Risk assessment of offshore crude oil pipeline failure

Failure of Leak Detection System (LDS) to detect pipeline leakages or ruptures may result in drastic consequences that could lead to excessive financial losses. To minimize the occurrence of such failure, the functionality of the LDS and the integrity of the pipeline should be assessed on a priority basis. This paper presents an integrated risk-based assessment scheme to predict the failure and the failure consequences of offshore crude oil pipelines. To estimate risk, two important quantities have to be determined, the joint probability of failure of the pipeline and its LDS and the consequences of failure. Consequences incorporate the financial losses associated with environmental damage, oil spill cleanup and lost production. The assessment provides an estimate of the risk in monetary value and determines whether the estimated risk exceeds a predefined target risk. Moreover, the critical year for the asset can be determined. In essence, the outcome of the assessment facilitates an informed decision-making about the future of the asset.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Probability of detection and false detection for subsea leak detection systems: model and analysis

Ensuring the integrity of subsea process components is one of the primary business objectives of the oil and gas industry. Leak detection system (LDS) is one type of system used to safeguard reliability of a pipeline. Different types of LDS use different technologies for detecting and locating leaks in pipelines. One technology, which is gaining wide acceptance by the industry, is the fiber opticbased LDS. This technology has great potential for subsea pipeline applications. It is the most suited for underwater applications due to the ease of installation and reliable sensing capabilities. Having pipelines underwater in the deep sea presents a great challenge and a potential threat to the environment and operation. Thus, there is a need to have a reliable and effective system to provide the assurances that the monitored subsea pipeline is safe and functioning as per operating conditions. Two important performance parameters that are of concern to operators are the probability of detection and probability of false alarm. This paper presents a probabilistic formulation of the probability of detection and probability of false detection for a fiber optic-based LDS.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye