Christophe Baeté, Elsyca NV.
Aging pipeline assets are a concern for many pipeline operators. As pipelines age, external corrosion control becomes more challenging and often results in more aggressive monitoring and maintenance activities such as more frequent in-line inspections (ILI) and direct examinations.
A pipeline case study is discussed demonstrating how a digital twin based on mechanistic modeling was utilized as a proof of concept for identifying possible cathodic protection remedial actions to decrease external corrosion growth rates (CGR) with the goal of extending the ILI inspection interval from 3 to 5 years. Various remediations such as adjusting or adding cathodic protection and resolving interference are modeled and compared with the existing corrosion control configuration. An economic analysis is included to determine if theoretical remediations can reduce monitoring and maintenance costs while maintaining asset integrity.