Internal Corrosion Direct Assessment (ICDA) of Gas Transmission, Gathering, and Storage Systems

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• Gas Pipeline
• Direct Assessment
• Internal Corrosion

Main Objective

The proposed project seeks to develop and validate a method to assess the integrity of pipelines with respect to internal corrosion by identifying and prioritizing locations of corrosion damage. The final product will be applicable to both dry and wet gas lines, including those lines that cannot be inspected using inline inspection (ILI) tools.

Public Abstract

(See Attachments, below, for Public Abstract.)
The total cost of corrosion of all pipelines through internal corrosion has been estimated to range from $50 million to $100 million per year. The proposed project seeks to develop and validate a method to assess the integrity of pipelines with respect to internal corrosion by identifying and prioritizing locations of corrosion damage. The final product will be applicable to both dry and wet gas lines, including those lines that cannot be inspected using inline inspection (ILI) tools.

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A dry gas ICDA method was developed previously that compares the slope of a pipe segment in the direction of gas flow to a critical slope for water hold-up. The existence of corrosion at those locations can serve as representative worst case locations and provide information about the overall pipeline integrity with respect to internal corrosion. Task 1 of the proposed project will validate this methodology through comparison of field inspection data.

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Gas gathering and storage systems often carry wet gas and liquid (i.e., 'free') water, so the present ICDA method developed for dry gas is not applicable. Task 2 of the proposed project will develop a probabilistic method to predict the distribution of corrosion along the pipeline. If successful, a single methodology for internal corrosion direct assessment will be available for identifying the locations most likely to suffer internal corrosion. By focusing inspection resources, the method aims to increase safety while reducing costs.

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Southwest Research Institute is joined in this project by CC Technologies, Inc. Co-funding for the project is provided by Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI), Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), and Southern California Gas (SoCal Gas).

. Total project proposal = $593,165.00