RIS ID
101537
Abstract
A review of asset management systems within the context of energy pipelines has been conducted. It covers available methodologies, current asset management systems, opportunities for improvement and research challenges. A particular point of interest is the degree to which consideration of remaining life and the influence of maintenance activities are used to drive the asset management strategy. Asset management within the energy pipeline industry is mostly concerned with integrity assurance. Irrespective of this overriding goal, cost of delivery is also of concern. At any point of the service life the remaining life of the pipeline at an acceptable level of integrity is of central interest. When dealing with remaining service life, specific attention must be given to deterioration evaluation of pipelines due to corrosion and other defects. At different life stages there are many factors that affect the remaining service life of pipelines which make its estimation problematic in some situations. Pipeline life prediction is integral with determining optimal inspection intervals and selecting repair or protection actions. Research challenges in asset management of energy pipelines include: incorporating all practically available data into an integrated decision support system; developing asset management support decision models to enhance trade off among the alternative options; establishing a systematic way for maintenance program development; and, incorporating life-cycle cost and risk assessment techniques informed by predicted performance into the overall asset management system of organisations.
Publication Details
Dwight, R., Zhang, T. & El-Akruti, K. O. (2013). Asset management in the energy pipeline industry in Australia. World Trends in Maintenance Engineering (M-Tech 2013) (pp. 1-10).