This paper provides a brief analysis on the cause of a reported gas leakage incident that happened on the high pressure Gas Transmission System of Greece. The conditions and scenarios investigated in the paper are limited to the impact of a direct lightning strike to some adjacent tree/bush or a direct lightning strike, over or near the respective pipeline branch, to the earth. The paper particularly discusses the conditions that have caused the reported incident and a dedicated risk assessment tool that is currently being developed. The risk assessment tool provides the probability to have a severe coating defect on buried gas pipelines, under episodes related to direct lightning strikes in the adjacent soil. Severe coating defect on the pipeline does not necessarily mean metal wall fusion and gas leakage as a consequence. However, a severe defect may result in the pipeline’s coating be left weakened/damaged and thus susceptible to further deterioration (i.e. wall fusion) in the event of future lightning strikes either on the power lines or directly onto the ground.

Subject
Holidays, Electric current, Voltage, Lightning, Walls, Risk assessment, Pipelines, Tools, Probability, Metals, Electric potential, Coating defects, Soil
Keywords:
gas pipeline, lightning, risk assessment tool, coating defect
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2019
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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