The Office of Pipeline Safety advisory bulletin in question requires all oil and gas pipeline operators to validate the existence, and non-existence, of SCC in susceptible lines. Under this advisory, operators must demonstrate whether their pipelines are susceptible to SCC, validate the threat of SCC, and assess the potential impact on pipeline integrity.
The assessment options available to operators to validate SCC are hydrotesting, direct assessment (SCCDA), and in-line inspection.
GE’s three-phase SCCScreenTM process adopts selected aspects of both in-line inspection and direct assessment. This screening process is designed to help operators comply with government regulations with minimal costs, while providing assured, validated safety levels. This process is unique as a result of GE’s crack assessment experience and because the process has been validated using an extensive database of independently field-verified SCC events and measurements.
For liquid pipelines, GE’s new SCC screening method utilises the UltraScan crack detection tool with screening analysis. The process for gas pipelines includes a combination of MagneScan and TranScan runs analysed with proprietary criteria, improving the identification of critical SCC fields in susceptible pipelines.
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“This new pipeline integrity process provides pipeline operators with a product that can address the federal advisory, offering them lower, long-term application costs yet a more accurate picture of the future integrity of pipelines,” said Mike Simmons, GE’s general manager for global pipeline services. “This process assures the integrity of susceptible pipelines with no known history of SCC.”
GE began offering these new products in December 2004. It is the first of its type in combining ILI technology and integrity engineering in this integrated manner. Although developed to allow North American operators to comply with the Office of Pipeline Safety advisory, these new products can and have been utilised to evaluate SCC susceptibility in pipelines worldwide.
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