Integrity Challenges

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• Integrity Compliance
• Third Party Interference
• Pigging Challenges

Integrity Management and Compliance

Pipelines must adhere to regular statutory inspections, verifications and certifications. According to strict requirements, operators must be able to demonstrate and document the integrity of their pipelines at all times. MASiP Pipe System integrated with a Pipeline Integrity Management System enables real time assessment of associated risks and implements measures to predict, prevent and swiftly mitigate consequential failure. This proactively gathers the relevant data to enhance the reliability and operational safety of your pipelines, damage diagnosis, failure analysis, safety verifications to support regulatory compliance.

Third Party Damage or Illegal tapping

Accidental Third-Party Damage remains one of the primary threats to pipelines. Conventional pipe is intrinsically vulnerable to third party interference due to its homogeneous structure.  Impact from human activity close to the pipeline such as an excavator bucket may puncture a conventional pipe wall and the internal pressure will create a running and accelerating crack.

Our patented interlocking rib technology has intrinsic resistance to running cracks; cracks decelerate due to the ribbed structure, they do not accelerate under internal pressure.

The pictures above shows the finite element simulation of a third party damage crack in a conventional pipe section (left) and the simulation of crack in the MASiP interlock ribbed pipe section (right).

National Grid funded a study of the resistance of our MASIP technology to excavator bucket impact. Using EPRG (European Pipeline Research Group) standard study as the reference point, advanced numerical simulations showed two clear results:

1. Impact energy of 1200J applied via a standard excavator bucket tooth did not puncture MASIP pipe, when it would puncture conventional pipe of the same specification, because MASIP more flexible structure dissipates energy over a wider area, not in a narrow spike.
2. If there is a puncture, cracks decelerate and do not run beyond the first set of ribs in MASIP – due to crack bifurcation at a rib, i.e. under the same conditions, cracks accelerate without limit unless crack arrestors are introduced.

Illegal hot tapping and product theft is a problem for pipeline operators all over the world. As criminals use a wide range of different installations and are in many cases able to adopt methods of siphoning and stealing that are not easily monitored.

MASiP Pipe System offers a digital real time monitoring system with a built-in sensor technology to protect against unintentional intrusions or malicious attacks.

Pigging Challenges

Pigging is an operation that is regularly required by pipeline operators for both cleaning and data collection (intelligent pigging). Managing pigging schedules and risks is a significant challenge to operators / pigging vendors without an intimate knowledge of the pipeline. The typical industry practice is to address the primary pigging challenges with progressive cleaning, pig tracking and stuck pig contingency planning. If these considerations could be managed with an in-depth understanding of the pipeline system behaviour, risk management could be greatly improved. Conventional pipeline systems do not allow this insight to eliminate these pigging risks.

Intelligent pigging is used with a risk-based approach as the current industry standard practice to get a view of conventional pipelines and its status. Managing pigging schedules and risks is a significant challenge to operators / pigging vendors without an intimate knowledge of the pipeline.

Intelligent pigging is expensive and requires a larger footprint in terms of space for launchers and receivers. The operator can be tied to a particular vendor and/or method to show comparison of results from previous intelligent pig runs. The results from pig runs require processing which can take a few weeks and there is a disruption to production during the pigging operation.