Session: 03-05-01 New Inspection Technologies and Facilities II

Paper Number: 133705

133705 - Closing the Gap on Crack Detection for Gas Transmission Pipeline 

Abstract: 

NDT Global and Enbridge GTM has recently entered into an agreement to develop a new 30” In-Line Inspection (ILI) tool to detect, identify and characterize cracking in gas pipelines.

Enbridge GTM has invested resources over the years to manage cracking in gas pipeline, especially Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC).  This included Direct Assessment (DA) programs and targeted hydrotest, including spike pressure test, to ensure that pipelines were safe to operate and that the SCC threat was managed.  It became evident that a better approach would be to support and develop a program based on In-Line Inspection (ILI).  Enbridge stated to use Electro Magnetic Acoustic Transducer ILI (EMAT) technology since its inception and has accelerated its use since 2019.

Enbridge GTM has built their crack management program with the EMAT as its foundation.  The program was designed to ensure the safety of the pipelines inspected met the fit for service goals set by the Company.  This drove decisions that considered appropriate level of conservative to ensure these were met.   The level of conservatism within the current program led to 2 key outcomes for the program:

1.       The conservatism, including requesting the ILI vendors to report features below reporting threshold and aggressively excavating features reported in based metal allowed to catch the critical cracks but led to an inefficient program where 1 excavation out of 6 was actually leading to field confirmed SCC;

2.       The typical reporting threshold of 20% or 2 mm depth by 50 mm long combined with aggressive SCC growth rates led to short re-inspection intervals in most susceptible segments.  Most segments showed re-inspection intervals ranging from 3 to 6 years.

These outcomes, while not preventing the ability for Enbridge GTM to meet the safety goals, lead to an expensive program to maintain and has an impact on the long-range planning of the company.  Enbridge decided to explore a partnership with NDT Global on an alternative ILI technology to the EMAT tool.

The paper will discuss the technical details that formed the basis of Enbridge’s decision to seek out an alternative.  A brief description of the technology proposed by NDT Global and its anticipated performance.  

The focus of the analysis will walk through how NDT Global and Enbridge combined the technical drivers and the economic principles used to create the business case demonstrating the value of the proposed project.   Here, a traditional Return on Investment (ROI) may not be enough to convince a serious investment in a technology from the perspective of an operator.  However, other metrics such as Risk Avoidance ROI might show a different outlook that may tip the scale in demonstrating the value of an investment in the right technology.

Enbridge and NDT Global supports the development of technology and this paper will advocate the importance of strong collaboration in being able to identify solutions and how to ensure these types of projects continues so better technology can lead to more effective and efficient integrity program. 

Presenting Author: Yvan Hubert Enbridge

Presenting Author Biography: TBD

Authors:

Yvan Hubert Enbridge
Thomas Hennig NDT Global
Muthu Chandrasekaran NDT Global
Kurt Baraniecki Enbridge GTM Inc.
Oleg Shabarchin Enbridge GTM Inc.