PRCI collaborates with PHMSA to enhance underground storage safety and integrity
Published by Elizabeth Corner,
Senior Editor
World Pipelines,
Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) has been awarded a research project from the US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
The research project awarded Advancement of Through-tubing Casing Inspection for Underground Storage Wells will be co-funded by PRCI.
“PRCI’s partnership with the PHMSA is a key part of PRCI’s work to ensure the safety and integrity of the vital pipeline infrastructure in the US and around the globe,” said Cliff Johnson, President of PRCI “This project will provide a tool for our members and the industry to test and verify the safety of underground storage facilities, and reduce the environmental impact of these assets.”
The research will be executed by PRCI’s Underground Storage Technical Committee and led by Project Team Leader Dan Neville of Southern California Gas Company. Project objectives are to provide an in-depth understanding of the capability and limitations of through-tubing casing corrosion logging technology and vendor tools. It will include conducting an iterative fit-for-purpose lab test program to assist tool improvement, developing a reliability-based assessment framework to inform decision making, performing a field trial to demonstrate performance and new methodology for corrosion management, as well as establishing an alternative methodology incorporating through-tubing technology for casing corrosion monitoring.
Through-tubing casing inspection technology is based on electromagnetic (EM) principle which can only estimate the average wall loss, and significant variations exist among vendors. Current technical gaps include lower resolution than conventional corrosion logging tools (MFL, UT), unclear true capability and measurement accuracy from a lack of independent review, and a significant gap between interpretations of through-tubing log towards casing corrosion management. The benefits of this research include reduced well entry risk, minimised impact of casing inspection on natural gas deliverability, and reduced operational costs.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/05112021/prci-collaborates-with-phmsa-to-enhance-underground-storage-safety-and-integrity/
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