The Role of Effective Collaboration in the Advancement of EMAT Inline Inspection Technology for Pipeline Integrity Management: A Case Study

Author(s):  
Jeff Sutherland ◽  
Stephan Tappert ◽  
Richard Kania ◽  
Karlheinz Kashammer ◽  
Jim Marr ◽  
...  

Over the past three years there has been increasing industry interest and profile regarding the role and pipeline integrity management potential of EMAT crack inspection technology in the Oil & Gas pipeline industry. This paper outlines the stages and results of the effective collaboration of a major pipeline operator and a service company to advance the true predictive performance of the EMATScan Gen III crack inspection technology. The paper will also summarize and provide examples of lessons-learned from this collaboration across all stages of EMAT based SCC integrity management program. The paper will similarly outline ongoing work in progress regarding the assessment of the ILI data relative to hydro-testing equivalency, detection of injurious defects and the related analysis and reporting improvements made over the past three years.

Author(s):  
Brittany Goldsmith ◽  
Elizabeth Foyt ◽  
Madhu Hariharan

As offshore field developments move into deeper water, one of the greatest challenges is in designing riser systems capable of overcoming the added risks of more severe environments, complicated well requirements and uncertainty of operating conditions. The failure of a primary riser component could lead to unacceptable consequences, including environmental damage, lost production and possible injury or loss of human life. Identification of the risks facing riser systems and management of these risks are essential to ensure that riser systems operate without failure. Operators have recognized the importance of installing instrumentation such as global positioning systems (GPS), vessel motion measurement packages, wind and wave sensors and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) units to monitor vessel motions and environmental conditions. Additionally, high precision monitoring equipment has been developed for capturing riser response. Measured data from these instruments allow an operator to determine when the limits of acceptable response, predicted by analysis or determined by physical limitations of the riser components, have been exceeded. Regular processing of measured data through automated routines ensures that integrity can be quickly assessed. This is particularly important following extreme events, such as a hurricane or loop current. High and medium alert levels are set for each parameter, based on design analysis and operating data. Measured data is compared with these alert levels, and when an alert level is reached, further response evaluation or inspection of the components in question is recommended. This paper will describe the role of offshore monitoring in an integrity management program and discuss the development of alert levels based on potential failure modes of the riser systems. The paper will further demonstrate how this process is key for an effective integrity management program for deepwater riser systems.


Author(s):  
Alexander Kolpakov ◽  
Austin Marie Sipiora ◽  
Caley Johnson ◽  
Erin Nobler

This case study presents findings from an analysis of the emergency preparation and response for Hurricane Irma, the most recent hurricane impacting the Tampa Bay region. The Tampa Bay region, in particular, is considered one of the most vulnerable areas in the United States to hurricanes and severe tropical weather. A particular vulnerability stems from how all petroleum fuel comes to the area by marine transport through Port Tampa Bay, which can be (and has been in the past) impacted by hurricanes and tropical storms. The case study discussed in this paper covers previous fuel challenges, vulnerabilities, and lessons learned by key Tampa Bay public agency fleets during the past 10 years (mainly as a result of the most recent 2017 Hurricane Irma) to explore ways to improve the area’s resilience to natural disasters. Some of the strategies for fuel-supply resiliency include maintaining emergency fuel supply, prioritizing fuel use, strategically placing the assets around the region to help with recovery, investing in backup generators (including generators powered by alternative fuels), planning for redundancies in fuel supply networks, developing more efficient communication procedures between public fleets, hurricane preparedness-planning, and upgrading street drainage systems to reduce the threat of local flooding.


Author(s):  
Paul J. Stoller ◽  
Anthony LoRe ◽  
William Crellin ◽  
Robert Hauser

This paper discusses one of the key lessons learned from administering the first generation of service agreements for public owners of waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities over the past 22 years and how those experiences were incorporated into a new service agreement for the operation and maintenance of Pinellas County’s 24 year old, 3,000 tpd WTE Facility to better protect the county’s interests. Additionally, a major issue raised by the operating companies during the competitive procurement process for continue operation of the facility is discussed and how that concern was addressed in the new service agreement is also presented. Capitalized words or terms used in this paper are defined within the new service agreement.


Author(s):  
Michael Cuthill

The concept of engaged scholarship, as a 'new' and participatory approach to knowledge production, has received much attention over the past decade. However, the term is clouded in ambiguity. This paper presents some introductory discussion around concepts of engaged scholarship, and then focuses in detail on a methodological case study of participatory action research as an example of engaged scholarship in practice. Discussion revolves around reflections on practice, drawing largely from recent reports on participatory democracy and the role of unversities in society.


Author(s):  
Alex J. Baumgard ◽  
Tara L. Coultish ◽  
Gerry W. Ferris

Over the last 15 years, BGC Engineering Inc. has developed and implemented a geohazards Integrity Management Program (IMP) with 12 major pipeline operators (consisting of gas and oil pipelines and of both gathering and transmission systems). Over this time, the program has been applied to the assessment of approximately 13,500 individual hydrotechnical and geotechnical geohazard sites spanning approximately 63,000 km of operating pipelines in Canada and the USA. Hydrotechnical (watercourse) and geotechnical (slope) hazards are the primary types of geohazards that have directly contributed to pipeline failures in Canada. As with all IMPs, the core objectives of a geohazard management system are to ensure a proactive approach that is repeatable and defensible. In order to meet these objectives, the program allows for varying levels of intensity of inspection and a recommended timescale for completion of actions to manage the identified geohazards in accordance with the degree of hazard that the site poses to the pipeline. In this way, the sites are managed in a proactive manner while remaining flexible to accommodate the most current conditions at each site. This paper will provide a background to the key components of the program related specifically to existing operating pipeline systems, present pertinent statistics on the occurrence of various types of geohazards based on the large dataset of inspections, and discuss some of the lessons learned in the form of program results and program challenges from implementing a geohazard integrity management system for a dozen operators with different ages of systems, complexity of pipeline networks, and in varied geographic settings.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161
Author(s):  
Fernanda Neubauer ◽  
Michael J. Schaefer

We discuss the important role of the feminist critique in bringing awareness to gender, childhood, and identity research, and in giving voice to the perspectives of underrepresented groups. As a case study of ancient social lives and gender, we discuss a range of Marajoara identity markers interpreted through the study of ceramic tangas (female pubic coverings) from Marajó Island in the Brazilian Amazon (A.D. 400-1400). There, tangas were made and used by women as a material representation of social position, gender, and individual identity. We argue that identity constitutes a fundamentally important aspect of archaeological research, and that the strongest case studies in identity are those that encompass a variety of gendered inferences to understand social lives of the past.


Author(s):  
Cristina Lleras

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the surge of identity politics and the diversification of heritage and the tensions that arise with the traditional role of national museums that are expected to support the model of a unitary national identity through their narratives and collections. Engaging with distinct patrimonies and transformations in museums checkmates stagnant notions of heritage, but in turn, these actions might also instigate resistance to change. A case study at the National Museum of Colombia will provide an insight into competing notions of heritage, which can be understood as the relics of a material past, but may also be seen as the meanings created about the past. This analysis instigates thoughts about the role that history and historians might play in the elaboration of narratives of identity.


Leadership ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 174271502110636
Author(s):  
Edward Gosling

Leadership is fundamentally a social phenomenon, and a leader’s legitimacy in personal and social terms is determined partly by how effectively they incorporate the prototypical leader identity. Using the historical British officers’ mess as a case study, this article presents a conceptual examination of the function place can perform in the construction of collective leader identities and the interconnected influence shared history, materiality and social interaction can have in encouraging inclusivity in leadership. Leadership identity is an integral feature of military life which has historically drawn on complex cultural and legal traditions to underwrite the individual’s right to command. This article will argue that social places such as the officers’ mess have been utilised as a means of cultivating cohesion in the past and that they may have an application in furthering inclusive collective leader identities in the future.


Humanities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Jan Alexander van Nahl

Many Humanities scholars seem to have become increasingly pessimistic due to a lack of success in their efforts to be recognized as a serious player next to their science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) colleagues. This appears to be the result of a profound uncertainty in the self-perception of individual disciplines within the Humanities regarding their role both in academia and society. This ambiguity, not least, has its roots in their own history, which often appears as an interwoven texture of conflicting opinions. Taking a stance on the current and future role of the Humanities in general, and individual disciplines in particular thus asks for increased engagement with their own past, i.e., histories of scholarship, which are contingent on societal and political contexts. This article’s focus is on a case study from the field of Old Norse Studies. In the face of the rise of populism and nationalism in our days, Old Norse Studies, with their focus on a ‘Germanic’ past, have a special obligation to address societal challenges. The article argues for the public engagement with the histories of individual disciplines to strengthen scholarly credibility in the face of public opinion and to overcome trenches which hamper attempts at uniting Humanities experts and regaining distinct social relevance.


Author(s):  
Julian Yamaura ◽  
Stephen T. Muench ◽  
Kim Willoughby

This paper presents a case study of the organizational change process associated with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) year-long research program that implemented a cloud-based mobile project inspection application to 18 project engineering offices (PEO) across the state. Ultimately, four out of the 18 PEOs decided to adopt the new technology. Data from semi-structured interviews and a user study conducted two months after implementation are used to identify organizational change strategies used by WSDOT, and how those relate to ideas from the general literature on change management. The loss of upper management program leaders, inadequate communication and training to prepare personnel for the change, and policy and procedural uncertainties in integrating the change with other systems and operations were found to be factors that may have influenced the outcome of the program. While this paper focuses on one DOT’s efforts, other DOTs may have similar organizational structures and implementation efforts, and the findings and lessons learned could serve as a representative model for how such implementation might best be accomplished in a DOT and how that might differ from traditional change management guidance.


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