Pipeline & Midstream
Transmission and distribution pipelines — gas, liquid, and multiphase — present an integrity management challenge unlike any fixed-equipment facility. Assets stretch hundreds or thousands of kilometres through varied terrain, operating environments, and regulatory jurisdictions. Threats evolve over time as soil chemistry changes, operating pressure cycles, and original construction variability creates latent anomalies that In-Line Inspection (ILI) only partially captures. An Integrity Management Plan that satisfies ASME B31.8S or API 1160 requires systematic threat identification, consequence analysis, data integration from multiple ILI vendors, and a governed dig program that closes anomalies before they reach a critical condition.
Applicable Standards
Critical focus areas
- ILI anomaly management and prioritization (MFL, UT, geometry)
- Threat register aligned with ASME B31.8S §2 categories: corrosion, cracking, dents, SCC, fatigue
- Integrity Management Plan (IMP) development and maintenance
- Cathodic protection monitoring and DCVG anomaly tracking
- Dig program governance — from anomaly to close-out
Key Challenges
- Integrating ILI data from multiple vendors with different anomaly taxonomies
- Managing growing anomaly backlogs with finite excavation budgets
- Demonstrating MAOP reconfirmation compliance under post-2019 rulemaking
- Tracking threat interaction where corrosion, dents, and cracking co-exist at the same location
Active damage mechanisms
Reliatic ships with a pre-loaded damage mechanism library for Pipeline & Midstream. Each mechanism is linked to its relevant inspection techniques, examination intervals, and regulatory acceptance criteria.
Internal Corrosion (MIC and CO₂/H₂S)
Wall loss in wet gas and liquid lines driven by CO₂ and H₂S partial pressure, water dropout at low-flow points, and microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) from sulphate-reducing bacteria — often undetected between ILI runs.
External Corrosion (Coating Failure and CP Shielding)
Disbonded coating concentrating corrosion at defect holidays where cathodic protection current is shielded — highest risk at tape-coat disbondments and polyethylene shrink sleeve edges, especially in wet clay soils.
Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC — Near-Neutral and High-pH)
Environmentally assisted cracking initiating at the coating-steel interface in CO₂-saturated near-neutral pH groundwater (transgranular) or carbonate/bicarbonate high-pH environments (intergranular) — typically at 6 and 8 o'clock positions on liquid-filled pipelines.
Mechanical Damage (Dents, Gouges, and Wrinkle Bends)
Third-party excavation damage creating plain dents, dent-with-gouge combinations, and arc burns that reduce fatigue life and create stress concentrations — particularly hazardous when dent depth exceeds 6% of pipe diameter or interacts with a weld seam.
Fatigue Cracking (Pressure Cycling)
Cyclic pressure loading in gathering lines, compressor discharge headers, and liquid pipelines with frequent pump start-stop cycles initiating fatigue cracks at corrosion pits, existing dents, and manufacturing imperfections.
Platform Configuration for Pipeline & Midstream
Outcome
Demonstrate a defensible, data-driven Integrity Management Plan that satisfies PHMSA and international pipeline regulators — with every anomaly disposition, dig record, and threat assessment permanently linked to the evidence that supports it.