New research could make pipelines safer

News 1130 reported on a UBCO engineering study that could help oil and gas companies avoid pipeline failures.

An engineering model could shed light on what parts of a pipeline network could be prone to corrosion and should receive priority for integrity testing.

Solomon Tesfamariam’s pipeline inspection model combines various corrosion and pressure failure assessments, which have mostly been considered separately so far.

“Pipelines have been operated for several years, so with this type of decision-making tool, the pipeline operators can identify the high-risk pipes and do more inspections,” Tesfamariam said.