Recently-appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Pipelines Co-operative Research Centre (EPCRC) Valerie Linton began her pipeline experience in the United Kingdom when she completed her PhD in association with British Gas (BG). She was posted to BG’s Engineering Research Station and assigned to the welding group.

“That inevitably meant I was working on the welding of existing and future pipelines, and I’ve continued my work for the pipeline industry ever since,” Professor Linton says.

Since BG, Professor Linton has conducted consulting work with Materials Performance Technologies (MPT) in New Zealand and with APIA while at the University of Adelaide.

The EPCRC has been established by the Commonwealth Government to deal with issues of national significance involving the pipeline industry.

The centre will focus on using research and technology transfer to ensure the construction and operation of safe, economic and reliable pipelines into the future. Professor Linton states “There are many issues that need to be solved relating to the pipeline transportation of natural gas, and there are also many new issues associated with the design and construction of future pipelines carrying CO2 and other energy related fluids that also need to be dealt with.”

In addition to the Commonwealth Government, the EPCRC has five participants. These are the APIA Research and Standards Committee (RSC) representing the industry partners, and the Australian National University, Monash University, the University of Adelaide and the University of Wollongong.

The APIA RSC represents a broad group within the industry, committed to research and development work as a way for furthering the industry. Members on the committee all bring complementary skills in areas of relevance to the RSC, and in many cases already have strong relationships with other members of the APIA RSC.

High on the agenda: research and education

The work of the CRC covers several areas, the most important of which are related to research and education.

The research is organised around four themes:

* The more efficient use of materials; * Life extension of pipelines; * Design and construction; and, * Safety and security of supply.

Work in these areas will deal with future issues for both natural gas pipelines and CO2 pipelines.

Another issue facing the pipeline industry is its ageing demographic and skills shortage. Along with its research program the EPCRC will deliver an education program aimed at increasing the skills of those in the industry and will explore initiatives to attract new workers. A range of courses will be offered, including a Masters of Pipeline Engineering.

Other matters that will be worked on early in the life of the CRC will be engagement with and development of the relationship between the EPCRC and other pipeline related research groups around the world, including the Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) and the European Pipeline Research Group (EPRG).

Safety and security

Professor Linton says that while there are many technical issues to resolve around pipelines, these issues are known and work on them continues.

The areas of public safety and security of supply are tied up with human factors and the non-technical areas of operating ageing pipelines in a changing environment. “These areas have not been particularly focused on in the past, and so the CRC is taking a new approach in having a research program dedicated to these human factor areas of research, and trying to understand why these issues arise and what can be done about them.”

Professor Linton explains that, in order to extend the life of a pipeline, it is vital to understand the environmental and operational factors that influence the degradation of a pipeline in service and what can be done to mitigate against these factors.

“So, for example, improvements in coating selection, application and testing will assist with the adoption of coatings for pipelines and joints that extend the useful life of the coating and hence the pipeline.”

Looking long term

The EPCRC will be taking a leading role in investigating challenges of not only transportation of natural gas, but also future development areas such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

As the interest and commitment to carbon capture and storage grows, there is a need to understand how CO2 can be safely and economically transported from where it is captured to where it will be stored. “There are some key unknowns related to how the composition of the fluid affects pipeline performance and how potential failure of these pipelines can be avoided,” Professor Linton says.

“There is also the opportunity to start to transport other energy related fluids, such as hydrogen or hydrogen-methane blends, and these fluids bring their own challenges in the design and safe operation of pipelines.”

Personal goals

Professor Linton says that the pipeline industry already has a strong commitment to undertaking research focused on solving problems affecting the industry.

“I hope, through the CRC, to build on this commitment, developing greater collaboration between industry and researchers, both in Australia and internationally, addressing the issues faced by the industry in the transportation of natural gas and other energy related fluids.

“I would [also] like the CRC to play a key role in bringing more people into the industry, broadening their skills and encouraging the crossover of personnel from industry to research and vice versa as a way of facilitating the uptake of new technology,” she says.

The future with EPCRC

“I would be as bold as to say that Australia is already a world leader in pipeline research. Energy in Australia needs to be transported in relatively small quantities over very long distances. This brings unique challenges, different to those faced in other parts of the world,” Professor Linton says.

She believes that these challenges have forced the Australian industry to think differently about how to build and operate pipelines so that they have long and safe operating lives, with the ability to incorporate spare capacity in response to the country’s changing energy demands.

Professor Linton says that the EPCRC will provide a focus for this research in Australia and through its involvement with the PRCI and the EPRG, the EPCRC will be able to both draw on the research outputs of those overseas and showcase the work being done in Australia.