ECOPETROL S.A. has been working since 2006 in Pipeline Integrity Management Process. In that process, the threat related to climate and external forces play an important role, because of the vulnerability of ECOPETROL pipelines to this threat, not only by the geomorphology of Colombia, but also because of the strong impact of climate phenomenon such as “La Niña”, that consists in an unusual quantity of rain precipitation, represented in the increasing of slopes instability that affects the rights of way. Due to these events and the evolution of optical strain sensors monitoring technology, ECOPETROL has introduced an instrumentation pipeline program for monitoring the strain and advanced in the understanding of the behavior of pipelines. This paper describes the technology selected, the criteria used to select the monitoring sites and the thresholds stress/strain. The results of monitoring are discussed for a particular case.
The principle of redundancy in the analysis of pipeline integrity has taken on particular significance in recent years, thanks to the integration and relating of information obtained from various sources, which include, smart pig runs, visual right-of-way inspections and monitoring of the land and the pipeline. This document contains information related to the monitoring and analysis prior to emergency actions taken in the case study presented, located in northeast Colombia, where the effects of mining activity and excess rain during the winter period of 2010–2011 combined. The integrity information available with regard to background, visual right-of-way inspection, threat and risk assessments, direct monitoring of the pipeline and the analysis of deformation by bending, which Ecopetrol’s Office of Vice-president for Transportation and Logistics (VIT) made at the site, was taken into account. In addition, it includes a description of the interrelationship of such information, the findings in the activities conducted during the attention to the site, for the purpose of identifying the evidence related to external loads exerted by the land in the soil-pipeline interaction, which made it possible to better determine the proposed plan of action. The redundancy in the analysis of this information makes it possible to more accurately determine the root cause of the problem, the interaction between the phenomenon (external load - geotechnical event) and the pipeline, by which attention was directed in the field and action plans were obtained that better mitigate the threat and guarantee more safe and reliable operation.
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