Asset management that increases efficiency helps energy suppliers counteract the difference between decreasing revenues and increasing maintenance costs. Security, quality and reliability of supply are the essential focal points of professional asset management in the gas pipeline network. Periodic inspections of the installation assure continual compliance to the technical standards in the pipeline network. Before the inspections, criteria are established which provide information concerning the actual state of pipe network, prognoses and failure trends, as well as cost patterns for rehabilitation management. Quantifiable variables, such as interpretations of pipe age and material, failure rates and estimated potential risks, are integrated into calculations of risk and cost-oriented rehabilitation management for successful asset management.
Science responds to increased demands for energy supply companies with state-of-the-art technology, concerning in the systematic recognition, assessment and management of risks in the gas pipeline network in the form of the innovative software tool PiReM. Based on small amounts of GIS datasets, PiReM initially analyzes the actual state of the asset and shows a clear picture of the material and aging distribution in the pipe network.
The development of network lengths, failure rates and rehabilitation demand forecasts support long-term rehabilitation management in entire pipe network as well as mid-term management of the individual pipe segments.
PiReM allows for an exact parameterization of the pipe network by entering client-specific pipe network criteria and integrating network-specific risk factors, thus providing in-depth scenario analyses which permit direct conclusions about risk factors and identify risk potentials. In doing so, both aspects - the incidence rate as well as the extent of damage- are assessed in the risk analysis. The quantification of the effect of risk is integrated into a three-step security assessment (SVGWG10001d/2004) and provides the basis for the risk-oriented rehabilitation management in the gas pipeline network.
The age and material of the pipes, the long-term failure trends and security assessment are the significant influencing factors for the annual rehabilitation management with PiReM. By means of employing analyses of recorded failure data, PiReM calculates the ideal economical time period for rehabilitation and generates a priority list according to how urgent the rehabilitation need is on an individual pipe segment.
In the scenario management, alternative comparative calculations can be made, the exogenous factor investment budget considered, and the different rehabilitation management scenarios compared. Thus, influences resulting from varying actions taken become apparent, the rehabilitation rate can be controlled through the available budget, and future investment costs become predictable.
Decision support using PiReM
