Tim Jackson

Melbourne updated on APA’s gas grid

More than 220 people attended the APIA Melbourne Dinner, held at Hilton on the Park on 12 June 2014, where they heard an interesting presentation about the integration of APA Group's east coast gas system.
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Tests reveal a new benchmark in high-pressure butt-welding

Worldpoly's Australian-made, high-pressure welding machine was recently independently tested by Dr John Scheirs of ExcelPlas Polymer Testing Services in Dalby, Queensland, where it displayed extremely impressive weld quality abilities, setting a new benchmark in today's welding technology.
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Comparing international pipeline failure rates

Rates of pipeline failure in Australia seem to be substantially lower than in the Americas and Europe, at only 10-20 per cent of the international mean for failures in onshore transmission pipelines. This paper examines the validity of the Australian data and explores reasons for the difference. Some reasons are obvious, such as the relative youth of Australian pipelines, which results in a negligible rate of corrosion failures. However, there is no obvious explanation for the markedly lower rate of failures due to third party damage. It is hypothesised that Australian practices for managing third party damage may differ in some way. Given the high social and economic cost of pipeline failures, there should be a comparative study to identify any beneficial differences between third party damage protection practices in Australia and elsewhere.
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NationWide Hire eyes further expansion in SA and WA

NationWide Hire continues to demonstrate its commitment to supporting the needs of the pipeline industry by positioning itself in strategic locations around the country. The company recently opened up branches in Miles and Darwin, and plans to open branches in Adelaide and Port Hedland very soon.
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Is driver safety on your radar?

An increasing number of operators and service providers in the gas and pipeline industry are turning to GPS vehicle tracking to help ensure driver safety and maximise fleet efficiency.
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Victorian pipeline personality: Paul Fortune

Paul Fortune arrived in Perth from South Africa in 2004 where he worked as Far East Export Manager for Winn & Coales (Denso). He then moved to Melbourne to accept the position of Sales and Marketing Manager Australasia and subsequently Managing Director of Denso Australia in July 2012. The Australian Pipeliner spoke to Mr Fortune about his journey from South Africa into the Australian pipeline industry and his role as the Managing Director of Denso.
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Undertaking HDD under the Condamine

Carrying out 26 horizontal directional drilling bores under the Condamine River, Queensland, including for the Australia Pacific LNG Project, has been an exceptional feat for subcontractor Pipeline Drillers Group.
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Keeping pipelines on the level: Dr Bassem Youssef

As part of his PhD study, Dr Bassem Youssef, who is now employed at Atteris as a project engineer, developed a unique pipeline on-bottom stability simulation program, which won the Australian Gas Innovation Award Commendation in 2012. The Australian Pipeliner spoke with Dr Youssef to find out more about his research and why it is so important for offshore pipelines.
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