Monitoring

Options for Internal Inspection of Difficult-to-Check Pipelines

In the second part of this article, different case studies introduce the different categories of tools for the inspection of challenging pipelines, including specialty free-swimming, umbilical and robotic.

Validating Meter Accuracy Simplified Using Flow Conditioning

AGA Report No. 9 requires flow calibration for all applications to reduce the meter’s overall uncertainty. Because of field installation effects, AGA 9 also discusses uncertainty requirements that an ultrasonic meter manufacturer must meet once the meter is installed.

Police Detain Eight Employees of China Gas Unit After Deadly Pipeline Blast

Eight employees at a China Gas Holdings unit have been detained by local police following a fatal gas pipeline explosion on Sunday, according to a statement by the Shiyan city government.

Sulfur Removal Solutions for Gas Gathering Systems

Pipelines are considered one of the safest, most reliable, most efficient and economic means of transporting large quantities of natural gas, crude and refined petroleum products. However, sulfur contaminants in the form of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and mercaptans (RSH) pose significant safety, operational, environmental and compliance problems.

Monitoring Pipelines to Protect Against Theft, Leaks

Oil and gas pipeline operators are under enormous pressure to reduce risk across their networks while simultaneously lowering costs. This can be achieved through effectively monitoring and maintaining the integrity of the pipeline networks to minimize product loss.

Options for Internal Inspection of Difficult-to-Check Pipelines

Pipelines are essentially cylindrical pressure vessels. Any medium transported must not leak out. Each built to a specific design pressure, they must be operated efficiently and effectively to ensure not just safety and environmental protection but also optimum performance.

Strategic Approach to Automated Leak, Rupture Detection

Remaining vigilant is the best approach when mitigating oil and gas pipeline leaks and ruptures, particularly with new legislation and other requirements that can lead to penalties and fines, not to mention the negative impact on a company’s image.

A Different Perspective on Pipeline Repairs

For the past few decades, the industry has been repairing pipelines in the same fashion. Typically, either welded steel sleeves are used on our pipe, Type A or Type B, or composite materials such as E-glass, carbon fiber and Kevlar are used to repair defects.

Colonial Pipeline Again Experiencing Network Issues

Colonial Pipeline, the nation's largest fuel pipeline, on Friday said it was experiencing network issues, just weeks after a ransomware attack crippled fuel delivery for several days in the United States.

Physical Threats to Pipeline Critical Infrastructure Growing

The importance of physical threat awareness toward critical pipeline infrastructure has never been greater. Safeguarding against physical threats are just as important, if not more important, as cyber-threats to protecting our nation’s pipeline systems, terminals and facilities.

IECA Urges Congress to Give FERC Reliability Oversight on Natural Gas Pipelines

The Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) on Wednesday sent letters to the Senate and House Committees of jurisdiction on physical and cybersecurity of natural gas pipelines.

Colonial Pipeline Hit by Network Outage Just Days After Hack Shutdown

Colonial Pipeline is having network issues preventing shippers from planning upcoming shipments of fuel, the company said on Tuesday, just after the system reopened after a week-long ransomware attack.

Registration Open for Oil & Gas Pipeline Leak Detection 2021 Virtual Congress

Senior leads of Operations, EHS and Pipeline/Asset Integrity experts will detail how they find and implement the right mix of leak detection and pipeline monitoring technologies during a virtual congress June 28 through 30.

Colonial Pipeline Recovering; Paid Almost $5 Million Ransom

After a six-day outage, the top U.S. fuel pipeline on Thursday moved some of the first millions of gallons of motor fuels after a crippling cyberattack led to fuel shortages across East Coast states.

Analysis: Cyberattack Exposes Lack of Required Defenses on U.S. Pipelines

The shutdown of the biggest U.S. fuel pipeline by a ransomware attack highlights a systemic vulnerability: Pipeline operators have no requirement to implement cyber defenses.

How Drones Assist with Pipeline Inspections

The benefits of drone technology are especially apparent in large-scale infrastructure projects with high regulatory burdens and high consequences if something goes wrong.

Enhancing Safety with Integrated Rupture Disk Assemblies

For decades, rupture disks have served the oil and gas industry as an effective, passive safety mechanism to protect against overpressure or potentially damaging vacuum conditions.

Gazprom Helping Determine Lawful Ownership of Russian Gas Pipelines

In the absence of lawful owners, gas networks and pipelines lack proper control and maintenance. More than 70% of such facilities are in the North Caucasus, Volga and Siberian Federal Districts.

Project Canary to Measure Greenhouse Gases from Rio Grande LNG Facility

NextDecade Corporation and Project Canary announced the formation of a joint pilot project for monitoring, reporting, and measurement of the greenhouse gas intensity of LNG to be sold from NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG export facility in Brownsville, Texas.

New Analysis Tool Can Help Solve Gas and Steam Transient Problems in Pipelines

Applied Flow Technology (AFT) says its new AFT xStream analysis software tool can help engineers rigorously evaluate and solve gas and steam transient engineering problems they have only been able to guess at in the past.

Edge Computing Optimizes Pipeline Management

For midstream oil and gas companies, edge-computing platforms create opportunities that resolve long-standing problems and effectively enable real-time data in asset management and decision-making,

New PHMSA Rules Ease Burdens, Maintains Safety

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) re-examination of the Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations should ease regulatory burdens on the construction, maintenance and operation of gas transmission, distribution and gathering pipeline systems, according to the final rule in the Federal Register.

Improving Natural Gas Distribution Systems to Ease Pressure Risks

This article examines redundant overpressure protection (OPP) requirements at the city gates in the U.S. and how several operators are at risk of noncompliance as states begin to enforce redundant OPP requirements specifically at the city gates.

ABB Leak Detection, Greenhouse Gas Measuring System Can Help Satisfy PIPES Act

HoverGuard can help operators of USA’s three million miles of pipeline infrastructure increase their safety and environmental capabilities in line with the USA 2020 PIPES Act, the company announced.

GateHouse Maritime to Monitor Gas Pipeline in the Baltic Sea

Poland’s GAZ-SYSTEMS awarded offshore surveillance, maritime analytics and data company GateHouse Maritime a 5-year contract to monitor a new gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, the companies announced.

Application of Distributed Fiber-optic Sensing for Pipeline Integrity and Security

Distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS) describes several technologies that can be utilized to convert a fiber-optic cable into an array of distributed sensors by connecting it to an optical interrogator unit (IU).

Using Remote Monitoring to Evaluate Pipeline Lightning Immunity

While lightning itself does not cause corrosion, the damage it creates to a pipe’s walls, coatings and cathodic protection (CP) system can leave a pipeline vulnerable.

PART 2: Policy Implications for Satellite-Based Methane Detection

Access to publicly available satellite methane data from TROPOMI, and in future platforms such as those being planned by the ESA Copernicus missions, are animating interest from for-profit companies and not-for-profit advocacy groups interested in using methane data to advance these organizations’ missions.

Integrating Flow Assurance Engineering Domains Ensures Operations in Caspian Sea

Once the term “flow assurance” was coined in the 1990s, continued evolution in the offshore marketplace has demanded that the industry invest in advancing the design, strategies and principles that form the core of the field.

Managing Integrity for Subsea Pipelines Without Pigging

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration estimates that 40% of the world’s pipelines are difficult to pig or are deemed “unpiggable,” which means they cannot be inspected via inline inspection, but their integrity still needs to be maintained.