API Pipeline Safety Management System PSMS Third-Party Assessment Program: A Valuable Tool to Help Industry Implement PSMS

The American Petroleum Institute (API) represents all segments of the natural gas and oil industry, aiming to accelerate safety and environmental progress across operations while meeting global demand for affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy. Through API and in partnership with the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), state pipeline regulators, and other interested stakeholders, pipeline operators developed API Recommended Practice (RP) 1173: Pipeline Safety Management Systems. API RP 1173 users understand how to systematically manage pipeline safety and continuously measure progress to improve overall pipeline safety performance. The core principle of API RP 1173 is the "Plan-Do-Check-Act" cycle. It requires the operator to determine the goals, objectives, and targets needed to be undertaken, complete those initiatives, and periodically review the Pipeline Safety Management System (PSMS) on an operator's determined cycle or at a minimum of a three-year cycle. API RP 1173 and the Pipeline SMS Maturity Model and Tools are primary resources to support API Energy Excellence® implementation. API Energy Excellence (launched in 2021) is another critical API program in which all API members commit to enhance the integrity of operations across the industry by applying standards, implementing workforce training programs, and participating in performance initiatives. Ultimately, these conditions drive the industry towards its zero-incident goal by ensuring that the PSMS's various components are regularly reviewed and continually evolving. To that point and as part of the industry's ongoing commitment to continuous pipeline safety improvements, API, in collaboration with industry partners, developed a not-for-profit Pipeline SMS Assessment Program in 2019 and fully launched the offering in January 2020. Unlike most Pipeline Safety or SMS assessments, the API Third-Party Assessment Program utilizes a diverse set of assessors with multiple affiliations, ranging from traditional SMS firms to retired industry executives who wish to give back to the industry by sharing their experience with others. API has conducted many assessments to date, and the benchmarking from these assessments helps operators gauge how their implementation is relative to their peers. Also, because API is the custodian of RP 1173, learnings from these assessments can naturally be fed back into the standards development process to ensure the next version of RP 1173 is an even better Plan-Do-Check-Act Process. The API Pipeline SMS Assessment (PSMS Assessment) program gives the operator access to the most experienced and knowledgeable assessors. It provides the operator with the opportunity to learn notable practices utilized across the pipeline industry. In 2021 and beyond, API looks forward to taking the assessment program worldwide, increasing industry lessons learned, cataloging good practices, looking for opportunities to increase effectiveness, and giving industry valuable benchmarking, all aimed at our shared goal of zero incidents

Analysis of the existing legal, regulatory and technical support for the prevention of environmental emergencies at gas pipeline facilities in Uzbekistan

Operation of new and existing pipeline systems is carried out in accordance with the relevant instructions, with technical inspections, diagnostics and control carried out, if necessary. In accordance with the pipeline safety concept being developed, the possibility of operational diagnostics of the occurrence and development of emergency situations should be provided. Analysis of data for the last years of gas pipeline operation indicates the occurrence of various environmental emergency situations. Therefore, the task of this study is to classify the factors of accidents and damage to gas pipelines with the determination of the main share of the most significant. The proportion of emergencies due to mechanical damage to pipes by machines and mechanisms during excavation has maximum values. This indicates that during this period of time, many violations of technological regulations were registered. With regard to emergencies due to corrosion damage, there is some stability. As can be evidenced in this research paper, mainly accidents, repairs and leaks occur in summer - winter periods.

A Pipeline DNA Approach Within Fitness-For-Purpose Assessments

Establishing a robust knowledge of material properties forms the basis of any FFP assessment. In light of the revised Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations in the US, operators of gas transmission pipelines are required to possess Traceable, Verifiable and Complete (TVC) records for input into FFP assessments and to support MAOP. ROSEN has been engaged by several operators to reconfirm the MAOP along the full pipeline length using the Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) approach. This is a data integration approach using multiple ILI technologies to detect, identify and quantify the inputs required for a robust FFP assessment. A crucial aspect was the use of TVC material properties in the ECA, in which the RoMat Pipe Grade Sensor (PGS) service was used as the foundation for material property verification, ensuring accurate material properties are used in the ECA. Traditionally, ILI has not been able to provide strength data. However, with the addition of ROSEN’s Pipe Grade Sensor (PGS) technology, pipe populations; defined as a group of pipes with shared material properties and characteristics, can now be reliably identified and a strength grade assigned to each population. New NDT technologies already available on the market allow us to increase the confidence within the population assessment as well as further characterize the populations of pipes. This “Pipeline DNA” approach, incorporating both the PGS technology and in-field material property verification, ensures accurate or representative material properties are used in any future integrity studies. This paper describes the ROSEN approach to “Pipeline DNA”, and how it can be used in combination with material verification as a foundation for FFP assessments in an effort to reconfirm MAOP.

Several of Emerging Technological Developments, Innovation and Implementation Case for Pipelines

Considering “Pipeline Industry’s Need of the Hour - Self Reliance and Emerging Technology Trends” as theme of pipeline conference, my submission of paper is on several use cases on technology and innovation for pipeline’s different life cycle phases. There are continual developments in pipeline industry and several of technologies were successfully implemented or under consideration phase for implementation for pipeline industry. In all phases of pipeline lifecycle of material management, project implementation as well in Operation & Maintenance (O&M) of pipeline. Several technological changes as well several of innovations in existing systems are of extensive use for enhancing pipeline safety, reliability, monitoring system as well ease of operations and maintenance. Many of systems been used for other purposes and are of great use for pipelines. This paper discusses on few of such technologies and their implementation for pipelines.

An Accurate and Efficient Fitness-For-Service Assessment Method of Pipes with Defects under Surface Load

With continued urbanization in China, the construction of urban gas pipelines is increasing, and the safety of gas pipelines are also increasingly affected by urban development and the increased scope of buildings and roads. Pipes with defects are more likely to fail under the surface loads. In this study, uniaxial tensile tests of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes were carried out to obtain the real material parameters of pipe. A pipeline-soil interaction finite element model of HDPE pipeline with defects under surface load was established. The failure mechanism of the urban gas pipeline was studied and the influence of parameters such as internal pressure, defect position, defect depth on the mechanical behavior, and failure of pipelines were analyzed. A failure criterion for HDPE pipes with defects under surface load was proposed based on the limit-state curves obtained under different working conditions. Furthermore, an accurate and efficient fitness-for-service assessment procedure of pipes with defects under surface load was proposed. The results showed that maximum Mises stress of the pipeline gradually increased with increasing surface load and the position of maximum stress changed from the top and bottom of the pipe to the defect position and both sides of the pipe. Finally, when Mises stress of the HDPE pipe exceeds the yield limit, failure will occur. Internal pressure, defect location, and defect depth were found to influence the failure process and critical surface load of the pipeline. Safety evaluation curves of the gas pipeline with defects under surface load were obtained by calculating the critical failure load of the pipeline under various working conditions. Finally, a nonlinear fitting method was used to derive a formula for calculating the critical surface load under different defect parameters. The proposed method provides a useful reference for urban gas pipeline safety management.