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April 15, 2011

PRCI Responds to PHMSA Research Announcement on ERW Pipe Program

In January 2011, US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (DOT PHMSA) issued a Research Announcement (DTPH56-11-RA-000001) soliciting technical proposals to implement a comprehensive study to understand longitudinal ERW seam failures. PRCI led the development of a technical proposal that addressed the Research Announcement requirements and organized a Program Team and Steering Committee to complete the work, which includes the American Petroleum Institute (API), the Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL), and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA, through the INGAA Foundation). The proposal was submitted by Battelle, who was selected to manage the development of the technical proposal on behalf of PRCI and our industry partners and coordinate the technical program with Kiefner and Associates and DNV Columbus. The proposal was submitted on March 21, 2011.

The objective of the proposed project is to assist the PHMSA in favorably closing NTSB Recommendation P-09-1 (from NTSB Report PAR09-01) that was the related to the November 2007 pipeline failure involving an ERW seam. The report and recommendation directed that PHMSA conduct a comprehensive study of ERW pipe properties and the means to assure that they do not fail in service. The technical proposal is anticipated to validate that periodic use of the current ERW seam integrity assessment methods (hydrostatic testing and in-line inspection using a crack-detection tool) are the best means to prevent ERW seam failures. The work will address the characteristics of ERW seams that make them susceptible to failure, and it will identify the factors the pipeline operators must consider to assure that their ERW pipelines are operated safely.

The technical proposal was based to a substantial degree on the findings of a recent study completed by PRCI where a gap analysis was conducted on NTSB Report PAR 09-01 to better understand the basis for the identification of the open issues in the NTSB Report. PRCI contracted with three separate pipeline industry experts to identify the research program needs to support the comprehensive study for ERW pipe. The results of the three independent gap analysis studies (conducted by Battelle, DNV, and Kiefner and Associates) are being compiled and a final report is under development. The report will be included in the PHMSA project and made available through PRCI’s PRIME website when complete.

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