Valve Placement and Operation for Liquid Transmission Pipelines: A Risk Reduction Tool

Author(s):  
David A. Weir ◽  
Vienna W. Kwan ◽  
Barry F. Power

The Intelligent Valve Placement (IVP) approach has been developed to incorporate risk (defined as likelihood × consequence) reduction techniques to identify optimum locations for sectionalizing (block) valves along existing or new petroleum transmission pipelines. This process aims to optimize valve placement based on risk reduction rather than current rule-of-thumbs and regulatory requirements. It may result in cost reduction and cost optimization through efficient valve placement while meeting required regulations. This approach incorporates risk through reduction of consequence, which is achieved by reducing the potential spill volumes and impact to sensitive areas in an iterative manner. With the use of consequence reduction strategies, this paper demonstrates that valve placement and operability decisions on both new or existing pipelines can be made to optimize the location of valves and provide for a safer pipeline. Although this process is highly consequence driven, there are opportunities to incorporate likelihood drivers. Equations have been developed that quantify consequence reduction and allow for determination of an optimal valve placement design. Application of this technique to pipelines in the United States is presented and the limitations of this method addressed. Although this technique is valid anywhere, this approach is in line with the requirement from the U.S. Department of Transportation to examine the placement of emergency flow restricting devices as per the High Consequence Area ruling and the requirements set forth by the Canadian Standards Association regarding remote operation of valves in Canada consistent with “extraordinary hazard” determinations.

Author(s):  
David A. Weir ◽  
Yanping Li

The Intelligent Valve Placement (IVP) approach that considers risk (defined as likelihood × consequence) reduction techniques to identify optimum locations for sectionalizing (block valves) for new liquid transmission pipelines has been enhanced to straightforwardly optimize valve placements based on the effectiveness and potential volume out reduction of valves. Valve effectiveness is a measure that quantifies the effectiveness of a valve in reducing volume out for pipe sections that can affect one or more identified sensitive areas. The valve effectiveness calculation does not adequately consider those situations where there is significant volume out reduction potential with few or no sensitive areas present, thus the potential volume out reduction for a given valve must also be considered. The enhanced IVP approach incorporates risk reduction by reducing consequence. This is achieved through potential reduction of impacts to sensitive areas and potential volume out reduction for pipeline ruptures. A method of establishing a decision making threshold for both the valve effectiveness and potential volume out calculations has been incorporated into the approach. The valve placement effectiveness and volume out calculations are applied in an iterative manner that facilitates quick and simplified interpretation and identification of optimum valve placement. The IVP approach meets and exceeds the requirements set forth in both the National Energy Board’s On-shore Pipeline Regulations and the U.S. Department of Transport’s Emergency Flow Restricting Device expectations set out in its HCA Rulemaking. This paper outlines the approach used to augment decision making within the enhanced IVP process and presents its application to new pipeline development. Limitations to the approach are also addressed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 408
Author(s):  
William E. Nganje ◽  
Linda D. Burbidge ◽  
Elisha K. Denkyirah ◽  
Elvis M. Ndembe

Food safety is a major risk for agribusiness firms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 5000 people die annually, and 36,000 people are hospitalized as a result of foodborne outbreaks in the United States. Globally, the death estimate is about 42,000 people per year. A single outbreak could cost a particular segment of the food industry hundreds of millions of dollars due to recalls and liability; these instances might amount to billions of dollars annually. Despite U.S. advancements and regulations, such as pathogen reduction/hazard analysis critical control points (PR/HACCP) in 1996 and the Food Modernization Act in 2010, to reduce food-safety risk, retail meat facilities continue to experience recalls and major outbreaks. We developed a stochastic-optimization framework and used stochastic-dominance methods to evaluate the effectiveness for three strategies that are used by retail meat facilities. Copula value-at-risk (CVaR) was utilized to predict the magnitude of the risk exposure associated with alternative, cost-effective risk-reduction strategies. The results showed that optimal retail-intervention strategies vary by meat and pathogen types, and that having a single Salmonella performance standard for PR/HACCP could be inefficient for reducing other pathogens and food-safety risks.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 3-7, 16

Abstract This article presents a history of the origins and development of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), from the publication of an article titled “A Guide to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment of the Extremities and Back” (1958) until a compendium of thirteen guides was published in book form in 1971. The most recent, sixth edition, appeared in 2008. Over time, the AMA Guides has been widely used by US states for workers’ compensation and also by the Federal Employees Compensation Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, as well as by Canadian provinces and other jurisdictions around the world. In the United States, almost twenty states have developed some form of their own impairment rating system, but some have a narrow range and scope and advise evaluators to consult the AMA Guides for a final determination of permanent disability. An evaluator's impairment evaluation report should clearly document the rater's review of prior medical and treatment records, clinical evaluation, analysis of the findings, and a discussion of how the final impairment rating was calculated. The resulting report is the rating physician's expert testimony to help adjudicate the claim. A table shows the edition of the AMA Guides used in each state and the enabling statute/code, with comments.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (03) ◽  
pp. 82-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hoppensteadt ◽  
O. Iqbal ◽  
R. L. Bick ◽  
J. Fareed

SummaryThrombotic disorders are the most common cause of death in the United States. About two million individuals die each year from an arterial or venous thrombosis or related disorders. About 80% to 90% of all cases of thrombosis can now be defined with respect to cause. Of these, over 50% occur in patients who harbor a congenital or acquired blood coagulation protein or platelet defect which caused the thrombotic event. It is obviously of major importance to define those individuals harboring such a defect as this allows: 1) appropriate antithrombotic therapy to decrease risks of recurrence; 2) determination of the length of time the patient must remain on therapy for secondary prevention; and 3) allow for testing of family members of those harboring a blood coagulation protein or platelet defect which is hereditary (about 50% of all coagulation and platelet defects mentioned above). Aside from mortality, significant additional morbidity occurs from both arterial or venous thrombotic events, including, but not limited to paralysis (non-fatal thrombotic stroke), cardiac disability (repeated coronary events), loss of vision (retinal vascular thrombosis), fetal waste syndrome (placental vascular thrombosis), stasis ulcers and other manifestations of post-phlebitic syndrome, etc.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 934
Author(s):  
Andy McEvoy ◽  
Becky K. Kerns ◽  
John B. Kim

Optimized wildfire risk reduction strategies are generally not resilient in the event of unanticipated, or very rare events, presenting a hazard in risk assessments which otherwise rely on actuarial, mean-based statistics to characterize risk. This hazard of actuarial approaches to wildfire risk is perhaps particularly evident for infrequent fire regimes such as those in the temperate forests west of the Cascade Range crest in Oregon and Washington, USA (“Westside”), where fire return intervals often exceed 200 years but where fires can be extremely intense and devastating. In this study, we used wildfire simulations and building location data to evaluate community wildfire exposure and identify plausible disasters that are not based on typical mean-based statistical approaches. We compared the location and magnitude of simulated disasters to historical disasters (1984–2020) in order to characterize plausible surprises which could inform future wildfire risk reduction planning. Results indicate that nearly half of communities are vulnerable to a future disaster, that the magnitude of plausible disasters exceeds any recent historical events, and that ignitions on private land are most likely to result in very high community exposure. Our methods, in combination with more typical actuarial characterizations, provide a way to support investment in and communication with communities exposed to low-probability, high-consequence wildfires.


2020 ◽  
pp. 016059762096974
Author(s):  
Nathan Marquam ◽  
Ashley Irby ◽  
Nancy Swigonski ◽  
Kara Casavan ◽  
Jack Turman

The death of an infant devastates a mother, family and community. The United States has one of the highest infant mortality rates among the world’s high income nations. Infant mortality is a key indicator of a population’s health and societal well-being, yet interventions aimed at improving societal well-being are rarely a priority when devising infant mortality reduction strategies. Historically, grassroots movements have been critical in advancing social change to improve women’s health and empowerment in marginalized communities. Understanding strategic and infrastructure elements of these grassroots movements is a critical first step to efficiently growing USA grassroots movements to address social systems associated with poor birth outcomes. We provide an analysis of the diverse array of grassroots structures and strategies utilized to improve maternal and child health outcomes. It is time for grassroots movements to form and be recognized as vital players in efforts to sustainably reduce infant mortality in the United States. It is essential to foster grassroots leaders and movements that improve long standing social structures that contribute to poor birth outcomes. The personal and community knowledge of these leaders and community members are desperately needed to save women and infants in our nation.


Author(s):  
Shane E. Powers ◽  
William C. Wood

With the renewed interest in the construction of coal-fired power plants in the United States, there has also been an increased interest in the methodology used to calculate/determine the overall performance of a coal fired power plant. This methodology is detailed in the ASME PTC 46 (1996) Code, which provides an excellent framework for determining the power output and heat rate of coal fired power plants. Unfortunately, the power industry has been slow to adopt this methodology, in part because of the lack of some details in the Code regarding the planning needed to design a performance test program for the determination of coal fired power plant performance. This paper will expand on the ASME PTC 46 (1996) Code by discussing key concepts that need to be addressed when planning an overall plant performance test of a coal fired power plant. The most difficult aspect of calculating coal fired power plant performance is integrating the calculation of boiler performance with the calculation of turbine cycle performance and other balance of plant aspects. If proper planning of the performance test is not performed, the integration of boiler and turbine data will result in a test result that does not accurately reflect the true performance of the overall plant. This planning must start very early in the development of the test program, and be implemented in all stages of the test program design. This paper will address the necessary planning of the test program, including: • Determination of Actual Plant Performance. • Selection of a Test Goal. • Development of the Basic Correction Algorithm. • Designing a Plant Model. • Development of Correction Curves. • Operation of the Power Plant during the Test. All nomenclature in this paper utilizes the ASME PTC 46 definitions for the calculation and correction of plant performance.


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1070-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Tria Tirona ◽  
Rajesh Sehgal ◽  
Oscar Ballester

Author(s):  
Darya Sergeevna Kareva ◽  
◽  
Sevinj Mahmud kyzy Ismailova ◽  
Elena Evgenievna Dozhdva ◽  
◽  
...  

The article substantiates the need to reform cameral tax control in Russia based on the experience of the United States. The necessity of introducing into the procedure of cameral control the mechanism of requesting all documents confirming the correct determination of tax obligations is determined. The aim of improving the process of desk audits of control is that the new procedure for conducting audits will reduce the likelihood of tax violations.


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