The Best Means Of Assessment Answer

MAS518

Management Assignment:

The best means of transportation of oil, gas and water is through pipelines and the researchers are highly interested in the pipeline field, as the pipeline failure can cause great negative impacts in business, environment and society (Sun, Ma et al. 2009). Pipeline asset management refers to the management of all the activity including design, construction, installation, utilization and disposal. The activities are mainly concentrated on reliability and maintainability of the asset (Dwight 2013). The most suitable technique to transport hydrocarbons (gas, crude oil, and finished products) over long distances is through pipelines. Most of the countries are very much dependent on a pipeline and it is necessary to ensure the safe and failure-free operation of pipelines (Dey 2004). “Pipeline integrity management consists of pipeline assessment, inspection, defect and repair and maintenance” (Kishawy and Gabbar 2010). The gas transmission network in Australia is over 20,000 kilometres. The construction of new pipelines and the expansion of old ones have created an interconnected pipeline network in which the investment was over $6.7 billion (Australian Energy Regulator,2012). The large investment is involved in expanding and creating pipelines and there is a huge negative impact if pipeline failure occurs (Dwight 2013). Pipelines are one of the safest modes of transportation of bulk energy but if the failure occurs, then huge negative consequences will take place. The meaning of the word failure based on pipelines varies from country to country and across organizations. At some places, it is just the loss of commodity while in others it may be a fatality or injury, or damage over $50000 (Dey 2004). Pipeline oil and gas transportation is the safest and has a good safety record but like any engineering structure, pipelines may fail. The most common cause of damage is due to external interference (mechanical damage) and corrosion (Cosham, Hopkins et al. 2007). The total energy consumption from natural gas is more than 20% in most of the countries. Pipeline accidents vary from industrial accidents as the complex pipeline network topology, chemical and physical characteristics are different (Han and Weng 2011).