Abstract
Corrosion remains a significant threat to the integrity and operational availability of pipelines and must be managed effectively and controlled. This can only be achieved by a thorough understanding of the prevalent corrosion mechanisms for each individual pipeline and the cumulative effects on a pipeline system.
The paper presents the concept, results and benefits of applying an index-scoring model for pipeline corrosion risk assessment and management of a North Sea pipeline network. The paper focuses on how the model, which incorporates established corrosion assessment techniques, has been used to quantify the threat of corrosion and lessons learned through implementation.
The technique described involves a systematic consideration of the effects of various increasing and reducing risk factors, which can be characterized in specialized templates or an integrity management database. These factors are characteristics that allow corrosion to occur, and/or factors, inherent through design or operations that could reduce the likelihood of corrosion damage. These factors are quantified using a consistent weighting system to estimate the probability of failure.
The model described has proven to be a proactive, thorough and consistent approach for identifying and quantifying damage due to corrosion for pipelines.
