The effect of internal pressure on the longitudinal behaviour of pipelines

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Pipelines are one of the most important modes of transportation for oil and gas from the location of the resources to the refineries. They constitute an influential part of the Canadian economy. To achieve their design objective, pipelines have to safely transport a highly pressurized flammable substance. In doing so, pipelines need to sustain a combination of circumferential stresses due to the internal pressure and longitudinal stresses induced by external loads. These external loads are primarily the result of soil movement and temperature effects, both induced by the harsh Canadian environment. As the pipe traverses areas of discontinuous permafrost abundant throughout Canada, it is subjected to differential settlement exacerbated by the large seasonal temperature differential which induces large longitudinal stresses. In addition, the pipelines are usually required to cross various water and road ways as well as varying surface topography. The locations of these can potentially have a concentration of longitudinal pipe deformation deeming them very critical for a safe pipeline design. This proposal addresses three areas in the current Canadian design guidelines in which the code equations do not consider the interaction between the internal pressure and the longitudinal response of the pipeline.