THE DESIGN OF NATURAL GAS PIPELINES

By George W. White | September 2012, Vol. 239 No. 9

Ref.: http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/design-natural-gas-pipelines?page=show
The modern pipeline design engineer must take into consideration many new factors - for
instance, the federal Gas Pipeline Safety Rules, 49CFR Parts 191, 192 and 193. These include
requirements such as maximum spacing for mainline shut-off valves, heavier wall thickness in
populated areas and some design at 50% of SMYS (specified minimum yield strength).
Most states have their own pipeline safety rules which can be more stringent than the federal
rules. In addition, there are EPA regulations that are necessary to be complied with such as an

Environmental impact statement for the entire system, limits on exhaust emissions, right-of-
way screening before excavation, etc. Your final design must comply with all such regulations.
A good pipeline design should be a compromise between the cost of pipe in the ground and
the cost of all the compressor stations. As a general rule, pipe in the ground is cheaper than
compressors. Costs should be obtained from the pipe mills and from compressor engine
builders and gas turbine suppliers. A computer program can be used to compare the overall
costs of the entire system. The natural gas pipeline industry is still expanding and improving.
Stronger steels, larger pipes and more electronic controls are all in the offing and will challenge
future designers.
Route Selection
A major pipeline will probably have several points of gas production where natural gas is to
enter the system. A gathering system may be needed to bring it all to a common point. If the
gas contains a lot of liquids, an LPG stripping plant may be required as may a desulfurization
plant. In any event, a starting and stopping point for the mainline must be determined. The
route of the mainline must now be chosen. A straight line drawn on a map connecting the two
points is a good way to start.
Then fly the line in a chopper and avoid as many problem areas as possible. Such areas might
be subdivisions, schools, churches and other places of public assembly. Natural obstacles
such as rivers, lakes, canyons, etc., should be avoided. In some cases, it may be necessary to
go through a subdivision. Federal rules require that the wall thickness of the mainline pipe be
such that the steel will not be stressed more than 50% of its SMYS.
SMYS is defined as the point at which the steel begins to stretch when under strain. This value
is determined for pipeline steels by placing a small sample of the steel to be used in a machine
which attempts to pull it apart and measures the strain imposed and also the length of the
sample. The strain at which the sample begins to stretch (yield) is its minimum yield strength,
usually expressed in pounds per square inch (psi). The purchaser of the pipe specifies the
SMYS when he orders the pipe. For example, in X grades of pipe SMYS X70 means 70,000
psi SMYS, X60 means 60,000.
Another factor in route selection is the width of the right-of-way. For most lines, a permanent
width of 50 feet is sufficient; however, during construction, a wider right-of-way may be
temporarily needed. If future plans call for looping, a wider right-of-way should be purchased
for the original line.
After the route has been selected, aerial photographs should be taken and a house count done
for every mile of right-of-way at a width of 660 feet on either side of the line. See sketches
marked as Appendix A.
The class location (Part 192.5 of CFR49) is then determined by counting the houses. For each
mile of pipe within the strip of 1,320 feet (660 on either side of the line) the class location is as
follows:

50% stress level is also required for special locations such as:
Offshore
Station yards
Within 300 feet of any building with human occupancy of 20 or more such as playgrounds,
recreation areas, outdoor theaters, or any place of public assembly.
The design pressure equation for steel pipe is:
P =2stf over D
where P= pressure in psig
s= SMYS
D= nominal outside diameter of pipe in inches
t = nominal wall thickness in inches
F = stress level factor

These are standard wall thicknesses available from pipe mills. Non-standard thicknesses can
be obtained but require special orders and prices. Having determined the miles of each wall
thickness needed, bids may now be taken from qualified pipe mills which will supply the pipe.
The pipe should go to a coating mill before being shipped to the job site.
Coatings for buried pipelines have been vastly improved. Plastic enamel-type powder sprayed
onto a pipe heated to more than 400 degrees F gives an impervious glass smooth coat which
prevents corrosion of the outer wall. If this same smooth coating is applied to the inner wall it
will reduce the friction factor and result in a larger gas flow for the same pressure drop.
Furthermore, this internal coating can be applied at the same time as the external coating while
the pipe is hot.
Pipe
The maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) must now be determined. Obviously, the
higher the pressure, the more gas you can pump. However, valves, fittings and compressors
may not be available for higher pressures: 1,000 psig equipment is available whereas 1,200
psig may not be. Check with the suppliers of these items. The grade of steel must also be
decided. X70 is being used throughout the industry; X80 has been used in a test section, but
its use may create welding problems and it may not be available in large quantities.
Next, the pipe diameter must be chosen. Here again, the bigger the pipe, the more gas it will
move. However, the same precaution should be used: 48-inch valves are available, but fittings,
especially for 50% stress level, may not be.
Now we need to know the quantity of gas to be moved. For example, assume a quantity of
900,000 Mcf/d to be moved through a 30-inch pipe, MAOP of 1,000 psig. Try a station spacing
of 60 miles. A modified flow formula (good for methane only) to determine the pressure drop
between compressor stations is as follows:
P1-P2 = 2720FLgQ over D to the fifth power
where:
P1 = station discharge pressure
P2= next station suction pressure
g = specific gravity
Q=quantity in Mcf/d
D = diameter, inside
For the example used above:
L =60 miles
F = 0.012 (for slick walls)
Q = 900,000 Mcf/d
D = 29 in.
g=0.61

A compression ratio of 1.364 is a good one for centrifugal compressors driven by gas turbines.
Therefore, the 60-mile station spacing is reasonable. If higher compression ratios are needed,
then piston-type compressors should be considered.

Compressors
Curves of brake horsepower per MMcf/d of gas compressed are available. Such a curve is
shown in Appendix B. For the example just used above, 8.15 brake horsepower per Mcf/d is
required for a compression ratio of 1.364. A single gas turbine driving a centrifugal compressor
rated at 8,000 horsepower is available, or two gas-fired piston-type engines rated at 4,000 BHP
each are available.
Changes in gas supply and inlet pressure are likely to occur at the first mainline compressor
station as well as at the last compressor station. Piston-type compressors can handle such
changes more easily than centrifugals; therefore, it would be wise to design the system with
piston-type compressors at both the first and last stations.
For compressor stations in remote areas, electric power may not be available. Such stations
can generate their own power using small gas-fired engine generators or by attaching a
generator to the flywheel of one of the compressor engines.
At the compression ratio in the example, the gas discharge temperature will be about 150
degrees F. If baked on plastic as the mainline coating, it will not be affected by this
temperature. However, if other types of coating are used, it may be necessary to cool the entire
outlet gas stream.
Compressor stations can be designed so that they can be started, stopped and controlled by
operators at a remote location, i.e., the next station or the main office. They can also be
automatic where the compressor units can be started and stopped by pressure-sensitive
devices.
One such design would be three stations as a unit. The center station would be a manned
engine type with unmanned gas turbine stations on either side of it to be controlled and
maintained by the center station.
There are at least two environmental problems with compressor stations - noise and exhaust
emissions. Noise can be controlled with mufflers. Exhaust emissions can be chemically
controlled with wet scrubbers, but they are expensive. These problems should be solved at the
time
The compressors are purchased.
Remote and unmanned stations should have an automatic fire control system with alarm to the
nearest manned station.
For designers new to the industry, centrifugal compressors are available from Dresser Rand,
Cooper Bessemer and others. Gas turbines are available from GE, Westinghouse and Solar.
Piston-type compressor engines are available from Cooper Bessemer, Dresser Rand and
Worthington, to name a few.
Communications
A reliable system for communicating between compressor stations, gas gathering and sales
points, as well as with an operating system dispatcher is a must. Leased telephone lines,
microwave or wireless, may be used. The communication system may also be used for remote
control of valves and stations.
In order to properly control a large pipeline, dispatchers need to have hourly reports from all
compressor stations, inlet meters and sales meters. These reports should include pressure,
flow rate and temperature, if available, as well as any occurrence such as an engine down or
sections of pipeline out of service.
Appendix A
These are the diagrams being used by one major gas pipeline company to determine class
location and pipe stress level. House counts should be redone every few years as the
population increases.


Appendix B
Attached is a curve that shows the required horsepower to compress a million cubic feet of gas
at different compression ratios.



The Author
George W. White was Vice President and Chief Engineer for Tenneco Gas Pipeline Company
for 20 years during the boom days of the gas pipeline industry. He designed several large gas
pipeline systems which are now in service. He was chairman of the Line Pipe Users Committee
of the American Petroleum Institute (API). He was also secretary of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B31.8 Committee for Gas Piping Standards. He also served for
several years on the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee of the Office of Pipeline
Safety of the federal Department of Transportation and was instrumental in the writing of
49CFR Parts 191, 192, 193 and 195. He graduated from Rice University in 1950 with a
Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and was a registered professional
engineer in 16 states. He retired in 1984 and resides at 21303 Palomino Cove, Lago Vista, TX
78645. He will be 90 in November and can be reached at 512 267-0073.


I 'm wondering if somebody can also share the engineering practice of setting "Minimum"
velocity that a gas transport pipeline should have? Is there some value - what 're the criteria
for minimum velocity ? Thanks & Regards!
There is no such criteria as "minimum velocity" for transporting bone dry gas in pipelines
except that it does not make economic sense transporting low volumetric flow rates for a
given pipe size which would be obvious if the velocities are maintained low.
However, if the gas is wet then the criteria of "minimum velocity" does make a lot of
sense. At very low velocities, liquid dropout and accumulation may occur in the pipeline
causing slugging, excessive and / or fluctuating pressure drop and corrosion due to water
dropout and accumulation.
That is entirely the reason that most long-distance gas pipelines are recommended for
continuous operation in the velocity range of 5-10 m/s. In real life, transportation of natural
gas (sales gas) is never considered as a bone dry gas. There will always be trace quantities
of water as well as heavy hydrocarbons in any sales gas and this can drop out as a liquid
due to a combination of low velocity and low temperatures or any one of them.
Thus a minimum velocity of 1.8-2 m/s is recommended to be maintained for natural gas
(sales gas) pipelines.

Hope this helps.