L51418 Power Line-Induced AC Potential on Natural Gas Pipelines for Complex Rights-of-Way Configurations

The joint use of common corridors for overhead electric power transmission lines and buried natural gas transmission pipelines is increasing. While many benefits accrue from the sharing of corridors, the coupling of electromagnetic energy onto thenatural gas transmission pipelines is an undesired consequence of this joint usage. The steady-state pipeline voltage that can result may require mitigation as a safety measure.Many common corridors include multiple power lines and pipelines with complexities such as bonds or crossovers between the pipelines and terminating pipelines or insulators.

This project has resulted in the development of the methodology and techniques for analyzing such complex common corridor coupling problems. Field tests were conducted to verify key aspects of the analysis. Two complementary methods have been developed for solving coupling problems on common corridors: A handbook that provides simplified procedures and graphical aids that can be used to analyze many less complex common corridor concerns and a computer program that provides the means for analyzing a wide range of more complex configurations.