It is also recognised that operators are not only committed to performing to the highest standards but additionally that pipeline integrity management is central to pipeline operations. As a result, GE Energy has developed the PipeViewTM (PV) Integrity system, which integrates an operator’s existing processes to facilitate integrity management and improve the efficiency of overall pipeline operations. PV Integrity also provides a platform upon which capabilities can grow and expand over time at a pace determined by each operator.

PV Integrity is a unique data and software-enabled integrity management (IM) solution which brings together the knowledge of integrity engineers, pipeline operations experts and data management specialists to provide a powerful system for managing the asset integrity process for oil and gas transmission systems. The PV Integrity suite streamlines and supports management and communication of integrity data, risk assessment, integrity assessments, project planning, assessment of inspection features, and the overall documentation of the integrity management process.

Streamlining integrity management

The PipeView Integrity products are built to fit existing processes that pipeline operators employ such as the integrity management (IM) process shown in Figure 1.

The IM process includes: 1) collecting and assessing data to identify high-risk and/or high consequence pipeline segments; 2) identifying specific threats to each segment and appropriately ranking each segment by its quantitative or relative risk; 3) selecting and planning appropriate integrity assessments of each segment; 4) executing the integrity assessments; 5) responding to assessment results with appropriate investigation; 6) executing proper repair and remediation strategies; 7) instituting long-term prevention and mitigation strategies; and 8) documenting the entire process before 9) beginning again on a periodic interval. This oversimplified description does no justice in communicating the difficult challenge that operators face when striving to execute this process in a controlled, efficient, consistent, and high-quality manner.

Using dedicated software tools to facilitate the steps of the IM process creates quality control and ensures consistent integrity management decisions within applicable regulatory and company-specific guidelines. These solutions do not take decision-making out of the user’s hands; rather they simply enable more informed decisions to be made with increased efficiency and quality control.

By streamlining data management and labour-intensive processes, pipeline personnel can focus on analysis, decision-making and response rather than data handling and manipulation. Inefficiency and waste is minimised and maximum value can be derived from limited resources. Figure 1 shows just a small sample of the possible outputs and interactions, demonstrating the vast potential of knowledge based data management, visualisation and analysis.

Enabling advanced analysis

Manual integrity management or the use of non-integrated systems for integrity management often limits the ability to assess pipelines for the complex threats to which they are susceptible. Pipelines typically fail when multiple conditions co-exist to create an environment in which defects can form and grow to a critical size. For example, a failure can occur when a hard spot is located coincident to a coating failure, elevated CP level, susceptible environment and sufficient stress to cause hydrogen cracks to develop and grow to failure. By eliminating one of the necessary causal factors, the potential for failure is averted.

If the causal factors for past and potential failures can be identified, finding the locations where such factors may co-exist and targeting investigations and mitigations in these areas can prevent future failures. Efficiently analysing multiple pipeline segments for all of the threats to pipeline integrity to identify areas that are susceptible to one or many threats is a significant challenge when limited to manual approaches. With traditional processes, an operator risks only being able to focus on a few failure causes and has greater exposure to missing locations that may potentially need attention.

Having the ability to accurately align data is the key to establishing many of the goals of a pipeline maintenance engineer. Matched data is a pre-requisite to confident identification of pipeline segments that are susceptible to failure due to multiple adverse conditions. In addition, these locations can be quantitatively compared in order to prioritise them for investigation and mitigation. Figure 2 is an example of data necessary to assess the significance and causes of corrosion aligned and presented in a visual interface that allows rapid recognition of areas of concern and potential mitigation measures.

The benefits of data and software enabled integrity management

A data and software-enabled IM system provides benefits beyond even the obvious advantage of increased efficiency and advanced assessment capabilities. Increased consistency, quality control, and the ability for continuous improvement, performance measurement, and effective demonstration and communication are all positive outcomes of better data management.

Consistency in data collection and analysis can be achieved by keeping the format of pipeline data the same through each phase and iteration of the integrity management process. Code listing (controlled terminology for pipeline, equipment and data types) is often employed as a good means to provide this consistency. It ensures that data is always entered the same way and that multiple users always understand what the data means and the types of data being assessed. Quality control is achieved by tracking changes to data, controlling user access and permissions, restricting functions, and enabling data scrubbing and querying to find and resolve gaps and data quality issues.

PV Integrity enables performance measurement, continuous improvement and effective communication. Changes in pipeline risk can be tracked over time as shown in Fugure 3, and each step of the integrity process can be documented to track on-time performance and compliance. Operators can set improvement targets and monitor progress towards their goals. In addition, visualisation and reporting tools make communication effective and greatly aid in demonstrating compliance to stakeholders.

Real-life cases

A couple of real-life examples help highlight the value of the PV Integrity data and integrity management system. An operator of large-diameter natural gas pipelines in the United States performed a high-resolution in-line inspection in response to the identification that the segment was susceptible to the threat of external corrosion. The results were loaded into the operator’s data management system and automatically integrated with pipeline information, imagery, and environmental data. Figure 4 shows the ILI data aligned with pipeline and route information. The system flagged the indication as in need of immediate response due to its predicted failure pressure and proximity to nearby structures. Within hours of receiving the ILI data, the system had flagged the issue and a pressure reduction was put into place.

The images reveal that the structures were a church complex and a recreational park used by local youth sports teams. Figure 5 shows the defect after investigation, which was characterised by the operator as removed well in advance of potential failure. Less than five days transpired from the time the ILI report was delivered to the operator to the time the defect was removed from the pipeline.

Another example of the value of the system is in its application to find internal corrosion problems on a 36 in. gas pipeline. Internal corrosion is caused by a reaction between the inside of the pipe wall and the product being transported, often at unique locations along the pipeline where ideal conditions exist. The alignment of pipeline information (e.g., facilities data, pipeline elevation, temperature profile, etc.) enables predictions to be made as to where internal corrosion will occur. The pattern of internal corrosion reported by an ILI tool can be aligned with this type of data to determine the cause of corrosion and to establish whether the corrosion is active.

Figure 6 shows a section along the route of the pipeline and the feature assessment that identifies the need for investigation. The alignment sheet shows the ILI data, the pipeline elevation and the map view. This example shows that the reported internal corrosion is coincident with a low spot in the line and is therefore likely to be associated with a water collection point that interacts with the transported gas. The coexisting conditions leading to corrosion activity are apparent, and subsequently, further assessment of this pipeline system was focused on areas of known low points.

Conclusion

Quickly and effectively executing the integrity management process is becoming more difficult with traditional pipeline management tools. Data is growing in quantity and complexity while expectations of the public and regulatory bodies are increasing. Data and software-enabled systems such as GE’s PipeView Integrity enable operators to efficiently navigate through integrity management, while at the same time make better and more consistent decisions, and increase quality control, documentation and communication. GE Energy brings together the unique and powerful combination of pipeline integrity and operations expertise with advanced data management, software development and GIS to provide pipeline companies with long-term solutions that will continue to grow and improve over time.