Why Pipeline Integrity Management?

Pipelines are subject to regular statutory inspections, verifications and re-certifications just as often as facilities containing and transporting hazardous products as well as pressure equipment. Until recently, such requirements have been enforced and have imposed pressure testing of oil pipelines to occur every ten years.

Operators are now asked to have in place a comprehensive integrated Pipeline Integrity Management (PIM), which is more in depth than an inspection and maintenance program, but a management system encompassing engineering, operation, inspection, maintenance, HSE and Corporate communications.

Why VAIL - Pipeline?

• Velosi brings a wealth of experience in many integrity management related fields such as HSE, system certification, risk assessment, fitness for services evaluation, risk based inspection and maintenance.
• Velosi brings together all the skills. Expertise, operation support and local presence to our clients the best PIM’s available on the market.
• It’s a best available solution for Pipeline Integrity Management that facilitates for both onshore and offshore pipelines.
• Highly user friendly inspection management tool.
• Optimum inspection periods are formally obtained based on an implicit time dimension of risk.

Benefits & Features

Meeting customer needs is Velosi’s ultimate business objective. Main benefits and features of VAILPipeline can be summarized are as follow:

• Implements company specific inspection strategies and best practices
• Reduces risk for non-planned shut downs
• Increases reliability and availability
• Provides the management with an aggregated overview of asset integrity
• Scalable to meet company specific work processes and asset portfolio
• Common storage for all life cycle data
• Benchmarking internally or against external best practice

Key Features

The major functional modules of VAIL-Pipeline include:

• Data management
• Analysis tools and code checks
• Risk assessments
• Planning and inspection management
• Built-in library of form such as corrosion mapping, SSC
• Dialogs based input forms, DCVG & CIP information recording, SSC & MIC information recording,
• Coating fault information
• Metal loss assessment
• Soil receptivity & pH values
• Event log
• surveys & inspection results,
• Defect assessment & condition assessment
• Short term and long term inspection planning
• Dynamic reporting features.
• Key support functions include document management, integration interfaces and a project execution environment.

Data Management

VAIL-Pipeline is based on the PODS data model with an offshore extension to cater for offshore objects like e.g. risers and subsea templates. The database is enveloped by a security system and role-based access restrictions on pipelines and groups of pipelines ensuring integrity of information. A specifically powerful capability in VAIL- Pipeline is the dynamic segmentation of pipelines associated with varying profiles such as location classes, pipeline sections and other specific user definition. The dynamic segmentation function is essential to the effectiveness and flexibility of the system.

Analysis Tools and Code Checks

VAIL - Pipeline includes a pressure containment function for analysis of pipelines’ ability to withstand bursting due to pressure conditions along the pipeline. The pressure containment also includes a calculator for simulating design and operational parameters. The Metal Loss function include multiple code checks for MAOP and ERF as well as ballistic calculations for the projected metal loss condition based on various input profiles for predicted corrosion level.

The integrity of the pipeline with corrosion defects, internal or external, can be evaluated based on commonly used codes (guidelines):

• DNV-RP-F101, Part A and B
• ASME B31G
• RSTRENG (0.85 dl) (not to be confused with RSTRENG FE approach)
• Shell ‘92
• PCORRC
• BS 7910
  

A typical example with typical spread in results is shown in figure below. It is possible to do sensitivity studies on MAOP, sizing accuracy and applied safety factor without changing the primary inspection / input data.

Risk Assessments

VAIL - Pipeline supports the semi-qualitative risk assessment methodology and provides selected quantitative risk assessment functions to qualify and document interpretations on the PoF scoring and resulting risk levels. Threats, CoF and PoF can be based on various segmentation principles, such as pipeline sections, location and safety class, entire pipeline and also refined, adjusted by the pipeline engineer. The resulting risk will be displayed along the pipeline for each projected year. The risk assessment for components and critical areas (hotspots) can be performed in both overview and detailed mode.

Long Term Inspection Planning and Management

The inspection planning module provides the engineer with functions to define inspections targeted for the entire pipeline or some selected sections. The long-term inspection plan is calculated from a combination of the risk assessment results and the prescribed inspection intervals.

ECDA (External Corrosion Direct Assessment)

VAIL-Pipeline covers the following ECDA surveys and regarding inspection management.

• Soil Resistivity Analysis
• Structure to soil Analysis
• DCVG Survey
• Pearson coating survey
• CIP (Close Interval Potential) survey
• Pipe to soil potential survey
• C – Scan current attenuation
• Pipeline current mapper

Reporting Feature

• Pipeline Data
• Survey and Inspection Results
• Defect assessment (with sub reports)
• Portfolio Assessment (with sub reports)
• Pipeline Assessment
• Condition evaluation summery
• Inspection task planning
• Pipeline risk assessment