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Reliability Analysis Of Pipelines Containing Cracks And Corrosion Defects Main authors Lie Zhang, Robert Adey C M BEASY Ltd United Kingdom [email protected]

Reliability Analysis Of Pipelines Containing Cracks And ......rupture of the pipeline. Based on fatigue reliability analysis, statistical methods are applied to assess the probability

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  • Reliability Analysis Of Pipelines Containing Cracks And

    Corrosion Defects

    Main authors

    Lie Zhang, Robert Adey C M BEASY Ltd

    United Kingdom

    [email protected]

  • Page 2 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    1. ABSTRACT

    This paper is concerned with predicting the probability of failure (POF) of pipelines containing

    cracks and corrosion defects. The current work was conducted within the framework of the

    European Union NATURALHY project.

    The aim of the NATURALHY project is to investigate the possibility of using the existing natural

    gas transmission pipelines to deliver hydrogen or natural gas/hydrogen mixtures. Hydrogen has

    been demonstrated to accelerate defect growth which may affect the safety of pipeline and

    make it more expensive to operate and maintain. Failure of a structural member such as a

    pipeline may occur when a crack becomes unstable or metal loss corrosion leads to leakage or

    rupture of the pipeline. Based on fatigue reliability analysis, statistical methods are applied to

    assess the probability of failure of pipelines containing cracks like defects and corrosion defects.

    A software package has been developed based on the stochastic approach to assess the POF of

    the gas pipeline due to the existence of cracks and corrosion defects. The inspection and repair

    procedures are also included in the tool. With various parameters such as defect sizes, material

    properties, internal pressure modelled as uncertainties, a reliability analysis based on BS 7910

    level-2 failure assessment diagram is conducted through stratified Monte Carlo simulation.

    Inspection and repair programmes and realistic pipeline maintenance scenarios can be

    simulated. In the data preparation process, the accuracy of the probabilistic definition of the

    uncertainties is crucial as the results show that the POF is very sensitive to certain variables

    such as the defect sizes and the defect growth rate. The POF for a single defect with known

    dimensions and the POF for a system containing multiple defects can be computed separately.

    Various inspection and repair criteria are available in the Monte Carlo simulation whereby an

    optimal maintenance strategy can be achieved by comparing different combinations of repair

    procedures. In addition, the hazard function can be obtained based on the POF results, so that

    the POF calculation tool can be used to satisfy certain target reliability requirement. Several

    examples are presented in the paper comparing the POF for a natural gas pipeline with the POF

    for a pipeline containing natural gas/hydrogen mixtures.

    Nomenclature ()f probability distribution function c half crack length

    a crack depth B pipe wall thickness

    ( )g x ( ) 0g x ≤ represents the failure domain Φ normal distribution function

    ix stochastically independent variable PK primary stress intensity factor

    SK secondary stress intensity factor thK∆ threshold stress intensity factor

    ρ plastic correction factor maxrL permitted limit of rL

    Yσ yield strength of material Uσ ultimate tensile strength

    ICK Toughness of material refσ reference stress

    n number of loading cycles *

    N total number of simulations

    ( )f

    p n cumulative POF of a single defect q total number of cracks

    AN average number of cracks repaired

    pfC probable cost of have a failure

    |f totalP probability of failure for multiple defects

  • Page 3 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    C O N T E N T S

    1. Abstract ................................................................................................. 2

    2. Introduction ........................................................................................... 4

    3. Theory.................................................................................................... 4

    3.1. Fundamentals of structural reliability theory ...........................................................4

    3.2. Failure assessment for corrosion defects and cracks.................................................5

    3.3. Modelling of inspection and repair program.............................................................7

    4. Monte-Carlo simulation as POF evaluation method................................. 9

    4.1. Direct Monte-Carlo simulation ...............................................................................9

    4.2. Stratified Monte-Carlo simulation method .............................................................10

    4.2.1. Random number generation..........................................................................10 4.2.2. Stratified Monte-Carlo simulation ..................................................................11

    5. Sample problems.................................................................................. 12

    5.1. Probability of failure calculation for corrosion defects .............................................12

    5.2. Probability of failure calculation for cracks ............................................................14

    6. Conclusions .......................................................................................... 15

    7. Acknowledgements .............................................................................. 15

    8. References ........................................................................................... 16

    9. List of Tables ........................................................................................ 17

    10. List Of Figures ...................................................................................... 17

  • Page 4 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    2. INTRODUCTION

    Currently major research effort is focused on the use of hydrogen as an energy vector both in

    Europe and the US. An obvious pragmatic solution to transporting hydrogen, which will be

    necessary to make the European hydrogen economy feasible, is to transport a mixture of

    natural gas and hydrogen in the existing natural gas pipeline network. Within the European

    project NATURALHY†, 39 European partners have combined their efforts to assess the effects of

    the presence of hydrogen on the existing gas network. Key issues are durability of pipeline

    material, integrity management, safety aspects, life-cycle and socio-economic assessment and

    end-use. The work described in this paper was performed within the NATURALHY work package

    on ’Integrity Management’.

    Failure of a structural member such as a pipeline may occur when a crack or a corrosion defect

    propagates in an unstable manner to cause leakage or rupture of the pipeline. Failure analysis

    combined with a probabilistic approach has been utilized in many fields involving important

    structural components such as pressure vessels and nuclear piping. Based on the failure

    analysis for cracks and corrosion defects, statistical methods can be applied to assess the

    reliability of pipeline containing crack-like defects [1], in other words, to provide a figure which

    represents the probability that a pipeline will fail. One aim of the Naturalhy project is to assess

    the durability and integrity of natural gas infrastructures for transporting and distributing

    hydrogen/natural gas mixtures. In particular, the mechanical integrity of the gas piping is a

    matter of great importance for both economical and safety reasons. Among all the parameters

    the probability of failure is one of the most important factors for the integrity management of

    pipeline infrastructures. Although evidence suggests that crack-like defects are most likely to be

    affected by the presence of hydrogen due to hydrogen embrittlement the probability of failure

    calculation for corrosion defects is also included in this paper for the sake of completeness.

    3. THEORY

    3.1. Fundamentals of structural reliability theory

    According to the reliability theory if one and only one defect exists in a pipeline, the failure

    probability is given by:

    ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )1

    11 1

    ( ) 0 NNf X X N N

    g x xP f x f x d x d x

    ⋅⋅⋅ ≤= ⋅⋅⋅ ⋅ ⋅⋅∫ (3.1)

    where 1 Nx x⋅ ⋅ ⋅ are random variables such as defect sizes, yield strength, defect growth

    parameters and applied stresses. ( )Nx N

    f x denotes the probability density function of the input

    variable N

    x . The integration will be performed over the failure domain where 1( ) 0Ng x x⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ≤ .

    1( )Ng x x⋅ ⋅ ⋅ is also called a limit state in some cases. For the case of crack-like defects, semi-

    elliptical surface cracks and the through-thickness cracks will be considered. The initial surface

    crack has the crack depth a and the crack length 2c as shown in Figure 1. The above

    integration is rarely solved directly once the number of unknowns rises above 3. Therefore, in

    order to solve practical engineering problems alternative approaches are required.

    ††NATURALHY is an Integrated Project, co-financed by the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme

    (2002-2006) for research, technological development and demonstration (RTD). For more details please visit

    www.naturalhy.net

  • Page 5 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    Figure 1 Geometry of surface/through thickness crack model used in the analysis

    One such approach is called First Order Reliability Method (FORM). The concept behind the

    approach is that instead of integrating the density functions directly a reliability index β is

    computed to define the reliability of the structure thereby the probability of failure being

    obtained. β is computed through the following equation [2].

    ( )f

    P β= Φ − (3.2)

    where Φ is the standard cumulative normal distribution function. However, there are some restrictions and disadvantages associated with FORM. First, the limit state equation has to be

    continuous and smooth. Secondly, all variables must be continuous. Thirdly, all non-normally

    distributed variables must be transformed to normal distribution. These conditions are often

    infeasible in solving a practical engineering problem and some times multiple solutions/design

    points exist and thus a more reliable method is needed to tackle the problem.

    One promising approach is called Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS), which is essentially an

    approximation of the exact integration but it is very flexible and reliable as long as there are

    enough samples. The details of MCS and its enhanced version will be discussed in section 4.

    3.2. Failure assessment for corrosion defects and cracks

    For pipeline industry leakage normally refers to the situation where a defect penetrates through

    the wall of a pipeline so the gas inside start leaking from the pipe. If a leak becomes unstable,

    although not always the case, it could cause rupture, meaning a section of a pipe is torn apart

    as a result of the fast propagation of the through-thickness defect. Different levels of failure

    severity such as leakage or rupture etc. can be incorporated into the POF calculation. For

    example the transition between leakage and rupture is modelled in the simulation. For each

    failure mode a limit state function is defined.

    For corrosion defects two levels of severity are considered: i.e. leakage and rupture. The limit

    state function for a leakage failure takes the form:

    ( )g x r P= − (3.3)

    where r is the estimated pressure resistance and P is the internal pressure of the pipeline.

  • Page 6 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    2

    burstW S

    rD

    ×= (3.4)

    1

    1burst flow

    d

    WS Sd

    m W

    = −

    ×

    (3.5)

    20.8

    1l

    mD W

    = +×

    (3.6)

    where W is the wall thickness, D for pipe diameter, burstS for burst stress, flowS for flow

    stress, d for depth of a defect, m for Folias factor and l is the total axial length of the

    corrosion defect.

    For cracks the basic failure criterion is based on the BS 7910 level two failure assessment

    diagram (FAD). Equation (3.7) is used to describe the FAD curve, which has been shown in

    Figure 2, where the region under the curve is considered safe. As with corrosion defects two

    levels of severity are taken into consideration i.e. leakage and rupture, therefore a surface crack

    model and a through thickness model are used in the analysis to calculate the probability of

    failure for these two situations

    Kr=f(Lr)

    Lr

    Kr

    0.20

    0.40

    0.60

    0.80

    1.00

    0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.400

    Safe region

    Plastic collapse

    cut-off

    Brittle fracture dominated region

    Figure 2 The BS7910 FAD curve used to define the limit state function

    { }2 6max

    max

    for (1 0.14 ) 0.3 0.7exp( 0.65 )

    for 0

    r r r r r

    r r r

    L L K L L

    L L K

    ≤ = − + −

    > = (3.7)

    where rK measures the proximity to brittle fracture and rL represents the likelihood of

    plastic collapse. The failure criterion includes both brittle fracture and plastic collapse. For

    BS7910 level 2A FAD, they are given by:

  • Page 7 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    P Sr

    IC

    ref

    r

    Y

    K KK

    K

    L

    ρ

    σ

    σ

    += +

    =

    (3.8)

    ρ is a parameter that takes plastic interaction between primary and secondary stress into

    consideration. For materials that exhibit a yield discontinuity (referred to as Lüders plateau) rL

    is restricted to 1.0 if no additional data is available [3]. Otherwise it is calculated through:

    max2

    Y ur

    Y

    Lσ σ

    σ

    += (3.9)

    Since the cumulative probability of failure over a given timeframe is required, crack propagation

    due to cyclic loading must be included. The PARIS law with a threshold th

    K∆ is selected to

    calculate the crack length and depth with regard to the corresponding number of load cycles:

    0 for <

    for

    th

    m

    th

    K Kda

    dn C K K K

    ∆ ∆=

    ∆ ∆ ≥ ∆ (3.10)

    where C and m are fatigue growth parameters. An equivalent equation applies for the

    second axis of the semi-ellipse. However it has been observed during studies that the crack

    length hardly changes during fatigue analysis for a surface crack until it penetrates through the

    pipe wall and becomes a through-thickness crack. The initial crack depth and length are

    modelled as variables and the fatigue property parameters can also be modelled as random

    variables based on certain distributions. As crack propagation could lead to fracture or leakage

    of the pipeline after a certain period of time, f

    P is a function of loading cycles n .

    ( )f

    P f n= (3.11)

    fP denotes the cumulative probability which monotonically increases with time or load cycles.

    The inclusion of inspection and repair program can slow down this process so as to meet certain

    target reliability targets.

    3.3. Modelling of inspection and repair program

    As part of the maintenance program of pipelines, inspections are performed using intelligent

    ‘pigs’ to detect defects in the pipeline. However, due to the sensitivity of the pigs not all defects

    can be detected. Also it is not practical and economical to repair all the cracks detected

    therefore according to Bayes' theory the process of inspection and repair at a given time

    interval will change the distribution of defect depths and lengths in the pipeline. The exact

    distribution will depend upon the repair strategy adopted, the frequency of inspection and the

    sensitivity of the inspection tool. Not all the remaining defects will lead to failure but only those

    missed by the inspection tool could cause either leakage or rupture of the pipeline. In order to

    illustrate the nature of the inspection and repair program an event tree for crack-like defects

    has been plotted to help understand the continuous updating process. From Figure 3, we can

    clearly see that only the defects not repaired or missed by the inspection tool will contribute to

    the cumulative probability of failure.

  • Page 8 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    Load cyclesn=0 n1 n2 n3

    D

    ND

    R

    NR

    1st Inspection 2nd Inspection 3rd Inspection

    D

    ND

    D

    ND

    R

    NR

    R

    NR

    Maintenance event tree:n,n1,n2..: load cyclesD: cracks detected; ND: cracks not detected;R: cracks repaired; NR: cracks not repaired;

    Figure 3 Maintenance event tree for crack like defects

    The Probability of Detection (POD) is mainly dependant on the defect depth and is usually

    treated as an increasing function of defect depth and defined as an exponential function [4].

    / 1a

    D aP e

    λ−= − (3.12)

    where a is the defect depth and λ is a parameter defining the POD curve. /D aP can be

    expressed as the cumulative distribution function for the detectable depth of the inspection tool.

    Hence, the detectable depth of the inspection tool follows the exponential distribution function

    and both the average detectable depth and the standard deviation of the crack depth

    equal1/ λ . Therefore the overall defect population can be divided into detected defects and undetected defects as shown in Figure 3. According to Bayes' theory [5] the posterior

    probability density function for the un-detected defect with a depth of a is equal to:

    ( )0

    ( ) ( )

    ( ) ( )

    NDUD

    ND

    P a f af a

    P a f a da∞

    =

    ∫ (3.13)

    where ( )f a is the overall distribution of the defect depth and ( )NDP a can be interpreted as

    the non-detection probability, which is equal to /1 D aP− . ( )UDf a can be used to calculate the

    hazard function *

    fP i.e. the probability of failure per year given that the failure has not yet

    occurred. *

    /

    1

    f

    f

    f

    dP dnP

    P=

    −, where

    fP is the cumulative probability of failure and n is the number

    of load cycles.

    The measurement error of the inspection tool is also taken into account during the POF

    calculation, which is modelled by adding a measurement error to the actual defect depth such

    that:

  • Page 9 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    m a

    a a e= + (3.14)

    where m

    a denotes the measurement error; a for the actual defect depth and a

    e the random

    measurement error associated with the measurement of a . The measurement error can follow

    normal, Weibull or other common types of distribution.

    4. MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION AS POF EVALUATION METHOD

    4.1. Direct Monte-Carlo simulation

    The solution to equation (3.1) with MCS is obtained by interpreting the integral as the mean

    value of a stochastic experiment after a large number of independent tests. A flowchart of the

    whole simulation process is shown in Figure 4. There are two separate models used in the

    analysis in order to compute leakage and rupture rate, which have been shown in Figure 4. As

    the leakage always happens before the pipeline ruptures, rupture failures are considered as part

    of leakage failure following the relation:

    (leakage) (leakage only/no rupture) (rupture)f f f

    P P P= + (4.1)

    If Nf(n) failures i.e. leakages or ruptures are observed after N* repetitions, the POF is obtained

    via:

    *

    ( )( )

    f

    f f

    N nP P n

    N= = (4.2)

    Equation (4.2) is only valid for pipelines which contain one defect. If there is more than one

    defect in the pipeline, the cumulative probability of failure of a pipeline containing q defects

    after n load cycles can be derived according to the definition:

    | 1 (1 )q

    f total fP P= − − (4.3)

    where q is the number of cracks per km length of the pipeline. In fact, a kilometre long pipe

    can be regarded as a series system [2] with q elements such that the failure of any individual

    element contributes to the overall probability of failure.

  • Page 10 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    Start

    Generate random

    variables?

    Surface crack growth for time period t

    Leakage?

    Nf(leakage)=Nf(leakage)+1

    Yes

    Yes

    Yes

    NoSimulation

    ends

    Through crack growth for time period t

    No

    Rupture?

    Nf(rupture)=Nf(rupture)+1

    No

    Leakage happened in the previous year?

    Nf(leakage)=Nf(leakage)-1

    No

    Yes

    Figure 4 MC simulation including a transition from leakage to rupture failure modes

    4.2. Stratified Monte-Carlo simulation method

    4.2.1. Random number generation

    Once a random number between 0 and 1 has been generated by the multiplicative congruent

    random generator, it can be used to generate required pseudo-random variables with a given

    probability distribution function. The inverse transform method is a common method to achieve

    this, which is based on the observation that continuous cumulative distribution functions (cdfs)

  • Page 11 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    range uniformly over the interval (0, 1). If u is a uniform random number on (0, 1), then a

    random number x from a continuous distribution with selected cdf F can be obtained using:

    1( )x

    x F u−= (4.4)

    However, for normal distribution the inverse of the cumulative distribution function cannot be

    found analytically. Hence, other methods such as the Box-Müller method and the envelop-

    rejection method [6] are used in the simulation .

    4.2.2. Stratified Monte-Carlo simulation

    The variance of f

    P is *

    (1 )f f

    P P

    N

    −. There are some variance reduction techniques which can

    help to 'speed up' the simulation process. One of them is called Stratified Monte-Carlo

    Simulation method (SMCS) [6, 7] and it has been employed in the current version of

    PipeSafety© developed for the Naturalhy project. The basic idea is that the sampling of the

    variables is carried out in the integration domain { } { }[0, ] 2 [0, ]R a B c= ∈ × ∈ ∞ which is

    further partitioned into mutually disjunctive strata ( )1iD i m= K as shown in Figure 5.

    Defect depth

    De

    fect

    len

    gth

    Figure 5 The stratified Monte-Carlo simulation

    Therefore, the original formula for calculating f

    P can be written as:

    ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )1

    11 1

    ( ) 0,

    ( ) ( )

    ( )

    NN i

    m

    f X X N Ng x x D

    i i

    m

    f i i

    i i

    m

    f i

    i i

    P f x f x d x d x

    Q D B D

    P D

    ⋅⋅⋅ ≤=

    =

    =

    = ⋅⋅⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅

    =

    =

    ∑∫

    (4.5)

    For each stratum i

    D , ( )f i

    Q D is calculated through MCS with i

    n number of samples for each

    stratum and ij

    q is used to count the number of failures in that stratum. Furthermore, a

    normalization factor ( )i

    B D is multiplied by the ( )f i

    P D . ( )i

    B D is calculated through:

    ( ) ( ) ( )i

    iD

    B D f a f c dcda= ∫ (4.6)

  • Page 12 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    Figure 6 Snapshot of PipeSafery software

    5. SAMPLE PROBLEMS

    5.1. Probability of failure calculation for corrosion defects

    The fist example is used to demonstrate how the proposed framework can be used for the

    integrity management of the pipeline. As the probability of failure (either leakage or rupture)

    will increase as time goes by, therefore a proper inspection and repair program is required to

    ensure that the POF will not rise above the target value. The following table summarises the

    input data used in the analysis. In this analysis, the distribution of the corrosion defects is

    assumed to be known beforehand and there is an average of 1 corrosion defect per km. In

    addition it is assumed that no new corrosion defect will be considered for this pipeline during its

    lifetime. If new corrosion defects are to be included, a series system needs to be constructed

    therefore the total probability of failure can be evaluated. The target cumulative failure

    probability value set for leakage is 1e-5 per km and 1e-7 per km for rupture.

    Corrosion

    defect

    Internal

    pressure

    (Mpa)

    Wall

    thickness

    (mm)

    Pipe

    diameter

    (mm)

    Flow

    stress

    (MPa)

    defect

    depth

    (mm)

    Defect

    length

    (mm)

    defect

    depth

    growth rate

    (mm/year)

    defect

    length

    growth rate

    (mm/year)

    Distribution

    type constant normal constant normal normal normal normal normal

  • Page 13 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    Mean 6.5 13 900 416 3.7 97 0.2 1.2

    Standard

    deviation 0 0.3 0 15 1 12 0.02 0.3

    Table 1 Summary of the input data for POF evaluation of corrosion defects

    The simulation results for cumulative POF evaluation without introducing inspection and repair

    program are shown in Figure 7. As can be seen from the results the probability of leakage

    reaches 1e-5 per km at the beginning of year 8, therefore we should conduct inspection and

    repair work to prevent the probability of leakage from reaching this target value.

    POF v.s year

    1.00E-14

    1.00E-12

    1.00E-10

    1.00E-08

    1.00E-06

    1.00E-04

    1.00E-02

    1.00E+00

    0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

    year

    pro

    bab

    ilit

    y o

    f fa

    ilu

    re

    Leakage probability Rupture probability

    Target leakage probability Target rupture probability

    Figure 7 Leakage and rupture probabilities with regard to service life

    Assume we have an inspection tool with the POD of 90% at 30% wall thickness and the

    minimum detectable corrosion depth being 0.2mm. Also due to the limited repair budget the

    detected defects with depths smaller than 1mm will not be repaired. It can be expected that the

    probability of leakage and rupture will fall sharply following the inspection and repair program.

    Therefore we should arrange an inspection and repair program by the end of year 7. It is worth

    mentioning that the cumulative POF after inspection is conditional, assuming no actual failure

    has happened before inspection. The results are shown in Figure 8.

  • Page 14 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    POF v.s year

    1.00E-14

    1.00E-13

    1.00E-12

    1.00E-11

    1.00E-10

    1.00E-09

    1.00E-08

    1.00E-07

    1.00E-06

    1.00E-05

    1.00E-04

    1.00E-03

    1.00E-02

    1.00E-01

    1.00E+00

    0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

    year

    pro

    bab

    ilit

    y o

    f fa

    ilu

    re

    Leakage probability Rupture probability

    Target leakage probability Target rupture probability

    Figure 8 Leakage and rupture probabilities following the inspection

    It is evident that the probability of having a leakage and a rupture is now within the target

    range for the first 15 years. A second inspection and repair program should therefore be

    arranged by the end of year 15 in order to meet the same goal as before.

    5.2. Probability of failure calculation for cracks

    In this section we will investigate the impact of hydrogen on the probability of leakage and

    rupture. We assume that the cracks are longitudinally oriented as the tensile stresses applied to

    the crack are the maximal in this orientation. The input data is summarised in the list below

    (data is based on the experiments carried out within the NATURALHY project):

    No. Parameter Mean Standard

    deviation

    Distribution

    type

    1 Pipe diameter (mm) 600 0 Fixed

    2 Wall thickness (mm) 10 0 Fixed

    3 Initial crack depth (mm) 2.85 0.3 Log-normal

    4 Initial crack length (mm) 130 70 Log-normal

    5 Pressure (MPa) 6.06 0.2 Normal

    6 Residual stress (MPa) Base metal- 0 0 Fixed

    7 Fracture toughness

    (MPa*mm1/2)

    4743.4 for 100% NG

    2383.9 for 100% H2

    2383.9 for 50% H2/NG

    0 Fixed

    8 Yield strength (MPa) 358 20 Normal

    9 Tensile strength (MPa) 455 25 Normal

    10 Threshold toughness

    (MPa*mm1/2)

    338.36 for 100% NG

    275.12 for 100% H2

    316.23 for 50% H2/NG

    10 Normal

    11 Fatigue parameter c 2.32e-14 for 100% NG

    2.6e-19 for 100% H2

    5.2e-14 for 50% H2/NG

    0 fixed

    12 Fatigue parameter m 3.4 for 100% NG

    5.57 for 100% H2

    3.32 for 50% H2/NG

    0 fixed

    13 Pressure drop ratio 0.35 0 fixed

    14 Service life (years) 50 0 fixed

    15 No. of load cycles per

    year

    365 0 fixed

    Table 2 Input data for crack model

  • Page 15 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    As with the previous example it is assumed that there is only one crack per km pipeline. Figure

    9 shows how the cumulative POFs for pipelines carrying natural gas-hydrogen mixtures change

    over time. It is clear from the results that hydrogen does have a significant impact on the life of

    the pipeline and therefore risk mitigation measures must be taken to ensure that the pipelines

    carrying hydrogen are checked and repaired in time.

    POF v.s year

    1.00E-11

    1.00E-10

    1.00E-09

    1.00E-08

    1.00E-07

    1.00E-06

    1.00E-05

    1.00E-04

    1.00E-03

    1.00E-02

    1.00E-01

    1.00E+00

    0 10 20 30 40 50 60year

    pro

    bab

    ilit

    y o

    f fa

    ilu

    re

    100% natural gas 100% hydrogen 50% natural gas/hydrogen mixtures

    Figure 9 Probability of leakage for pipelines carrying natural gas-hydrogen mixtures

    6. CONCLUSIONS

    A methodology has been developed to assess the integrity of pipelines carrying natural gas and

    hydrogen mixtures. The simulation based method has demonstrated its flexibility and reliability

    in solving complex problems involving large number of variables and complex procedures. The

    stratified Monte-Carlo sampling scheme has been successfully employed to accelerate the

    simulation process without compromising the accuracy of results. The proposed method for POF

    evaluation is of practical importance as the integrity and risk mitigation procedures can be

    planned based on the information provided by PipeSafety©. The sample results demonstrate

    that POFs of pipelines increase in the presence of hydrogen but the extent of such increase can

    be reduced by mixing hydrogen and natural gas.

    In addition to the material properties defect size distributions also have a huge influence on the

    final POF results. Therefore the POF is very sensitive to the means and standard deviations

    defined for the defect depth and length. In this sense, data collection and interpretation is the

    most important step for a successful simulation. There are many effective ways to approximate

    the distribution of variables such as the maximum likelihood method and the bootstrap

    sampling method (when data is scarce). These methods should be first implemented to obtain

    as accurate data as possible in advance of the use of PipeSafety©.

    7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    The authors would like to thank the NATURALHY project partners for providing data and

    information and the European Union for kindly providing the financial support for this study.

  • Page 16 of 17

    © Copyright 2008 IGRC2008

    8. REFERENCES

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    2. Thoft-Christensen, P. and M. J.Baker, Structural Reliability Theory and Its Applications.

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    3. BS7910: Guide to methods for assessing the acceptability of flaws in metallic structures.

    2005: British Standards. 23-60.

    4. E.S.Rodrigues and J.W.Provan, Development of a general failure control system for

    estimating the reliability of deteriorating structures. Corrosion, 1989. 45: p. 3.

    5. R.Benjamin, J. and C.A. Cornell, Probability, Statistics, and Decision for Civil Engineers.

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    6. J.S.Dagpunar, Simulation and Monte Carlo with Applications in Finance and MCMC.

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    components. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 1989. 110: p. 395-411.

  • 9. LIST OF TABLES

    Table 1 Summary of the input data for POF evaluation of corrosion defects ...........................13 Table 2 Input data for crack model...................................................................................14

    10. LIST OF FIGURES

    Figure 1 Geometry of surface/through thickness crack model used in the analysis................... 5 Figure 2 The BS7910 FAD curve used to define the limit state function .................................. 6 Figure 3 Maintenance event tree for crack like defects ......................................................... 8 Figure 4 MC simulation including a transition from leakage to rupture failure modes...............10 Figure 5 The stratified Monte-Carlo simulation...................................................................11 Figure 6 Snapshot of PipeSafery software .........................................................................12 Figure 7 Leakage and rupture probabilities with regard to service life ...................................13 Figure 8 Leakage and rupture probabilities following the inspection......................................14 Figure 9 Probability of leakage for pipelines carrying natural gas-hydrogen mixtures ..............15