Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SCHOOL OF CIVIL,
ENVIRONMENTAL & CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main idea and the scope of this report is on the process of material selection and designing
an oil and gas pipeline system for distribution purposes. Out of a few different types of oil and gas
pipeline exist, natural gas distribution pipeline is chosen. Natural gas is delivered via distribution
pipelines domestically, industrially, or even agriculturally.
Different types of corrosion in underground environment exists where underground pipelines are
installed including general corrosion, pitting corrosion, stress-corrosion cracking (SCC), and
differential corrosion cells. Meanwhile, differential aeration cell and galvanic corrosion are another
two types different corrosion classified under the differential corrosion cells where oxidation and
reduction occur separately.
The specific function and a few functional requirements are listed first before introducing the
design concept of natural gas distribution pipeline. A shortlist of suitable materials for use as
construction of the pipeline based upon the major requirements is provided. The materials
involved are steel, copper, polyethylene, and fiberglass while the discounted material are cast
and wrought iron. The four materials are ranked according to a few factors affecting the choice of
materials which are corrosion-resistant, maximum service temperature, toughness and cost of
materials. From the rank and index mentioned before, the best materials are then selected based
upon the degree of resistance to corrosion required for the design. A critical analysis is done
based upon the materials ability to meet the requirements for the system. The focus is on
combating exterior corrosion since there is not much issue with internal corrosion due to the
contents of the natural gas passing through. Polyethylene is finally chosen as the most suitable
material to resist corrosion from the surrounding underground environment while carbon steel is
selected as the type of interior pipe. Other factors affecting the choice of materials for the
construction of pipelines that could be taken into account are weldability and joining,
environmental factor, availability of materials, maintenance, and miscellaneous shock factors.
Several possible improvements that will allow the distribution line to work at its optimum efficiency
are suggested such as consideration for internal coating, materials grades, and accuracy in
calculation.
Conclusively, carbon steel and polyethylene are chosen to construct the interior and exterior of
natural gas distribution pipeline respectively as they match well with the five main operating
parameters of material selection.
2 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5
8.2
10
11
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
Maintenance ...............................................................................................................13
11.5
12
13
14
References ....................................................................................................................16
15
Appendix ........................................................................................................................17
15.1
15.2
Page 7
Page 9
Page 10
4 INTRODUCTION
Oil and gas pipelines are needed for safe and efficient transportation of large quantity of oil and
gas for instance crude oil and natural gas. The delivery network for this transportation consists of
many types of pipelines, each serving its purposes. In general, pipelines can be considered as
cost-effective alternative options apart from using tanker truck loads and rail cars. Pipelines need
impressively less energy to function than operating trucks or rail. This is due to the fact that
pipelines have much lower carbon footprints count. Underground pipelines are one of the many
safer way for oil and gas transport.
From the numerous types of pipelines, this report will mainly be focusing on the natural gas
distribution pipelines. Natural gas is a hydrocarbon compound which consists of hydrogen and
carbon atoms. The simplest form of natural gas is methane gas which is made up of one carbon
atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms. Gaseous hydrocarbon includes compounds with lesser
amount of natural gas liquids, and other gas such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide,
or even water. These trace compounds will be discarded at gas processing facilities once they
are produced. The natural gas which flows along the pipelines will be distributed domestically,
industrially, and agriculturally. The outer diameter of pipeline can be as small as inch to 24 inch
while the length depends on how far the natural gas will be distributed to.
The natural gas delivery network starts at the producing wellheads, where products will go through
a gathering lines to a compressor station. From this compressor station, the unrefined natural gas
will either go to the underground storage through transmission lines, or to a processing plant,
where the gas is further refined and compressed before getting delivered to city gates or local
distribution companies. Through distribution lines, refined gas is then supplied to commercial or
residential customers.
The gathering of raw natural gas is done by the small diameter pipes from producing well. It is
then transferred to a gas processing facility. This can also be applied to water, impurities, and
other gases. Natural gas is said to be moving at speeds up to 40 km/h through these pipelines
(Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, 2015).
Back in the days, pipelines were made from hollowed-out logs, lead and copper. Now as the
technology improves, they are made from high quality steel.
The scope of this report is to design an improvised version of line-pipe system for distribution
purposes. The main objective is to provide justification for the groups or classifications of materials
that are selected based upon the line-pipe design requirements and the ability of the materials to
meet these requirements. The specific function and functional requirements for natural gas
distribution lines are listed thus a simple design concept is outlined. A few suitable materials for
use as construction of the pipeline based upon the major requirements are shortlisted. The
materials are next ranked in terms of suitability and meeting the operating requirements. Three
materials that have been shortlisted are then selected based upon the degree of resistance to
corrosion required for the design. A detailed analysis is also provided based upon the materials
ability to meet the corrosion requirements for the system under consideration and importance of
corrosion resistance compared with other requirements for final selection of material for
construction. Other factors affecting choice of material such as cost, availability of materials,
processing, welding, joining, etc. are discussed thoroughly. Some possible improvements that
can be made to the pipeline design are suggested.
5 LITERATURE REVIEW
The main aspect of material selection for this assignment is on corrosion, thus this literature
review will cover the different types of corrosion in underground environment where underground
pipelines are installed. In United States, from 1994 until 1999, it was recorded that many accidents
happened under the case of natural gas transmission pipeline and natural gas distribution pipeline
due to the hazardous liquid in the pipelines which the main factors of its existence are caused by
corrosion, internal and external (US Department of Transportation, 2015).
According to American Society of Metals International (2002), the types of corrosions in the
underground environment for pipeline installation are general corrosion, pitting corrosion, and
stress-corrosion cracking (SCC). Another type of corrosion that is most affect the underground
pipelines is the differential corrosion cells. The most common morphology of the differential
corrosion cells is uneven metal loss over localized areas covering a few to several hundred square
inches.
The basic mechanism in corrosion is redox reaction, where they occur physically at or near the
same location on a metal. Oxidation and reduction reaction always occur at the same moment.
However, as its name, differential corrosion cells, the oxidation and reduction reaction occur
separately on the metal surface, where the oxidation occur at one side and reduction occur at the
other side of the metal.
In addition, under differential corrosion cell, a variety of different types exist. They are differential
aeration cell and galvanic corrosion. Differential aeration cell happens when different parts of a
pipe are exposed to different concentration of oxygen in soil, and cells created by differences in
the nature of the pipe surface or the soil quality. Meanwhile, galvanic corrosion occurs when
potential difference in the flow of electrical current is created by the presence of different metals.
This is because different metals have a different corrosion potential in a given environment.
In the ASM Handbook (2006), prevention of corrosion can be done through various methods such
as coatings, cathodic protection and surface preparation. The Canadian Energy Pipeline
Association (CEPA) member companies suggests that surface preparation for new constructions
of pipelines can be done, such as fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE), liquid epoxy, urethane, extruded
polyethylene, and multilayer or composite coatings (Beavers & Thompson, 2006). Fusion-bonded
epoxy (FBE) coatings are integrated in pipeline construction by CEPA for natural gas distribution
pipeline. CEPA has a performance of 99% safety with this approach (Canadian Energy Pipeline
Association, 2015).
7 DESIGN CONCEPT
The basic design of this pipeline is mainly just choosing the type of materials. Instead of having
only one type of material, the design consists of choosing two materials, each for internal and
external pipe surface. The reason for this approach is due to the consideration that protective
layer should be external, given the fact that processed natural gas does not have much corrosion
issue to deal with. The focus should be on the outer pipe surface where the pipeline would be in
contact with underground environment. As for the dimensions, the outer diameter of the pipe
should be in the range of 18 in to 24 in.
10
Corrosion-resistant
Polyethylene
Fibreglass
Carbon steel
Copper
High
Medium
Materials
Carbon steel
200 400
Polyethylene
0 200
Copper
Fibreglass
-30 150
Materials
Toughness (kJ/m2)
Polyethylene
6 100
Fibreglass
40 - 100
Carbon steel
2 - 80
Copper
10 - 60
Table 3: Toughness for the considered materials
11
Materials
Cost (/kg)
Polyethylene
0.5 0.7
Carbon steel
0.2 0.8
Copper
0.9 2.0
Fibreglass
2.0 10.0
12
10 SELECTED MATERIALS
Specification of operating conditions is important in finalizing a choice of material. Refined natural
gas for commercial and industrial applications has a composition of 87 96% methane where
most contaminants such as water, impurities, and other gases such as carbon dioxide and sulphur
are removed (Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, 2015). For this reason, internal pipe
corrosion is considered to be negligible. Therefore, the main corrosion concern is uniform
corrosion from soil humidity or acidity. Most distribution pipelines operate and a rather low
pressure ranging from 30 psig to 60 psig. Temperature of natural gas exiting compressors are
high (100 F 120 F), however once the natural gas flows underground, rapid decrease in
temperature occurs where the gas temperature is approximately similar to the ambient
underground temperature. These conditions are the reference conditions in material selection.
Based on the rank generated, polyethylene and fiberglass would be the strongest materials
resisting corrosion, compared to carbon steel and copper. Since external corrosion is the main
issue, polyethylene and fiberglass are the two materials to be selected from when choosing
external coating of the pipeline.
Based on the material selection chart of Strength vs maximum service temperature, carbon steel
can withstand up to 400 C (equivalent to 752 F), which is extremely high compared to what was
operationally required. Copper and polyethylene has a maximum service temperature of 392 F.
All materials are suitable for this distribution pipeline in regard to temperature.
In terms of durability, copper would not be preferable due to its brittle nature. Strength vs
toughness chart shows that polyethylene has the highest strength, secondly, carbon steel and
lastly, copper. On the other hand, although fiberglass lasts well in corrosive environment,
maintenance would be highly expensive. Furthermore, the inability to weld fiberglass leads to
complications in bending pipes leads to the necessity to design around the piping layout to apply
bends and offsets (Uberti, 1976). Copper and fiberglass is discounted from the main list for
strength and weldability reasons respectively.
The material narrows down to two; carbon steel and polyethylene. Adapting the design concept,
the material selected for interior pipe is carbon steel, mainly because of its strength and ability to
work well with operating pressure and temperature. As for the exterior pipe, or simply put, surface
coatings, polyethylene is chosen to resist corrosion from the surrounding underground
environment.
13
11.4 MAINTENANCE
Materials that deteriorate easily means maintenance would be more frequent. This can be costly
and for underground pipes, it would require a lot of repetitive diggings when replacements are
needed. In some cases, more expensive materials could be favored in order to cut future
maintenance cost over time.
14
12 POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT
There are several possible improvements that will allow the distribution line to work at its optimum
efficiency.
1. Internally coated Coating the pipeline internally should be considered as it would help to
reduce the friction in the pipeline.
2. Consideration of materials grades Different grades of same materials performs
according to their grades. For example for polyethylene, PE 100 have higher strength and
toughness than PE 80. Thus, PE 100 can operate at higher operating pressures than
PE80 pipes for the same wall thickness.
3. Accuracy in calculation The measurement of compression and pressure from inside and
outside of the pipe must be accurate because it will lead to the selection of materials and
size of pipeline that can operate optimally based on the value calculated.
15
16
14 REFERENCES
American Petroleum Institute, 2004. Specification for Line Pipe. [Online]
Available at: https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/002/api.5l.2004.pdf
[Accessed 8 Sept 2015].
American Society of Metals International, 2002. Corrosion. In: ASM Handbook Volume 11,
Failure Analysis and Prevention . Materials Park: ASM International, pp. 761 - 795.
Beavers, J. A. & Thompson, N. G., 2006. External Corrosion of Oil and Natural Gas Pipelines.
In: ASM Handbook, Volume 13C, Corrosion: Environments and Industries. Materials Park: ASM
International, pp. 1-12.
Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, 2015. Maintaining Safe Pipelines. [Online]
Available at: http://www.cepa.com/about-pipelines/maintaining-safe-pipelines
[Accessed 11 Sept 2015].
Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, 2015. Natural Gas Pipelines. [Online]
Available at: http://www.cepa.com/about-pipelines/types-of-pipelines/natural-gas-pipelines
[Accessed 5 Sept 2015].
Uberti, G. A., 1976. Fiberglass Reinforced Piping for Shipboard Systems, Falls Church: National
Steel and Shipbuilding Company.
US Department of Transportation, 2015. Pipeline Replacement Updates. [Online]
Available at: http://opsweb.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline_replacement/
[Accessed 13 Sept 2015].
17
15 APPENDIX
Attached are:
1. Peer Review
2. Material selection charts used in this report
18
19
20