PSI - Issue 48

Mohammed Badr Alzeer et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 48 (2023) 363–370 Mohammed Badr Alzeer/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

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1. Introduction Banias-Homs Pipeline is located in Syria, where it is used for oil-products transportation from the Banias terminal to the Homs tanks-farm. In 2008, it was determined that the fuel demand is going to increase by 5% on an annual basis which means 100% in twenty years, which will result in an increase of the flowrate, and lead the operating condition to be changed accordingly (Oil & Journal, 2013). In a similar vein, an extensive integrity assessment was conducted to determine the line feasibility to accommodate the new operating parameters. Therefore, an MFL line inspection was conducted, which disclosed a massive number of metal loss features that make it impossible to operate the line higher than its current capacity without the implementation of a thorough analysis of the line reliability taking into consideration the corrosion rate, operating pressure, and probability of failure (POF). The significant contrast in the frequency of corrosion features triggered the following question: what are the main factors influencing pipeline degradation? Therefore, this paper highlighted some issues associated with pipeline degradation, which constitute a great asset for pipeline designers, operators, and integrity engineers. Corrosion is a damaging attack on a material caused by an interaction with its environment, and it is one of the natural potential risks in the oil and gas sector. Corrosion can occur in almost any aquatic environment, and it occurs in a variety of complex situations in oil and gas production, processing, and pipeline systems (Popoola et al., 2013). Corrosion is described as the transformation of metals into ions, and then from ions to metals or gases. When an atom loses one or more electrons, it becomes an ion. Even though the weight of the atom of iron has not changed, the ion's characteristics have changed dramatically from those of the atom (Ostroff, 1975). According to a report conducted by the US Minerals Management Service, most corrosion issues are caused by internal factors (Muthukumar, 2014). Many corrosion difficulties in oil transmission pipelines are caused by CO2 and H2S fumes accompanying petroleum products in combination with water and bacteria (Kolawole et al., 2018). 2. Methodology In order to analyze the causes behind corrosion, A fishbone diagram FD has been established. FD was developed to identify the underlying causes of issues by Japanese management expert Kaoru Ishikawa. It shows the connection between an issue and its underlying causes, FD is a qualitative analysis tool for expression and causal analysis that is frequently used in qualitative analysis (Luo et al., 2007). Complex accident causes can be systematized with a step by-step, in-depth analysis of the components that influence them. Prior to beginning the detailed study, we consider the variables that have the greatest impact on safety. After that, we go away from the major cause to identify secondary reasons, minor factors, and less significant factors, and finally, the primary cause is identified and determined (Deng et al., 2013). To identify the major factors that contribute to pipeline corrosion, 5 questions have been asked: Why is the pipeline massively corroded? this is the first why. Second why: Why Internal features are significantly greater than external features? Third why: Why the operating conditions are so corrosive? Fourth why: Why some spots are more corroded than others? Fifth why: Why does the operating fluid contain highly corrosive composites? To answer these questions, this research utilized a soft copy of the 2008 inspection results, where a descriptive analysis of the metal loss data was performed to define the statistical characteristics of the metal loss features' parameters of length, width, and depth. Accordingly, a qualitative analysis has been carried out by looking at the corrosion features frequency along the line and identifying the pattern that underlies pipeline failure by connecting corrosion frequency to the operational conditions. 3. Pipeline Operation Details Banias-Homs 24" oil-products pipeline was originally put into service in 1961 (Stevens, 2000). The pipeline's service life is divided into two periods: the first covers the years from 1961 to 1982 when it was used to export Iraqi crude oil through the Banias terminal. At then, the fluid was gravity-fed with transportation up to 400,000 barrels per day, which accounted for half of the crude amount exported via the Banias terminal. The second period began in 1982 when it has been running well with a consistent flow rate of 700 (m 3 /hour) where flow is fed by a pump that is installed in Banias terminal. The Pipeline is used to transport a variety of fluids. Fluid is made up of refined and imported