Associated Technology Pipeline Limited - Pipeline Integrity Management Systems

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Rehabilitation Expert	A component of PiMSlider®, Rehabilitation Expert is a tool to assess the significance of defects in a pipeline and to identify the most appropriate repair program	Download

Key Points

a choice of repair is offered to restore any pipeline defects

uses the pipeline operators experience and approach to planning and implementing repair work

maintain a log of repair work carried out on the pipeline, including materials used and technical information related to the repairs

uses economic criteria when generating a repair program

graphical representation of information to aid any decision-making

Key Functionality

Rehabilitation Expert uses data generated from in-line inspections.

In-line inspection data is associated with pipeline sections, geodesy, character classified and the degree of danger.

Graphical displays give the operator the ability to:

reveal sections demanding immediate attention

analyse the distribution of defects on the body of a pipe, make informed decisions on the originality of the defect and choose an appropriate way to repair the problem

Fig. 1 - presentation of 'Flaw List'

Fig. 2 - expected repair for a cluster of defects

Fig. 3 - run comparison result

PREPARING A REPAIR PLAN

Rehabilitation Expert is used by operators to generate a preliminary repair plan for defects identified during the course of in-line inspections.

Rehabilitation Expert allows the user to:

Analyse available defects - of the structure, degree of danger of the pipeline and ground location

Automatically produce a list of recommended repairs, at an optimal cost (based upon chosen criteria)

Specify a repairs list for the proposed repair site

Update the repair list, based upon new data (inspections) being added to the system, changes in criteria and planning

After an analysis of the pipeline, business rules defined by the operating company are applied to the pipeline data to generate:

a choice of the initial repair method for each defect

a cluster of repairs to optimise costs

A cluster of repairs is generated for pipeline sections that have other defects, where repairing the group of defects is more efficient than repairing the defects individually. Costs are obviously reduced for the preparation, restoration and repair work itself.

It is possible, however, to override this feature and move defects individually into other groups to keep the costs down for one section of pipe. To calculate the cost of repairs, Rehabilitation Expert requires access to expense data related to repair work.

REPORTING

The resulting reports contain a list of repairs also indicating their urgency. This repairs list is used at the calendar scheduling stage, as it also includes the planning requirements for materials and other technical requirements of the operating company.

Defects can be assessed either by the use of the defect geometry data (as reported by the in-line inspection contractor) or by the use of the raw data from the inspection tool. The latter one presents the defect in a 3-dimentional view, which is extremely useful when comparing the same defect at different stages of its lifetime and in particular the calculation of corrosion growth.

The most popular function of Rehabilitation Expert is the ability to compare pig-runs made in succession. Any person involved in the process of in-line inspection data analysis knows how labour-intensive the work is to compare two sets of defects. Rehabilitation Expert assures that this work can be done in a matter of seconds.

CORRECTING ASSIGNMENTS

At any stage of using Rehabilitation Expert, the operator can change any assignments. This allows the operator to utilise his experience along with the repairs report, giving the operator an opportunity to:

analyse the current repair list, and change the method of repair work (for example, cutting out and installing a section)

identify any immediate repairs

to identify other opportunities of work on the repair area

estimate changes in the repair plan

accept/reject repair plan changes

modify any part of the repair plan