Part 1 of the Standard, covering the design and construction of Gas and Liquid Petroleum Pipelines has been under revision for a number of years and has involved major contributions of many individuals more widely involved in many of APIA’s other activities including the APIA Research Program. In fact one of the great strengths of AS2885 is its very strong linkages to research which enables the outcomes of research to be incorporated into the Standard in a very timely and efficient manner.
The review process has involved over 80 issues papers released through the APIA website, together with many meetings, consultations and voluntary contributions of time by leading pipeline engineers, many of whom attended the seminar. The proposed new Standard now at the public consultation stage envisages fundamental changes to the design process for new pipelines and also impacts on the upgrading of existing pipelines. The changes will also impact on land planning decisions and common infrastructure corridor arrangements.
The Committee chaired by Phil Venton is to be congratulated on reaching the important stage of releasing the public consultation draft. The revision process has been underway for nearly four years and addresses specific issues relating to the design factor for new pipelines and for upgrading the design factor for existing pipelines. A crucial aspect of the proposal developed by the Committee is to provide an engineering basis to increase the design factor of pipelines. This was in line with a request from APIA for the Committee to investigate options for reviewing the possibility of increasing the design factor for new pipelines from 72 per cent to potentially 80 per cent of specific minimum yield strength.
The potential benefits APIA considers that would result from this initiative includes:
- a reduction in pipeline CAPEX for new lines in the order of 5 per cent
- for an existing pipeline a potential increase in capacity of around 11 per cent thus reducing the need for more expensive expansion options.
APIA has been encouraged by the high level of representation and positive commentary on the proposals made by international speakers who participated in the seminar. Our international speakers from the UK, USA and Canada were instrumental in outlining overseas experience with higher design factors and in providing a crucial review of the proposed design standard. Equally, APIA welcomed the input and presentations from Australian technical regulators which set out very clearly their expectations and issues relating to the proposed Standard.
The draft Standard will be available for comment until March 2005 and can be viewed at http://www.standards.com.au
APIA urges all engineers, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders involved and interested in the pipeline design process to review the draft Standard and provide their considered views on what has been proposed.
On behalf of APIA I thank Allen Beasley for his enormous contribution to our Association and to the Pipeline Industry. After six years Allen is making a move to an international position and we know that our loss will be someone else’s gain. Good luck Allen and I trust we will be in contact in the future.