A total of 118,623 miles of pipelines have been planned in 2012 out of which 88,976 represent projects in the planning and design phase and 29,647 miles reflect pipelines in different stages of construction. It is expected that approximately 75% of the aggregate global pipeline additions during 2011-15 will be for natural gas. Also, the Asia Pacific region should be responsible for 41.8% of these aggregate, planned pipeline additions with China and India being the frontrunners. (Source: 2012 Worldwide Pipeline Construction Report, pipelineandgasjournal.com)
Undertaking Pipeline Development Projects for inter-state transportation of oil and gas involves a considerable amount of planning and executing a series of specialized procedures which are as follows:-
· When a particular reserve has been identified and a geographical area has been scaled for pipeline development, the prerequisite is to conduct extensive research on the demand pattern of the area and determine if the project will generate the requisite profit. Only if it is expected to be economically viable in the long run should one go ahead with the project, else it should be placed on hold or cancelled.
· The next step entails creating a comprehensive project plan and pipeline design based on the factors like length of area to be covered by the pipeline, whether oil or gas has to be transported, whether it is on-shore or off-shore and the climatic conditions as well as geographical terrain of the area etc.
· Post this, the pipeline plan and design must be presented before the Energy Regulatory Commission for “right-of-way” approval and compliance with the Environmental Protection Act needs to be sought. Once a green signal has been given by all relevant authorities, the project is publicly announced.
· The construction process has several stages. The first stage involves siphoning off and clearing the area, followed by trenching. Expert surveyors and crew members are employed to ensure that only the approved area or zone is siphoned off and cleared of trees, rocks etc and its surface is evened out to carry out trenching, wherein the pipe trench is dug by means of a suitable trencher. For off-shore sites, the pipe needs to be trenched at least 30 inches deep while for on-shore sites, it should be further deep. In case of the former, restoring the soil to its original state is necessary to prevent erosion.
· The next stage of construction involves actually building the pipeline as per the design by welding, coating, bending, wrapping and laying. Pipes are bent to follow grade, terrain or direction changes. For steel pipes, the various methods used are Compression bending, Draw bending, Ram bending, Rotoform bending and Induction bending. While the average section length of a pipe is 20 feet, steel pipes could have a maximum length of 40 feet. Pipes can be joined together by means of welding, or flanged and mechanical joints. Radiographic Inspection as well as Destructive tests involving tension, impact etc need o be used to test the effectiveness of welding. Coating of the pipe is very important to prevent corrosion.
· Finally the pipe is lowered into the trench with high level of expertise and site restoration is carried out. The last but highly critical stage involves the hydrostatic test which involves pressure testing the entire length of the pipeline using water to ensure that there are zero defects. Post this, the water is fully extracted, the pipeline is dried, and only then oil or gas is allowed to pass through it. The restoration of the site should be in compliance with the norms of the Environment Protection Acts of the particular area.
TridIndia is an IS0 9001-2008 certified, CRISIL rated Language Service Provider with high levels of expertise in providing certified, reliable Oil and Gas Translation Services across the globe, with efficient turnovers at competitive rates.
