Transmission Pipeline*
Great Lakes Gas Transmission Company
Gas
2,958 MMcf/d
2,115
35
Double H Pipeline
Hiland Partners
Crude oil
84,000 bbl/d
Panhandle Energy
6,445
TransCanada
PRODUCT
Gas
6
7
Panhandle Eastern Pipeline
Columbia Pipeline Group
NAME
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline
Williams
Gas
8,466 MMcf/d
10,500
22
Transwestern Interstate Pipeline
Energy Transfer
Gas
2,439 MMcf/d
2,560
36
Pony Express Pipeline
Tallgrass Energy
Crude oil
230,000 bbl/d
Gulf South Pipeline
Gulf South Pipeline Company
Gas
6,260 MMcf/d
6,886
23
Questar Pipeline
Questar Pipeline
Gas
3,192 MMcf/d
1,858
37
Olympic Pipeline
BP
Crude oil
315,000 bbl/d
2,639
500
485
700
485
690
400
10
Natural Gas Pipeline Co of America
Kinder Morgan
Gas
4,848 MMcf/d
9,200
24
Wyoming Interstate Pipeline
Kinder Morgan
Gas
2,736 MMcf/d
800
38
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company
Crude oil
800
11
Florida Gas Transmission Pipeline
Florida Gas Transmission Company
Gas
2,217 MMcf/d
4,889
25
Centerpoint Energy Gas Transmission
CenterPoint Energy
Gas
5,385 MMcf/d
6,374
39
US Mainline (Lakehead System)*
Enbridge
Crude oil
2,600,000 bbl/d
1,900
40
Alberta Clipper*
Enbridge
Crude oil
800,000 bbl/d
1,000
12
Kern River Gas Transmission Pipeline
Kern River Gas Transmission Company
Gas
1,833 MMcf/d
1,680
26
Northwest Pipeline*
Williams
Gas
4,950 MMcf/d
3,880
13
Trunkline Pipeline
Panhandle Energy
Gas
3,025 MMcf/d
4,202
27
Southern Natural Gas Company System
Kinder Morgan
Gas
3,967 MMcf/d
7,635
14
Texas Gas Transmission
Boardwalk Pipelines
Gas
4,065 MMcf/d
5,671
28
Gas Transmission Northwest*
TransCanada
Gas
2,636 MMcf/d
1,356

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ISSUE 26 | DECEMBER 2015

Protecting your assets,

Nature is our greatest asset. It needs to be preserved and

Issue 26 | December 2015

From the editor 4

Effective implementation of a crack in-line

Interview with Professor Andrew Palmer 40

Record-breaking Polarled Pipeline opens up

Liquid pipeline leak detection from airborne

PIPELAYERS AND SIDEBOOMS

Read Pipelines International

2 | Pipelines International | December 2015

AWARD WINNING INNOVATION.

FROM THE EDITOR

ISSUE 26 | DECEMBER 2015

Pipe storage at the

Follow us on Twitter @Pipelines

FREE Pipelines International e-newsletter

n our September issue, Pipelines International

4 | Pipelines International | December 2015

The rupture was caused by fatigue cracks that

TAP awards onshore line pipe

Record-breaking Polarled Pipeline comes in under budget

Gazprom to reduce TurkStream capacity in favour of Nord Stream II

Read more about

Research commences into potential Iran-Oman gas

Welding begins on 2,050 km GAIL gas

6 | Pipelines International | December 2015

Pipeline welding has commenced on the first phase

550 km Horn of Africa Pipeline agreements signed

Russia, Pakistan sign agreement for pipeline

December 2015 | Pipelines International | 7

PRCI elects new Chair and board members

& Engineering with Kinder Morgan; John

Fast-track delivery meets Middle East pipeline

Conventional repairs of this type would

JIP to improve non-destructive tests of pipeline

strength for both the pipe base metal and for

Rosen Group introduces new in-line inspection

data evaluation that allows for access to reports

Pipelines International has a fresh

OMV to divest gas

8 | Pipelines International | December 2015

December 2015 | Pipelines International | 9

Asakusa district, Tokyo, Japan.

Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan.

Want some stickers of your own?

Pipelines Internationals readers are a welltravelled bunch! Our much-loved I

Share your snaps

Take a photo featuring your I pipelines sticker

Pipelines Internationals Associate Editor

Winner Infrastructure Partnerships Australia 2015 Contractor Excellence Award

SAFE, SMART, EFFICIENT INFRASTRUCTURE

Senso-ji temple, Tokyo, Japan.

Young pipeliners lead the way

enior Executive of Dynamic Risk

For more information on the YPP and

THE YPP IS FORMED

working groups within the organisation, each of

12 | Pipelines International | December 2015 www.pipelinesinternational.com

Liquid pipeline leak detection

hese methods rely on changes in flow

NATURAL GAS VS LIQUID PIPELINE

Traditionally, liquid pipeline leaks are detected