OPTIMIZATION OF VALVE PLACEMENT IN LIQUIDS PIPELINE SYSTEMS

Cameron T. Rout
Dynamic Risk Assessment Systems, Inc.
Calgary, Alberta, T2T 5S8
Canada
Email: cameron rout@dynamicrisk.net
ABSTRACT
Many considerations go into the design of liquid pipelines
relative to the placement of valves. Proper consideration of this
issue must address not only minimization of capital costs, but
the minimization of potential environmental and safety conse-
quences. Critical to minimizing operating risks is the impact of
valve placement on the potential outow during a loss of con-
tainment event. In order to optimize the placement of valves
in a pipeline, the effectiveness of each of many potential valve
placement combinations must be measured by properties of the
potential spill behaviour (i.e., average spill volume, peak spill
volume, and HCA impacts). Factors affecting spill volume are
topography, product properties, detection periods, valve closure
timelines, and pump shut-down behaviour. This paper presents
a solution to the challenge of optimizing valve placement in both
interconnected and isolated systems through iterative generation
of valve placement scenarios and hydraulic modeling. Various
considerations that designers and operators should address are
presented, along with results that are calibrated against real-
world incidents.
INTRODUCTION
As a response to increasing demand for quantitative analysis
of the potential consequences of pipeline failures, the author has
implemented a model for assessing pipeline design for several
pipeline operators. These analyses have provided some insight
that could be benecial for industry members who are assessing
the impacts of operations as part of ongoing risk management
strategies.
Previous industry models have been developed in this area.
The concept of Intelligent Valve Placement (IVP) was described
in depth by Weir, Kwan, and Power [1] while the ability to ac-
curately identify areas of potential impact to sensitive areas was
presented by Zuczek, Deng, Mihell, and Adams [2]. These pa-
pers provide a technical basis for modeling the outow volume
of leaks and their potential impacts for the purpose of Intelli-
gent Valve Placement. This paper discusses the current modeling
techniques used by the author which alleviate some of the limi-
tations of both previous models and nd value in the application
of the two in conjunction with each other.
While consequence analysis can be conducted during all
stages of the asset lifecycle, consideration of valve-placement
and routing during pre-construction may allow design based mit-
igation measures that may not be feasible after commissioning.
This paper describes the process of valve optimization for quanti-
tative consequence analysis and the opportunities for early-phase
considerations.
OUTFLOW MODELING
The effectiveness of a pipeline design for the purpose of lim-
iting impact to sensitive regions in the case of a leak or rupture
requires a model for predicting the impact of a potential loss of
containment event. Such an event can be analyzed quantitatively
when the volumetric outow behaviour of the associated leak or
rupture is known. Conditions that affect the behaviour of liquid
product outow can be associated with factors such as the leak
site, the topography, and the operating conditions of the pipeline.
The contribution of each of these factors is best described by an-
1 Copyright c 2012 by ASME
Proceedings of the 2012 9th International Pipeline Conference
IPC2012
September 24-28, 2012, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
IPC2012-90556
FIGURE 1. EXAMPLE OF VALVE CONFIGURATION.
FIGURE 2. EXAMPLE OF OUTFLOW PROFILE.
alyzing the chronology of a loss of containment event. Models
can then be created to simulate the leak as a function of time. By
accurately modeling the effect of valve placement and closure
time, the effectiveness of valve congurations can be evaluated.
For a pipeline with valve conguration shown in g. 1, re-
peatedly modeling leaks results in an outow prole which may
resemble g. 2. The effectiveness of the valve arrangement can
be parameterized by several methods which can be modied by
the external conditions at the leak site such as areas of high con-
sequence and potential impact to sensitive areas. Two simple pa-
rameters that can be applied are the average and the peak outow
of the prole.
Leak Rate
The instantaneous leak rate and outow behaviour can be
calculated for various leak sizes and types by determining local
leak conditions using hydraulic analysis. At each time interval,
the leak rate is dependent on the conditions of the leak site: the
local pressure and the ow rate of the pipeline. The behaviour
of a leak at the orice can be modeled using the incompressible
Bernoullis equation as shown in eq. (1).
Q
L
=C
f
A
L

2P

(1)
Where,
Q
L
= the volumetric leak rate
C
f
= the ow coefcient of the orice
A
L
= leak orice area
P
L
= the pressure differential across the orice
= the uid density
For crack-like defects, the orice aperture is not a xed pa-
rameter but is dependent on the local pressure at the leak site. A
predictive model for such apertures such as BSI-7910 [3] Annex
F Section 4.5 Equation F.1 can be used in conjunction with the
hydraulic model for predicting instantaneous leak rates.Where
defects can be idealized as slot-like cracks in simple geometries
subject to basic loadings (pressure, membrane and bending), the
following approximation can be used.
A
OA
= a
_

_
P
m
(l

)
2
2E

_
_
_
1+
P
2
m
2
2
f
_3
2

_
P
2
m
2
2
f
_3
2
_
_
(2)
For axially oriented cracks,
a
_

_
= 1+0.1

+0.16
2
(3)
For circumferentially oriented cracks,
a
_

_
=
_
1+0.117

2
_1
2
(4)
Where,

2c
_
12
_
1
2
_1
4

rB
(5)
Such that,
2 Copyright c 2012 by ASME
A
OA
= area of crack opening
l

= crack length

f
= ow stress
P
m
= primary membrane stress
E

= corrected elastic modulus

c = crack surface half length
= Poissons ratio
r = mean radius
B = wall thickness
The maximum leak rate should be limited by the ow rate
of the pipeilne when hydraulic models do not account for the in-
stantaneous decompression due to the leak itself. For large leaks,
the pressure differential at the leak site may represent the instan-
taneous leak rate during rapid decompression, in which case a
conservative limit is the ow rate of the pipeline itself.
Hydraulic Model
At each time interval the pressure at the leak site can be de-
termined using a mass balance and the Darcy-Weisbach Equa-
tion, shown in eq. (6).
P = gZ + f
LV
2
2D
(6)
Where,
P
L
= the pressure drop over some length of pipe
g = acceleration due to gravity
Z = elevation differential
f = friction factor
L = length of pipe
V = nominal velocity of pipe uid
D = internal diameter of the pipe
The friction factor f is a function of the Reynolds number
for laminar ow (eq. (7)) regimes and several methods based on
empirical analysis are available for determining the friction fac-
tor under turbulent conditions. A common method is the Cole-
brook Equation, shown in eq. (8)
f
laminar
=
64
Re
(7)
1

f
turbulent
=2.0 log
_

3.7D
+
2.51
Re

f
turbulent
_
(8)
Where,
f
laminar
= friction factor for laminar ow regimes
Re = Reynolds number
f
turbulent
= friction factor for turbulent ow regimes
= roughness of the pipe surface
D = internal diameter of the pipe
The requirements of any hydraulic model used to determine
the local pressure at the leak site vary with the different phases of
the leak. For this paper, a leak is divided into three phases: De-
tection, Shutdown, and Isolation described in more detail below.
Detection
Before operations can respond to a leak or rupture, the loss
of containment must be detected. Careful consideration of the
assumptions regarding the method of detection can have a strong
inuence on the predicted outow volume. The author has used
three models for predicting detection times, these models con-
sider a loss of containment to be detected by operational param-
eters, mass balance, or on the right of way.
Operations can detect a leak by a rapid change in ow con-
ditions. By modeling a minimum detectable decrease in pressure
or ow rate, the immediate response to large events can be mod-
eled. If the outow rate of a leak is not sufcient for immediate
detection, the accumulated volume lost from the leak can be de-
tected by the mass balance between monitoring stations. Setting
a maximum non-detectable volume loss can simulate this form of
leak detection. For even smaller leaks, where the maximum non-
detectable volume may not be reached within a timeframe where
mass balance methods are effective, the presence of the product
can be expected to be discovered on the right of way. To be con-
servative, models should assume that the full right-of-way patrol
period may pass before a leak is detected by manual methods.
It is important to give consideration to the troubleshooting
and reaction times that operations staff may require once a leak
is detected. For large decompressions, the reaction time may
be small but for small leaks detected by mass balance, longer
troubleshooting times may be expected.
Shutdown
The mitigation of a leak is modeled after the detection pe-
riod. If the leak is small enough to repair or contain without shut-
ting down the pipeline, the shutdown and subsequent drainage
phase can be ignored by the model. For large leaks such as full-
bore ruptures, the length of the shutdown phase can be signi-
cantly larger than the detection phase, for small leaks this is less
likely to be true.
An important model parameter is the rate at which a pressure
source such as a pump station or a well can be shut down. The
total time to shutdown may be easily estimated but both the ow
rate and pressure decrease rapidly in the rst stages of shutdown,
without detailed input a binary shutdown prole can be assumed
which may introduce unnecessary conservativeness.
If the shutdown prole for pressure and ow rate is known,
then the hydraulics of the leak may be modeled similarly to that
of the detection phase by updating the outlet pressure and ow
rate at each time step until the system is fully shut down.
3 Copyright c 2012 by ASME
Isolation
During isolation, the system continues to ow as the valves
isolate the leak site and the remaining uid in the local valve
section drains due to gravity. During this phase a transient model
can simulate the rate of drainage as the valves close by modeling
the driving force due to gravity and the frictional losses due to
valve closure. Isolation valves restrict ow when they are par-
tially closed. The friction introduced by partially closed valves
can be captured by calculating the pressure drop across the valve
using eq. (9).
P
v
= SG
_
Q
C
v
_
2
(9)
Where,
P
v
= the pressure drop across the valve
SG = Specic Gravity of the uid
Q = volumetric ow rate
C
v
= the valve ow coefcient
The pressure at the leak site during isolation is calculated
from the highest points upstream and downstream with consid-
eration of the possibility of siphoning from a reservoir such as
tanks and other product sources.
The order and timing of valve closure has a strong impact on
the modeled results for the isolation phase. Since all valves do
not necessarily close at the same time, the driving head must be
updated as valves close. Furthermore, there is some maximum
volume of product that can drain between the closure of sub-
sequent valves. Using a hydraulic model to determine the rate
of loss from the draining valve section can ensure that no more
product is modeled to leak than is possible for each valve section.
The product in each portion of the pipeline that undergoes
drainage can be replaced by either a vacuum or by air through
the leak site. A model that simulates the effectiveness of valve
arrangements must make careful consideration of the evacuation
process to accurately determine the instantaneous outow rate
by accounting for the effects of siphoning and balancing atmo-
spheric pressure with columns of uid.
Nodal Networks
While branching systems may require more intensive com-
puting power to resolve, the principles for outow modeling
are the same as in single pipeline systems. Careful attention to
the assumptions made for different phases of the leak time-line
should be made as a nodal system may have segments operating
in different phases of shutdown and isolation simultaneously.
Hydraulic analysis of nodal networks must consider the ef-
fect of global topography while recursively applying the princi-
ples of the three phases of a leak described above. Results of
nodal network outow analysis can show patterns of outow that
FIGURE 3. EXAMPLE OF NODAL NETWORK OUTFLOW DIS-
TRIBUTION.
can dene regions of concern for potential spills. An example of
nodal network outow results is shown in g. 3.
CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS
Interpreting the effectiveness of a valve conguration re-
quires the assessment of the impacts of potential spills.
Sensitive Area Identication
As described by Weir et al., the process of Intelligent Valve
Placement (IVP) uses the optimization of valve congurations
using an effectiveness criterion which is sensitive to the method
used to identify sensitive areas. Consistent application of the sen-
sitive area identication process is required across the pipeline
system being considered in the IVP analysis [1].
Figure 4 illustrates the usefulness of overland spill modeling
methods such as those described by Zuczek et al. [2] in the identi-
4 Copyright c 2012 by ASME
FIGURE 4. EXAMPLE OF SPILL PLUME IMPACT MODELING.
cation of sensitive impact regions. If overland spill modeling is
conducted in-line with valve placement iterations, the impact on
sensitive areas can be accurately reected and the effectiveness
measure of each conguration can be relied on for the purposes
of optimization.
Valve Optimization
Assessing the effectiveness of pipeline design with respect
to quantitative impact analysis allows for the determination of
optimal valve placements. Combining principals of IVP and
overland spill modeling, the best location for valves can be
identied. If this process can be performed before construction,
the opportunity to reduce impacts without the need for additional
controls imposed later in the life-cycle can be realized. Figure 5
shows the type of result that can be expected from valve opti-
mization algorithms that can differentiate between multiple de-
sign criteria. In the gure, each of ve valve placements is rated
by two effectiveness parameters, the rst a generic basis of total
average outow and the second weighted by High Consequence
Areas.
CONCLUSION
Previous industry models for the quantitative consequence
assessment of the potential outow behaviour of pipeline de-
signs can be combined to create a robust model for comparing
valve congurations and centerline topography. In order to mea-
sure the effect of valve closure timing and vary the size and type
of leak orice, a hydraulic model must be incorporated in the
outow model. With intensive computing, the iteration of high
resolution outow modeling with the consequent overland spill
behaviour can be combined for both single pipeline and nodal
FIGURE 5. EXAMPLE OF VALVE PLACEMENT EFFECTIVE-
NESS.
network systems.
REFERENCES
[1] D. Weir, B. Power, V. Kwan. 2006 Valve Placement and
Operation for Liquid Transmission Pipelines: a Risk Re-
duction Tool Proceedings of the 6th Biennial International
Pipeline Conference, IPC2006-10380, Calgary, Alberta.
[2] P. Zuczek, C. Deng, J. Mihell, K. Adams. 2008 An
Overland-Hydrographical Spill Model and its Application
to Pipeline Consequence Modeling Proceedings of the 7th
International Pipeline Conference, IPC2006-64389, Cal-
gary, Alberta.
[3] BSI, Guide to methods for assessing the acceptability of
aws in metallic structures BS7910:1999. British Standard
Institution, London, UK, 1999.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Thanks go to J. Chung, V. Soo and T. Bates for their con-
tribution of many hours developing, testing and validating the
models discussed in this paper.
5 Copyright c 2012 by ASME