Integrity

As U.S. LNG export capacity expands, pipeline reliability, insurance coverage and risk management strategies are becoming critical to maintaining resilient midstream infrastructure.

Black powder buildup in sour gas pipelines is creating electrical bridging, cathodic protection failures and isolation breakdowns—raising corrosion risk and increasing pipeline integrity challenges.

Pipeline coatings remain the first line of defense for onshore and offshore energy infrastructure, with coating selection, testing, and application systems playing a growing role as projects move into harsher environments and high-temperature operations.

Pipe stress analysis plays a critical role in integrity management, ensuring piping systems can safely withstand complex static and dynamic loads while meeting global code requirements.

AUMA has introduced its TIGRON SIL electric actuators, offering SIL 3 safety certification, explosion protection, and configurable safety functions for pipeline and process control applications.

Part 2 presents new analysis of how burial design variables—especially bedding angle, depth of cover and compaction—shape slow crack growth risk and long-term reliability in HDPE pipelines.

Advances in coating technologies and emerging techniques such as sputtering are reshaping how operators approach pipeline corrosion prevention, offering new options to extend asset life and improve integrity management.

Satellite and aircraft methane monitoring are reshaping pipeline LDAR programs, helping operators detect leaks faster, prioritize repairs and integrate emissions data into long-term integrity and maintenance strategies.

NewTek Sensor Solutions is expanding the use of its LVDT position sensors in pipeline monitoring systems, helping operators detect vibration, deformation, and structural shifts in oil and gas, water, and chemical pipelines to improve safety, reliability, and asset integrity.

Penspen has begun a new NIA-funded study with National Gas Transmission to evaluate whether oxygen can inhibit hydrogen embrittlement in repurposed pipeline infrastructure—critical research as the UK develops a 1,500-mile hydrogen transmission network.

Current Magnetometry Inspection (CMI) uses multi-frequency AC fields, AI/ML, and dense aboveground sensing to 3D-map pipelines, calculate EIR-free, and distinguish passivated versus actively corroding defects—enabling targeted digs on unpiggable lines without disrupting CP or operations.

Incorrect internal diameter specifications in insulating gasket kits can cause electrical bridging and galvanic corrosion at pipeline flanges. Saudi Aramco engineers explain how proper bore sizing and torque control are critical to maintaining electrical isolation and long-term integrity.

Pipeline operators are turning to thermal insulative coatings (TICs) to combat corrosion under insulation (CUI) and prevent heat loss. These advanced coatings provide long-term protection, improve energy efficiency, and eliminate moisture-trapping insulation systems prone to corrosion and failure.

A new reliability study from Universidad Nacional de Colombia analyzes how slow crack growth (SCG) and burial design variables—such as soil class, depth of cover, and trench width—affect the long-term performance of HDPE pipelines. Using Monte Carlo simulations and machine learning, researchers identify key factors influencing pipeline failure risk.

PipeSense has signed an exclusive partnership with Indigenous-owned Monitor Emissions to expand leak detection, pig-tracking, and hydrotesting technologies across Canada.