Quantification of diffusion tensor imaging in normal white matter maturation of early childhood using an automated processing pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loh, K.B.; Ramli, N.; Tan, L.K.; Roziah, M.; Rahmat, K.; Ariffin, H.

2012-01-01

The degree and status of white matter myelination can be sensitively monitored using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). This study looks at the measurement of fractional anistropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) using an automated ROI with an existing DTI atlas. Anatomical MRI and structural DTI were performed cross-sectionally on 26 normal children (newborn to 48 months old), using 1.5-T MRI. The automated processing pipeline was implemented to convert diffusion-weighted images into the NIfTI format. DTI-TK software was used to register the processed images to the ICBM DTI-81 atlas, while AFNI software was used for automated atlas-based volumes of interest (VOIs) and statistical value extraction. DTI exhibited consistent grey-white matter contrast. Triphasic temporal variation of the FA and MD values was noted, with FA increasing and MD decreasing rapidly early in the first 12 months. The second phase lasted 12-24 months during which the rate of FA and MD changes was reduced. After 24 months, the FA and MD values plateaued. DTI is a superior technique to conventional MR imaging in depicting WM maturation. The use of the automated processing pipeline provides a reliable environment for quantitative analysis of high-throughput DTI data. (orig.)

Quantification of diffusion tensor imaging in normal white matter maturation of early childhood using an automated processing pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loh, K.B.; Ramli, N.; Tan, L.K.; Roziah, M. [University of Malaya, Department of Biomedical Imaging, University Malaya Research Imaging Centre (UMRIC), Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Rahmat, K. [University of Malaya, Department of Biomedical Imaging, University Malaya Research Imaging Centre (UMRIC), Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); University Malaya, Biomedical Imaging Department, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia); Ariffin, H. [University of Malaya, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

2012-07-15

The degree and status of white matter myelination can be sensitively monitored using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). This study looks at the measurement of fractional anistropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) using an automated ROI with an existing DTI atlas. Anatomical MRI and structural DTI were performed cross-sectionally on 26 normal children (newborn to 48 months old), using 1.5-T MRI. The automated processing pipeline was implemented to convert diffusion-weighted images into the NIfTI format. DTI-TK software was used to register the processed images to the ICBM DTI-81 atlas, while AFNI software was used for automated atlas-based volumes of interest (VOIs) and statistical value extraction. DTI exhibited consistent grey-white matter contrast. Triphasic temporal variation of the FA and MD values was noted, with FA increasing and MD decreasing rapidly early in the first 12 months. The second phase lasted 12-24 months during which the rate of FA and MD changes was reduced. After 24 months, the FA and MD values plateaued. DTI is a superior technique to conventional MR imaging in depicting WM maturation. The use of the automated processing pipeline provides a reliable environment for quantitative analysis of high-throughput DTI data. (orig.)

Rnnotator: an automated de novo transcriptome assembly pipeline from stranded RNA-Seq reads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martin, Jeffrey; Bruno, Vincent M.; Fang, Zhide; Meng, Xiandong; Blow, Matthew; Zhang, Tao; Sherlock, Gavin; Snyder, Michael; Wang, Zhong

2010-11-19

Background: Comprehensive annotation and quantification of transcriptomes are outstanding problems in functional genomics. While high throughput mRNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) has emerged as a powerful tool for addressing these problems, its success is dependent upon the availability and quality of reference genome sequences, thus limiting the organisms to which it can be applied. Results: Here, we describe Rnnotator, an automated software pipeline that generates transcript models by de novo assembly of RNA-Seq data without the need for a reference genome. We have applied the Rnnotator assembly pipeline to two yeast transcriptomes and compared the results to the reference gene catalogs of these organisms. The contigs produced by Rnnotator are highly accurate (95percent) and reconstruct full-length genes for the majority of the existing gene models (54.3percent). Furthermore, our analyses revealed many novel transcribed regions that are absent from well annotated genomes, suggesting Rnnotator serves as a complementary approach to analysis based on a reference genome for comprehensive transcriptomics. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that the Rnnotator pipeline is able to reconstruct full-length transcripts in the absence of a complete reference genome.

SV-AUTOPILOT: optimized, automated construction of structural variation discovery and benchmarking pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Wai Yi; Marschall, Tobias; Paudel, Yogesh; Falquet, Laurent; Mei, Hailiang; Schönhuth, Alexander; Maoz Moss, Tiffanie Yael

2015-03-25

Many tools exist to predict structural variants (SVs), utilizing a variety of algorithms. However, they have largely been developed and tested on human germline or somatic (e.g. cancer) variation. It seems appropriate to exploit this wealth of technology available for humans also for other species. Objectives of this work included: a) Creating an automated, standardized pipeline for SV prediction. b) Identifying the best tool(s) for SV prediction through benchmarking. c) Providing a statistically sound method for merging SV calls. The SV-AUTOPILOT meta-tool platform is an automated pipeline for standardization of SV prediction and SV tool development in paired-end next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. SV-AUTOPILOT comes in the form of a virtual machine, which includes all datasets, tools and algorithms presented here. The virtual machine easily allows one to add, replace and update genomes, SV callers and post-processing routines and therefore provides an easy, out-of-the-box environment for complex SV discovery tasks. SV-AUTOPILOT was used to make a direct comparison between 7 popular SV tools on the Arabidopsis thaliana genome using the Landsberg (Ler) ecotype as a standardized dataset. Recall and precision measurements suggest that Pindel and Clever were the most adaptable to this dataset across all size ranges while Delly performed well for SVs larger than 250 nucleotides. A novel, statistically-sound merging process, which can control the false discovery rate, reduced the false positive rate on the Arabidopsis benchmark dataset used here by >60%. SV-AUTOPILOT provides a meta-tool platform for future SV tool development and the benchmarking of tools on other genomes using a standardized pipeline. It optimizes detection of SVs in non-human genomes using statistically robust merging. The benchmarking in this study has demonstrated the power of 7 different SV tools for analyzing different size classes and types of structural variants. The optional merge

TH-AB-207A-05: A Fully-Automated Pipeline for Generating CT Images Across a Range of Doses and Reconstruction Methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, S; Lo, P; Hoffman, J; Wahi-Anwar, M; Brown, M; McNitt-Gray, M; Noo, F

2016-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the robustness of CAD or Quantitative Imaging methods, they should be tested on a variety of cases and under a variety of image acquisition and reconstruction conditions that represent the heterogeneity encountered in clinical practice. The purpose of this work was to develop a fully-automated pipeline for generating CT images that represent a wide range of dose and reconstruction conditions. Methods: The pipeline consists of three main modules: reduced-dose simulation, image reconstruction, and quantitative analysis. The first two modules of the pipeline can be operated in a completely automated fashion, using configuration files and running the modules in a batch queue. The input to the pipeline is raw projection CT data; this data is used to simulate different levels of dose reduction using a previously-published algorithm. Filtered-backprojection reconstructions are then performed using FreeCT_wFBP, a freely-available reconstruction software for helical CT. We also added support for an in-house, model-based iterative reconstruction algorithm using iterative coordinate-descent optimization, which may be run in tandem with the more conventional recon methods. The reduced-dose simulations and image reconstructions are controlled automatically by a single script, and they can be run in parallel on our research cluster. The pipeline was tested on phantom and lung screening datasets from a clinical scanner (Definition AS, Siemens Healthcare). Results: The images generated from our test datasets appeared to represent a realistic range of acquisition and reconstruction conditions that we would expect to find clinically. The time to generate images was approximately 30 minutes per dose/reconstruction combination on a hybrid CPU/GPU architecture. Conclusion: The automated research pipeline promises to be a useful tool for either training or evaluating performance of quantitative imaging software such as classifiers and CAD algorithms across the range

TH-AB-207A-05: A Fully-Automated Pipeline for Generating CT Images Across a Range of Doses and Reconstruction Methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young, S; Lo, P; Hoffman, J; Wahi-Anwar, M; Brown, M; McNitt-Gray, M [UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Noo, F [University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To evaluate the robustness of CAD or Quantitative Imaging methods, they should be tested on a variety of cases and under a variety of image acquisition and reconstruction conditions that represent the heterogeneity encountered in clinical practice. The purpose of this work was to develop a fully-automated pipeline for generating CT images that represent a wide range of dose and reconstruction conditions. Methods: The pipeline consists of three main modules: reduced-dose simulation, image reconstruction, and quantitative analysis. The first two modules of the pipeline can be operated in a completely automated fashion, using configuration files and running the modules in a batch queue. The input to the pipeline is raw projection CT data; this data is used to simulate different levels of dose reduction using a previously-published algorithm. Filtered-backprojection reconstructions are then performed using FreeCT-wFBP, a freely-available reconstruction software for helical CT. We also added support for an in-house, model-based iterative reconstruction algorithm using iterative coordinate-descent optimization, which may be run in tandem with the more conventional recon methods. The reduced-dose simulations and image reconstructions are controlled automatically by a single script, and they can be run in parallel on our research cluster. The pipeline was tested on phantom and lung screening datasets from a clinical scanner (Definition AS, Siemens Healthcare). Results: The images generated from our test datasets appeared to represent a realistic range of acquisition and reconstruction conditions that we would expect to find clinically. The time to generate images was approximately 30 minutes per dose/reconstruction combination on a hybrid CPU/GPU architecture. Conclusion: The automated research pipeline promises to be a useful tool for either training or evaluating performance of quantitative imaging software such as classifiers and CAD algorithms across the range

Technical support to environmental restoration division for groundwater level monitoring effort at entombed Hallam Nuclear Power Facility. Final report, August 1, 1993--July 31, 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

This report provides an interim summary of information from a water-level monitoring program. The information was collected by the US Geological Survey (USGS) over a 6-month period. The monitoring program between the US DOE and the USGS was set up to measure water levels in 16 observation wells at the Hallam Nuclear Facility in Hallam, Nebraska. The summary of USGS data includes: (1) a description of the USGS monitoring program; (2) a description of the collection of continuous water-level data; (3) a description of the collection of monthly water-level data; (4) table of observation well number, latitude, longitude, and depth; (5) table of monthly ground-water levels data; (6) table of recorder wells, rainfall, and barometric pressure values; (7) table of recorder well, rainfall, and barometric pressure daily values; and (8) hydrographs of selected wells. 7 figs., 3 tabs

APPHi: Automated Photometry Pipeline for High Cadence Large Volume Data

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, E.; Castro, J.; Silva, J.; Hernández, J.; Reyes, M.; Hernández, B.; Alvarez, F.; García T.

2018-04-01

APPHi (Automated Photometry Pipeline) carries out aperture and differential photometry of TAOS-II project data. It is computationally efficient and can be used also with other astronomical wide-field image data. APPHi works with large volumes of data and handles both FITS and HDF5 formats. Due the large number of stars that the software has to handle in an enormous number of frames, it is optimized to automatically find the best value for parameters to carry out the photometry, such as mask size for aperture, size of window for extraction of a single star, and the number of counts for the threshold for detecting a faint star. Although intended to work with TAOS-II data, APPHi can analyze any set of astronomical images and is a robust and versatile tool to performing stellar aperture and differential photometry.

CloVR-Comparative: automated, cloud-enabled comparative microbial genome sequence analysis pipeline.

Science.gov (United States)

Agrawal, Sonia; Arze, Cesar; Adkins, Ricky S; Crabtree, Jonathan; Riley, David; Vangala, Mahesh; Galens, Kevin; Fraser, Claire M; Tettelin, Hervé; White, Owen; Angiuoli, Samuel V; Mahurkar, Anup; Fricke, W Florian

2017-04-27

The benefit of increasing genomic sequence data to the scientific community depends on easy-to-use, scalable bioinformatics support. CloVR-Comparative combines commonly used bioinformatics tools into an intuitive, automated, and cloud-enabled analysis pipeline for comparative microbial genomics. CloVR-Comparative runs on annotated complete or draft genome sequences that are uploaded by the user or selected via a taxonomic tree-based user interface and downloaded from NCBI. CloVR-Comparative runs reference-free multiple whole-genome alignments to determine unique, shared and core coding sequences (CDSs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Output includes short summary reports and detailed text-based results files, graphical visualizations (phylogenetic trees, circular figures), and a database file linked to the Sybil comparative genome browser. Data up- and download, pipeline configuration and monitoring, and access to Sybil are managed through CloVR-Comparative web interface. CloVR-Comparative and Sybil are distributed as part of the CloVR virtual appliance, which runs on local computers or the Amazon EC2 cloud. Representative datasets (e.g. 40 draft and complete Escherichia coli genomes) are processed in genomics projects, while eliminating the need for on-site computational resources and expertise.

Description of the U.S. Geological Survey's slug-tests at the Hallam Nuclear Facility, July to November 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

An aquifer test agreement between the US Department of Energy (USDOE) and the US Geological Survey (USGS) was set up to log and measure the aquifer response in two observation wells, IB and 4C at the Hallam Nuclear Facility, Hallam, Nebraska. Observation wells 1B and 4C are owned by the USDOE and were installed by HWS Technologies Inc. of Lincoln, Nebraska, in June 1993. These observation wells were measured monthly from September 1993 to August 1994 by using a graduated steel tape. The accuracy of these water-level measurements is approximately ±0.02 foot. Also well 1B contained a submersible pressure transducer to record hourly water-level data during this same period. During access of the wells, personnel wear clean disposable latex gloves, a hard hat, and safety glasses. Directly following each measurement the steel-tape was rinsed with deionized water and the effluent was disposed of in a 55-gallon drum. For the aquifer tests, observation wells 1B and 4C had submersible pressure transducers installed to monitor water-level responses. These pressure transducers were connected to an electronic data logger (edl) to record the water levels, atmospheric pressure from a barometric pressure gauge, and rainfall data from a tipping-bucket rain gauge. The data recorded on each edl was downloaded onto a field computer during each site visit, processed in the field, and then stored on the USGS's Data General workstations upon return to the District Office

Long term pipeline monitoring in geomechanically sensitive environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weir-Jones, I.; Sun, M. [Weir-Jones Engineering Consultants Ltd. (Canada)

2011-07-01

In the oil industry, monitoring pipeline structural integrity is necessary for both regulatory and environmental purposes. Weir-Jones Engineering Consultants developed an automated structural integrity monitoring (SIM) system, data on strain, displacement and temperature are continuously acquired and automatically transmitted to the monitoring personnel. The aim of this paper is to present this technology and its implementation on one of Inter Pipeline Fund's lines as well. The automated SIM equipment was installed on a new 42'' line at the crossing of the Clearwater River close to Fort McMurray. Results showed that this technology is a good way to monitor pipelines in remote locations, environmentally sensitive areas, river and embankment crossings and in locations where external forces can put the pipeline at risk; but it should not be used otherwise as that would not be cost effective. This paper described the developed automated SIM and showed that it should only be used in specific locations to be cost effective.

77 FR 19414 - Pipeline Safety: Public Comment on Leak and Valve Studies Mandated by the Pipeline Safety...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-30

... Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials.... Background: The recent passage of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 has... consider upstream and downstream controls, automation, supervisory control and data acquisition systems...

A FULLY AUTOMATED PIPELINE FOR CLASSIFICATION TASKS WITH AN APPLICATION TO REMOTE SENSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Suzuki

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays deep learning has been intensively in spotlight owing to its great victories at major competitions, which undeservedly pushed ‘shallow’ machine learning methods, relatively naive/handy algorithms commonly used by industrial engineers, to the background in spite of their facilities such as small requisite amount of time/dataset for training. We, with a practical point of view, utilized shallow learning algorithms to construct a learning pipeline such that operators can utilize machine learning without any special knowledge, expensive computation environment, and a large amount of labelled data. The proposed pipeline automates a whole classification process, namely feature-selection, weighting features and the selection of the most suitable classifier with optimized hyperparameters. The configuration facilitates particle swarm optimization, one of well-known metaheuristic algorithms for the sake of generally fast and fine optimization, which enables us not only to optimize (hyperparameters but also to determine appropriate features/classifier to the problem, which has conventionally been a priori based on domain knowledge and remained untouched or dealt with naïve algorithms such as grid search. Through experiments with the MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets, common datasets in computer vision field for character recognition and object recognition problems respectively, our automated learning approach provides high performance considering its simple setting (i.e. non-specialized setting depending on dataset, small amount of training data, and practical learning time. Moreover, compared to deep learning the performance stays robust without almost any modification even with a remote sensing object recognition problem, which in turn indicates that there is a high possibility that our approach contributes to general classification problems.

Development of an automated data acquisition and processing pipeline using multiple telescopes for observing transient phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Savant, Vaibhav; Smith, Niall

2016-07-01

We report on the current status in the development of a pilot automated data acquisition and reduction pipeline based around the operation of two nodes of remotely operated robotic telescopes based in California, USA and Cork, Ireland. The observatories are primarily used as a testbed for automation and instrumentation and as a tool to facilitate STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) promotion. The Ireland node is situated at Blackrock Castle Observatory (operated by Cork Institute of Technology) and consists of two optical telescopes - 6" and 16" OTAs housed in two separate domes while the node in California is its 6" replica. Together they form a pilot Telescope ARrAy known as TARA. QuickPhot is an automated data reduction pipeline designed primarily to throw more light on the microvariability of blazars employing precision optical photometry and using data from the TARA telescopes as they constantly monitor predefined targets whenever observing conditions are favourable. After carrying out aperture photometry, if any variability above a given threshold is observed, the reporting telescope will communicate the source concerned and the other nodes will follow up with multi-band observations, taking advantage that they are located in strategically separated time-zones. Ultimately we wish to investigate the applicability of Shock-in-Jet and Geometric models. These try to explain the processes at work in AGNs which result in the formation of jets, by looking for temporal and spectral variability in TARA multi-band observations. We are also experimenting with using a Twochannel Optical PHotometric Imaging CAMera (TOΦCAM) that we have developed and which has been optimised for simultaneous two-band photometry on our 16" OTA.

Slurry pipeline technology: an overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chapman, Jay P. [Pipeline Systems Incorporated (PSI), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Lima, Rafael; Pinto, Daniel; Vidal, Alisson [Ausenco do Brasil Engenharia Ltda., Nova Lima, MG (Brazil). PSI Div.

2009-12-19

Slurry pipelines represent an economical and environmentally friendly transportation means for many solid materials. This paper provides an over-view of the technology, its evolution and current Brazilian activity. Mineral resources are increasingly moving farther away from ports, processing plants and end use points, and slurry pipelines are an important mode of solids transport. Application guidelines are discussed. State-of-the-Art technical solutions such as pipeline system simulation, pipe materials, pumps, valves, automation, telecommunications, and construction techniques that have made the technology successful are presented. A discussion of where long distant slurry pipelines fit in a picture that also includes thickened and paste materials pipe lining is included. (author)

The Harvard Automated Processing Pipeline for Electroencephalography (HAPPE): Standardized Processing Software for Developmental and High-Artifact Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabard-Durnam, Laurel J; Mendez Leal, Adriana S; Wilkinson, Carol L; Levin, April R

2018-01-01

Electroenchephalography (EEG) recordings collected with developmental populations present particular challenges from a data processing perspective. These EEGs have a high degree of artifact contamination and often short recording lengths. As both sample sizes and EEG channel densities increase, traditional processing approaches like manual data rejection are becoming unsustainable. Moreover, such subjective approaches preclude standardized metrics of data quality, despite the heightened importance of such measures for EEGs with high rates of initial artifact contamination. There is presently a paucity of automated resources for processing these EEG data and no consistent reporting of data quality measures. To address these challenges, we propose the Harvard Automated Processing Pipeline for EEG (HAPPE) as a standardized, automated pipeline compatible with EEG recordings of variable lengths and artifact contamination levels, including high-artifact and short EEG recordings from young children or those with neurodevelopmental disorders. HAPPE processes event-related and resting-state EEG data from raw files through a series of filtering, artifact rejection, and re-referencing steps to processed EEG suitable for time-frequency-domain analyses. HAPPE also includes a post-processing report of data quality metrics to facilitate the evaluation and reporting of data quality in a standardized manner. Here, we describe each processing step in HAPPE, perform an example analysis with EEG files we have made freely available, and show that HAPPE outperforms seven alternative, widely-used processing approaches. HAPPE removes more artifact than all alternative approaches while simultaneously preserving greater or equivalent amounts of EEG signal in almost all instances. We also provide distributions of HAPPE's data quality metrics in an 867 file dataset as a reference distribution and in support of HAPPE's performance across EEG data with variable artifact contamination and

The Harvard Automated Processing Pipeline for Electroencephalography (HAPPE: Standardized Processing Software for Developmental and High-Artifact Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurel J. Gabard-Durnam

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Electroenchephalography (EEG recordings collected with developmental populations present particular challenges from a data processing perspective. These EEGs have a high degree of artifact contamination and often short recording lengths. As both sample sizes and EEG channel densities increase, traditional processing approaches like manual data rejection are becoming unsustainable. Moreover, such subjective approaches preclude standardized metrics of data quality, despite the heightened importance of such measures for EEGs with high rates of initial artifact contamination. There is presently a paucity of automated resources for processing these EEG data and no consistent reporting of data quality measures. To address these challenges, we propose the Harvard Automated Processing Pipeline for EEG (HAPPE as a standardized, automated pipeline compatible with EEG recordings of variable lengths and artifact contamination levels, including high-artifact and short EEG recordings from young children or those with neurodevelopmental disorders. HAPPE processes event-related and resting-state EEG data from raw files through a series of filtering, artifact rejection, and re-referencing steps to processed EEG suitable for time-frequency-domain analyses. HAPPE also includes a post-processing report of data quality metrics to facilitate the evaluation and reporting of data quality in a standardized manner. Here, we describe each processing step in HAPPE, perform an example analysis with EEG files we have made freely available, and show that HAPPE outperforms seven alternative, widely-used processing approaches. HAPPE removes more artifact than all alternative approaches while simultaneously preserving greater or equivalent amounts of EEG signal in almost all instances. We also provide distributions of HAPPE's data quality metrics in an 867 file dataset as a reference distribution and in support of HAPPE's performance across EEG data with variable artifact

Pipelines, inexpensive and safe mode of transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grover, D D

1979-01-01

Pipelines are the leading bulk commodity transporter and should play an even more important role in the future of energy transportation and distribution. As fossil fuel and low-cost uranium resources become depleted, it will be economical to produce hydrogen by electrolysis and transport it through underground pipelines to points of consumption. The cost would be only two to three times that of transporting natural gas per unit of heat energy and substantially less than the cost of transporting electric energy in overhead, extra-high-voltage transmission lines. Pipeline design, including economic pipe diameter; pipe material; operation by remote control and automation; cathodic protection; pipeline construction; and pipeline maintenance, particularly as regards the 1157 km long Oil India Pipeline, are discussed.

Transforming microbial genotyping: a robotic pipeline for genotyping bacterial strains.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian O'Farrell

Full Text Available Microbial genotyping increasingly deals with large numbers of samples, and data are commonly evaluated by unstructured approaches, such as spread-sheets. The efficiency, reliability and throughput of genotyping would benefit from the automation of manual manipulations within the context of sophisticated data storage. We developed a medium- throughput genotyping pipeline for MultiLocus Sequence Typing (MLST of bacterial pathogens. This pipeline was implemented through a combination of four automated liquid handling systems, a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS consisting of a variety of dedicated commercial operating systems and programs, including a Sample Management System, plus numerous Python scripts. All tubes and microwell racks were bar-coded and their locations and status were recorded in the LIMS. We also created a hierarchical set of items that could be used to represent bacterial species, their products and experiments. The LIMS allowed reliable, semi-automated, traceable bacterial genotyping from initial single colony isolation and sub-cultivation through DNA extraction and normalization to PCRs, sequencing and MLST sequence trace evaluation. We also describe robotic sequencing to facilitate cherrypicking of sequence dropouts. This pipeline is user-friendly, with a throughput of 96 strains within 10 working days at a total cost of 200,000 items were processed by two to three people. Our sophisticated automated pipeline can be implemented by a small microbiology group without extensive external support, and provides a general framework for semi-automated bacterial genotyping of large numbers of samples at low cost.

Automated software for hydraulic simulation of pipeline operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hurgin Roman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Design of modern water supply systems of large cities as well as their management via renovation of hydraulic models poses time-consuming tasks to researchers, and coping with this task requires specific approaches. When tackling these tasks, water services companies come across a lot of information about various objects of water infrastructure, the majority of which is located underground. In those cases, modern computer-aided design systems containing various components come to help. These systems help to solve a wide array of problems using existing information regarding pipelines, analysis and optimization of their basic parameters. CAD software is becoming an integral part of water supply systems management in large cities, and its capabilities allow engineering and operating companies to not only collect all the necessary data concerning water supply systems in any given city, but also to conduct research aimed at improving various parameters of these systems, including optimization of their hydraulic properties which directly determine the quality of water. This paper contains the analysis of automated CAD software for hydraulic design and management of city water supply systems in order to provide safe and efficient operation of these water supply systems. Authors select the most suitable software that might be used to provide hydraulic compatibility of old and new sections of water supply ring mains after selective or continuous draw-in renovation and decrease in diameter of distribution networks against the background of water consumption decrease in the cities.

ToTem: a tool for variant calling pipeline optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Tom, Nikola; Tom, Ondrej; Malcikova, Jitka; Pavlova, Sarka; Kubesova, Blanka; Rausch, Tobias; Kolarik, Miroslav; Benes, Vladimir; Bystry, Vojtech; Pospisilova, Sarka

2018-06-26

High-throughput bioinformatics analyses of next generation sequencing (NGS) data often require challenging pipeline optimization. The key problem is choosing appropriate tools and selecting the best parameters for optimal precision and recall. Here we introduce ToTem, a tool for automated pipeline optimization. ToTem is a stand-alone web application with a comprehensive graphical user interface (GUI). ToTem is written in Java and PHP with an underlying connection to a MySQL database. Its primary role is to automatically generate, execute and benchmark different variant calling pipeline settings. Our tool allows an analysis to be started from any level of the process and with the possibility of plugging almost any tool or code. To prevent an over-fitting of pipeline parameters, ToTem ensures the reproducibility of these by using cross validation techniques that penalize the final precision, recall and F-measure. The results are interpreted as interactive graphs and tables allowing an optimal pipeline to be selected, based on the user's priorities. Using ToTem, we were able to optimize somatic variant calling from ultra-deep targeted gene sequencing (TGS) data and germline variant detection in whole genome sequencing (WGS) data. ToTem is a tool for automated pipeline optimization which is freely available as a web application at  https://totem.software .

CPL: Common Pipeline Library

Science.gov (United States)

ESO CPL Development Team

2014-02-01

The Common Pipeline Library (CPL) is a set of ISO-C libraries that provide a comprehensive, efficient and robust software toolkit to create automated astronomical data reduction pipelines. Though initially developed as a standardized way to build VLT instrument pipelines, the CPL may be more generally applied to any similar application. The code also provides a variety of general purpose image- and signal-processing functions, making it an excellent framework for the creation of more generic data handling packages. The CPL handles low-level data types (images, tables, matrices, strings, property lists, etc.) and medium-level data access methods (a simple data abstraction layer for FITS files). It also provides table organization and manipulation, keyword/value handling and management, and support for dynamic loading of recipe modules using programs such as EsoRex (ascl:1504.003).

Data processing pipeline for Herschel HIFI

Science.gov (United States)

Shipman, R. F.; Beaulieu, S. F.; Teyssier, D.; Morris, P.; Rengel, M.; McCoey, C.; Edwards, K.; Kester, D.; Lorenzani, A.; Coeur-Joly, O.; Melchior, M.; Xie, J.; Sanchez, E.; Zaal, P.; Avruch, I.; Borys, C.; Braine, J.; Comito, C.; Delforge, B.; Herpin, F.; Hoac, A.; Kwon, W.; Lord, S. D.; Marston, A.; Mueller, M.; Olberg, M.; Ossenkopf, V.; Puga, E.; Akyilmaz-Yabaci, M.

2017-12-01

Context. The HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory performed over 9100 astronomical observations, almost 900 of which were calibration observations in the course of the nearly four-year Herschel mission. The data from each observation had to be converted from raw telemetry into calibrated products and were included in the Herschel Science Archive. Aims: The HIFI pipeline was designed to provide robust conversion from raw telemetry into calibrated data throughout all phases of the HIFI missions. Pre-launch laboratory testing was supported as were routine mission operations. Methods: A modular software design allowed components to be easily added, removed, amended and/or extended as the understanding of the HIFI data developed during and after mission operations. Results: The HIFI pipeline processed data from all HIFI observing modes within the Herschel automated processing environment as well as within an interactive environment. The same software can be used by the general astronomical community to reprocess any standard HIFI observation. The pipeline also recorded the consistency of processing results and provided automated quality reports. Many pipeline modules were in use since the HIFI pre-launch instrument level testing. Conclusions: Processing in steps facilitated data analysis to discover and address instrument artefacts and uncertainties. The availability of the same pipeline components from pre-launch throughout the mission made for well-understood, tested, and stable processing. A smooth transition from one phase to the next significantly enhanced processing reliability and robustness. Herschel was an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

Automated image alignment for 2D gel electrophoresis in a high-throughput proteomics pipeline.

Science.gov (United States)

Dowsey, Andrew W; Dunn, Michael J; Yang, Guang-Zhong

2008-04-01

The quest for high-throughput proteomics has revealed a number of challenges in recent years. Whilst substantial improvements in automated protein separation with liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC/MS), aka 'shotgun' proteomics, have been achieved, large-scale open initiatives such as the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) Brain Proteome Project have shown that maximal proteome coverage is only possible when LC/MS is complemented by 2D gel electrophoresis (2-DE) studies. Moreover, both separation methods require automated alignment and differential analysis to relieve the bioinformatics bottleneck and so make high-throughput protein biomarker discovery a reality. The purpose of this article is to describe a fully automatic image alignment framework for the integration of 2-DE into a high-throughput differential expression proteomics pipeline. The proposed method is based on robust automated image normalization (RAIN) to circumvent the drawbacks of traditional approaches. These use symbolic representation at the very early stages of the analysis, which introduces persistent errors due to inaccuracies in modelling and alignment. In RAIN, a third-order volume-invariant B-spline model is incorporated into a multi-resolution schema to correct for geometric and expression inhomogeneity at multiple scales. The normalized images can then be compared directly in the image domain for quantitative differential analysis. Through evaluation against an existing state-of-the-art method on real and synthetically warped 2D gels, the proposed analysis framework demonstrates substantial improvements in matching accuracy and differential sensitivity. High-throughput analysis is established through an accelerated GPGPU (general purpose computation on graphics cards) implementation. Supplementary material, software and images used in the validation are available at http://www.proteomegrid.org/rain/.

ASTROPOP: ASTROnomical Polarimetry and Photometry pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Campagnolo, Julio C. N.

2018-05-01

AstroPoP reduces almost any CCD photometry and image polarimetry data. For photometry reduction, the code performs source finding, aperture and PSF photometry, astrometry calibration using different automated and non-automated methods and automated source identification and magnitude calibration based on online and local catalogs. For polarimetry, the code resolves linear and circular Stokes parameters produced by image beam splitter or polarizer polarimeters. In addition to the modular functions, ready-to-use pipelines based in configuration files and header keys are also provided with the code. AstroPOP was initially developed to reduce the IAGPOL polarimeter data installed at Observatório Pico dos Dias (Brazil).

Applications of API RP 1102 in stress analysis of buried pipelines at automated cultivation land; Avaliacao de tensoes em dutos enterrados, em area de cultura mecanizada, a luz da norma API RP 1102

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spagnolo, Rodrigo Alves; Castro, Newton Camelo de [PETROBRAS Transportes S.A. (TRANSPETRO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2005-07-01

According to the development of the agriculture business in the Midwest of Brazil, it can be noted that the cultivated land has imposed to the right of way pipeline weight and quantity increasing of vehicles moving above TRANSPETRO pipelines. This paper has the objective promoting discussions about this theme, presenting preceding conclusions when analyzing pipeline stresses, when the pipeline equipment are submitted to great loadings of agricultural machines. In order to execute this analysis, analytical formulations were used to compute static and dynamic loadings. These evaluations were referenced from API RP 1102 american norm. Many loading simulations, with different operating and environment configurations to the buried installations, were realized. These data were applied having the purpose of diagnosing typical situations existing in automated cultivated land crossings, related to OSBRA (Oleoduto Sao Paulo - Brasilia) right of way pipeline. (author)

The Photometry Pipeline of the Watcher Robotic Telescope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ferrero

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The Watcher robotic telescope was developed primarily to perform rapid optical follow-up observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs. Secondary scientific goals include blazar monitoring and variable star studies. An automated photometry pipeline to rapidly analyse data from Watcher has been implemented. Details of the procedures to get image zero-point, source instrumental measurement, and limiting magnitude are presented. Sources of uncertainty are assessed and the performance of the pipeline is tested by comparison with a number of catalogue sources.

Reconfigurable pipelined sensing for image-based control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Medina, R.; Stuijk, S.; Goswami, D.; Basten, T.

2016-01-01

Image-based control systems are becoming common in domains such as robotics, healthcare and industrial automation. Coping with a long sample period because of the latency of the image processing algorithm is an open challenge. Modern multi-core platforms allow to address this challenge by pipelining

An Automated Pipeline for Engineering Many-Enzyme Pathways: Computational Sequence Design, Pathway Expression-Flux Mapping, and Scalable Pathway Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Halper, Sean M; Cetnar, Daniel P; Salis, Howard M

2018-01-01

Engineering many-enzyme metabolic pathways suffers from the design curse of dimensionality. There are an astronomical number of synonymous DNA sequence choices, though relatively few will express an evolutionary robust, maximally productive pathway without metabolic bottlenecks. To solve this challenge, we have developed an integrated, automated computational-experimental pipeline that identifies a pathway's optimal DNA sequence without high-throughput screening or many cycles of design-build-test. The first step applies our Operon Calculator algorithm to design a host-specific evolutionary robust bacterial operon sequence with maximally tunable enzyme expression levels. The second step applies our RBS Library Calculator algorithm to systematically vary enzyme expression levels with the smallest-sized library. After characterizing a small number of constructed pathway variants, measurements are supplied to our Pathway Map Calculator algorithm, which then parameterizes a kinetic metabolic model that ultimately predicts the pathway's optimal enzyme expression levels and DNA sequences. Altogether, our algorithms provide the ability to efficiently map the pathway's sequence-expression-activity space and predict DNA sequences with desired metabolic fluxes. Here, we provide a step-by-step guide to applying the Pathway Optimization Pipeline on a desired multi-enzyme pathway in a bacterial host.

DEWS (DEep White matter hyperintensity Segmentation framework): A fully automated pipeline for detecting small deep white matter hyperintensities in migraineurs.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Bo-Yong; Lee, Mi Ji; Lee, Seung-Hak; Cha, Jihoon; Chung, Chin-Sang; Kim, Sung Tae; Park, Hyunjin

2018-01-01

Migraineurs show an increased load of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and more rapid deep WMH progression. Previous methods for WMH segmentation have limited efficacy to detect small deep WMHs. We developed a new fully automated detection pipeline, DEWS (DEep White matter hyperintensity Segmentation framework), for small and superficially-located deep WMHs. A total of 148 non-elderly subjects with migraine were included in this study. The pipeline consists of three components: 1) white matter (WM) extraction, 2) WMH detection, and 3) false positive reduction. In WM extraction, we adjusted the WM mask to re-assign misclassified WMHs back to WM using many sequential low-level image processing steps. In WMH detection, the potential WMH clusters were detected using an intensity based threshold and region growing approach. For false positive reduction, the detected WMH clusters were classified into final WMHs and non-WMHs using the random forest (RF) classifier. Size, texture, and multi-scale deep features were used to train the RF classifier. DEWS successfully detected small deep WMHs with a high positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.98 and true positive rate (TPR) of 0.70 in the training and test sets. Similar performance of PPV (0.96) and TPR (0.68) was attained in the validation set. DEWS showed a superior performance in comparison with other methods. Our proposed pipeline is freely available online to help the research community in quantifying deep WMHs in non-elderly adults.

MG-Digger: an automated pipeline to search for giant virus-related sequences in metagenomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan eVerneau

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The number of metagenomic studies conducted each year is growing dramatically. Storage and analysis of such big data is difficult and time-consuming. Interestingly, analysis shows that environmental and human metagenomes include a significant amount of non-annotated sequences, representing a ‘dark matter’. We established a bioinformatics pipeline that automatically detects metagenome reads matching query sequences from a given set and applied this tool to the detection of sequences matching large and giant DNA viral members of the proposed order Megavirales or virophages. A total of 1,045 environmental and human metagenomes (≈ 1 Terabase pairs were collected, processed and stored on our bioinformatics server. In addition, nucleotide and protein sequences from 93 Megavirales representatives, including 19 giant viruses of amoeba, and five virophages, were collected. The pipeline was generated by scripts written in Python language and entitled MG-Digger. Metagenomes previously found to contain megavirus-like sequences were tested as controls. MG-Digger was able to annotate hundreds of metagenome sequences as best matching those of giant viruses. These sequences were most often found to be similar to phycodnavirus or mimivirus sequences, but included reads related to recently available pandoraviruses, Pithovirus sibericum, and faustoviruses. Compared to other tools, MG-Digger combined stand-alone use on Linux or Windows operating systems through a user-friendly interface, implementation of ready-to-use customized metagenome databases and query sequence databases, adjustable parameters for BLAST searches, and creation of output files containing selected reads with best match identification. Compared to Metavir 2, a reference tool in viral metagenome analysis, MG-Digger detected 8% more true positive Megavirales-related reads in a control metagenome. The present work shows that massive, automated and recurrent analyses of metagenomes are

Automated Laser Ultrasonic Testing (ALUT) of Hybrid Arc Welds for Pipeline Construction, #272

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-22

One challenge in developing new gas reserves is the high cost of pipeline construction. Welding costs are a major component of overall construction costs. Industry continues to seek advanced pipeline welding technologies to improve productivity and s...

An Automated, Adaptive Framework for Optimizing Preprocessing Pipelines in Task-Based Functional MRI.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathan W Churchill

Full Text Available BOLD fMRI is sensitive to blood-oxygenation changes correlated with brain function; however, it is limited by relatively weak signal and significant noise confounds. Many preprocessing algorithms have been developed to control noise and improve signal detection in fMRI. Although the chosen set of preprocessing and analysis steps (the "pipeline" significantly affects signal detection, pipelines are rarely quantitatively validated in the neuroimaging literature, due to complex preprocessing interactions. This paper outlines and validates an adaptive resampling framework for evaluating and optimizing preprocessing choices by optimizing data-driven metrics of task prediction and spatial reproducibility. Compared to standard "fixed" preprocessing pipelines, this optimization approach significantly improves independent validation measures of within-subject test-retest, and between-subject activation overlap, and behavioural prediction accuracy. We demonstrate that preprocessing choices function as implicit model regularizers, and that improvements due to pipeline optimization generalize across a range of simple to complex experimental tasks and analysis models. Results are shown for brief scanning sessions (<3 minutes each, demonstrating that with pipeline optimization, it is possible to obtain reliable results and brain-behaviour correlations in relatively small datasets.

A computational genomics pipeline for prokaryotic sequencing projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kislyuk, Andrey O; Katz, Lee S; Agrawal, Sonia; Hagen, Matthew S; Conley, Andrew B; Jayaraman, Pushkala; Nelakuditi, Viswateja; Humphrey, Jay C; Sammons, Scott A; Govil, Dhwani; Mair, Raydel D; Tatti, Kathleen M; Tondella, Maria L; Harcourt, Brian H; Mayer, Leonard W; Jordan, I King

2010-08-01

New sequencing technologies have accelerated research on prokaryotic genomes and have made genome sequencing operations outside major genome sequencing centers routine. However, no off-the-shelf solution exists for the combined assembly, gene prediction, genome annotation and data presentation necessary to interpret sequencing data. The resulting requirement to invest significant resources into custom informatics support for genome sequencing projects remains a major impediment to the accessibility of high-throughput sequence data. We present a self-contained, automated high-throughput open source genome sequencing and computational genomics pipeline suitable for prokaryotic sequencing projects. The pipeline has been used at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the analysis of Neisseria meningitidis and Bordetella bronchiseptica genomes. The pipeline is capable of enhanced or manually assisted reference-based assembly using multiple assemblers and modes; gene predictor combining; and functional annotation of genes and gene products. Because every component of the pipeline is executed on a local machine with no need to access resources over the Internet, the pipeline is suitable for projects of a sensitive nature. Annotation of virulence-related features makes the pipeline particularly useful for projects working with pathogenic prokaryotes. The pipeline is licensed under the open-source GNU General Public License and available at the Georgia Tech Neisseria Base (http://nbase.biology.gatech.edu/). The pipeline is implemented with a combination of Perl, Bourne Shell and MySQL and is compatible with Linux and other Unix systems.

The LCOGT Science Archive and Data Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Lister, Tim; Walker, Z.; Ciardi, D.; Gelino, C. R.; Good, J.; Laity, A.; Swain, M.

2013-01-01

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) is building and deploying a world-wide network of optical telescopes dedicated to time-domain astronomy. In the past year, we have deployed and commissioned four new 1m telescopes at McDonald Observatory, Texas and at CTIO, Chile, with more to come at SAAO, South Africa and Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. To handle these new data sources coming from the growing LCOGT network, and to serve them to end users, we have constructed a new data pipeline and Science Archive. We describe the new LCOGT pipeline, currently under development and testing, which makes use of the ORAC-DR automated recipe-based data reduction pipeline and illustrate some of the new data products. We also present the new Science Archive, which is being developed in partnership with the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) and show some of the new features the Science Archive provides.

Mathematical simulation for compensation capacities area of pipeline routes in ship systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, G. V.; Sakhno, K. N.

2018-05-01

In this paper, the authors considered the problem of manufacturability’s enhancement of ship systems pipeline at the designing stage. The analysis of arrangements and possibilities for compensation of deviations for pipeline routes has been carried out. The task was set to produce the “fit pipe” together with the rest of the pipes in the route. It was proposed to compensate for deviations by movement of the pipeline route during pipe installation and to calculate maximum values of these displacements in the analyzed path. Theoretical bases of deviation compensation for pipeline routes using rotations of parallel section pairs of pipes are assembled. Mathematical and graphical simulations of compensation area capacities of pipeline routes with various configurations are completed. Prerequisites have been created for creating an automated program that will allow one to determine values of the compensatory capacities area for pipeline routes and to assign quantities of necessary allowances.

Automatic pipeline operation using Petri Nets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreira, Guilherme O. [PETROBRAS TRANSPORTE S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

A pipeline operation requires several actions, attention and time from the control room operator in each of its operating phases. This article proposition is to use automation as something more than a remote control, drastically reducing the number of repetitive and routine actions needed from the operator to start and stop the system, granting more time for system supervision, decision making during critical conditions and avoiding errors caused due to the need of several actions being executed in a short period of time. To achieve these objectives the pipeline operation will be modeled as a Petri Net consisting of states, event and actions. A methodology for converting this Petri Net into a Ladder controller code will also be proposed. (author)

Enhanced Automated Guidance System for Horizontal Auger Boring Based on Image Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Lingling; Wen, Guojun; Wang, Yudan; Huang, Lei; Zhou, Jiang

2018-02-15

Horizontal auger boring (HAB) is a widely used trenchless technology for the high-accuracy installation of gravity or pressure pipelines on line and grade. Differing from other pipeline installations, HAB requires a more precise and automated guidance system for use in a practical project. This paper proposes an economic and enhanced automated optical guidance system, based on optimization research of light-emitting diode (LED) light target and five automated image processing bore-path deviation algorithms. An LED light target was optimized for many qualities, including light color, filter plate color, luminous intensity, and LED layout. The image preprocessing algorithm, direction location algorithm, angle measurement algorithm, deflection detection algorithm, and auto-focus algorithm, compiled in MATLAB, are used to automate image processing for deflection computing and judging. After multiple indoor experiments, this guidance system is applied in a project of hot water pipeline installation, with accuracy controlled within 2 mm in 48-m distance, providing accurate line and grade controls and verifying the feasibility and reliability of the guidance system.

Complex solution of problem of all-season construction of roads and pipelines on universal composite pontoon units

Science.gov (United States)

Ryabkov, A. V.; Stafeeva, N. A.; Ivanov, V. A.; Zakuraev, A. F.

2018-05-01

A complex construction consisting of a universal floating pontoon road for laying pipelines in automatic mode on its body all year round and in any weather for Siberia and the Far North has been designed. A new method is proposed for the construction of pipelines on pontoon modules, which are made of composite materials. Pontoons made of composite materials for bedding pipelines with track-forming guides for automated wheeled transport, pipelayer, are designed. The proposed system eliminates the construction of a road along the route, ensures the buoyancy and smoothness of the self-propelled automated stacker in the form of a "centipede", which has a number of significant advantages in the construction and operation of the entire complex in the swamp and watered areas without overburden.

StructRNAfinder: an automated pipeline and web server for RNA families prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Arias-Carrasco, Raúl; Vásquez-Morán, Yessenia; Nakaya, Helder I; Maracaja-Coutinho, Vinicius

2018-02-17

The function of many noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) depend upon their secondary structures. Over the last decades, several methodologies have been developed to predict such structures or to use them to functionally annotate RNAs into RNA families. However, to fully perform this analysis, researchers should utilize multiple tools, which require the constant parsing and processing of several intermediate files. This makes the large-scale prediction and annotation of RNAs a daunting task even to researchers with good computational or bioinformatics skills. We present an automated pipeline named StructRNAfinder that predicts and annotates RNA families in transcript or genome sequences. This single tool not only displays the sequence/structural consensus alignments for each RNA family, according to Rfam database but also provides a taxonomic overview for each assigned functional RNA. Moreover, we implemented a user-friendly web service that allows researchers to upload their own nucleotide sequences in order to perform the whole analysis. Finally, we provided a stand-alone version of StructRNAfinder to be used in large-scale projects. The tool was developed under GNU General Public License (GPLv3) and is freely available at http://structrnafinder.integrativebioinformatics.me . The main advantage of StructRNAfinder relies on the large-scale processing and integrating the data obtained by each tool and database employed along the workflow, of which several files are generated and displayed in user-friendly reports, useful for downstream analyses and data exploration.

Fully automated processing of fMRI data in SPM: from MRI scanner to PACS.

Science.gov (United States)

Maldjian, Joseph A; Baer, Aaron H; Kraft, Robert A; Laurienti, Paul J; Burdette, Jonathan H

2009-01-01

Here we describe the Wake Forest University Pipeline, a fully automated method for the processing of fMRI data using SPM. The method includes fully automated data transfer and archiving from the point of acquisition, real-time batch script generation, distributed grid processing, interface to SPM in MATLAB, error recovery and data provenance, DICOM conversion and PACS insertion. It has been used for automated processing of fMRI experiments, as well as for the clinical implementation of fMRI and spin-tag perfusion imaging. The pipeline requires no manual intervention, and can be extended to any studies requiring offline processing.

Crystallographic texture control helps improve pipeline steel resistance to hydrogen-induced cracking

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caleyo, F; Hallen, J M; Herrera, O; Venegas, V [ESIQIE, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico, (Mexico); Baudin, T [Universite de Paris Sud, Orsay, (France)

2010-07-01

The resistance to HIC of sour service pipeline steels has been improved through several strategies but none have proven to be totally efficient in the preservation of HIC in difficult operating conditions. The crystallographic texture plays a significant role in determining the behavior of HIC in pipeline steels. The present study tried to prove that crystallographic texture control, through warm rolling schedules, helps improve pipeline steel resistance to HIC. Several samples of an API 5L X52 grade pipeline steel were produced using different thermomechanical processes (austenization, controlled rolling and recrystallization). These samples were subjected to cathodic charging. Scanning electron microscopy and automated FEG/EBSD were used to perform metallographic inspections and to collect microstructure data. The results showed that the strong y fiber texture significantly reduces or even prevents the HIC damage. It is possible to improve the HIC resistance of pipeline steels using crystallography texture control and grain boundary engineering.

Toward practical 3D radiography of pipeline girth welds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wassink, Casper; Hol, Martijn; Flikweert, Arjan; Meer, Philip van

2015-01-01

Digital radiography has made its way into in-the-field girth weld testing. With recent generations of detectors and x-ray tubes it is possible to reach the image quality desired in standards as well as the speed of inspection desired to be competitive with film radiography and automated ultrasonic testing. This paper will show the application of these technologies in the RTD Rayscan system. The method for achieving an image quality that complies with or even exceeds prevailing industrial standards will be presented, as well as the application on pipeline girth welds with CRA layers. A next step in development will be to also achieve a measurement of weld flaw height to allow for performing an Engineering Critical Assessment on the weld. This will allow for similar acceptance limits as currently used with Automated Ultrasonic Testing of pipeline girth welds. Although a sufficient sizing accuracy was already demonstrated and qualified in the TomoCAR system, testing in some applications is restricted to time limits. The paper will present some experiments that were performed to achieve flaw height approximation within these time limits

Toward practical 3D radiography of pipeline girth welds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wassink, Casper, E-mail: casper.wassink@applusrtd.com [Applus RTD Chief Scientist, Rivium 1e straat 80, 2909 LE Capelle a/d IJssel (Netherlands); Hol, Martijn, E-mail: martijn.hol@applusrtd.com; Flikweert, Arjan, E-mail: martijn.hol@applusrtd.com; Meer, Philip van, E-mail: martijn.hol@applusrtd.com [Applus RTD Technological Center, Delftweg 144, 3046 NC Rotterdam (Netherlands)

2015-03-31

Digital radiography has made its way into in-the-field girth weld testing. With recent generations of detectors and x-ray tubes it is possible to reach the image quality desired in standards as well as the speed of inspection desired to be competitive with film radiography and automated ultrasonic testing. This paper will show the application of these technologies in the RTD Rayscan system. The method for achieving an image quality that complies with or even exceeds prevailing industrial standards will be presented, as well as the application on pipeline girth welds with CRA layers. A next step in development will be to also achieve a measurement of weld flaw height to allow for performing an Engineering Critical Assessment on the weld. This will allow for similar acceptance limits as currently used with Automated Ultrasonic Testing of pipeline girth welds. Although a sufficient sizing accuracy was already demonstrated and qualified in the TomoCAR system, testing in some applications is restricted to time limits. The paper will present some experiments that were performed to achieve flaw height approximation within these time limits.

Quantifying brain tissue volume in multiple sclerosis with automated lesion segmentation and filling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergi Valverde

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Lesion filling has been successfully applied to reduce the effect of hypo-intense T1-w Multiple Sclerosis (MS lesions on automatic brain tissue segmentation. However, a study of fully automated pipelines incorporating lesion segmentation and lesion filling on tissue volume analysis has not yet been performed. Here, we analyzed the % of error introduced by automating the lesion segmentation and filling processes in the tissue segmentation of 70 clinically isolated syndrome patient images. First of all, images were processed using the LST and SLS toolkits with different pipeline combinations that differed in either automated or manual lesion segmentation, and lesion filling or masking out lesions. Then, images processed following each of the pipelines were segmented into gray matter (GM and white matter (WM using SPM8, and compared with the same images where expert lesion annotations were filled before segmentation. Our results showed that fully automated lesion segmentation and filling pipelines reduced significantly the % of error in GM and WM volume on images of MS patients, and performed similarly to the images where expert lesion annotations were masked before segmentation. In all the pipelines, the amount of misclassified lesion voxels was the main cause in the observed error in GM and WM volume. However, the % of error was significantly lower when automatically estimated lesions were filled and not masked before segmentation. These results are relevant and suggest that LST and SLS toolboxes allow the performance of accurate brain tissue volume measurements without any kind of manual intervention, which can be convenient not only in terms of time and economic costs, but also to avoid the inherent intra/inter variability between manual annotations.

ASAP: an environment for automated preprocessing of sequencing data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torstenson Eric S

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Next-generation sequencing (NGS has yielded an unprecedented amount of data for genetics research. It is a daunting task to process the data from raw sequence reads to variant calls and manually processing this data can significantly delay downstream analysis and increase the possibility for human error. The research community has produced tools to properly prepare sequence data for analysis and established guidelines on how to apply those tools to achieve the best results, however, existing pipeline programs to automate the process through its entirety are either inaccessible to investigators, or web-based and require a certain amount of administrative expertise to set up. Findings Advanced Sequence Automated Pipeline (ASAP was developed to provide a framework for automating the translation of sequencing data into annotated variant calls with the goal of minimizing user involvement without the need for dedicated hardware or administrative rights. ASAP works both on computer clusters and on standalone machines with minimal human involvement and maintains high data integrity, while allowing complete control over the configuration of its component programs. It offers an easy-to-use interface for submitting and tracking jobs as well as resuming failed jobs. It also provides tools for quality checking and for dividing jobs into pieces for maximum throughput. Conclusions ASAP provides an environment for building an automated pipeline for NGS data preprocessing. This environment is flexible for use and future development. It is freely available at http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ASAP.

ASAP: an environment for automated preprocessing of sequencing data.

Science.gov (United States)

Torstenson, Eric S; Li, Bingshan; Li, Chun

2013-01-04

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has yielded an unprecedented amount of data for genetics research. It is a daunting task to process the data from raw sequence reads to variant calls and manually processing this data can significantly delay downstream analysis and increase the possibility for human error. The research community has produced tools to properly prepare sequence data for analysis and established guidelines on how to apply those tools to achieve the best results, however, existing pipeline programs to automate the process through its entirety are either inaccessible to investigators, or web-based and require a certain amount of administrative expertise to set up. Advanced Sequence Automated Pipeline (ASAP) was developed to provide a framework for automating the translation of sequencing data into annotated variant calls with the goal of minimizing user involvement without the need for dedicated hardware or administrative rights. ASAP works both on computer clusters and on standalone machines with minimal human involvement and maintains high data integrity, while allowing complete control over the configuration of its component programs. It offers an easy-to-use interface for submitting and tracking jobs as well as resuming failed jobs. It also provides tools for quality checking and for dividing jobs into pieces for maximum throughput. ASAP provides an environment for building an automated pipeline for NGS data preprocessing. This environment is flexible for use and future development. It is freely available at http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ASAP.

ASAP: an environment for automated preprocessing of sequencing data

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has yielded an unprecedented amount of data for genetics research. It is a daunting task to process the data from raw sequence reads to variant calls and manually processing this data can significantly delay downstream analysis and increase the possibility for human error. The research community has produced tools to properly prepare sequence data for analysis and established guidelines on how to apply those tools to achieve the best results, however, existing pipeline programs to automate the process through its entirety are either inaccessible to investigators, or web-based and require a certain amount of administrative expertise to set up. Findings Advanced Sequence Automated Pipeline (ASAP) was developed to provide a framework for automating the translation of sequencing data into annotated variant calls with the goal of minimizing user involvement without the need for dedicated hardware or administrative rights. ASAP works both on computer clusters and on standalone machines with minimal human involvement and maintains high data integrity, while allowing complete control over the configuration of its component programs. It offers an easy-to-use interface for submitting and tracking jobs as well as resuming failed jobs. It also provides tools for quality checking and for dividing jobs into pieces for maximum throughput. Conclusions ASAP provides an environment for building an automated pipeline for NGS data preprocessing. This environment is flexible for use and future development. It is freely available at http://biostat.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ASAP. PMID:23289815

Proceedings of the 5. biennial international pipeline conference, IPC 2004 : the power of technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paulson, K.; Kraft, H.; Hopkins, P.

2004-01-01

The fifth international pipeline conference provided a forum for experts in the pipeline industry, academia and governments to discuss new technologies and approaches to pipeline transport. Presentations focused on a wide range of issues related to pipeline engineering. The conference was divided into 16 main sessions: (1) compression and pump technologies, (2) corrosion protection and analysis techniques, (3) pipeline design and construction, (4) environmental issues, (5) database development, (6) emerging issues and innovative projects, (7) inspection techniques, (8) integrity management, (9) joining, (10) materials, (11) offshore issues, (12) operations and maintenance, (13) pipeline automation and measurement, (14) pipelining in northern environments, (15) risk and reliability, (16) standards and regulations. The presentations provided up-to-date information related to future technology trends as well as recent innovations and practices. Pipeline design standards and new pipeline materials using high strength steels and reinforced composite plastic coatings were also reviewed. Other sessions discussed emerging technologies for inspection, quality control, ultrasonic testing, and the use of remote sensors. The conference also included a student paper competition. A total of 339 peer reviewed presentations were given at the conference, all of which were indexed separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., fig.

The PREP Pipeline: Standardized preprocessing for large-scale EEG analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nima eBigdelys Shamlo

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The technology to collect brain imaging and physiological measures has become portable and ubiquitous, opening the possibility of large-scale analysis of real-world human imaging. By its nature, such data is large and complex, making automated processing essential. This paper shows how lack of attention to the very early stages of an EEG preprocessing pipeline can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and introduce unwanted artifacts into the data, particularly for computations done in single precision. We demonstrate that ordinary average referencing improves the signal-to-noise ratio, but that noisy channels can contaminate the results. We also show that identification of noisy channels depends on the reference and examine the complex interaction of filtering, noisy channel identification, and referencing. We introduce a multi-stage robust referencing scheme to deal with the noisy channel-reference interaction. We propose a standardized early-stage EEG processing pipeline (PREP and discuss the application of the pipeline to more than 600 EEG datasets. The pipeline includes an automatically generated report for each dataset processed. Users can download the PREP pipeline as a freely available MATLAB library from http://eegstudy.org/prepcode/.

The PREP pipeline: standardized preprocessing for large-scale EEG analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigdely-Shamlo, Nima; Mullen, Tim; Kothe, Christian; Su, Kyung-Min; Robbins, Kay A

2015-01-01

The technology to collect brain imaging and physiological measures has become portable and ubiquitous, opening the possibility of large-scale analysis of real-world human imaging. By its nature, such data is large and complex, making automated processing essential. This paper shows how lack of attention to the very early stages of an EEG preprocessing pipeline can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and introduce unwanted artifacts into the data, particularly for computations done in single precision. We demonstrate that ordinary average referencing improves the signal-to-noise ratio, but that noisy channels can contaminate the results. We also show that identification of noisy channels depends on the reference and examine the complex interaction of filtering, noisy channel identification, and referencing. We introduce a multi-stage robust referencing scheme to deal with the noisy channel-reference interaction. We propose a standardized early-stage EEG processing pipeline (PREP) and discuss the application of the pipeline to more than 600 EEG datasets. The pipeline includes an automatically generated report for each dataset processed. Users can download the PREP pipeline as a freely available MATLAB library from http://eegstudy.org/prepcode.

Structural health monitoring of pipelines rehabilitated with lining technology

Science.gov (United States)

Farhidzadeh, Alireza; Dehghan-Niri, Ehsan; Salamone, Salvatore

2014-03-01

Damage detection of pipeline systems is a tedious and time consuming job due to digging requirement, accessibility, interference with other facilities, and being extremely wide spread in metropolitans. Therefore, a real-time and automated monitoring system can pervasively reduce labor work, time, and expenditures. This paper presents the results of an experimental study aimed at monitoring the performance of full scale pipe lining systems, subjected to static and dynamic (seismic) loading, using Acoustic Emission (AE) technique and Guided Ultrasonic Waves (GUWs). Particularly, two damage mechanisms are investigated: 1) delamination between pipeline and liner as the early indicator of damage, and 2) onset of nonlinearity and incipient failure of the liner as critical damage state.

Extending the Fermi-LAT data processing pipeline to the grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zimmer, S. [Stockholm Univ., Stockholm (Sweden); The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, Stockholm (Sweden); Arrabito, L. [Univ. Montpellier 2, Montpellier (France); Glanzman, T. [SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Johnson, T. [SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lavalley, C. [Univ. Montpellier 2, Montpellier (France); Tsaregorodtsev, A. [Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, Marseille (France)

2015-05-12

The Data Handling Pipeline ("Pipeline") has been developed for the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (Fermi) Large Area Telescope (LAT) which launched in June 2008. Since then it has been in use to completely automate the production of data quality monitoring quantities, reconstruction and routine analysis of all data received from the satellite and to deliver science products to the collaboration and the Fermi Science Support Center. Aside from the reconstruction of raw data from the satellite (Level 1), data reprocessing and various event-level analyses are also reasonably heavy loads on the pipeline and computing resources. These other loads, unlike Level 1, can run continuously for weeks or months at a time. Additionally, it receives heavy use in performing production Monte Carlo tasks.

A subtraction pipeline for automatic detection of new appearing multiple sclerosis lesions in longitudinal studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ganiler, Onur; Oliver, Arnau; Diez, Yago; Freixenet, Jordi; Llado, Xavier [University of Girona, VICOROB Computer Vision and Robotics Group, Girona (Spain); Vilanova, Joan C. [Girona Magnetic Resonance Center, Girona (Spain); Beltran, Brigitte [Dr. Josep Trueta University Hospital, Institut d' Investigacio Biomedica de Girona, Girona (Spain); Ramio-Torrenta, Lluis [Dr. Josep Trueta University Hospital, Institut d' Investigacio Biomedica de Girona, Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Unit, Girona (Spain); Rovira, Alex [Vall d' Hebron University Hospital, Magnetic Resonance Unit, Department of Radiology, Barcelona (Spain)

2014-05-15

Time-series analysis of magnetic resonance images (MRI) is of great value for multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis and follow-up. In this paper, we present an unsupervised subtraction approach which incorporates multisequence information to deal with the detection of new MS lesions in longitudinal studies. The proposed pipeline for detecting new lesions consists of the following steps: skull stripping, bias field correction, histogram matching, registration, white matter masking, image subtraction, automated thresholding, and postprocessing. We also combine the results of PD-w and T2-w images to reduce false positive detections. Experimental tests are performed in 20 MS patients with two temporal studies separated 12 (12M) or 48 (48M) months in time. The pipeline achieves very good performance obtaining an overall sensitivity of 0.83 and 0.77 with a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.14 and 0.18 for the 12M and 48M datasets, respectively. The most difficult situation for the pipeline is the detection of very small lesions where the obtained sensitivity is lower and the FDR higher. Our fully automated approach is robust and accurate, allowing detection of new appearing MS lesions. We believe that the pipeline can be applied to large collections of images and also be easily adapted to monitor other brain pathologies. (orig.)

Automated Single Cell Data Decontamination Pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tennessen, Kristin [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Walnut Creek, CA (United States). Dept. of Energy Joint Genome Inst.; Pati, Amrita [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Walnut Creek, CA (United States). Dept. of Energy Joint Genome Inst.

2014-03-21

Recent technological advancements in single-cell genomics have encouraged the classification and functional assessment of microorganisms from a wide span of the biospheres phylogeny.1,2 Environmental processes of interest to the DOE, such as bioremediation and carbon cycling, can be elucidated through the genomic lens of these unculturable microbes. However, contamination can occur at various stages of the single-cell sequencing process. Contaminated data can lead to wasted time and effort on meaningless analyses, inaccurate or erroneous conclusions, and pollution of public databases. A fully automated decontamination tool is necessary to prevent these instances and increase the throughput of the single-cell sequencing process

Pipeline engineering

CERN Document Server

Liu, Henry

2003-01-01

PART I: PIPE FLOWSINTRODUCTIONDefinition and Scope Brief History of PipelinesExisting Major PipelinesImportance of PipelinesFreight (Solids) Transport by PipelinesTypes of PipelinesComponents of PipelinesAdvantages of PipelinesReferencesSINGLE-PHASE INCOMPRESSIBLE NEWTONIAN FLUIDIntroductionFlow RegimesLocal Mean Velocity and Its Distribution (Velocity Profile)Flow Equations for One-Dimensional AnalysisHydraulic and Energy Grade LinesCavitation in Pipeline SystemsPipe in Series and ParallelInterconnected ReservoirsPipe NetworkUnsteady Flow in PipeSINGLE-PHASE COMPRESSIBLE FLOW IN PIPEFlow Ana

FIGENIX: Intelligent automation of genomic annotation: expertise integration in a new software platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pontarotti Pierre

2005-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Two of the main objectives of the genomic and post-genomic era are to structurally and functionally annotate genomes which consists of detecting genes' position and structure, and inferring their function (as well as of other features of genomes. Structural and functional annotation both require the complex chaining of numerous different software, algorithms and methods under the supervision of a biologist. The automation of these pipelines is necessary to manage huge amounts of data released by sequencing projects. Several pipelines already automate some of these complex chaining but still necessitate an important contribution of biologists for supervising and controlling the results at various steps. Results Here we propose an innovative automated platform, FIGENIX, which includes an expert system capable to substitute to human expertise at several key steps. FIGENIX currently automates complex pipelines of structural and functional annotation under the supervision of the expert system (which allows for example to make key decisions, check intermediate results or refine the dataset. The quality of the results produced by FIGENIX is comparable to those obtained by expert biologists with a drastic gain in terms of time costs and avoidance of errors due to the human manipulation of data. Conclusion The core engine and expert system of the FIGENIX platform currently handle complex annotation processes of broad interest for the genomic community. They could be easily adapted to new, or more specialized pipelines, such as for example the annotation of miRNAs, the classification of complex multigenic families, annotation of regulatory elements and other genomic features of interest.

Welding challenges constructing the alliance pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilroy-Scott, A.; Huntly, B.; Gross, B.

2001-01-01

The best Non Destructive Testing technique for Gas Metal Arc welding (GMAW) is Automated Ultrasonic Inspection because of its inherent ability to detect the planar flaws traditionally produced by GMAW operating in the short-circuiting mode in a narrow gap pipeline application. There is a tendency for GMAW flaws to be somewhat longer than those created by SMAW by the mechanised nature of the process which completes anywhere from one sixth to one half of the pipe circumference in one event. Consequently the alternative acceptance criteria of API 1104 in the USA and CSA Z662 in Canada were implemented for the ∼120,000 mechanised welds required to complete the project. Automated Ultrasonic inspection provided the ability for both the length and height of weld flaws to be determined. This is a prerequisite if alternative acceptance criteria are to be considered

Pipeline for Tracking Neural Progenitor Cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestergaard, Jacob Schack; Dahl, Anders Lindbjerg; Holm, Peter

2012-01-01

Automated methods for neural stem cell lineage construction become increasingly important due to the large amount of data produced from time lapse imagery of in vitro cell growth experiments. Segmentation algorithms with the ability to adapt to the problem at hand and robust tracking methods play...... a key role in constructing these lineages. We present here a tracking pipeline based on learning a dictionary of discriminative image patches for segmentation and a graph formulation of the cell matching problem incorporating topology changes and acknowledging the fact that segmentation errors do occur...

Fully automated pipeline for detection of sex linked genes using RNA-Seq data.

Science.gov (United States)

Michalovova, Monika; Kubat, Zdenek; Hobza, Roman; Vyskot, Boris; Kejnovsky, Eduard

2015-03-11

Sex chromosomes present a genomic region which to some extent, differs between the genders of a single species. Reliable high-throughput methods for detection of sex chromosomes specific markers are needed, especially in species where genome information is limited. Next generation sequencing (NGS) opens the door for identification of unique sequences or searching for nucleotide polymorphisms between datasets. A combination of classical genetic segregation analysis along with RNA-Seq data can present an ideal tool to map and identify sex chromosome-specific expressed markers. To address this challenge, we established genetic cross of dioecious plant Rumex acetosa and generated RNA-Seq data from both parental generation and male and female offspring. We present a pipeline for detection of sex linked genes based on nucleotide polymorphism analysis. In our approach, tracking of nucleotide polymorphisms is carried out using a cross of preferably distant populations. For this reason, only 4 datasets are needed - reads from high-throughput sequencing platforms for parent generation (mother and father) and F1 generation (male and female progeny). Our pipeline uses custom scripts together with external assembly, mapping and variant calling software. Given the resource-intensive nature of the computation, servers with high capacity are a requirement. Therefore, in order to keep this pipeline easily accessible and reproducible, we implemented it in Galaxy - an open, web-based platform for data-intensive biomedical research. Our tools are present in the Galaxy Tool Shed, from which they can be installed to any local Galaxy instance. As an output of the pipeline, user gets a FASTA file with candidate transcriptionally active sex-linked genes, sorted by their relevance. At the same time, a BAM file with identified genes and alignment of reads is also provided. Thus, polymorphisms following segregation pattern can be easily visualized, which significantly enhances primer design

Historical analysis of US pipeline accidents triggered by natural hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Girgin, Serkan; Krausmann, Elisabeth

2015-04-01

Natural hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, or lightning, can initiate accidents in oil and gas pipelines with potentially major consequences on the population or the environment due to toxic releases, fires and explosions. Accidents of this type are also referred to as Natech events. Many major accidents highlight the risk associated with natural-hazard impact on pipelines transporting dangerous substances. For instance, in the USA in 1994, flooding of the San Jacinto River caused the rupture of 8 and the undermining of 29 pipelines by the floodwaters. About 5.5 million litres of petroleum and related products were spilled into the river and ignited. As a results, 547 people were injured and significant environmental damage occurred. Post-incident analysis is a valuable tool for better understanding the causes, dynamics and impacts of pipeline Natech accidents in support of future accident prevention and mitigation. Therefore, data on onshore hazardous-liquid pipeline accidents collected by the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) was analysed. For this purpose, a database-driven incident data analysis system was developed to aid the rapid review and categorization of PHMSA incident reports. Using an automated data-mining process followed by a peer review of the incident records and supported by natural hazard databases and external information sources, the pipeline Natechs were identified. As a by-product of the data-collection process, the database now includes over 800,000 incidents from all causes in industrial and transportation activities, which are automatically classified in the same way as the PHMSA record. This presentation describes the data collection and reviewing steps conducted during the study, provides information on the developed database and data analysis tools, and reports the findings of a statistical analysis of the identified hazardous liquid pipeline incidents in terms of accident dynamics and

Pipelines. Economy's veins; Pipelines. Adern der Wirtschaft

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feizlmayr, Adolf; Goestl, Stefan [ILF Beratende Ingenieure, Muenchen (Germany)

2011-02-15

According to the existing prognoses more than 1 million km of gas pipelines, oil pipelines and water pipelines are built up to the year 2030. The predominant portion is from gas pipelines. The safe continued utilization of the aging pipelines is a large challenge. In addition, the diagnostic technology, the evaluation and risk assessment have to be developed further. With the design of new oil pipelines and gas pipelines, aspects of environmental protection, the energy efficiency of transport and thus the emission reduction of carbon dioxide, the public acceptance and the market strategy of the exporters gain in importance. With the offshore pipelines one soon will exceed the present border of 2,000 m depth of water and penetrate into larger sea depths.

78 FR 70623 - Pipeline Safety: Meeting of the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee and the Liquid Pipeline Advisory...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-26

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0203] Pipeline Safety: Meeting of the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee and the Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committee AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. [[Page...

Chimenea and other tools: Automated imaging of multi-epoch radio-synthesis data with CASA

Science.gov (United States)

Staley, T. D.; Anderson, G. E.

2015-11-01

In preparing the way for the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders, there is a pressing need to begin probing the transient sky in a fully robotic fashion using the current generation of radio telescopes. Effective exploitation of such surveys requires a largely automated data-reduction process. This paper introduces an end-to-end automated reduction pipeline, AMIsurvey, used for calibrating and imaging data from the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array. AMIsurvey makes use of several component libraries which have been packaged separately for open-source release. The most scientifically significant of these is chimenea, which implements a telescope-agnostic algorithm for automated imaging of pre-calibrated multi-epoch radio-synthesis data, of the sort typically acquired for transient surveys or follow-up. The algorithm aims to improve upon standard imaging pipelines by utilizing iterative RMS-estimation and automated source-detection to avoid so called 'Clean-bias', and makes use of CASA subroutines for the underlying image-synthesis operations. At a lower level, AMIsurvey relies upon two libraries, drive-ami and drive-casa, built to allow use of mature radio-astronomy software packages from within Python scripts. While targeted at automated imaging, the drive-casa interface can also be used to automate interaction with any of the CASA subroutines from a generic Python process. Additionally, these packages may be of wider technical interest beyond radio-astronomy, since they demonstrate use of the Python library pexpect to emulate terminal interaction with an external process. This approach allows for rapid development of a Python interface to any legacy or externally-maintained pipeline which accepts command-line input, without requiring alterations to the original code.

Post-Construction Testing of the Elk River, Hallam and Piqua Power Reactor Plants; Essais apres construction des centrales nucleaires d'Elk River, de Hallam et de Piqua; Predehkspluatatsionnoe ispytanie Ehlk-riverskoj, Khehlpemskoj i Pikuaskoj ehnergeticheskikh reaktornykh ustanovok; Ensayos posteriores a la construccion de las centrales nucleoelectricas de Elk River, Hallam y Piqua

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pursel, C. A. [United States Atomic Energy Commission, Argonne, IL (United States)

1963-10-15

Actual experience gained during the post-construction testing of three nuclear power plants, under the USAEC Power Reactor Demonstration Program, may permit some generalizations concerning this phase of plant construction and operation. The three plants, Elk River Reactor (ERR), Hallam Nuclear Power Facility (HNPF), and the Piqua Nuclear Power Facility (PNPF), represent three different reactor concepts: natural-circulation boiling water, sodiumgraphite, and organic cooled and moderated, respectively. The post-construction testing period included the time between the end of construction (erection of structures and installation of equipment) and the beginning of power operation (generation of significant net electrical power). The tests were intended to: (a) verify the performance characteristics of the as-installed equipment; (b) obtain initial criticality and reactivity coefficient measurements; and (c) determine reactor physics and plant performance characteristics at a sequence of increasing power levels. .The experience gained can be reported in six separate but interrelated categories: (1) schedule; (2) costs; (3) staffing requirements; (4) procedures; (5) equipment performance (including malfunctions); and (6) actual, as compared to predicted, system performance characteristics. The average project staffing, including craftsmen, operators, supervisors, technical support and trainees, was approximately 50 for ERR, 115 for HNPF, and 60 for PNPF. Detailed written Pre-operational Test Procedures were prepared for each major component and system. To the maximum possible extent, all tests were performed before fuel loading and operation of the integrated plant. Authorization procedures (duplicates of the licensing procedures for non-USAEC-owned plants) were in progress during almost all of the post-construction testing periods. The time required for post-construction testing of each of these plants significantly exceeded the original estimates. The tests disclosed

Approaches to automatic parameter fitting in a microscopy image segmentation pipeline: An exploratory parameter space analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Held, Christian; Nattkemper, Tim; Palmisano, Ralf; Wittenberg, Thomas

2013-01-01

Research and diagnosis in medicine and biology often require the assessment of a large amount of microscopy image data. Although on the one hand, digital pathology and new bioimaging technologies find their way into clinical practice and pharmaceutical research, some general methodological issues in automated image analysis are still open. In this study, we address the problem of fitting the parameters in a microscopy image segmentation pipeline. We propose to fit the parameters of the pipeline's modules with optimization algorithms, such as, genetic algorithms or coordinate descents, and show how visual exploration of the parameter space can help to identify sub-optimal parameter settings that need to be avoided. This is of significant help in the design of our automatic parameter fitting framework, which enables us to tune the pipeline for large sets of micrographs. The underlying parameter spaces pose a challenge for manual as well as automated parameter optimization, as the parameter spaces can show several local performance maxima. Hence, optimization strategies that are not able to jump out of local performance maxima, like the hill climbing algorithm, often result in a local maximum.

A pipeline for comprehensive and automated processing of electron diffraction data in IPLT.

Science.gov (United States)

Schenk, Andreas D; Philippsen, Ansgar; Engel, Andreas; Walz, Thomas

2013-05-01

Electron crystallography of two-dimensional crystals allows the structural study of membrane proteins in their native environment, the lipid bilayer. Determining the structure of a membrane protein at near-atomic resolution by electron crystallography remains, however, a very labor-intense and time-consuming task. To simplify and accelerate the data processing aspect of electron crystallography, we implemented a pipeline for the processing of electron diffraction data using the Image Processing Library and Toolbox (IPLT), which provides a modular, flexible, integrated, and extendable cross-platform, open-source framework for image processing. The diffraction data processing pipeline is organized as several independent modules implemented in Python. The modules can be accessed either from a graphical user interface or through a command line interface, thus meeting the needs of both novice and expert users. The low-level image processing algorithms are implemented in C++ to achieve optimal processing performance, and their interface is exported to Python using a wrapper. For enhanced performance, the Python processing modules are complemented with a central data managing facility that provides a caching infrastructure. The validity of our data processing algorithms was verified by processing a set of aquaporin-0 diffraction patterns with the IPLT pipeline and comparing the resulting merged data set with that obtained by processing the same diffraction patterns with the classical set of MRC programs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design and Implementation of Data Reduction Pipelines for the Keck Observatory Archive

Science.gov (United States)

Gelino, C. R.; Berriman, G. B.; Kong, M.; Laity, A. C.; Swain, M. A.; Campbell, R.; Goodrich, R. W.; Holt, J.; Lyke, J.; Mader, J. A.; Tran, H. D.; Barlow, T.

2015-09-01

The Keck Observatory Archive (KOA), a collaboration between the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute and the W. M. Keck Observatory, serves science and calibration data for all active and inactive instruments from the twin Keck Telescopes located near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii. In addition to the raw data, we produce and provide quick look reduced data for four instruments (HIRES, LWS, NIRC2, and OSIRIS) so that KOA users can more easily assess the scientific content and the quality of the data, which can often be difficult with raw data. The reduced products derive from both publicly available data reduction packages (when available) and KOA-created reduction scripts. The automation of publicly available data reduction packages has the benefit of providing a good quality product without the additional time and expense of creating a new reduction package, and is easily applied to bulk processing needs. The downside is that the pipeline is not always able to create an ideal product, particularly for spectra, because the processing options for one type of target (eg., point sources) may not be appropriate for other types of targets (eg., extended galaxies and nebulae). In this poster we present the design and implementation for the current pipelines used at KOA and discuss our strategies for handling data for which the nature of the targets and the observers' scientific goals and data taking procedures are unknown. We also discuss our plans for implementing automated pipelines for the remaining six instruments.

VLSI Implementation of Hybrid Wave-Pipelined 2D DWT Using Lifting Scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Seetharaman

2008-01-01

Full Text Available A novel approach is proposed in this paper for the implementation of 2D DWT using hybrid wave-pipelining (WP. A digital circuit may be operated at a higher frequency by using either pipelining or WP. Pipelining requires additional registers and it results in more area, power dissipation and clock routing complexity. Wave-pipelining does not have any of these disadvantages but requires complex trial and error procedure for tuning the clock period and clock skew between input and output registers. In this paper, a hybrid scheme is proposed to get the benefits of both pipelining and WP techniques. In this paper, two automation schemes are proposed for the implementation of 2D DWT using hybrid WP on both Xilinx, San Jose, CA, USA and Altera FPGAs. In the first scheme, Built-in self-test (BIST approach is used to choose the clock skew and clock period for I/O registers between the wave-pipelined blocks. In the second approach, an on-chip soft-core processor is used to choose the clock skew and clock period. The results for the hybrid WP are compared with nonpipelined and pipelined approaches. From the implementation results, the hybrid WP scheme requires the same area but faster than the nonpipelined scheme by a factor of 1.25–1.39. The pipelined scheme is faster than the hybrid scheme by a factor of 1.15–1.39 at the cost of an increase in the number of registers by a factor of 1.78–2.73, increase in the number of LEs by a factor of 1.11–1.32 and it increases the clock routing complexity.

An automated, open-source pipeline for mass production of digital elevation models (DEMs) from very-high-resolution commercial stereo satellite imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Shean, David E.; Alexandrov, Oleg; Moratto, Zachary M.; Smith, Benjamin E.; Joughin, Ian R.; Porter, Claire; Morin, Paul

2016-06-01

We adapted the automated, open source NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline (ASP) to generate digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthoimages from very-high-resolution (VHR) commercial imagery of the Earth. These modifications include support for rigorous and rational polynomial coefficient (RPC) sensor models, sensor geometry correction, bundle adjustment, point cloud co-registration, and significant improvements to the ASP code base. We outline a processing workflow for ˜0.5 m ground sample distance (GSD) DigitalGlobe WorldView-1 and WorldView-2 along-track stereo image data, with an overview of ASP capabilities, an evaluation of ASP correlator options, benchmark test results, and two case studies of DEM accuracy. Output DEM products are posted at ˜2 m with direct geolocation accuracy of process individual stereo pairs on a local workstation, the methods presented here were developed for large-scale batch processing in a high-performance computing environment. We are leveraging these resources to produce dense time series and regional mosaics for the Earth's polar regions.

The LCOGT Observation Portal, Data Pipeline and Science Archive

Science.gov (United States)

Lister, Tim; LCOGT Science Archive Team

2014-01-01

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) is building and deploying a world-wide network of optical telescopes dedicated to time-domain astronomy. During 2012-2013, we successfully deployed and commissioned nine new 1m telescopes at McDonald Observatory (Texas), CTIO (Chile), SAAO (South Africa) and Siding Spring Observatory (Australia). New, improved cameras and additional telescopes will be deployed during 2014. To enable the diverse LCOGT user community of scientific and educational users to request observations on the LCOGT Network and to see their progress and get access to their data, we have developed an Observation Portal system. This Observation Portal integrates proposal submission and observation requests with seamless access to the data products from the data pipelines in near-realtime and long-term products from the Science Archive. We describe the LCOGT Observation Portal and the data pipeline, currently in operation, which makes use of the ORAC-DR automated recipe-based data reduction pipeline and illustrate some of the new data products. We also present the LCOGT Science Archive, which is being developed in partnership with the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) and show some of the new features the Science Archive provides.

A microscale protein NMR sample screening pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rossi, Paolo; Swapna, G. V. T.; Huang, Yuanpeng J.; Aramini, James M. [State University of New Jersey, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers (United States); Anklin, Clemens [Bruker Biospin Corporation (United States); Conover, Kenith; Hamilton, Keith; Xiao, Rong; Acton, Thomas B.; Ertekin, Asli; Everett, John K.; Montelione, Gaetano T., E-mail: guy@cabm.rutgers.ed [State University of New Jersey, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers (United States)

2010-01-15

As part of efforts to develop improved methods for NMR protein sample preparation and structure determination, the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG) has implemented an NMR screening pipeline for protein target selection, construct optimization, and buffer optimization, incorporating efficient microscale NMR screening of proteins using a micro-cryoprobe. The process is feasible because the newest generation probe requires only small amounts of protein, typically 30-200 {mu}g in 8-35 {mu}l volume. Extensive automation has been made possible by the combination of database tools, mechanization of key process steps, and the use of a micro-cryoprobe that gives excellent data while requiring little optimization and manual setup. In this perspective, we describe the overall process used by the NESG for screening NMR samples as part of a sample optimization process, assessing optimal construct design and solution conditions, as well as for determining protein rotational correlation times in order to assess protein oligomerization states. Database infrastructure has been developed to allow for flexible implementation of new screening protocols and harvesting of the resulting output. The NESG micro NMR screening pipeline has also been used for detergent screening of membrane proteins. Descriptions of the individual steps in the NESG NMR sample design, production, and screening pipeline are presented in the format of a standard operating procedure.

76 FR 53086 - Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-25

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 192 [Docket No. PHMSA-2011-0023] RIN 2137-AE72 Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of Transportation (DOT...

76 FR 70953 - Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-16

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 192 [Docket ID PHMSA-2011-0023] RIN 2137-AE72 Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Transmission Pipelines AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); DOT. ACTION: Advance notice of...

EzMap: a simple pipeline for reproducible analysis of the human virome.

Science.gov (United States)

Czeczko, Patrick; Greenway, Steven C; de Koning, A P Jason

2017-08-15

In solid-organ transplant recipients, a delicate balance between immunosuppression and immunocompetence must be achieved, which can be difficult to monitor in real-time. Shotgun sequencing of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has been recently proposed as a new way to indirectly assess immune function in transplant recipients through analysis of the status of the human virome. To facilitate exploration of the utility of the human virome as an indicator of immune status, and to enable rapid, straightforward analyses by clinicians, we developed a fully automated computational pipeline, EzMap, for performing metagenomic analysis of the human virome. EzMap combines a number of tools to clean, filter, and subtract WGS reads by mapping to a reference human assembly. The relative abundance of each virus present is estimated using a maximum likelihood approach that accounts for genome size, and results are presented with interactive visualizations and taxonomy-based summaries that enable rapid insights. The pipeline is automated to run on both workstations and computing clusters for all steps. EzMap automates an otherwise tedious and time-consuming protocol and aims to facilitate rapid and reproducible insights from cfDNA. EzMap is freely available at https://github.com/dekoning-lab/ezmap. jason.dekoning@ucalgary.ca. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Worldwide natural gas pipeline situation. Sekai no tennen gas pipeline jokyo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arimoto, T [Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., Osaka (Japan)

1993-03-01

Constructing natural gas pipelines in wide areas requires investments of a huge amount. Many countries are building natural gas supply infrastructures under public support as nations' basic policy of promoting use of natural gas. This paper describes the present conditions of building pipelines in Western Europe, the U.S.A., Korea and Taiwan. In Western Europe, transporting companies established in line with the national policy own trunk pipelines and storage facilities, and import and distribute natural gas. The U.S.A. has 2300 small and large pipeline companies bearing transportation business. Pipelines extend about 1.9 million kilometers in total, with trunk pipelines accounting for about 440,000 kilometers. The companies are given eminent domain for the right of way. Korea has a plan to build a pipeline network with a distance of 1600 kilometers in around 2000. Taiwan has completed trunk pipelines extending 330 kilometers in two years. In Japan, the industry is preparing draft plans for wide area pipeline construction. 5 figs., 1 tab.

Fully automated rodent brain MR image processing pipeline on a Midas server: from acquired images to region-based statistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Budin, Francois; Hoogstoel, Marion; Reynolds, Patrick; Grauer, Michael; O'Leary-Moore, Shonagh K; Oguz, Ipek

2013-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of rodent brains enables study of the development and the integrity of the brain under certain conditions (alcohol, drugs etc.). However, these images are difficult to analyze for biomedical researchers with limited image processing experience. In this paper we present an image processing pipeline running on a Midas server, a web-based data storage system. It is composed of the following steps: rigid registration, skull-stripping, average computation, average parcellation, parcellation propagation to individual subjects, and computation of region-based statistics on each image. The pipeline is easy to configure and requires very little image processing knowledge. We present results obtained by processing a data set using this pipeline and demonstrate how this pipeline can be used to find differences between populations.

Transcriptator: An Automated Computational Pipeline to Annotate Assembled Reads and Identify Non Coding RNA.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kumar Parijat Tripathi

Full Text Available RNA-seq is a new tool to measure RNA transcript counts, using high-throughput sequencing at an extraordinary accuracy. It provides quantitative means to explore the transcriptome of an organism of interest. However, interpreting this extremely large data into biological knowledge is a problem, and biologist-friendly tools are lacking. In our lab, we developed Transcriptator, a web application based on a computational Python pipeline with a user-friendly Java interface. This pipeline uses the web services available for BLAST (Basis Local Search Alignment Tool, QuickGO and DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery tools. It offers a report on statistical analysis of functional and Gene Ontology (GO annotation's enrichment. It helps users to identify enriched biological themes, particularly GO terms, pathways, domains, gene/proteins features and protein-protein interactions related informations. It clusters the transcripts based on functional annotations and generates a tabular report for functional and gene ontology annotations for each submitted transcript to the web server. The implementation of QuickGo web-services in our pipeline enable the users to carry out GO-Slim analysis, whereas the integration of PORTRAIT (Prediction of transcriptomic non coding RNA (ncRNA by ab initio methods helps to identify the non coding RNAs and their regulatory role in transcriptome. In summary, Transcriptator is a useful software for both NGS and array data. It helps the users to characterize the de-novo assembled reads, obtained from NGS experiments for non-referenced organisms, while it also performs the functional enrichment analysis of differentially expressed transcripts/genes for both RNA-seq and micro-array experiments. It generates easy to read tables and interactive charts for better understanding of the data. The pipeline is modular in nature, and provides an opportunity to add new plugins in the future. Web application is

An automated design and fabrication pipeline for improving the strength of 3D printed artifacts under tensile loading

Science.gov (United States)

Al, Can Mert; Yaman, Ulas

2018-05-01

In the scope of this study, an alternative automated method to the conventional design and fabrication pipeline of 3D printers is developed by using an integrated CAD/CAE/CAM approach. It increases the load carrying capacity of the parts by constructing heterogeneous infill structures. Traditional CAM software of Additive Manufacturing machinery starts with a design model in STL file format which only includes data about the outer boundary in the triangular mesh form. Depending on the given infill percentage, the algorithm running behind constructs the interior of the artifact by using homogeneous infill structures. As opposed to the current CAM software, the proposed method provides a way to construct heterogeneous infill structures with respect to the Von Misses stress field results obtained from a finite element analysis. Throughout the work, Rhinoceros3D is used for the design of the parts along with Grasshopper3D, an algorithmic design tool for Rhinoceros3D. In addition, finite element analyses are performed using Karamba3D, a plug-in for Grasshopper3D. According to the results of the tensile tests, the method offers an improvement of load carrying capacity about 50% compared to traditional slicing algorithms of 3D printing.

PipelineDog: a simple and flexible graphic pipeline construction and maintenance tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Anbo; Zhang, Yeting; Sun, Yazhou; Xing, Jinchuan

2018-05-01

Analysis pipelines are an essential part of bioinformatics research, and ad hoc pipelines are frequently created by researchers for prototyping and proof-of-concept purposes. However, most existing pipeline management system or workflow engines are too complex for rapid prototyping or learning the pipeline concept. A lightweight, user-friendly and flexible solution is thus desirable. In this study, we developed a new pipeline construction and maintenance tool, PipelineDog. This is a web-based integrated development environment with a modern web graphical user interface. It offers cross-platform compatibility, project management capabilities, code formatting and error checking functions and an online repository. It uses an easy-to-read/write script system that encourages code reuse. With the online repository, it also encourages sharing of pipelines, which enhances analysis reproducibility and accountability. For most users, PipelineDog requires no software installation. Overall, this web application provides a way to rapidly create and easily manage pipelines. PipelineDog web app is freely available at http://web.pipeline.dog. The command line version is available at http://www.npmjs.com/package/pipelinedog and online repository at http://repo.pipeline.dog. ysun@kean.edu or xing@biology.rutgers.edu or ysun@diagnoa.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

XPIWIT--an XML pipeline wrapper for the Insight Toolkit.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartschat, Andreas; Hübner, Eduard; Reischl, Markus; Mikut, Ralf; Stegmaier, Johannes

2016-01-15

The Insight Toolkit offers plenty of features for multidimensional image analysis. Current implementations, however, often suffer either from a lack of flexibility due to hard-coded C++ pipelines for a certain task or by slow execution times, e.g. caused by inefficient implementations or multiple read/write operations for separate filter execution. We present an XML-based wrapper application for the Insight Toolkit that combines the performance of a pure C++ implementation with an easy-to-use graphical setup of dynamic image analysis pipelines. Created XML pipelines can be interpreted and executed by XPIWIT in console mode either locally or on large clusters. We successfully applied the software tool for the automated analysis of terabyte-scale, time-resolved 3D image data of zebrafish embryos. XPIWIT is implemented in C++ using the Insight Toolkit and the Qt SDK. It has been successfully compiled and tested under Windows and Unix-based systems. Software and documentation are distributed under Apache 2.0 license and are publicly available for download at https://bitbucket.org/jstegmaier/xpiwit/downloads/. johannes.stegmaier@kit.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Platform for Automated Real-Time High Performance Analytics on Medical Image Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, William J; Gabr, Refaat E; Tefera, Getaneh B; Pednekar, Amol S; Vaughn, Matthew W; Narayana, Ponnada A

2018-03-01

Biomedical data are quickly growing in volume and in variety, providing clinicians an opportunity for better clinical decision support. Here, we demonstrate a robust platform that uses software automation and high performance computing (HPC) resources to achieve real-time analytics of clinical data, specifically magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. We used the Agave application programming interface to facilitate communication, data transfer, and job control between an MRI scanner and an off-site HPC resource. In this use case, Agave executed the graphical pipeline tool GRAphical Pipeline Environment (GRAPE) to perform automated, real-time, quantitative analysis of MRI scans. Same-session image processing will open the door for adaptive scanning and real-time quality control, potentially accelerating the discovery of pathologies and minimizing patient callbacks. We envision this platform can be adapted to other medical instruments, HPC resources, and analytics tools.

United States petroleum pipelines: An empirical analysis of pipeline sizing

Science.gov (United States)

Coburn, L. L.

1980-12-01

The undersizing theory hypothesizes that integrated oil companies have a strong economic incentive to size the petroleum pipelines they own and ship over in a way that means that some of the demand must utilize higher cost alternatives. The DOJ theory posits that excess or monopoly profits are earned due to the natural monopoly characteristics of petroleum pipelines and the existence of market power in some pipelines at either the upstream or downstream market. The theory holds that independent petroleum pipelines owned by companies not otherwise affiliated with the petroleum industry (independent pipelines) do not have these incentives and all the efficiencies of pipeline transportation are passed to the ultimate consumer. Integrated oil companies on the other hand, keep these cost efficiencies for themselves in the form of excess profits.

Underground pipeline corrosion

CERN Document Server

Orazem, Mark

2014-01-01

Underground pipelines transporting liquid petroleum products and natural gas are critical components of civil infrastructure, making corrosion prevention an essential part of asset-protection strategy. Underground Pipeline Corrosion provides a basic understanding of the problems associated with corrosion detection and mitigation, and of the state of the art in corrosion prevention. The topics covered in part one include: basic principles for corrosion in underground pipelines, AC-induced corrosion of underground pipelines, significance of corrosion in onshore oil and gas pipelines, n

A midas plugin to enable construction of reproducible web-based image processing pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Grauer, Michael; Reynolds, Patrick; Hoogstoel, Marion; Budin, Francois; Styner, Martin A; Oguz, Ipek

2013-01-01

Image processing is an important quantitative technique for neuroscience researchers, but difficult for those who lack experience in the field. In this paper we present a web-based platform that allows an expert to create a brain image processing pipeline, enabling execution of that pipeline even by those biomedical researchers with limited image processing knowledge. These tools are implemented as a plugin for Midas, an open-source toolkit for creating web based scientific data storage and processing platforms. Using this plugin, an image processing expert can construct a pipeline, create a web-based User Interface, manage jobs, and visualize intermediate results. Pipelines are executed on a grid computing platform using BatchMake and HTCondor. This represents a new capability for biomedical researchers and offers an innovative platform for scientific collaboration. Current tools work well, but can be inaccessible for those lacking image processing expertise. Using this plugin, researchers in collaboration with image processing experts can create workflows with reasonable default settings and streamlined user interfaces, and data can be processed easily from a lab environment without the need for a powerful desktop computer. This platform allows simplified troubleshooting, centralized maintenance, and easy data sharing with collaborators. These capabilities enable reproducible science by sharing datasets and processing pipelines between collaborators. In this paper, we present a description of this innovative Midas plugin, along with results obtained from building and executing several ITK based image processing workflows for diffusion weighted MRI (DW MRI) of rodent brain images, as well as recommendations for building automated image processing pipelines. Although the particular image processing pipelines developed were focused on rodent brain MRI, the presented plugin can be used to support any executable or script-based pipeline.

A Midas Plugin to Enable Construction of Reproducible Web-based Image Processing Pipelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael eGrauer

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Image processing is an important quantitative technique for neuroscience researchers, but difficult for those who lack experience in the field. In this paper we present a web-based platform that allows an expert to create a brain image processing pipeline, enabling execution of that pipeline even by those biomedical researchers with limited image processing knowledge. These tools are implemented as a plugin for Midas, an open-source toolkit for creating web based scientific data storage and processing platforms. Using this plugin, an image processing expert can construct a pipeline, create a web-based UI, manage jobs, and visualize intermediate results. Pipelines are executed on a grid computing platform using BatchMake and HTCondor. This represents a new capability for biomedical researchers and offers an innovative platform for scientific collaboration. Current tools work well, but can be inaccessible for those lacking image processing expertise. Using this plugin, researchers in collaboration with image processing experts can create workflows with reasonable default settings and streamlined user interfaces, and data can be processed easily from a lab environment without the need for a powerful desktop computer. This platform allows simplified troubleshooting, centralized maintenance, and easy data sharing with collaborators. These capabilities enable reproducible science by sharing datasets and processing pipelines between collaborators. In this paper, we present a description of this innovative Midas plugin, along with results obtained from building and executing several ITK based image processing workflows for diffusion weighted MRI (DW MRI of rodent brain images, as well as recommendations for building automated image processing pipelines. Although the particular image processing pipelines developed were focused on rodent brain MRI, the presented plugin can be used to support any executable or script-based pipeline.

CFSAN SNP Pipeline: an automated method for constructing SNP matrices from next-generation sequence data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve Davis

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The analysis of next-generation sequence (NGS data is often a fragmented step-wise process. For example, multiple pieces of software are typically needed to map NGS reads, extract variant sites, and construct a DNA sequence matrix containing only single nucleotide polymorphisms (i.e., a SNP matrix for a set of individuals. The management and chaining of these software pieces and their outputs can often be a cumbersome and difficult task. Here, we present CFSAN SNP Pipeline, which combines into a single package the mapping of NGS reads to a reference genome with Bowtie2, processing of those mapping (BAM files using SAMtools, identification of variant sites using VarScan, and production of a SNP matrix using custom Python scripts. We also introduce a Python package (CFSAN SNP Mutator that when given a reference genome will generate variants of known position against which we validate our pipeline. We created 1,000 simulated Salmonella enterica sp. enterica Serovar Agona genomes at 100× and 20× coverage, each containing 500 SNPs, 20 single-base insertions and 20 single-base deletions. For the 100× dataset, the CFSAN SNP Pipeline recovered 98.9% of the introduced SNPs and had a false positive rate of 1.04 × 10−6; for the 20× dataset 98.8% of SNPs were recovered and the false positive rate was 8.34 × 10−7. Based on these results, CFSAN SNP Pipeline is a robust and accurate tool that it is among the first to combine into a single executable the myriad steps required to produce a SNP matrix from NGS data. Such a tool is useful to those working in an applied setting (e.g., food safety traceback investigations as well as for those interested in evolutionary questions.

Removable pipeline plug

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vassalotti, M.; Anastasi, F.

1984-01-01

A removable plugging device for a pipeline, and particularly for pressure testing a steam pipeline in a boiling water reactor, wherein an inflatable annular sealing member seals off the pipeline and characterized by radially movable shoes for holding the plug in place, each shoe being pivotally mounted for self-adjusting engagement with even an out-of-round pipeline interior

Pipeline integrity management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guyt, J.; Macara, C.

1997-12-31

This paper focuses on some of the issues necessary for pipeline operators to consider when addressing the challenge of managing the integrity of their systems. Topics are: Definition; business justification; creation and safeguarding of technical integrity; control and deviation from technical integrity; pipelines; pipeline failure assessment; pipeline integrity assessment; leak detection; emergency response. 6 figs., 3 tabs.

75 FR 13342 - Pipeline Safety: Workshop on Distribution Pipeline Construction

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-19

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID... natural gas distribution construction. Natural gas distribution pipelines are subject to a unique subset... distribution pipeline construction practices. This workshop will focus solely on natural gas distribution...

Regular pipeline maintenance of gas pipeline using technical operational diagnostics methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Volentic, J [Gas Transportation Department, Slovensky plynarensky priemysel, Slovak Gas Industry, Bratislava (Slovakia)

1998-12-31

Slovensky plynarensky priemysel (SPP) has operated 17 487 km of gas pipelines in 1995. The length of the long-line pipelines reached 5 191 km, distribution network was 12 296 km. The international transit system of long-line gas pipelines ranged 1 939 km of pipelines of various dimensions. The described scale of transport and distribution system represents a multibillion investments stored in the ground, which are exposed to the environmental influences and to pipeline operational stresses. In spite of all technical and maintenance arrangements, which have to be performed upon operating gas pipelines, the gradual ageing takes place anyway, expressed in degradation process both in steel tube, as well as in the anti-corrosion coating. Within a certain time horizon, a consistent and regular application of methods and means of in-service technical diagnostics and rehabilitation of existing pipeline systems make it possible to save substantial investment funds, postponing the need in funds for a complex or partial reconstruction or a new construction of a specific gas section. The purpose of this presentation is to report on the implementation of the programme of in-service technical diagnostics of gas pipelines within the framework of regular maintenance of SPP s.p. Bratislava high pressure gas pipelines. (orig.) 6 refs.

Regular pipeline maintenance of gas pipeline using technical operational diagnostics methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Volentic, J. [Gas Transportation Department, Slovensky plynarensky priemysel, Slovak Gas Industry, Bratislava (Slovakia)

1997-12-31

Slovensky plynarensky priemysel (SPP) has operated 17 487 km of gas pipelines in 1995. The length of the long-line pipelines reached 5 191 km, distribution network was 12 296 km. The international transit system of long-line gas pipelines ranged 1 939 km of pipelines of various dimensions. The described scale of transport and distribution system represents a multibillion investments stored in the ground, which are exposed to the environmental influences and to pipeline operational stresses. In spite of all technical and maintenance arrangements, which have to be performed upon operating gas pipelines, the gradual ageing takes place anyway, expressed in degradation process both in steel tube, as well as in the anti-corrosion coating. Within a certain time horizon, a consistent and regular application of methods and means of in-service technical diagnostics and rehabilitation of existing pipeline systems make it possible to save substantial investment funds, postponing the need in funds for a complex or partial reconstruction or a new construction of a specific gas section. The purpose of this presentation is to report on the implementation of the programme of in-service technical diagnostics of gas pipelines within the framework of regular maintenance of SPP s.p. Bratislava high pressure gas pipelines. (orig.) 6 refs.

A Novel Method to Enhance Pipeline Trajectory Determination Using Pipeline Junctions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahli, Hussein; El-Sheimy, Naser

2016-04-21

Pipeline inspection gauges (pigs) have been used for many years to perform various maintenance operations in oil and gas pipelines. Different pipeline parameters can be inspected during the pig journey. Although pigs use many sensors to detect the required pipeline parameters, matching these data with the corresponding pipeline location is considered a very important parameter. High-end, tactical-grade inertial measurement units (IMUs) are used in pigging applications to locate the detected problems of pipeline using other sensors, and to reconstruct the trajectories of the pig. These IMUs are accurate; however, their high cost and large sizes limit their use in small diameter pipelines (8″ or less). This paper describes a new methodology for the use of MEMS-based IMUs using an extended Kalman filter (EKF) and the pipeline junctions to increase the position parameters' accuracy and to reduce the total RMS errors even during the unavailability of above ground markers (AGMs). The results of this new proposed method using a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based IMU revealed that the position RMS errors were reduced by approximately 85% compared to the standard EKF solution. Therefore, this approach will enable the mapping of small diameter pipelines, which was not possible before.

Pollution from pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

During the 1980s, over 3,900 spills from land-based pipelines released nearly 20 million gallons of oil into U.S. waters-almost twice as much as was released by the March 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Although the Department of Transportation is responsible for preventing water pollution from petroleum pipelines, GAO found that it has not established a program to prevent such pollution. DOT has instead delegated this responsibility to the Coast Guard, which has a program to stop water pollution from ships, but not from pipelines. This paper reports that, in the absence of any federal program to prevent water pollution from pipelines, both the Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency have taken steps to plan for and respond to oil spills, including those from pipelines, as required by the Clean Water Act. The Coast Guard cannot, however, adequately plan for or ensure a timely response to pipeline spills because it generally is unaware of specific locations and operators of pipelines

The Development of PIPA: An Integrated and Automated Pipeline for Genome-Wide Protein Function Annotation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Yu, Chenggang; Zavaljevski, Nela; Desai, Valmik; Johnson, Seth; Stevens, Fred J; Reifman, Jaques

2008-01-01

.... With the existence of many programs and databases for inferring different protein functions, a pipeline that properly integrates these resources will benefit from the advantages of each method...

75 FR 63774 - Pipeline Safety: Safety of On-Shore Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-18

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part... Pipelines AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Department of... Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968, Public Law 90-481, delegated to DOT the authority to develop...

77 FR 61825 - Pipeline Safety: Notice of Public Meeting on Pipeline Data

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-11

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID... program performance measures for gas distribution, gas transmission, and hazardous liquids pipelines. The... distribution pipelines (49 CFR 192.1007(e)), gas transmission pipelines (49 CFR 192.945) and hazardous liquids...

AmeriFlux Data Processing: Integrating automated and manual data management across software technologies and an international network to generate timely data products

Science.gov (United States)

Christianson, D. S.; Beekwilder, N.; Chan, S.; Cheah, Y. W.; Chu, H.; Dengel, S.; O'Brien, F.; Pastorello, G.; Sandesh, M.; Torn, M. S.; Agarwal, D.

2017-12-01

AmeriFlux is a network of scientists who independently collect eddy covariance and related environmental observations at over 250 locations across the Americas. As part of the AmeriFlux Management Project, the AmeriFlux Data Team manages standardization, collection, quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC), and distribution of data submitted by network members. To generate data products that are timely, QA/QC'd, and repeatable, and have traceable provenance, we developed a semi-automated data processing pipeline. The new pipeline consists of semi-automated format and data QA/QC checks. Results are communicated via on-line reports as well as an issue-tracking system. Data processing time has been reduced from 2-3 days to a few hours of manual review time, resulting in faster data availability from the time of data submission. The pipeline is scalable to the network level and has the following key features. (1) On-line results of the format QA/QC checks are available immediately for data provider review. This enables data providers to correct and resubmit data quickly. (2) The format QA/QC assessment includes an automated attempt to fix minor format errors. Data submissions that are formatted in the new AmeriFlux FP-In standard can be queued for the data QA/QC assessment, often with minimal delay. (3) Automated data QA/QC checks identify and communicate potentially erroneous data via online, graphical quick views that highlight observations with unexpected values, incorrect units, time drifts, invalid multivariate correlations, and/or radiation shadows. (4) Progress through the pipeline is integrated with an issue-tracking system that facilitates communications between data providers and the data processing team in an organized and searchable fashion. Through development of these and other features of the pipeline, we present solutions to challenges that include optimizing automated with manual processing, bridging legacy data management infrastructure with

Pipelines 'R' us

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, P.

1997-01-01

The geopolitical background to the export of oil and gas from Kazakhstan by pipeline is explored with particular reference to the sensitivities of the USA. There are now a number of pipeline proposals which would enable Kazakhstan to get its hydrocarbons to world markets. The construction of two of these formed part of a major oil deal signed recently with China in the face of stiff competition from major US companies. The most convenient and cost effective route, connecting up with Iran's existing pipeline network to the Gulf, is unlikely to be developed given continuing US sanctions against Iran. Equally unlikely seems to be the Turkmenistan to Pakistan pipeline in the light of the political volatility of Afghanistan. US companies continue to face limits on export capacity via the existing Russian pipelines from Kazakhstan. A temporary solution could be to carry some oil in the existing pipeline from Azerbaijan to Georgia which has been upgraded and is due to become operational soon, and later in a second proposed pipeline on this route. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, consisting of three countries and eleven international companies, is building a 1500 km pipeline from the Tergiz field to Novorossiysk on the Black Sea with a view to completion in 2000. An undersea pipeline crossing the Caspian from Azerbaijan is being promoted by Turkey. There is an international perception that within the next five years Kazakhstan could be in a position to export its oil via as many as half a dozen different routes. (UK)

Development and Applications of Pipeline Steel in Long-Distance Gas Pipeline of China

Science.gov (United States)

Chunyong, Huo; Yang, Li; Lingkang, Ji

In past decades, with widely utilizing of Microalloying and Thermal Mechanical Control Processing (TMCP) technology, the good matching of strength, toughness, plasticity and weldability on pipeline steel has been reached so that oil and gas pipeline has been greatly developed in China to meet the demand of strong domestic consumption of energy. In this paper, development history of pipeline steel and gas pipeline in china is briefly reviewed. The microstructure characteristic and mechanical performance of pipeline steel used in some representative gas pipelines of china built in different stage are summarized. Through the analysis on the evolution of pipeline service environment, some prospective development trend of application of pipeline steel in China is also presented.

76 FR 44985 - Pipeline Safety: Potential for Damage to Pipeline Facilities Caused by Flooding

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-27

.... PHMSA-2011-0177] Pipeline Safety: Potential for Damage to Pipeline Facilities Caused by Flooding AGENCY... liquid pipelines to communicate the potential for damage to pipeline facilities caused by severe flooding... pipelines in case of flooding. ADDRESSES: This document can be viewed on the Office of Pipeline Safety home...

Pipeline technology. Petroleum oil - long-distance pipelines. Pipelinetechnik. Mineraloelfernleitungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krass, W; Kittel, A; Uhde, A

1979-01-01

All questions and concerns of pipeline technique are dealt with in detail. Some chapters can be applied for petroleum pipelines only or partly, for example the importance of petroleum pipelines, projecting, calculation, and operation. The sections of pipes and formings, laying, rights of way, and corrosion protection, accessories and remote effect technique, however, are of general interest, for example also for gas pipelines. In the chapter on working material, a very good summary of today's pipe working material including the thermomechanically treated steels is given. Besides methods of improving the toughness, the problems of the corrosion caused by strain cracking and the ways of avoiding it are pointed out. The pipe producing methods and, in the end of the chapter, the tests in the factory are explained. The section of laying deals with the laying methods being applied for years in pipeline construction, a big part referring to welding methods and tests. Active and passive corrosion protection are explained with all details. In addition to the solidity calculation presented with special regard to concerns of petroleum pipelines, theoretical fundaments and calculation methods for pressure are dealt with. Beside general questions of pumps, accessories, and drives, there is a section dealing with measurement and control techniques. Furthermore, remote effect and transmission techniques and news systems are explained in detail. Here, problems are referred to which are applicable not only to the operation of mineral oil pipelines. The book is completed by indications as to pipeline operation emphasizing general operation control, maintenance, repair methods and damage and their elimination. The last chapter contains a collection of the legal fundaments and the technical rules.

AUTOMATED INSPECTION OF POWER LINE CORRIDORS TO MEASURE VEGETATION UNDERCUT USING UAV-BASED IMAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Maurer

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Power line corridor inspection is a time consuming task that is performed mostly manually. As the development of UAVs made huge progress in recent years, and photogrammetric computer vision systems became well established, it is time to further automate inspection tasks. In this paper we present an automated processing pipeline to inspect vegetation undercuts of power line corridors. For this, the area of inspection is reconstructed, geo-referenced, semantically segmented and inter class distance measurements are calculated. The presented pipeline performs an automated selection of the proper 3D reconstruction method for on the one hand wiry (power line, and on the other hand solid objects (surrounding. The automated selection is realized by performing pixel-wise semantic segmentation of the input images using a Fully Convolutional Neural Network. Due to the geo-referenced semantic 3D reconstructions a documentation of areas where maintenance work has to be performed is inherently included in the distance measurements and can be extracted easily. We evaluate the influence of the semantic segmentation according to the 3D reconstruction and show that the automated semantic separation in wiry and dense objects of the 3D reconstruction routine improves the quality of the vegetation undercut inspection. We show the generalization of the semantic segmentation to datasets acquired using different acquisition routines and to varied seasons in time.

Automated Inspection of Power Line Corridors to Measure Vegetation Undercut Using Uav-Based Images

Science.gov (United States)

Maurer, M.; Hofer, M.; Fraundorfer, F.; Bischof, H.

2017-08-01

Power line corridor inspection is a time consuming task that is performed mostly manually. As the development of UAVs made huge progress in recent years, and photogrammetric computer vision systems became well established, it is time to further automate inspection tasks. In this paper we present an automated processing pipeline to inspect vegetation undercuts of power line corridors. For this, the area of inspection is reconstructed, geo-referenced, semantically segmented and inter class distance measurements are calculated. The presented pipeline performs an automated selection of the proper 3D reconstruction method for on the one hand wiry (power line), and on the other hand solid objects (surrounding). The automated selection is realized by performing pixel-wise semantic segmentation of the input images using a Fully Convolutional Neural Network. Due to the geo-referenced semantic 3D reconstructions a documentation of areas where maintenance work has to be performed is inherently included in the distance measurements and can be extracted easily. We evaluate the influence of the semantic segmentation according to the 3D reconstruction and show that the automated semantic separation in wiry and dense objects of the 3D reconstruction routine improves the quality of the vegetation undercut inspection. We show the generalization of the semantic segmentation to datasets acquired using different acquisition routines and to varied seasons in time.

Gathering pipeline methane emissions in Fayetteville shale pipelines and scoping guidelines for future pipeline measurement campaigns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel J. Zimmerle

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Gathering pipelines, which transport gas from well pads to downstream processing, are a sector of the natural gas supply chain for which little measured methane emissions data are available. This study performed leak detection and measurement on 96 km of gathering pipeline and the associated 56 pigging facilities and 39 block valves. The study found one underground leak accounting for 83% (4.0 kg CH4/hr of total measured emissions. Methane emissions for the 4684 km of gathering pipeline in the study area were estimated at 402 kg CH4/hr [95 to 1065 kg CH4/hr, 95% CI], or 1% [0.2% to 2.6%] of all methane emissions measured during a prior aircraft study of the same area. Emissions estimated by this study fall within the uncertainty range of emissions estimated using emission factors from EPA’s 2015 Greenhouse Inventory and study activity estimates. While EPA’s current inventory is based upon emission factors from distribution mains measured in the 1990s, this study indicates that using emission factors from more recent distribution studies could significantly underestimate emissions from gathering pipelines. To guide broader studies of pipeline emissions, we also estimate the fraction of the pipeline length within a basin that must be measured to constrain uncertainty of pipeline emissions estimates to within 1% of total basin emissions. The study provides both substantial insight into the mix of emission sources and guidance for future gathering pipeline studies, but since measurements were made in a single basin, the results are not sufficiently representative to provide methane emission factors at the regional or national level.

METRIC EVALUATION PIPELINE FOR 3D MODELING OF URBAN SCENES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Bosch

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Publicly available benchmark data and metric evaluation approaches have been instrumental in enabling research to advance state of the art methods for remote sensing applications in urban 3D modeling. Most publicly available benchmark datasets have consisted of high resolution airborne imagery and lidar suitable for 3D modeling on a relatively modest scale. To enable research in larger scale 3D mapping, we have recently released a public benchmark dataset with multi-view commercial satellite imagery and metrics to compare 3D point clouds with lidar ground truth. We now define a more complete metric evaluation pipeline developed as publicly available open source software to assess semantically labeled 3D models of complex urban scenes derived from multi-view commercial satellite imagery. Evaluation metrics in our pipeline include horizontal and vertical accuracy and completeness, volumetric completeness and correctness, perceptual quality, and model simplicity. Sources of ground truth include airborne lidar and overhead imagery, and we demonstrate a semi-automated process for producing accurate ground truth shape files to characterize building footprints. We validate our current metric evaluation pipeline using 3D models produced using open source multi-view stereo methods. Data and software is made publicly available to enable further research and planned benchmarking activities.

Metric Evaluation Pipeline for 3d Modeling of Urban Scenes

Science.gov (United States)

Bosch, M.; Leichtman, A.; Chilcott, D.; Goldberg, H.; Brown, M.

2017-05-01

Publicly available benchmark data and metric evaluation approaches have been instrumental in enabling research to advance state of the art methods for remote sensing applications in urban 3D modeling. Most publicly available benchmark datasets have consisted of high resolution airborne imagery and lidar suitable for 3D modeling on a relatively modest scale. To enable research in larger scale 3D mapping, we have recently released a public benchmark dataset with multi-view commercial satellite imagery and metrics to compare 3D point clouds with lidar ground truth. We now define a more complete metric evaluation pipeline developed as publicly available open source software to assess semantically labeled 3D models of complex urban scenes derived from multi-view commercial satellite imagery. Evaluation metrics in our pipeline include horizontal and vertical accuracy and completeness, volumetric completeness and correctness, perceptual quality, and model simplicity. Sources of ground truth include airborne lidar and overhead imagery, and we demonstrate a semi-automated process for producing accurate ground truth shape files to characterize building footprints. We validate our current metric evaluation pipeline using 3D models produced using open source multi-view stereo methods. Data and software is made publicly available to enable further research and planned benchmarking activities.

77 FR 34123 - Pipeline Safety: Public Meeting on Integrity Management of Gas Distribution Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-08

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0100] Pipeline Safety: Public Meeting on Integrity Management of Gas Distribution Pipelines AGENCY: Office of Pipeline Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, DOT. ACTION...

75 FR 5244 - Pipeline Safety: Integrity Management Program for Gas Distribution Pipelines; Correction

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-02

... Management Program for Gas Distribution Pipelines; Correction AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part... Regulations to require operators of gas distribution pipelines to develop and implement integrity management...

The automated data processing architecture for the GPI Exoplanet Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jason J.; Perrin, Marshall D.; Savransky, Dmitry; Arriaga, Pauline; Chilcote, Jeffrey K.; De Rosa, Robert J.; Millar-Blanchaer, Maxwell A.; Marois, Christian; Rameau, Julien; Wolff, Schuyler G.; Shapiro, Jacob; Ruffio, Jean-Baptiste; Graham, James R.; Macintosh, Bruce

2017-09-01

The Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) is a multi-year direct imaging survey of 600 stars to discover and characterize young Jovian exoplanets and their environments. We have developed an automated data architecture to process and index all data related to the survey uniformly. An automated and flexible data processing framework, which we term the GPIES Data Cruncher, combines multiple data reduction pipelines together to intelligently process all spectroscopic, polarimetric, and calibration data taken with GPIES. With no human intervention, fully reduced and calibrated data products are available less than an hour after the data are taken to expedite follow-up on potential objects of interest. The Data Cruncher can run on a supercomputer to reprocess all GPIES data in a single day as improvements are made to our data reduction pipelines. A backend MySQL database indexes all files, which are synced to the cloud, and a front-end web server allows for easy browsing of all files associated with GPIES. To help observers, quicklook displays show reduced data as they are processed in real-time, and chatbots on Slack post observing information as well as reduced data products. Together, the GPIES automated data processing architecture reduces our workload, provides real-time data reduction, optimizes our observing strategy, and maintains a homogeneously reduced dataset to study planet occurrence and instrument performance.

Pipeline system operability review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eriksson, Kjell [Det Norske Veritas (Norway); Davies, Ray [CC Technologies, Dublin, OH (United States)

2005-07-01

Pipeline operators are continuously working to improve the safety of their systems and operations. In the US both liquid and gas pipeline operators have worked with the regulators over many years to develop more systematic approaches to pipeline integrity management. To successfully manage pipeline integrity, vast amounts of data from different sources needs to be collected, overlaid and analyzed in order to assess the current condition and predict future degradation. The efforts undertaken by the operators has had a significant impact on pipeline safety, nevertheless, during recent years we have seen a number of major high profile accidents. One can therefore ask how effective the pipeline integrity management systems and processes are. This paper will present one methodology 'The Pipeline System Operability Review' that can evaluate and rate the effectiveness of both the management systems and procedures, as well as the technical condition of the hardware. The result from the review can be used to compare the performance of different pipelines within one operating company, as well as benchmark with international best practices. (author)

Pipeline system operability review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eriksson, Kjell [Det Norske Veritas (Norway); Davies, Ray [CC Technologies, Dublin, OH (United States)

2005-07-01

Pipeline operators are continuously working to improve the safety of their systems and operations. In the US both liquid and gas pipeline operators have worked with the regulators over many years to develop more systematic approaches to pipeline integrity management. To successfully manage pipeline integrity, vast amounts of data from different sources needs to be collected, overlaid and analyzed in order to assess the current condition and predict future degradation. The efforts undertaken by the operators has had a significant impact on pipeline safety, nevertheless, during recent years we have seen a number of major high profile accidents. One can therefore ask how effective the pipeline integrity management systems and processes are. This paper will present one methodology 'The Pipeline System Operability Review' that can evaluate and rate the effectiveness of both the management systems and procedures, as well as the technical condition of the hardware. The result from the review can be used to compare the performance of different pipelines within one operating company, as well as benchmark with international best practices. (author)

Automated training for algorithms that learn from genomic data.

Science.gov (United States)

Cilingir, Gokcen; Broschat, Shira L

2015-01-01

Supervised machine learning algorithms are used by life scientists for a variety of objectives. Expert-curated public gene and protein databases are major resources for gathering data to train these algorithms. While these data resources are continuously updated, generally, these updates are not incorporated into published machine learning algorithms which thereby can become outdated soon after their introduction. In this paper, we propose a new model of operation for supervised machine learning algorithms that learn from genomic data. By defining these algorithms in a pipeline in which the training data gathering procedure and the learning process are automated, one can create a system that generates a classifier or predictor using information available from public resources. The proposed model is explained using three case studies on SignalP, MemLoci, and ApicoAP in which existing machine learning models are utilized in pipelines. Given that the vast majority of the procedures described for gathering training data can easily be automated, it is possible to transform valuable machine learning algorithms into self-evolving learners that benefit from the ever-changing data available for gene products and to develop new machine learning algorithms that are similarly capable.

78 FR 41991 - Pipeline Safety: Potential for Damage to Pipeline Facilities Caused by Flooding

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-12

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No...: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); DOT. ACTION: Notice; Issuance of Advisory... Gas and Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Systems. Subject: Potential for Damage to Pipeline Facilities Caused...

78 FR 41496 - Pipeline Safety: Meetings of the Gas and Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committees

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-10

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0156] Pipeline Safety: Meetings of the Gas and Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committees AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of advisory committee...

Overview of slurry pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gandhi, R L

1982-01-01

Slurry pipelines have proven to be a technically feasible, environmentally attractive and economic method of transporting finely divided particles over long distances. A pipeline system normally consists of preparation, pipeline and utilization facilities and requires optimization of all three components taken together. A considerable amount of research work has been done to develop hydraulic design of a slurry pipeline. Equipment selection and estimation of corrosion-erosion are considered to be as important as the hydraulic design. Future applications are expected to be for the large-scale transport of coal and for the exploitation of remotely located mineral deposits such as iron ore and copper. Application of slurry pipelines for the exploitation of remotely located mineral deposits is illustrated by the Kudremukh iron concentrate slurry pipeline in India.

Pipeline Drag Reducers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marawan, H.

2004-01-01

Pipeline drag reducers have proven to be an extremely powerful tool in fluid transportation. High molecular weight polymers are used to reduce the frictional pressure loss ratio in crude oil pipelines, refined fuel and aqueous pipelines. Chemical structure of the main used pipeline drag reducers is one of the following polymers and copolymers classified according to the type of fluid to ; low density polyethylene, copolymer of I-hexane cross linked with divinyl benzene, polyacrylamide, polyalkylene oxide polymers and their copolymers, fluorocarbons, polyalkyl methacrylates and terpolymer of styrene, alkyl acrylate and acrylic acid. Drag reduction is the increase in pump ability of a fluid caused by the addition of small amounts of an additive to the fluid. The effectiveness of a drag reducer is normally expressed in terms of percent drag reduction. Frictional pressure loss in a pipeline system is a waste of energy and it costly. The drag reducing additive minimizes the flow turbulence, increases throughput and reduces the energy costs. The Flow can be increased by more than 80 % with existing assets. The effectiveness of the injected drag reducer in Mostorod to Tanta crude oil pipeline achieved 35.4 % drag reduction and 23.2 % flow increase of the actual performance The experimental application of DRA on Arab Petroleum Pipeline Company (Summed) achieved a flow increase ranging from 9-32 %

Characterization and Validation of Transiting Planets in the TESS SPOC Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Twicken, Joseph D.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Davies, Misty; Jenkins, Jon Michael; Li, Jie; Morris, Robert L.; Rose, Mark; Smith, Jeffrey C.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Ting, Eric; Wohler, Bill

2018-06-01

Light curves for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) target stars will be extracted and searched for transiting planet signatures in the Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) Science Pipeline at NASA Ames Research Center. Targets for which the transiting planet detection threshold is exceeded will be processed in the Data Validation (DV) component of the Pipeline. The primary functions of DV are to (1) characterize planets identified in the transiting planet search, (2) search for additional transiting planet signatures in light curves after modeled transit signatures have been removed, and (3) perform a comprehensive suite of diagnostic tests to aid in discrimination between true transiting planets and false positive detections. DV data products include extensive reports by target, one-page summaries by planet candidate, and tabulated transit model fit and diagnostic test results. DV products may be employed by humans and automated systems to vet planet candidates identified in the Pipeline. TESS will launch in 2018 and survey the full sky for transiting exoplanets over a period of two years. The SPOC pipeline was ported from the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) codebase and extended for TESS after the mission was selected for flight in the NASA Astrophysics Explorer program. We describe the Data Validation component of the SPOC Pipeline. The diagnostic tests exploit the flux (i.e., light curve) and pixel time series associated with each target to support the determination of the origin of each purported transiting planet signature. We also highlight the differences between the DV components for Kepler and TESS. Candidate planet detections and data products will be delivered to the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST); the MAST URL is archive.stsci.edu/tess. Funding for the TESS Mission has been provided by the NASA Science Mission Directorate.

Development project of an automatic sampling system for part time unmanned pipeline terminals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreira, Gullherme O.; De Almelda, Marcio M. G.; Ramos, Ricardo R. [Petrobas, (Brazil); Potten, Gary [Cameron Measurement Systems, (United States)

2010-07-01

The Sao Paulo - Brasilia Pipeline (OSBRA) is a highly automated pipeline using a SCADA system which operates from a control room. A new quality management system standard was established for transportation and storage operations. The products had to be sampled on an automatic basis. This paper reports the development of an automatic sampling system (ASS) in accordance with the new quality control standard. The prototype was developed to be implemented through a human-machine interface (HMI) from the control room SCADA screens. A technical cooperation agreement(TCA) was drawn up for development of this new ASS product. The TCA was a joint cooperation between the Holding, the Operator and the cooperators. The prototype will be on-field tested at Senador Canedo tank farm to SPEC requirements. The current performance of the ASS establishes reasonable expectations for further successful development.

North America pipeline map

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2005-01-01

This map presents details of pipelines currently in place throughout North America. Fifty-nine natural gas pipelines are presented, as well as 16 oil pipelines. The map also identifies six proposed natural gas pipelines. Major cities, roads and highways are included as well as state and provincial boundaries. The National Petroleum Reserve is identified, as well as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The following companies placed advertisements on the map with details of the services they provide relating to pipeline management and construction: Ferus Gas Industries Trust; Proline; SulfaTreat Direct Oxidation; and TransGas. 1 map

76 FR 303 - Pipeline Safety: Safety of On-Shore Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-04

... leak detection requirements for all pipelines; whether to require the installation of emergency flow... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 195 [Docket ID PHMSA-2010-0229] RIN 2137-AE66 Pipeline Safety: Safety of On-Shore Hazardous Liquid...

Leadership Pipeline

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmholdt, Claus Westergård

2013-01-01

I artiklen undersøges det empiriske grundlag for Leader- ship Pipeline. Først beskrives Leadership Pipeline modellen om le- delsesbaner og skilleveje i opadgående transitioner mellem orga- nisatoriske ledelsesniveauer (Freedman, 1998; Charan, Drotter and Noel, 2001). Dernæst sættes fokus på det...... forholdet mellem kontinuitet- og diskontinuitet i ledel- seskompetencer på tværs af organisatoriske niveauer præsenteres og diskuteres. Afslutningsvis diskuteres begrænsningerne i en kompetencebaseret tilgang til Leadership Pipeline, og det foreslås, at succesfuld ledelse i ligeså høj grad afhænger af...

PANDA: a pipeline toolbox for analyzing brain diffusion images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaixu eCui

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI is widely used in both scientific research and clinical practice in in-vivo studies of the human brain. While a number of post-processing packages have been developed, fully automated processing of dMRI datasets remains challenging. Here, we developed a MATLAB toolbox named Pipeline for Analyzing braiN Diffusion imAges (PANDA for fully automated processing of brain diffusion images. The processing modules of a few established packages, including FMRIB Software Library (FSL, Pipeline System for Octave and Matlab (PSOM, Diffusion Toolkit and MRIcron, were employed in PANDA. Using any number of raw dMRI datasets from different subjects, in either DICOM or NIfTI format, PANDA can automatically perform a series of steps to process DICOM/NIfTI to diffusion metrics (e.g., FA and MD that are ready for statistical analysis at the voxel-level, the atlas-level and the Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS-level and can finish the construction of anatomical brain networks for all subjects. In particular, PANDA can process different subjects in parallel, using multiple cores either in a single computer or in a distributed computing environment, thus greatly reducing the time cost when dealing with a large number of datasets. In addition, PANDA has a friendly graphical user interface (GUI, allowing the user to be interactive and to adjust the input/output settings, as well as the processing parameters. As an open-source package, PANDA is freely available at http://www.nitrc.org/projects/panda/. This novel toolbox is expected to substantially simplify the image processing of dMRI datasets and facilitate human structural connectome studies.

PANDA: a pipeline toolbox for analyzing brain diffusion images.

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Zaixu; Zhong, Suyu; Xu, Pengfei; He, Yong; Gong, Gaolang

2013-01-01

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is widely used in both scientific research and clinical practice in in-vivo studies of the human brain. While a number of post-processing packages have been developed, fully automated processing of dMRI datasets remains challenging. Here, we developed a MATLAB toolbox named "Pipeline for Analyzing braiN Diffusion imAges" (PANDA) for fully automated processing of brain diffusion images. The processing modules of a few established packages, including FMRIB Software Library (FSL), Pipeline System for Octave and Matlab (PSOM), Diffusion Toolkit and MRIcron, were employed in PANDA. Using any number of raw dMRI datasets from different subjects, in either DICOM or NIfTI format, PANDA can automatically perform a series of steps to process DICOM/NIfTI to diffusion metrics [e.g., fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)] that are ready for statistical analysis at the voxel-level, the atlas-level and the Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS)-level and can finish the construction of anatomical brain networks for all subjects. In particular, PANDA can process different subjects in parallel, using multiple cores either in a single computer or in a distributed computing environment, thus greatly reducing the time cost when dealing with a large number of datasets. In addition, PANDA has a friendly graphical user interface (GUI), allowing the user to be interactive and to adjust the input/output settings, as well as the processing parameters. As an open-source package, PANDA is freely available at http://www.nitrc.org/projects/panda/. This novel toolbox is expected to substantially simplify the image processing of dMRI datasets and facilitate human structural connectome studies.

76 FR 29333 - Pipeline Safety: Meetings of the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee and the Technical...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-20

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... for natural gas pipelines and for hazardous liquid pipelines. Both committees were established under...

SERPent: Automated reduction and RFI-mitigation software for e-MERLIN

Science.gov (United States)

Peck, Luke W.; Fenech, Danielle M.

2013-08-01

The Scripted E-merlin Rfi-mitigation PipelinE for iNTerferometry (SERPent) is an automated reduction and RFI-mitigation procedure utilising the SumThreshold methodology (Offringa et al., 2010a), originally developed for the LOFAR pipeline. SERPent is written in the Parseltongue language enabling interaction with the Astronomical Image Processing Software (AIPS) program. Moreover, SERPent is a simple 'out of the box' Python script, which is easy to set up and is free of compilers. In addition to the flagging of RFI affected visibilities, the script also flags antenna zero-amplitude dropouts and Lovell telescope phase calibrator stationary scans inherent to the e-MERLIN system. Both the flagging and computational performances of SERPent are presented here, for e-MERLIN commissioning datasets for both L-band (1.3-1.8 GHz) and C-band (4-8 GHz) observations. RFI typically amounts to future interferometers such as the SKA and the associated pathfinders (MeerKAT and ASKAP), where the vast data sizes (>TB) make traditional astronomer interactions unfeasible.

Approaches to automatic parameter fitting in a microscopy image segmentation pipeline: An exploratory parameter space analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Held

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Research and diagnosis in medicine and biology often require the assessment of a large amount of microscopy image data. Although on the one hand, digital pathology and new bioimaging technologies find their way into clinical practice and pharmaceutical research, some general methodological issues in automated image analysis are still open. Methods: In this study, we address the problem of fitting the parameters in a microscopy image segmentation pipeline. We propose to fit the parameters of the pipeline′s modules with optimization algorithms, such as, genetic algorithms or coordinate descents, and show how visual exploration of the parameter space can help to identify sub-optimal parameter settings that need to be avoided. Results: This is of significant help in the design of our automatic parameter fitting framework, which enables us to tune the pipeline for large sets of micrographs. Conclusion: The underlying parameter spaces pose a challenge for manual as well as automated parameter optimization, as the parameter spaces can show several local performance maxima. Hence, optimization strategies that are not able to jump out of local performance maxima, like the hill climbing algorithm, often result in a local maximum.

WASS: An open-source pipeline for 3D stereo reconstruction of ocean waves

Science.gov (United States)

Bergamasco, Filippo; Torsello, Andrea; Sclavo, Mauro; Barbariol, Francesco; Benetazzo, Alvise

2017-10-01

Stereo 3D reconstruction of ocean waves is gaining more and more popularity in the oceanographic community and industry. Indeed, recent advances of both computer vision algorithms and computer processing power now allow the study of the spatio-temporal wave field with unprecedented accuracy, especially at small scales. Even if simple in theory, multiple details are difficult to be mastered for a practitioner, so that the implementation of a sea-waves 3D reconstruction pipeline is in general considered a complex task. For instance, camera calibration, reliable stereo feature matching and mean sea-plane estimation are all factors for which a well designed implementation can make the difference to obtain valuable results. For this reason, we believe that the open availability of a well tested software package that automates the reconstruction process from stereo images to a 3D point cloud would be a valuable addition for future researches in this area. We present WASS (http://www.dais.unive.it/wass), an Open-Source stereo processing pipeline for sea waves 3D reconstruction. Our tool completely automates all the steps required to estimate dense point clouds from stereo images. Namely, it computes the extrinsic parameters of the stereo rig so that no delicate calibration has to be performed on the field. It implements a fast 3D dense stereo reconstruction procedure based on the consolidated OpenCV library and, lastly, it includes set of filtering techniques both on the disparity map and the produced point cloud to remove the vast majority of erroneous points that can naturally arise while analyzing the optically complex nature of the water surface. In this paper, we describe the architecture of WASS and the internal algorithms involved. The pipeline workflow is shown step-by-step and demonstrated on real datasets acquired at sea.

77 FR 16471 - Pipeline Safety: Implementation of the National Registry of Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-21

... Registry of Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas Operators AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Parts... Register (75 FR 72878) titled: ``Pipeline Safety: Updates to Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas Reporting...

75 FR 45591 - Pipeline Safety: Notice of Technical Pipeline Safety Advisory Committee Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-03

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part... Committee Meetings AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); DOT. ACTION... safety standards, risk assessments, and safety policies for natural gas pipelines and for hazardous...

Decontamination device for pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harashina, Heihachi.

1994-01-01

Pipelines to be decontaminated are parts of pipelines contaminated with radioactive materials, and they are connected to a fluid transfer means (for example, a bladeless pump) and a ball collector by way of a connector. The fluid of a mixture of chemical decontaminating liquid and spheres is sent into pipelines to be decontaminated. The spheres are, for example, heat resistant porous hard or soft rubber spheres. The fluid discharged from the pipelines to be decontaminated are circulated by way of bypassing means. The inner surface of the pipelines is decontaminated by the circulation of the fluid. When the bypass means is closed, the fluid discharged from the pipelines to be decontaminated is sent to the ball collector, and the spheres are captured by a hopper. Further, the liquid is sent to the filtrating means to filter the chemical contaminating liquid, and sludges contained in the liquid are captured. (I.N.)

High temperature pipeline design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Greenslade, J.G. [Colt Engineering, Calgary, AB (Canada). Pipelines Dept.; Nixon, J.F. [Nixon Geotech Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada); Dyck, D.W. [Stress Tech Engineering Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2004-07-01

It is impractical to transport bitumen and heavy oil by pipelines at ambient temperature unless diluents are added to reduce the viscosity. A diluted bitumen pipeline is commonly referred to as a dilbit pipeline. The diluent routinely used is natural gas condensate. Since natural gas condensate is limited in supply, it must be recovered and reused at high cost. This paper presented an alternative to the use of diluent to reduce the viscosity of heavy oil or bitumen. The following two basic design issues for a hot bitumen (hotbit) pipeline were presented: (1) modelling the restart problem, and, (2) establishing the maximum practical operating temperature. The transient behaviour during restart of a high temperature pipeline carrying viscous fluids was modelled using the concept of flow capacity. Although the design conditions were hypothetical, they could be encountered in the Athabasca oilsands. It was shown that environmental disturbances occur when the fluid is cooled during shut down because the ground temperature near the pipeline rises. This can change growing conditions, even near deeply buried insulated pipelines. Axial thermal loads also constrain the design and operation of a buried pipeline as higher operating temperatures are considered. As such, strain based design provides the opportunity to design for higher operating temperature than allowable stress based design methods. Expansion loops can partially relieve the thermal stress at a given temperature. As the design temperature increase, there is a point at which above grade pipelines become attractive options, although the materials and welding procedures must be suitable for low temperature service. 3 refs., 1 tab., 10 figs.

77 FR 19799 - Pipeline Safety: Pipeline Damage Prevention Programs

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-02

... noted ``when the oil pipeline industry developed the survey for its voluntary spill reporting system...) [cir] The American Public Gas Association (APGA) [cir] The Association of Oil Pipelines (AOPL) [cir... the contrary, all 50 states in the United States have a law designed to prevent excavation damage to...

The developing human connectome project: A minimal processing pipeline for neonatal cortical surface reconstruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Makropoulos, Antonios; Robinson, Emma C; Schuh, Andreas; Wright, Robert; Fitzgibbon, Sean; Bozek, Jelena; Counsell, Serena J; Steinweg, Johannes; Vecchiato, Katy; Passerat-Palmbach, Jonathan; Lenz, Gregor; Mortari, Filippo; Tenev, Tencho; Duff, Eugene P; Bastiani, Matteo; Cordero-Grande, Lucilio; Hughes, Emer; Tusor, Nora; Tournier, Jacques-Donald; Hutter, Jana; Price, Anthony N; Teixeira, Rui Pedro A G; Murgasova, Maria; Victor, Suresh; Kelly, Christopher; Rutherford, Mary A; Smith, Stephen M; Edwards, A David; Hajnal, Joseph V; Jenkinson, Mark; Rueckert, Daniel

2018-06-01

The Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) seeks to create the first 4-dimensional connectome of early life. Understanding this connectome in detail may provide insights into normal as well as abnormal patterns of brain development. Following established best practices adopted by the WU-MINN Human Connectome Project (HCP), and pioneered by FreeSurfer, the project utilises cortical surface-based processing pipelines. In this paper, we propose a fully automated processing pipeline for the structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the developing neonatal brain. This proposed pipeline consists of a refined framework for cortical and sub-cortical volume segmentation, cortical surface extraction, and cortical surface inflation, which has been specifically designed to address considerable differences between adult and neonatal brains, as imaged using MRI. Using the proposed pipeline our results demonstrate that images collected from 465 subjects ranging from 28 to 45 weeks post-menstrual age (PMA) can be processed fully automatically; generating cortical surface models that are topologically correct, and correspond well with manual evaluations of tissue boundaries in 85% of cases. Results improve on state-of-the-art neonatal tissue segmentation models and significant errors were found in only 2% of cases, where these corresponded to subjects with high motion. Downstream, these surfaces will enhance comparisons of functional and diffusion MRI datasets, supporting the modelling of emerging patterns of brain connectivity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated pulmonary lobar ventilation measurements using volume-matched thoracic CT and MRI

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, F.; Svenningsen, S.; Bluemke, E.; Rajchl, M.; Yuan, J.; Fenster, A.; Parraga, G.

2015-03-01

Objectives: To develop and evaluate an automated registration and segmentation pipeline for regional lobar pulmonary structure-function measurements, using volume-matched thoracic CT and MRI in order to guide therapy. Methods: Ten subjects underwent pulmonary function tests and volume-matched 1H and 3He MRI and thoracic CT during a single 2-hr visit. CT was registered to 1H MRI using an affine method that incorporated block-matching and this was followed by a deformable step using free-form deformation. The resultant deformation field was used to deform the associated CT lobe mask that was generated using commercial software. 3He-1H image registration used the same two-step registration method and 3He ventilation was segmented using hierarchical k-means clustering. Whole lung and lobar 3He ventilation and ventilation defect percent (VDP) were generated by mapping ventilation defects to CT-defined whole lung and lobe volumes. Target CT-3He registration accuracy was evaluated using region- , surface distance- and volume-based metrics. Automated whole lung and lobar VDP was compared with semi-automated and manual results using paired t-tests. Results: The proposed pipeline yielded regional spatial agreement of 88.0+/-0.9% and surface distance error of 3.9+/-0.5 mm. Automated and manual whole lung and lobar ventilation and VDP were not significantly different and they were significantly correlated (r = 0.77, p pulmonary structural-functional maps with high accuracy and robustness, providing an important tool for image-guided pulmonary interventions.

Recent developments in pipeline welding practice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1979-01-01

Fourteen chapters are included: overview of pipeline welding systems and quality assurance, CRC automatic welding system, H.C. Price Co. automatic welding system, semi-automatic MIG-welding process, partial penetration welding of steel pipes for gas distribution, construction procedures and quality control in offshore pipeline construction, welding in repair and maintenance of gas transmission pipelines, British Gas studies of welding on pressurized gas transmission pipelines, hot tapping pipelines, underwater welding for offshore pipelines and associated equipment, radial friction welding, material composition vs weld properties, review of NDT of pipeline welds, and safety assurance in pipeline construction. A bibliography of approximately 150 references is included, arranged according to subject and year.

Leadership Pipeline

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmholdt, Claus Westergård

2012-01-01

Artiklen analyserer grundlaget for Leadership Pipeline modellen med henblik på en vurdering af substansen bag modellen, og perspektiverne for generalisering af modellen til en dansk organisatorisk kontekst.......Artiklen analyserer grundlaget for Leadership Pipeline modellen med henblik på en vurdering af substansen bag modellen, og perspektiverne for generalisering af modellen til en dansk organisatorisk kontekst....

49 CFR 195.210 - Pipeline location.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Pipeline location. 195.210 Section 195.210 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY... PIPELINE Construction § 195.210 Pipeline location. (a) Pipeline right-of-way must be selected to avoid, as...

Recent development in low-constraint fracture toughness testing for structural integrity assessment of pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jidong; Gianetto, James A.; Tyson, William R.

2018-03-01

Fracture toughness measurement is an integral part of structural integrity assessment of pipelines. Traditionally, a single-edge-notched bend (SE(B)) specimen with a deep crack is recommended in many existing pipeline structural integrity assessment procedures. Such a test provides high constraint and therefore conservative fracture toughness results. However, for girth welds in service, defects are usually subjected to primarily tensile loading where the constraint is usually much lower than in the three-point bend case. Moreover, there is increasing use of strain-based design of pipelines that allows applied strains above yield. Low-constraint toughness tests represent more realistic loading conditions for girth weld defects, and the corresponding increased toughness can minimize unnecessary conservatism in assessments. In this review, we present recent developments in low-constraint fracture toughness testing, specifically using single-edgenotched tension specimens, SENT or SE(T). We focus our review on the test procedure development and automation, round-robin test results and some common concerns such as the effect of crack tip, crack size monitoring techniques, and testing at low temperatures. Examples are also given of the integration of fracture toughness data from SE(T) tests into structural integrity assessment.

Incidental electric heating of pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sonninskii, A V; Sirotin, A M; Vasiliev, Y N

1981-04-01

VNIIgaz has improved the conventional Japanese SECT pipeline-heating system, which uses a small steel tube that contains an insulated heater/conductor and is welded to the top of the pipeline. The improved version has two insulated electric heaters - one on the top and the other on the bottom of the pipeline - located inside steel angle irons that are welded to the pipeline. A comparison of experimental results from heating a 200-ft pipeline with both systems at currents of up to 470 A clearly demonstrated the better heating efficiency of the VNIIgaz unit. The improved SECT system would be suitable for various types of pipelines, including gas lines, in the USSR's far north regions.

77 FR 2126 - Pipeline Safety: Implementation of the National Registry of Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-13

... Natural Gas Operators AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No...: ``Pipeline Safety: Updates to Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas Reporting Requirements.'' The final rule...

77 FR 36606 - Pipeline Safety: Government/Industry Pipeline Research and Development Forum, Public Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-19

...: Threat Prevention --Working Group 2: Leak Detection/Mitigation & Storage --Working Group 3: Anomaly... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID PHMSA-2012-0146] Pipeline Safety: Government/Industry Pipeline Research and Development Forum, Public...

Pipelines : moving biomass and energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, A. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2006-07-01

Moving biomass and energy through pipelines was presented. Field sourced biomass utilization for fuel was discussed in terms of competing cost factors; economies of scale; and differing fuel plant sizes. The cost versus scale in a bioenergy facility was illustrated in chart format. The transportation cost of biomass was presented as it is a major component of total biomass processing cost and is in the typical range of 25-45 per cent of total processing costs for truck transport of biomass. Issues in large scale biomass utilization, scale effects in transportation, and components of transport cost were identified. Other topics related to transportation issues included approaches to pipeline transport; cost of wood chips in pipeline transport; and distance variable cost of transporting wood chips by pipeline. Practical applications were also offered. In addition, the presentation provided and illustrated a model for an ethanol plant supplied by truck transport as well as a sample configuration for 19 truck based ethanol plants versus one large facility supplied by truck plus 18 pipelines. Last, pipeline transport of bio-oil and pipeline transport of syngas was discussed. It was concluded that pipeline transport can help in reducing congestion issues in large scale biomass utilization and that it can offer a means to achieve large plant size. Some current research at the University of Alberta on pipeline transport of raw biomass, bio-oil and hydrogen production from biomass for oil sands and pipeline transport was also presented. tabs., figs.

Pipeline four-dimension management is the trend of pipeline integrity management in the future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaohua, Dong; Feifan; Zhongchen, Han [China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Beijing (China)

2009-07-01

Pipeline integrity management is essential for today's operators to operate their pipelines safety and cost effectively. The latest developments of pipeline integrity management around the world are involved with change of regulation, industry standard and innovation of technology. And who know the trend of PIM in the future, which can be answered in the paper. As a result, the concept of P4DM was set up firstly in the world. The paper analyzed the pipeline HSE management, pipeline integrity management (PIM) and asset integrity management (AIM), the problem of management was produced, and also the Pipeline 4-dimension Management (P4DM) theory was brought forward. According to P4DM, from the hierarchy of P4DM, the management elements, fields, space and time was analyzed. The main content is P4DM integrate the space geography location and time, control and manage the pipeline system in whole process, anywhere and anytime. It includes the pipeline integrity, pipeline operation and emergency, which is integrated by IT system. It come true that the idea, solution, technology, organization, manager alternately intelligently control the process of management. What the paper talks about included the definition of pipeline 4D management, the research develop of P4DM, the theory of P4DM, the relationship between P4DM and PIM, the technology basis of P4DM, how to perform the P4DM and conclusion. The P4DM was produced, which provide the development direction of PIM in the future, and also provide the new ideas for PetroChina in the field of technology and management. (author)

Pipelines to eastern Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otsason, J.

1998-01-01

This presentation focused on four main topics: (1) the existing path of pipelines to eastern Canada, (2) the Chicago hub, (3) transport alternatives, and (4) the Vector Pipeline' expansion plans. In the eastern Canadian market, TransCanada Pipelines dominates 96 per cent of the market share and is effectively immune to expansion costs. Issues regarding the attractiveness of the Chicago hub were addressed. One attractive feature is that the Chicago hub has access to multiple supply basins including western Canada, the Gulf Coast, the mid-continent, and the Rockies. Regarding Vector Pipelines' future plans, the company proposes to construct 343 miles of pipeline from Joliet, Illinois to Dawn, Ontario. Project description included discussion of some of the perceived advantages of this route, namely, extensive storage in Michigan and south-western Ontario, the fact that the proposed pipeline traverses major markets which would mitigate excess capacity concerns, arbitrage opportunities, cost effective expansion capability reducing tolls, and likely lower landed costs in Ontario. Project schedule, costs, rates and tariffs are also discussed. tabs., figs

78 FR 42889 - Pipeline Safety: Reminder of Requirements for Utility LP-Gas and LPG Pipeline Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-18

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part 192 [Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0097] Pipeline Safety: Reminder of Requirements for Utility LP-Gas and LPG Pipeline Systems AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION...

A software pipeline for processing and identification of fungal ITS sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristiansson Erik

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Fungi from environmental samples are typically identified to species level through DNA sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS region for use in BLAST-based similarity searches in the International Nucleotide Sequence Databases. These searches are time-consuming and regularly require a significant amount of manual intervention and complementary analyses. We here present software – in the form of an identification pipeline for large sets of fungal ITS sequences – developed to automate the BLAST process and several additional analysis steps. The performance of the pipeline was evaluated on a dataset of 350 ITS sequences from fungi growing as epiphytes on building material. Results The pipeline was written in Perl and uses a local installation of NCBI-BLAST for the similarity searches of the query sequences. The variable subregion ITS2 of the ITS region is extracted from the sequences and used for additional searches of higher sensitivity. Multiple alignments of each query sequence and its closest matches are computed, and query sequences sharing at least 50% of their best matches are clustered to facilitate the evaluation of hypothetically conspecific groups. The pipeline proved to speed up the processing, as well as enhance the resolution, of the evaluation dataset considerably, and the fungi were found to belong chiefly to the Ascomycota, with Penicillium and Aspergillus as the two most common genera. The ITS2 was found to indicate a different taxonomic affiliation than did the complete ITS region for 10% of the query sequences, though this figure is likely to vary with the taxonomic scope of the query sequences. Conclusion The present software readily assigns large sets of fungal query sequences to their respective best matches in the international sequence databases and places them in a larger biological context. The output is highly structured to be easy to process, although it still needs

An integrated pipeline to create and experience compelling scenarios in virtual reality

Science.gov (United States)

Springer, Jan P.; Neumann, Carsten; Reiners, Dirk; Cruz-Neira, Carolina

2011-03-01

One of the main barriers to create and use compelling scenarios in virtual reality is the complexity and time-consuming efforts for modeling, element integration, and the software development to properly display and interact with the content in the available systems. Still today, most virtual reality applications are tedious to create and they are hard-wired to the specific display and interaction system available to the developers when creating the application. Furthermore, it is not possible to alter the content or the dynamics of the content once the application has been created. We present our research on designing a software pipeline that enables the creation of compelling scenarios with a fair degree of visual and interaction complexity in a semi-automated way. Specifically, we are targeting drivable urban scenarios, ranging from large cities to sparsely populated rural areas that incorporate both static components (e. g., houses, trees) and dynamic components (e. g., people, vehicles) as well as events, such as explosions or ambient noise. Our pipeline has four basic components. First, an environment designer, where users sketch the overall layout of the scenario, and an automated method constructs the 3D environment from the information in the sketch. Second, a scenario editor used for authoring the complete scenario, incorporate the dynamic elements and events, fine tune the automatically generated environment, define the execution conditions of the scenario, and set up any data gathering that may be necessary during the execution of the scenario. Third, a run-time environment for different virtual-reality systems provides users with the interactive experience as designed with the designer and the editor. And fourth, a bi-directional monitoring system that allows for capturing and modification of information from the virtual environment. One of the interesting capabilities of our pipeline is that scenarios can be built and modified on-the-fly as they are

Emissions of polluting substances in the atmosphere at construction of the pipeline Bolshoy Chagan - Atyrau

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilazhov, E.G.

2005-01-01

Full text : The main pipelines of Kazakhstan represent the most complicated mechanized and the automated hydraulic system which has been very branched out and long. It is equipped by powerful pump stations, lines and constructions of technological communication, telemechanics and automatics, fire-prevention devices, on occasion - furnaces of heating. Construction Oil and gas pipeline Bolschoy Chagan - Atyrau is intended for transportation of a mix of oil, acting on NPS Bolschoy Chagan with Karachaganak Oil and gas deposits (KNGKM), up to Atyrau for pumping in pipeline system of the Caspian pipeline consortium. The maximal volume of a transported product from Bolschoy Chagan up to pipeline KTK will make 10 million tons a year at full projected volume from KNGKM up to Atyrau - 11 million tons/years. The line Oil and gas pipeline Bolschoy Chagan - Atyrau is covered by a network of highways - soil, rural, with a covering and with the improved covering. The largest settlements located in a strip of passage of a line the following: Bolschoy Chagan, Kushum, Budarino, Chapaev, Mergenevo, Lbishchenskoe, Tajpak, Eltaj, Kulagino, Orlik, Green, Mahambet, Sarajshyk. The line Oil and gas pipeline represents a broken line in length of 455,25 km, stretched with the north on the south. The Earth, allocated under construction Oil and gas pipeline now are used for an agricultural production, mainly pasturable cattle breeding, and also in a small degree for cultivation grain, vegetable and agro cultures. According to influence of the equipment used at construction and operation Oil and gas pipeline on atmospheric air, inventory of sources of emissions is lead to an atmosphere in view of duration of work during which sources of emissions have been revealed all, total and as much as possible single emissions from stationary sources are calculated. It has been revealed, that here take place, both stationary sources of emissions, and mobile to which all motor transport concerns, and also

Logistics aspects of petroleum pipeline operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. J. Pienaar

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The paper identifies, assesses and describes the logistics aspects of the commercial operation of petroleum pipelines. The nature of petroleum-product supply chains, in which pipelines play a role, is outlined and the types of petroleum pipeline systems are described. An outline is presented of the nature of the logistics activities of petroleum pipeline operations. The reasons for the cost efficiency of petroleum pipeline operations are given. The relative modal service effectiveness of petroleum pipeline transport, based on the most pertinent service performance measures, is offered. The segments in the petroleum-products supply chain where pipelines can play an efficient and effective role are identified.

Hydrocarbons pipeline transportation risk assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Zanin, A. V.; Milke, A. A.; Kvasov, I. N.

2018-04-01

The pipeline transportation applying risks assessment issue in the arctic conditions is addressed in the paper. Pipeline quality characteristics in the given environment has been assessed. To achieve the stated objective, the pipelines mathematical model was designed and visualized by using the software product SOLIDWORKS. When developing the mathematical model the obtained results made possible to define the pipeline optimal characteristics for designing on the Arctic sea bottom. In the course of conducting the research the pipe avalanche collapse risks were examined, internal longitudinal and circular loads acting on the pipeline were analyzed, as well as the water impact hydrodynamic force was taken into consideration. The conducted calculation can contribute to the pipeline transport further development under the harsh climate conditions of the Russian Federation Arctic shelf territory.

Slurry pipeline design approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Betinol, Roy; Navarro R, Luis [Brass Chile S.A., Santiago (Chile)

2009-12-19

Compared to other engineering technologies, the design of a commercial long distance Slurry Pipeline design is a relatively new engineering concept which gained more recognition in the mid 1960 's. Slurry pipeline was first introduced to reduce cost in transporting coal to power generating units. Since then this technology has caught-up worldwide to transport other minerals such as limestone, copper, zinc and iron. In South America, the use of pipeline is commonly practiced in the transport of Copper (Chile, Peru and Argentina), Iron (Chile and Brazil), Zinc (Peru) and Bauxite (Brazil). As more mining operations expand and new mine facilities are opened, the design of the long distance slurry pipeline will continuously present a commercially viable option. The intent of this paper is to present the design process and discuss any new techniques and approach used today to ensure a better, safer and economical slurry pipeline. (author)

Mapping of brain activity by automated volume analysis of immediate early genes

Science.gov (United States)

Renier, Nicolas; Adams, Eliza L.; Kirst, Christoph; Wu, Zhuhao; Azevedo, Ricardo; Kohl, Johannes; Autry, Anita E.; Kadiri, Lolahon; Venkataraju, Kannan Umadevi; Zhou, Yu; Wang, Victoria X.; Tang, Cheuk Y.; Olsen, Olav; Dulac, Catherine; Osten, Pavel; Tessier-Lavigne, Marc

2016-01-01

Summary Understanding how neural information is processed in physiological and pathological states would benefit from precise detection, localization and quantification of the activity of all neurons across the entire brain, which has not to date been achieved in the mammalian brain. We introduce a pipeline for high speed acquisition of brain activity at cellular resolution through profiling immediate early gene expression using immunostaining and light-sheet fluorescence imaging, followed by automated mapping and analysis of activity by an open-source software program we term ClearMap. We validate the pipeline first by analysis of brain regions activated in response to Haloperidol. Next, we report new cortical regions downstream of whisker-evoked sensory processing during active exploration. Lastly, we combine activity mapping with axon tracing to uncover new brain regions differentially activated during parenting behavior. This pipeline is widely applicable to different experimental paradigms, including animal species for which transgenic activity reporters are not readily available. PMID:27238021

LNG transport through pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pfund, P; Philipps, A

1975-01-01

LNG pipelines could help solve some peakshaving problems if operated in conjunction with other facilities that could use the LNG cold recovered during regasification. In some areas at present, LNG is delivered by tanker and regasified near the terminal for transmission through conventional gas pipelines. In other places, utilities liquefy natural gas for easy storage for later peakshaving use. The only chance to avoid the second expensive liquefaction step would be to convey imported LNG through a suitable designed LNG pipeline. The technical problems involved in LNG pipeline construction have basically been solved in recent years, but those pipelines actually constructed have been only short ones. To be economically justified, long-distance LNG lines require additional credit, which could be obtained by selling the LNG cold recovered during regasification to industrial users located in or near the points of gas consumption. Technical details presented cover the pipe material, stress relief, steel composition, pressure enthalpy, bellows-type expansion joints, and mechanical and thermal insulation.

Quantification of common carotid artery and descending aorta vessel wall thickness from MR vessel wall imaging using a fully automated processing pipeline.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Shan; van 't Klooster, Ronald; Brandts, Anne; Roes, Stijntje D; Alizadeh Dehnavi, Reza; de Roos, Albert; Westenberg, Jos J M; van der Geest, Rob J

2017-01-01

To develop and evaluate a method that can fully automatically identify the vessel wall boundaries and quantify the wall thickness for both common carotid artery (CCA) and descending aorta (DAO) from axial magnetic resonance (MR) images. 3T MRI data acquired with T 1 -weighted gradient-echo black-blood imaging sequence from carotid (39 subjects) and aorta (39 subjects) were used to develop and test the algorithm. The vessel wall segmentation was achieved by respectively fitting a 3D cylindrical B-spline surface to the boundaries of lumen and outer wall. The tube-fitting was based on the edge detection performed on the signal intensity (SI) profile along the surface normal. To achieve a fully automated process, Hough Transform (HT) was developed to estimate the lumen centerline and radii for the target vessel. Using the outputs of HT, a tube model for lumen segmentation was initialized and deformed to fit the image data. Finally, lumen segmentation was dilated to initiate the adaptation procedure of outer wall tube. The algorithm was validated by determining: 1) its performance against manual tracing; 2) its interscan reproducibility in quantifying vessel wall thickness (VWT); 3) its capability of detecting VWT difference in hypertensive patients compared with healthy controls. Statistical analysis including Bland-Altman analysis, t-test, and sample size calculation were performed for the purpose of algorithm evaluation. The mean distance between the manual and automatically detected lumen/outer wall contours was 0.00 ± 0.23/0.09 ± 0.21 mm for CCA and 0.12 ± 0.24/0.14 ± 0.35 mm for DAO. No significant difference was observed between the interscan VWT assessment using automated segmentation for both CCA (P = 0.19) and DAO (P = 0.94). Both manual and automated segmentation detected significantly higher carotid (P = 0.016 and P = 0.005) and aortic (P < 0.001 and P = 0.021) wall thickness in the hypertensive patients. A reliable and reproducible pipeline for fully

The pipeline system for Octave and Matlab (PSOM): a lightweight scripting framework and execution engine for scientific workflows.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellec, Pierre; Lavoie-Courchesne, Sébastien; Dickinson, Phil; Lerch, Jason P; Zijdenbos, Alex P; Evans, Alan C

2012-01-01

The analysis of neuroimaging databases typically involves a large number of inter-connected steps called a pipeline. The pipeline system for Octave and Matlab (PSOM) is a flexible framework for the implementation of pipelines in the form of Octave or Matlab scripts. PSOM does not introduce new language constructs to specify the steps and structure of the workflow. All steps of analysis are instead described by a regular Matlab data structure, documenting their associated command and options, as well as their input, output, and cleaned-up files. The PSOM execution engine provides a number of automated services: (1) it executes jobs in parallel on a local computing facility as long as the dependencies between jobs allow for it and sufficient resources are available; (2) it generates a comprehensive record of the pipeline stages and the history of execution, which is detailed enough to fully reproduce the analysis; (3) if an analysis is started multiple times, it executes only the parts of the pipeline that need to be reprocessed. PSOM is distributed under an open-source MIT license and can be used without restriction for academic or commercial projects. The package has no external dependencies besides Matlab or Octave, is straightforward to install and supports of variety of operating systems (Linux, Windows, Mac). We ran several benchmark experiments on a public database including 200 subjects, using a pipeline for the preprocessing of functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI). The benchmark results showed that PSOM is a powerful solution for the analysis of large databases using local or distributed computing resources.

Planned and proposed pipeline regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Leon, C.

1992-01-01

The Research and Special Programs Administration administers the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (NGPSA) and the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 (HLPSA). The RSPA issues and enforces design, construction, operation and maintenance regulations for natural gas pipelines and hazardous liquid pipelines. This paper discusses a number of proposed and pending safety regulations and legislative initiatives currently being considered by the RSPA and the US Congress. Some new regulations have been enacted. The next few years will see a great deal of regulatory activity regarding natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines, much of it resulting from legislative requirements. The office of Pipeline Safety is currently conducting a study to streamline its operations. This study is analyzing the office's business, social and technical operations with the goal of improving overall efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and job satisfaction to meet the challenges of the future

Automated reliability assessment for spectroscopic redshift measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Jamal, S.; Le Brun, V.; Le Fèvre, O.; Vibert, D.; Schmitt, A.; Surace, C.; Copin, Y.; Garilli, B.; Moresco, M.; Pozzetti, L.

2018-03-01

Context. Future large-scale surveys, such as the ESA Euclid mission, will produce a large set of galaxy redshifts (≥106) that will require fully automated data-processing pipelines to analyze the data, extract crucial information and ensure that all requirements are met. A fundamental element in these pipelines is to associate to each galaxy redshift measurement a quality, or reliability, estimate. Aim. In this work, we introduce a new approach to automate the spectroscopic redshift reliability assessment based on machine learning (ML) and characteristics of the redshift probability density function. Methods: We propose to rephrase the spectroscopic redshift estimation into a Bayesian framework, in order to incorporate all sources of information and uncertainties related to the redshift estimation process and produce a redshift posterior probability density function (PDF). To automate the assessment of a reliability flag, we exploit key features in the redshift posterior PDF and machine learning algorithms. Results: As a working example, public data from the VIMOS VLT Deep Survey is exploited to present and test this new methodology. We first tried to reproduce the existing reliability flags using supervised classification in order to describe different types of redshift PDFs, but due to the subjective definition of these flags (classification accuracy 58%), we soon opted for a new homogeneous partitioning of the data into distinct clusters via unsupervised classification. After assessing the accuracy of the new clusters via resubstitution and test predictions (classification accuracy 98%), we projected unlabeled data from preliminary mock simulations for the Euclid space mission into this mapping to predict their redshift reliability labels. Conclusions: Through the development of a methodology in which a system can build its own experience to assess the quality of a parameter, we are able to set a preliminary basis of an automated reliability assessment for

Chechnya: the pipeline front

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon,

1999-11-01

This article examines the impact of the Russian campaign against Chechnya on projects for oil and gas pipelines from the new Caspian republics, which are seeking financial support. Topics discussed include the pipeline transport of oil from Azerbaijan through Chechnya to the Black Sea, the use of oil money to finance the war, the push for non-Russian export routes, the financing of pipelines, the impact of the war on the supply of Russian and Turkmenistan gas to Turkey, the proposed construction of the Trans Caspian pipeline, the weakening of trust between Russia and its neighbours, and the potential for trans Caucasus republics to look to western backers due to the instability of the North Caucasus. (UK)

Pipelines in power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oude-Hengel, H.H.

1978-01-01

Since the end of the Sixties, steam-transporting pipelines are given great attention, as pipeline components often fail, partially even long before their designed operation time is over. Thus, experts must increasingly deal with questions of pipelines and their components. Design and calculation, production and operation of pipelines are included in the discussion. Within the frame of this discussion, planners, producers, operators, and technical surveillance personnel must be able to offer a homogenous 'plan for assuring the quality of pipelines' in fossil and nuclear power plants. This book tries to make a contribution to this topic. 'Quality assuring' means efforts made for meeting the demands of quality (reliability). The book does not intend to complete with well-known manuals, as for as a complete covering of the topic is concerned. A substantial part of its sections serves to show how quality assurance of pipelines can be at least partially obtained by surveillance measures beginning with the planning, covering the production, and finally accompanying the operation. There is hardly need to mention that the sort of planning, production, and operation has an important influence on the quality. This is why another part of the sections contain process aspects from the view of the planners, producers, and operators. (orig.) [de

Thermal expansion absorbing structure for pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagata, Takashi; Yamashita, Takuya.

1995-01-01

A thermal expansion absorbing structure for a pipeline is disposed to the end of pipelines to form a U-shaped cross section connecting a semi-circular torus shell and a short double-walled cylindrical tube. The U-shaped longitudinal cross-section is deformed in accordance with the shrinking deformation of the pipeline and absorbs thermal expansion. Namely, since the central lines of the outer and inner tubes of the double-walled cylindrical tube deform so as to incline, when the pipeline is deformed by thermal expansion, thermal expansion can be absorbed by a simple configuration thereby enabling to contribute to ensure the safety. Then, the entire length of the pipeline can greatly be shortened by applying it to the pipeline disposed in a high temperature state compared with a method of laying around a pipeline using only elbows, which has been conducted so far. Especially, when it is applied to a pipeline for an FBR-type reactor, the cost for the construction of a facility of a primary systems can greater be reduced. In addition, it can be applied to a pipeline for usual chemical plants and any other structures requiring absorption of deformation. (N.H.)

Fishing intensity around the BBL pipeline

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hintzen, Niels

2016-01-01

Wageningen Marine Research was requested by ACRB B.V. to investigate the fishing activities around the BBL pipeline. This gas pipeline crosses the southern North Sea from Balgzand (near Den Helder) in the Netherlands to Bacton in the UK (230km). This pipeline is abbreviated as the BBL pipeline. Part

Diagnosing in building main pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Telegin, L.G.; Gorelov, A.S.; Kurepin, B.N.; Orekhov, V.I.; Vasil' yev, G.G.; Yakovlev, Ye. I.

1984-01-01

General principles are examined for technical diagnosis in building main pipelines. A technique is presented for diagnosis during construction, as well as diagnosis of the technical state of the pipeline-construction machines and mechanisms. The survey materials could be used to set up construction of main pipelines.

Pipeline integrity handbook risk management and evaluation

CERN Document Server

Singh, Ramesh

2013-01-01

Based on over 40 years of experience in the field, Ramesh Singh goes beyond corrosion control, providing techniques for addressing present and future integrity issues. Pipeline Integrity Handbook provides pipeline engineers with the tools to evaluate and inspect pipelines, safeguard the life cycle of their pipeline asset and ensure that they are optimizing delivery and capability. Presented in easy-to-use, step-by-step order, Pipeline Integrity Handbook is a quick reference for day-to-day use in identifying key pipeline degradation mechanisms and threats to pipeline integrity. The book begins

Internal corrosion control of northern pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Papavinasam, S.

2005-02-01

The general causes of internal corrosion in pipelines were discussed along with the methods to control them. Efficient methods are needed to determine chemical efficiency for mitigating internal corrosion in transmission pipelines, particularly those used in environmentally sensitive regions in the Arctic where harsh environmental conditions prevail. According to the Office of Pipeline Safety, 15 per cent of pipeline failures in the United States from 1994 to 2000 were caused by internal corrosion. Since pipelines in the United States are slightly older than Canadian pipelines, internal corrosion is a significant issue from a Canadian perspective. There are 306,618 km of energy-related pipelines in western Canada. Between April 2001 and March 2002 there were 808 failures, of which 425 failures resulted from internal corrosion. The approach to control internal corrosion comprises of dehydrating the gases at production facilities; controlling the quality of corrosive gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide; and, using internal coatings. The approaches to control internal corrosion are appropriate, when supplemented by adequate integrity management program to ensure that corrosive liquids do not collect, over the operational lifetime of the pipelines, at localized areas. It was suggested that modeling of pipeline operations may need improvement. This paper described the causes, prediction and control of internal pitting corrosion. It was concluded that carbon steel equipment can continue to be used reliably and safely as pipeline materials for northern pipelines if the causes that lead to internal corrosion are scientifically and accurately predicted, and if corrosion inhibitors are properly evaluated and applied. 5 figs.

Trouble in the pipeline?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Snieckus, Darius

2002-10-01

The author provides a commentary on the political, economic, environmental and social problems facing the proposed 3 billion US dollars Baku-Ceyhan-Tbilisi export pipeline. The 1760 km long pipeline has been designed to carry 1 million b/d of crude oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey's Mediterranean coast. The pipeline is being constructed by a BP-led consortium made up of Socar, Statoil, Unocal, TPAO, Eni, Itochu, Amerada Hess, TotalFinaElf and BP. (UK)

Canadian pipeline transportation system : transportation assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-07-01

In addition to regulating the construction and operation of 70,000 km of oil and natural gas pipelines in Canada, the National Energy Board (NEB) regulates the trade of natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids. This report provided an assessment of the Canadian hydrocarbon transportation system in relation to its ability to provide a robust energy infrastructure. Data was collected from NEB-regulated pipeline companies and a range of publicly available sources to determine if adequate pipeline capacity is in place to transport products to consumers. The NEB also used throughput and capacity information received from pipeline operators as well as members of the investment community. The study examined price differentials compared with firm service tolls for transportation paths, as well as capacity utilization on pipelines and the degree of apportionment on major oil pipelines. This review indicated that in general, the Canadian pipeline transportation system continues to work effectively, with adequate pipeline capacity in place to move products to consumers who need them. 9 tabs., 30 figs., 3 appendices.

77 FR 6857 - Pipeline Safety: Notice of Public Meetings on Improving Pipeline Leak Detection System...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-09

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID... installed to lessen the volume of natural gas and hazardous liquid released during catastrophic pipeline... p.m. Panel 3: Considerations for Natural Gas Pipeline Leak Detection Systems 3:30 p.m. Break 3:45 p...

Neutron backscattered application in investigation for Pipeline Intelligent Gauge (PIG) tracking in RAYMINTEX matrix pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Fakarudin Badul Rahman; Ismail Mustapha; Nor Paiza Mohd Hasan; Pairu Ibrahim; Airwan Affandi Mahmood; Mior Ahmad Khusaini Adnan; Najib Mohammed Zakey

2012-01-01

The Radiation Vulcanized Natural Rubber Latex (RVNRL) process plants such RAYMINTEX, pipelines are used extensively to transfer a latex product from storage vessel and being irradiated to produce a high quality of latex. A hydraulically activated Pipeline Intelligent Gauge (PIG) was held back against the latex flow. Consequently, the stuck PIG in pipeline was subjected to interrupt plant operation. The investigation was carried out using the neutron backscattered technique scanner to track the stuck PIG in pipeline of RVNRL plant. The 50 mCi Americium Beryllium (AmBe 241 ) fast neutron emitter source in the range 0.5-11 MeV has been used and thermal neutrons in the 30 eV- 0.5 MeV was detected using Helium-3 (He 3 ) detector. It is observed that there is unambiguous relationship between vapour and RVNRL consequence of diverse hydrogen concentration in pipeline. Thus, neutron backscattered technique was capable to determine the location of stuck PIG in a RVNRL pipeline. (author)

Natural gas pipeline technology overview.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Folga, S. M.; Decision and Information Sciences

2007-11-01

The United States relies on natural gas for one-quarter of its energy needs. In 2001 alone, the nation consumed 21.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. A large portion of natural gas pipeline capacity within the United States is directed from major production areas in Texas and Louisiana, Wyoming, and other states to markets in the western, eastern, and midwestern regions of the country. In the past 10 years, increasing levels of gas from Canada have also been brought into these markets (EIA 2007). The United States has several major natural gas production basins and an extensive natural gas pipeline network, with almost 95% of U.S. natural gas imports coming from Canada. At present, the gas pipeline infrastructure is more developed between Canada and the United States than between Mexico and the United States. Gas flows from Canada to the United States through several major pipelines feeding U.S. markets in the Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and California. Some key examples are the Alliance Pipeline, the Northern Border Pipeline, the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, the TransCanada Pipeline System, and Westcoast Energy pipelines. Major connections join Texas and northeastern Mexico, with additional connections to Arizona and between California and Baja California, Mexico (INGAA 2007). Of the natural gas consumed in the United States, 85% is produced domestically. Figure 1.1-1 shows the complex North American natural gas network. The pipeline transmission system--the 'interstate highway' for natural gas--consists of 180,000 miles of high-strength steel pipe varying in diameter, normally between 30 and 36 inches in diameter. The primary function of the transmission pipeline company is to move huge amounts of natural gas thousands of miles from producing regions to local natural gas utility delivery points. These delivery points, called 'city gate stations', are usually owned by distribution companies, although some are owned by

Creativity in action: elegantly simple idea puts firm on international pipeline map

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Podlubny, J.

2002-05-06

A saddle bag-like device, a relatively simple invention to carry weights to hold pipelines stable in wet environments, has catapulted a small Athabasca, Alberta, company to international prominence. The saddle bag is made of 100 per cent non-biodegradable material called geotextile, commonly referred to as road matting. The bags have a life expectancy of 100 years or more, easily outlasting the pipe they protect from shifting. Weighting systems are used on pipelines to achieve the negative buoyancy required to prevent them from floating out of wet ground. They are essential in wide swats of the northern areas where the oil and gas industry operates. The saddle bags replace the traditional concrete weights which have been either bolted down or set on top of the pipe. They were bulky and hard to transport, as well as difficult to place on the pipe. In contrast, the saddle bags are easy to transport and easy to install. Indeed, the production process is portable, so that the weighted saddle bags can be made at the site of the pipeline construction job involved. This makes it easier to do pipeline weighting jobs in cold weather, at remote locations or in spots where considerable travel time is involved in completing projects. Saddle Tech has recently joined forces with the giant in the weighting system world from the United States, CRC-Evans. The U.S. firm is marketing the bags under a trademarked name 'the saddle bag'. The product being used on projects in California, as well as on almost 90 per cent of wetlands pipeline work in Alberta and British Columbia. Production was 17,000 bags in the first year of operation. So far this season, more than 40,000 bags have been made and distributed throughout North America. Plans are afoot to expand and convert the production facility to an automated operation, running 24 hours a day.

75 FR 4134 - Pipeline Safety: Leak Detection on Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-26

... safety study on pipeline Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems (NTSB/SS-05/02). The... indications of a leak on the SCADA interface was the impetus for this study. The NTSB examined 13 hazardous... pipelines, the line balance technique for leak detection can often be performed with manual calculations...

Improvement of the banana "Musa acuminata" reference sequence using NGS data and semi-automated bioinformatics methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Guillaume; Baurens, Franc-Christophe; Droc, Gaëtan; Rouard, Mathieu; Cenci, Alberto; Kilian, Andrzej; Hastie, Alex; Doležel, Jaroslav; Aury, Jean-Marc; Alberti, Adriana; Carreel, Françoise; D'Hont, Angélique

2016-03-16

Recent advances in genomics indicate functional significance of a majority of genome sequences and their long range interactions. As a detailed examination of genome organization and function requires very high quality genome sequence, the objective of this study was to improve reference genome assembly of banana (Musa acuminata). We have developed a modular bioinformatics pipeline to improve genome sequence assemblies, which can handle various types of data. The pipeline comprises several semi-automated tools. However, unlike classical automated tools that are based on global parameters, the semi-automated tools proposed an expert mode for a user who can decide on suggested improvements through local compromises. The pipeline was used to improve the draft genome sequence of Musa acuminata. Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) of a segregating population and paired-end sequencing were used to detect and correct scaffold misassemblies. Long insert size paired-end reads identified scaffold junctions and fusions missed by automated assembly methods. GBS markers were used to anchor scaffolds to pseudo-molecules with a new bioinformatics approach that avoids the tedious step of marker ordering during genetic map construction. Furthermore, a genome map was constructed and used to assemble scaffolds into super scaffolds. Finally, a consensus gene annotation was projected on the new assembly from two pre-existing annotations. This approach reduced the total Musa scaffold number from 7513 to 1532 (i.e. by 80%), with an N50 that increased from 1.3 Mb (65 scaffolds) to 3.0 Mb (26 scaffolds). 89.5% of the assembly was anchored to the 11 Musa chromosomes compared to the previous 70%. Unknown sites (N) were reduced from 17.3 to 10.0%. The release of the Musa acuminata reference genome version 2 provides a platform for detailed analysis of banana genome variation, function and evolution. Bioinformatics tools developed in this work can be used to improve genome sequence assemblies in

Development of an optical character recognition pipeline for handwritten form fields from an electronic health record.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Luke V; Peissig, Peggy L; McCarty, Catherine A; Starren, Justin

2012-06-01

Although the penetration of electronic health records is increasing rapidly, much of the historical medical record is only available in handwritten notes and forms, which require labor-intensive, human chart abstraction for some clinical research. The few previous studies on automated extraction of data from these handwritten notes have focused on monolithic, custom-developed recognition systems or third-party systems that require proprietary forms. We present an optical character recognition processing pipeline, which leverages the capabilities of existing third-party optical character recognition engines, and provides the flexibility offered by a modular custom-developed system. The system was configured and run on a selected set of form fields extracted from a corpus of handwritten ophthalmology forms. The processing pipeline allowed multiple configurations to be run, with the optimal configuration consisting of the Nuance and LEADTOOLS engines running in parallel with a positive predictive value of 94.6% and a sensitivity of 13.5%. While limitations exist, preliminary experience from this project yielded insights on the generalizability and applicability of integrating multiple, inexpensive general-purpose third-party optical character recognition engines in a modular pipeline.

Contemporary methods of emergency repair works on transit pipelines. Repair works on in-service pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olma, T.; Winckowski, J.

2007-01-01

The paper presents modern methods and relevant technologies of pipeline failure repairs, basing on TD Williamson technique for hermetic plugging of gas pipelines without interrupting service. Rules for management of emergency situations on the Polish Section of Yamal - Europe Transit Gas Pipeline are being discussed as well. (author)

Northern pipelines : backgrounder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-04-01

Most analysts agree that demand for natural gas in North America will continue to grow. Favourable market conditions created by rising demand and declining production have sparked renewed interest in northern natural gas development. The 2002 Annual Energy Outlook forecasted U.S. consumption to increase at an annual average rate of 2 per cent from 22.8 trillion cubic feet to 33.8 TCF by 2020, mostly due to rapid growth in demand for electric power generation. Natural gas prices are also expected to increase at an annual average rate of 1.6 per cent, reaching $3.26 per thousand cubic feet in 2020. There are currently 3 proposals for pipelines to move northern gas to US markets. They include a stand-alone Mackenzie Delta Project, the Alaska Highway Pipeline Project, and an offshore route that would combine Alaskan and Canadian gas in a pipeline across the floor of the Beaufort Sea. Current market conditions and demand suggest that the projects are not mutually exclusive, but complimentary. The factors that differentiate northern pipeline proposals are reserves, preparedness for market, costs, engineering, and environmental differences. Canada has affirmed its role to provide the regulatory and fiscal certainty needed by industry to make investment decisions. The Government of the Yukon does not believe that the Alaska Highway Project will shut in Mackenzie Delta gas, but will instead pave the way for development of a new northern natural gas industry. The Alaska Highway Pipeline Project will bring significant benefits for the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and the rest of Canada. Unresolved land claims are one of the challenges that has to be addressed for both Yukon and the Northwest Territories, as the proposed Alaska Highway Pipeline will travel through traditional territories of several Yukon first Nations. 1 tab., 4 figs

Automated X-ray image analysis for cargo security: Critical review and future promise.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Thomas W; Jaccard, Nicolas; Morton, Edward J; Griffin, Lewis D

2017-01-01

We review the relatively immature field of automated image analysis for X-ray cargo imagery. There is increasing demand for automated analysis methods that can assist in the inspection and selection of containers, due to the ever-growing volumes of traded cargo and the increasing concerns that customs- and security-related threats are being smuggled across borders by organised crime and terrorist networks. We split the field into the classical pipeline of image preprocessing and image understanding. Preprocessing includes: image manipulation; quality improvement; Threat Image Projection (TIP); and material discrimination and segmentation. Image understanding includes: Automated Threat Detection (ATD); and Automated Contents Verification (ACV). We identify several gaps in the literature that need to be addressed and propose ideas for future research. Where the current literature is sparse we borrow from the single-view, multi-view, and CT X-ray baggage domains, which have some characteristics in common with X-ray cargo.

Crude oil pipeline expansion summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-02-01

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has been working with producers to address issues associated with the development of new pipeline capacity from western Canada. This document presents an assessment of the need for additional oil pipeline capacity given the changing mix of crude oil types and forecasted supply growth. It is of particular interest to crude oil producers and contributes to current available information for market participants. While detailed, the underlying analysis does not account for all the factors that may come into play when individual market participants make choices about which expansions they may support. The key focus is on the importance of timely expansion. It was emphasized that if pipeline expansions lags the crude supply growth, then the consequences would be both significant and unacceptable. Obstacles to timely expansion are also discussed. The report reviews the production and supply forecasts, the existing crude oil pipeline infrastructure, opportunities for new market development, requirements for new pipeline capacity and tolling options for pipeline development. tabs., figs., 1 appendix

77 FR 45417 - Pipeline Safety: Inspection and Protection of Pipeline Facilities After Railway Accidents

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-31

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... Accidents AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA); DOT. [[Page 45418

Canadian pipeline contractors in holding pattern

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caron, G [Pe Ben Pipelines Ltd.; Osadchuk, V; Sharp, M; Stabback, J G

1979-05-21

A discussion of papers presented at a Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada convention includes comments by G. Caron (Pe Ben Pipelines Ltd.) on the continued slack in big-inch pipeline construction into 1980 owing mainly to delayed U.S. and Canadian decisions on outstanding Alaska Highway gas pipeline issues and associated gas export bids and on the use of automatic welding for expeditious construction of the northern sections of the Alaska Highway pipeline; by V. Osadchuk (Majestic Wiley Contract. Ltd.) on the liquidation of surplus construction equipment because of these delays; by M. Sharp (Can. North. Pipeline Agency) on the need for close U.S. and Canadian governmental and industrial cooperation to permit an early 1980 start for construction of the prebuild sections of the Alaska pipeline; and by J. G. Stabback (Can. Natl. Energy Board) on the Alaska oil pipeline applications by Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd., Trans Mountain Pipe Line Co. Ltd., and Kitimat Pipe Line Ltd.

76 FR 28326 - Pipeline Safety: National Pipeline Mapping System Data Submissions and Submission Dates for Gas...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-17

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR 191... Reports AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION: Issuance of... Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule on November 26, 2010...

Measures for security and supervision of pipelines; Massnahmen zur Pipeline-Sicherheit und -Ueberwachung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horlacher, Hans-Burkhard [TU Dresden (Germany). Inst. fuer Wasserbau und Technische Hydromechanik; Giesecke, Juergen [Stuttgart Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Wasserbau

2010-07-01

In a previous publication, the two authors dealt with the hydraulic problems as regards mineral oil pipelines. The present report describes the measures mainly used to guarantee the safety of such pipelines. (orig.)

Pipeline integrity evaluation of oil pipelines using free-swimming acoustic technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ariaratnam, Samuel T. [Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (United States); Chandrasekaran, Muthu [Pure Technologies Limited, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

In the United States, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) funded a joint academy-industry research project, which developed and refined a free-swimming tool called SmartBall. The tool swims through the pipeline and gives results at a much lower cost than current leak detection methods, and it can detect leaks as small as 0.03 gpm of oil. GPS-synchronized above-ground loggers capture acoustic signals and record the passage of the tool through the pipeline. The tool is spherical and smaller than the pipe, through which it rolls silently; it can overcome obstacles that could otherwise make a pipeline unpiggable. SmartBall uses the great potential of acoustic detection, because when a pressurized product leaks from a pipe, it produces a distinctive acoustic signal that travels through the product; at the same time, it overcomes the problem caused by the very limited range of this signal. This technology can prevent enormous economic consequences such as a 50,000-gallon gasoline spill that happened in 2003 between Tucson and Phoenix.

AutoDrug: fully automated macromolecular crystallography workflows for fragment-based drug discovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, Yingssu; McPhillips, Scott E.; González, Ana; McPhillips, Timothy M.; Zinn, Daniel; Cohen, Aina E.; Feese, Michael D.; Bushnell, David; Tiefenbrunn, Theresa; Stout, C. David; Ludaescher, Bertram; Hedman, Britt; Hodgson, Keith O.; Soltis, S. Michael

2013-01-01

New software has been developed for automating the experimental and data-processing stages of fragment-based drug discovery at a macromolecular crystallography beamline. A new workflow-automation framework orchestrates beamline-control and data-analysis software while organizing results from multiple samples. AutoDrug is software based upon the scientific workflow paradigm that integrates the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource macromolecular crystallography beamlines and third-party processing software to automate the crystallography steps of the fragment-based drug-discovery process. AutoDrug screens a cassette of fragment-soaked crystals, selects crystals for data collection based on screening results and user-specified criteria and determines optimal data-collection strategies. It then collects and processes diffraction data, performs molecular replacement using provided models and detects electron density that is likely to arise from bound fragments. All processes are fully automated, i.e. are performed without user interaction or supervision. Samples can be screened in groups corresponding to particular proteins, crystal forms and/or soaking conditions. A single AutoDrug run is only limited by the capacity of the sample-storage dewar at the beamline: currently 288 samples. AutoDrug was developed in conjunction with RestFlow, a new scientific workflow-automation framework. RestFlow simplifies the design of AutoDrug by managing the flow of data and the organization of results and by orchestrating the execution of computational pipeline steps. It also simplifies the execution and interaction of third-party programs and the beamline-control system. Modeling AutoDrug as a scientific workflow enables multiple variants that meet the requirements of different user groups to be developed and supported. A workflow tailored to mimic the crystallography stages comprising the drug-discovery pipeline of CoCrystal Discovery Inc. has been deployed and successfully

Offshore Pipeline Locations in the Gulf of Mexico, Geographic NAD27, MMS (2007) [pipelines_vectors_mms_2007

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — Offshore Minerals Management Pipeline Locations for the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Contains the lines of the pipeline in the GOM. All pipelines existing in the databases...

Offshore Pipeline Locations in the Gulf of Mexico, Geographic NAD27, MMS (2007) [pipelines_points_mms_2007

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — Offshore Minerals Management Pipeline Locations for the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Contains the points of the pipeline in the GOM. All pipelines existing in the databases...

Northern pipelines : challenges and needs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dean, D.; Brownie, D. [ProLog Canada Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada); Fafara, R. [TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2007-07-01

Working Group 10 presented experiences acquired from the operation of pipeline systems in a northern environment. There are currently 3 pipelines operating north of 60, notably the Shiha gas pipeline near Fort Liard, the Ikhil gas pipeline in Inuvik and the Norman Wells oil pipeline. Each has its unique commissioning, operating and maintenance challenges, as well as specific training and logistical support requirements for the use of in-line inspection tools and other forms of integrity assessment. The effectiveness of cathodic protection systems in a permafrost northern environment was also discussed. It was noted that the delay of the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline Project by two to three years due to joint regulatory review may lead to resource constraints for the project as well as competition for already scarce human resources. The issue of a potential timing conflict with the Alaskan Pipeline Project was also addressed as well as land use issues for routing of supply roads. Integrity monitoring and assessment issues were outlined with reference to pipe soil interaction monitoring in discontinuous permafrost; south facing denuded slope stability; base lining projects; and reclamation issues. It was noted that automatic welding and inspection will increase productivity, while reducing the need for manual labour. In response to anticipated training needs, companies are planning to involve and train Aboriginal labour and will provide camp living conditions that will attract labour. tabs., figs.

Water level detection pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koshikawa, Yukinobu; Imanishi, Masatoshi; Niizato, Masaru; Takagi, Masahiro

1998-01-01

In the present invention, water levels of a feedwater heater and a drain tank in a nuclear power plant are detected at high accuracy. Detection pipeline headers connected to the upper and lower portions of a feedwater heater or a drain tank are connected with each other. The connection line is branched at appropriate two positions and an upper detection pipeline and a lower detection pipeline are connected thereto, and a gauge entrance valve is disposed to each of the detection pipelines. A diaphragm of a pressure difference generator is connected to a flange formed to the end portion. When detecting the change of water level in the feedwater heater or the drain tank as a change of pressure difference, gauge entrance valves on the exit side of the upper and lower detection pipelines are connected by a connection pipe. The gauge entrance valve is closed, a tube is connected to the lower detection pipe to inject water to the diaphragm of the pressure difference generator passing through the connection pipe thereby enabling to calibrate the pressure difference generator. The accuracy of the calibration of instruments is improved and workability thereof upon flange maintenance is also improved. (I.S.)

Stabilité des pipelines non ensouillés. Etude bibliographique Stability of Unburied Pipelines. Bibliographic Study

OpenAIRE

Alliot J. M.

2006-01-01

The integrity of an unburied subsea pipeline depends to a very large extent on its stability on the seabed along its entire length. Hence the determination of this stability is of great importance in the engineering design of pipelines. This article proposes to examine the principal problems raised by the stability of unburied pipelines in the field of soil mechanics. These problems mainly concern the reactions of the soil to pipelines and their assessment, i. e. the forces of soil resistance...

Comparing Existing Pipeline Networks with the Potential Scale of Future U.S. CO2 Pipeline Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dooley, James J.; Dahowski, Robert T.; Davidson, Casie L.

2008-02-29

There is growing interest regarding the potential size of a future U.S. dedicated CO2 pipeline infrastructure if carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies are commercially deployed on a large scale. In trying to understand the potential scale of a future national CO2 pipeline network, comparisons are often made to the existing pipeline networks used to deliver natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons to markets within the U.S. This paper assesses the potential scale of the CO2 pipeline system needed under two hypothetical climate policies and compares this to the extant U.S. pipeline infrastructures used to deliver CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and to move natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons from areas of production and importation to markets. The data presented here suggest that the need to increase the size of the existing dedicated CO2 pipeline system should not be seen as a significant obstacle for the commercial deployment of CCS technologies.

Generating pipeline networks for corrosion assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferguson, J. [Cimarron Engineering Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2008-07-01

Production characteristics and gas-fluid compositions of fluids must be known in order to assess pipelines for internal corrosion risk. In this study, a gathering system pipeline network was built in order to determine corrosion risk for gathering system pipelines. Connections were established between feeder and collector lines in order measure upstream production and the weighted average of the upstream composition of each pipeline in the system. A Norsok M-506 carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) corrosion rate model was used to calculate corrosion rates. A spreadsheet was then used to tabulate the obtained data. The analysis used straight lines drawn between the 'from' and 'to' legal sub-division (LSD) endpoints in order to represent pipelines on an Alberta township system (ATS) and identify connections between pipelines. Well connections were established based on matching surface hole location and 'from' LSDs. Well production, composition, pressure, and temperature data were sourced and recorded as well attributes. XSL hierarchical computations were used to determine the production and composition properties of the commingled inflows. It was concluded that the corrosion assessment process can identify locations within the pipeline network where potential deadlegs branched off from flowing pipelines. 4 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs.

Calculation of NPP pipeline seismic stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirillov, A.P.; Ambriashvili, Yu.K.; Kaliberda, I.V.

1982-01-01

A simplified design procedure of seismic pipeline stability of NPP at WWER reactor is described. The simplified design procedure envisages during the selection and arrangement of pipeline saddle and hydraulic shock absorbers use of method of introduction of resilient mountings of very high rigidity into the calculated scheme of the pipeline and performance of calculations with step-by-step method. It is concluded that the application of the design procedure considered permits to determine strains due to seismic loads, to analyze stressed state in pipeline elements and supporting power of pipe-line saddle with provision for seismic loads to plan measures on seismic protection

Lay Pipeline Abandonment Head during Some

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2016-12-01

Dec 1, 2016 ... is very cruel to the structural integrity of the pipeline structure after ... and properties may be jeopardized should the pipeline structure be used for oil or gas transport when such ... pipelines under bending may alter the material.

78 FR 53190 - Pipeline Safety: Notice to Operators of Hazardous Liquid and Natural Gas Pipelines of a Recall on...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-28

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0185] Pipeline Safety: Notice to Operators of Hazardous Liquid and Natural Gas Pipelines of a Recall on Leak Repair Clamps Due to Defective Seal AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety...

Repairing method for reactor primary system pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosokawa, Hideyuki; Uetake, Naoto; Hara, Teruo.

1997-01-01

Pipelines after decontamination of radioactive nuclides deposited on the pipelines in a nuclear power plant during operation or pipelines to replace pipelines deposited with radioactive nuclide are connected to each system of the nuclear power plant. They are heated in a gas phase containing oxygen to form an oxide film on the surface of the pipelines. The thickness of the oxide film formed in the gas phase is 1nm or greater, preferably 100nm. The concentration of oxygen in the gas phase containing oxygen must be 0.1% or greater. The heating is conducted by circulating a heated gas to the inside of the pipelines or disposing a movable heater such as a high frequency induction heater inside of the pipelines to form the oxide film. Then, redeposition of radioactive nuclide can be suppressed and since the oxide film is formed in the gas phase, a large scaled facilities are not necessary, thereby enabling to repair pipelines of reactor primary system at low cost. (N.H.)

U.S. interstate pipelines ran more efficiently in 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

True, W.R.

1995-01-01

Regulated US interstate pipelines began 1995 under the momentum of impressive efficiency improvements in 1994. Annual reports filed with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) show that both natural-gas and petroleum liquids pipeline companies increased their net incomes last year despite declining operating revenues. This article discusses trends in the pipeline industry and gives data on the following: pipeline revenues, incomes--1994; current pipeline costs; pipeline costs--estimated vs. actual; current compressor construction costs; compressor costs--estimated vs. actual; US interstate mileage; investment in liquids pipelines; 10-years of land construction costs; top 10 interstate liquids pipelines; top 10 interstate gas pipelines; liquids pipeline companies; and gas pipeline companies

A quick guide to pipeline engineering

CERN Document Server

Alkazraji, D

2008-01-01

Pipeline engineering requires an understanding of a wide range of topics. Operators must take into account numerous pipeline codes and standards, calculation approaches, and reference materials in order to make accurate and informed decisions.A Quick Guide to Pipeline Engineering provides concise, easy-to-use, and accessible information on onshore and offshore pipeline engineering. Topics covered include: design; construction; testing; operation and maintenance; and decommissioning.Basic principles are discussed and clear guidance on regulations is provided, in a way that will

AGA: Interactive pipeline for reproducible gene expression and DNA methylation data analyses [version 2; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Considine

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Automated Genomics Analysis (AGA is an interactive program to analyze high-throughput genomic data sets on a variety of platforms. An easy to use, point and click, guided pipeline is implemented to combine, define, and compare datasets, and customize their outputs. In contrast to other automated programs, AGA enables flexible selection of sample groups for comparison from complex sample annotations. Batch correction techniques are also included to further enable the combination of datasets from diverse studies in this comparison. AGA also allows users to save plots, tables and data, and log files containing key portions of the R script run for reproducible analyses. The link between the interface and R supports collaborative research, enabling advanced R users to extend preliminary analyses generated from bioinformatics novices.

Optimal valve location in long oil pipelines

OpenAIRE

Grigoriev, A.; Grigorieva, N.V.

2007-01-01

We address the valve location problem, one of the basic problems in design of long oil pipelines. Whenever a pipeline is depressurized, the shutoff valves block the oil flow and seal the damaged part of the pipeline. Thus, the quantity of oil possibly contaminating the area around the pipeline is determined by the volume of the damaged section of the pipeline between two consecutive valves. Then, ecologic damage can be quantified by the amount of leaked oil and the environmental characteristi...

Solving an unpiggable pipeline challenge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walker, James R. [GE Oil and Gas, PII Pipeline Solutions, Cramlington Northumberland (United Kingdom); Kern, Michael [National Grid, New Hampshire (United Kingdom)

2009-07-01

Technically, any pipeline can be retrofitted to enable in line inspection. Sensibly however, the expense of excavations and construction of permanent facilities have been, in many cases, exceedingly prohibitive. Even where traditional modifications are feasible from engineering perspectives, flow interruption may not be an option - either because they are critical supply lines or because the associated lost revenues could be nearly insurmountable. Savvy pipeline integrity managers know the safety issue that is at stake over the long term. They are also well aware of the accuracy benefits that high-quality in-line inspection data offer over potentially supply disruptive alternatives such as hydrostatic testing. To complicate matters further, many operators, particularly in the US, now face regulatory pressure to assess the integrity of their yet-uninspected pipelines located in highly populated areas. This paper describes an important project National Grid undertook that made use of a unique pipeline access method that did not require permanent installation of expensive facilities required for in line inspection of a pipeline previously considered 'unpiggable'. Since the pipeline was located in an urban area, flow disruption had to be minimized. This paper will define the project background, its challenges, outcomes and lessons learned for the future. (author)

Fishing activity near offshore pipelines, 2017

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Machiels, Marcel

2018-01-01

On the North Sea bottom lie numerous pipelines to link oil- or gas offshore drilling units, - platforms and processing stations on land. Although pipeline tubes are coated and covered with protective layers, the pipelines risk being damaged through man-made hazards like anchor dropping and fishing

Automated Water Supply System and Water Theft Identification Using PLC and SCADA

OpenAIRE

Prof. Anubha Panchal,; Ketakee Dagade

2014-01-01

In today’s world rapid growing urban residential areas, to avoid scarcity of water problems and requirements of consumers, therefore it is supposed to supply adequate water distribution networks are managed automatically. Along with this another problem in the water supply system is that public is using suction pumps to suck the water directly from the home street pipeline. The best way to improve the automation and monitoring architectures which contain a supervision and contr...

76 FR 54531 - Pipeline Safety: Potential for Damage to Pipeline Facilities Caused by the Passage of Hurricanes

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

... prescribed in Sec. 195.452(h).'' Operators of shallow-water gas and hazardous liquid pipelines in the Gulf of... pipeline safety: 1. Identify persons who normally engage in shallow-water commercial fishing, shrimping... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No...

Living and working near pipelines : Landowner guide 2002

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2002-01-01

The transportation of natural gas, oil and other commodities is effected by pipelines throughout most of the country. Safety in the vicinity of a pipeline is very important because damage to a pipeline could result in adverse conditions to public safety and/or the environment. Before digging, written approval must be obtained from the pipeline company. If a landowner is having difficulty negotiating an agreement with the pipeline company, they should call the National Energy Board. It is illegal to construct or excavate without authorization, and approval or denial of a request must be granted within 10 business days by the pipeline company. Three days are allowed to the pipeline company to locate its pipeline. A section dealing with pipeline right-of-way is included, as well as the safety zone and the restricted area. A 10-step checklist of safety tips assists the landowner in taking the appropriate measures in the vicinity of a pipeline. A brief overview of the responsibilities of the National Energy Board is provided, followed by a list of the main pipelines regulated by the National Energy Board. 2 figs

Submarine pipelines and the North Sea environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haldane, D.; Paul, M.A.; Reuben, R.L.; Side, J.C.

1992-01-01

The function and design of pipelines for use on the United Kingdom continental shelf are described. Environmental influences which can threaten the integrity of seabed pipelines in the North Sea include hydrodynamic forces due to residual, tidal and wave currents, the nature of seabed sediments and corrosion by seawater. Damage may be caused to pipelines by interaction with vessel anchors and with fishing gear. Special care has to be taken over the selection of the general area for the landfall of a pipeline and the engineering of the installation where the pipeline comes ashore. Trenching and other protection techniques for pipelines are discussed together with hydrostatic testing and commissioning and subsequent inspection, maintenance and repair. (UK)

The Very Large Array Data Processing Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Brian R.; Masters, Joseph S.; Chandler, Claire J.; Davis, Lindsey E.; Kern, Jeffrey S.; Ott, Juergen; Schinzel, Frank K.; Medlin, Drew; Muders, Dirk; Williams, Stewart; Geers, Vincent C.; Momjian, Emmanuel; Butler, Bryan J.; Nakazato, Takeshi; Sugimoto, Kanako

2018-01-01

We present the VLA Pipeline, software that is part of the larger pipeline processing framework used for the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), and Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) for both interferometric and single dish observations.Through a collection of base code jointly used by the VLA and ALMA, the pipeline builds a hierarchy of classes to execute individual atomic pipeline tasks within the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package. Each pipeline task contains heuristics designed by the team to actively decide the best processing path and execution parameters for calibration and imaging. The pipeline code is developed and written in Python and uses a "context" structure for tracking the heuristic decisions and processing results. The pipeline "weblog" acts as the user interface in verifying the quality assurance of each calibration and imaging stage. The majority of VLA scheduling blocks above 1 GHz are now processed with the standard continuum recipe of the pipeline and offer a calibrated measurement set as a basic data product to observatory users. In addition, the pipeline is used for processing data from the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS), a seven year community-driven endeavor started in September 2017 to survey the entire sky down to a declination of -40 degrees at S-band (2-4 GHz). This 5500 hour next-generation large radio survey will explore the time and spectral domains, relying on pipeline processing to generate calibrated measurement sets, polarimetry, and imaging data products that are available to the astronomical community with no proprietary period. Here we present an overview of the pipeline design philosophy, heuristics, and calibration and imaging results produced by the pipeline. Future development will include the testing of spectral line recipes, low signal-to-noise heuristics, and serving as a testing platform for science ready data products.The pipeline is developed as part of the CASA software package by an

Overview of interstate hydrogen pipeline systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gillette, J.L.; Kolpa, R.L.

2008-01-01

The use of hydrogen in the energy sector of the United States is projected to increase significantly in the future. Current uses are predominantly in the petroleum refining sector, with hydrogen also being used in the manufacture of chemicals and other specialized products. Growth in hydrogen consumption is likely to appear in the refining sector, where greater quantities of hydrogen will be required as the quality of the raw crude decreases, and in the mining and processing of tar sands and other energy resources that are not currently used at a significant level. Furthermore, the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel has been proposed both by automobile manufacturers and the federal government. Assuming that the use of hydrogen will significantly increase in the future, there would be a corresponding need to transport this material. A variety of production technologies are available for making hydrogen, and there are equally varied raw materials. Potential raw materials include natural gas, coal, nuclear fuel, and renewables such as solar, wind, or wave energy. As these raw materials are not uniformly distributed throughout the United States, it would be necessary to transport either the raw materials or the hydrogen long distances to the appropriate markets. While hydrogen may be transported in a number of possible forms, pipelines currently appear to be the most economical means of moving it in large quantities over great distances. One means of controlling hydrogen pipeline costs is to use common rights-of-way (ROWs) whenever feasible. For that reason, information on hydrogen pipelines is the focus of this document. Many of the features of hydrogen pipelines are similar to those of natural gas pipelines. Furthermore, as hydrogen pipeline networks expand, many of the same construction and operating features of natural gas networks would be replicated. As a result, the description of hydrogen pipelines will be very similar to that of natural gas pipelines

Overview of interstate hydrogen pipeline systems.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gillette, J .L.; Kolpa, R. L

2008-02-01

The use of hydrogen in the energy sector of the United States is projected to increase significantly in the future. Current uses are predominantly in the petroleum refining sector, with hydrogen also being used in the manufacture of chemicals and other specialized products. Growth in hydrogen consumption is likely to appear in the refining sector, where greater quantities of hydrogen will be required as the quality of the raw crude decreases, and in the mining and processing of tar sands and other energy resources that are not currently used at a significant level. Furthermore, the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel has been proposed both by automobile manufacturers and the federal government. Assuming that the use of hydrogen will significantly increase in the future, there would be a corresponding need to transport this material. A variety of production technologies are available for making hydrogen, and there are equally varied raw materials. Potential raw materials include natural gas, coal, nuclear fuel, and renewables such as solar, wind, or wave energy. As these raw materials are not uniformly distributed throughout the United States, it would be necessary to transport either the raw materials or the hydrogen long distances to the appropriate markets. While hydrogen may be transported in a number of possible forms, pipelines currently appear to be the most economical means of moving it in large quantities over great distances. One means of controlling hydrogen pipeline costs is to use common rights-of-way (ROWs) whenever feasible. For that reason, information on hydrogen pipelines is the focus of this document. Many of the features of hydrogen pipelines are similar to those of natural gas pipelines. Furthermore, as hydrogen pipeline networks expand, many of the same construction and operating features of natural gas networks would be replicated. As a result, the description of hydrogen pipelines will be very similar to that of natural gas pipelines

Transmission pipeline calculations and simulations manual

CERN Document Server

Menon, E Shashi

2014-01-01

Transmission Pipeline Calculations and Simulations Manual is a valuable time- and money-saving tool to quickly pinpoint the essential formulae, equations, and calculations needed for transmission pipeline routing and construction decisions. The manual's three-part treatment starts with gas and petroleum data tables, followed by self-contained chapters concerning applications. Case studies at the end of each chapter provide practical experience for problem solving. Topics in this book include pressure and temperature profile of natural gas pipelines, how to size pipelines for specified f

Pipeline rehabilitation planning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palmer-Jones, Roland; Hopkins, Phil; Eyre, David [PENSPEN (United Kingdom)

2005-07-01

An operator faced with an onshore pipeline that has extensive damage must consider the need for rehabilitation, the sort of rehabilitation to be used, and the rehabilitation schedule. This paper will consider pipeline rehabilitation based on the authors' experiences from recent projects, and recommend a simple strategy for planning pipeline rehabilitation. It will also consider rehabilitation options: external re-coating; internal lining; internal painting; programmed repairs. The main focus will be external re-coating. Consideration will be given to rehabilitation coating types, including tape wraps, epoxy, and polyurethane. Finally it will discuss different options for scheduling the rehabilitation of corrosion damage including: the statistical comparison of signals from inspection pigs; statistical comparison of selected measurements from inspection pigs and other inspections; the use of corrosion rates estimated for the mechanisms and conditions; expert judgement. (author)

Tubular lining material for pipelines having bends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moringa, A.; Sakaguchi, Y.; Hyodo, M.; Yagi, I.

1987-03-24

A tubular lining material for pipelines having bends or curved portions comprises a tubular textile jacket made of warps and wefts woven in a tubular form overlaid with a coating of a flexible synthetic resin. It is applicable onto the inner surface of a pipeline having bends or curved portions in such manner that the tubular lining material with a binder onto the inner surface thereof is inserted into the pipeline and allowed to advance within the pipeline, with or without the aid of a leading rope-like elongated element, while turning the tubular lining material inside out under fluid pressure. In this manner the tubular lining material is applied onto the inner surface of the pipeline with the binder being interposed between the pipeline and the tubular lining material. The lining material is characterized in that a part of all of the warps are comprised of an elastic yarn around which, over the full length thereof, a synthetic fiber yarn or yarns have been left-and/or right-handedly coiled. This tubular lining material is particularly suitable for lining a pipeline having an inner diameter of 25-200 mm and a plurality of bends, such as gas service pipelines or house pipelines, without occurrence of wrinkles in the lining material in a bend.

Dynamic pressure measures for long pipeline leak detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Likun Wang; Hongchao Wang; Min Xiong; Bin Xu; Dongjie Tan; Hengzhang Zhou [PetroChina Pipeline Company, Langfang (China). R and D Center

2009-07-01

Pipeline leak detection method based on dynamic pressure is studied. The feature of dynamic pressure which is generated by the leakage of pipeline is analyzed. The dynamic pressure method is compared with the static pressure method for the advantages and disadvantages in pipeline leak detection. The dynamic pressure signal is suitable for pipeline leak detection for quick-change of pipeline internal pressure. Field tests show that the dynamic pressure method detects pipeline leak rapidly and precisely. (author)

Arctic pipeline planning design, construction, and equipment

CERN Document Server

Singh, Ramesh

2013-01-01

Utilize the most recent developments to combat challenges such as ice mechanics. The perfect companion for engineers wishing to learn state-of-the-art methods or further develop their knowledge of best practice techniques, Arctic Pipeline Planning provides a working knowledge of the technology and techniques for laying pipelines in the coldest regions of the world. Arctic Pipeline Planning provides must-have elements that can be utilized through all phases of arctic pipeline planning and construction. This includes information on how to: Solve challenges in designing arctic pipelines Protect pipelines from everyday threats such as ice gouging and permafrost Maintain safety and communication for construction workers while supporting typical codes and standards Covers such issues as land survey, trenching or above ground, environmental impact of construction Provides on-site problem-solving techniques utilized through all phases of arctic pipeline planning and construction Is packed with easy-to-read and under...

Oil pipeline energy consumption and efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hooker, J.N.

1981-01-01

This report describes an investigation of energy consumption and efficiency of oil pipelines in the US in 1978. It is based on a simulation of the actual movement of oil on a very detailed representation of the pipeline network, and it uses engineering equations to calculate the energy that pipeline pumps must have exerted on the oil to move it in this manner. The efficiencies of pumps and drivers are estimated so as to arrive at the amount of energy consumed at pumping stations. The throughput in each pipeline segment is estimated by distributing each pipeline company's reported oil movements over its segments in proportions predicted by regression equations that show typical throughput and throughput capacity as functions of pipe diameter. The form of the equations is justified by a generalized cost-engineering study of pipelining, and their parameters are estimated using new techniques developed for the purpose. A simplified model of flow scheduling is chosen on the basis of actual energy use data obtained from a few companies. The study yields energy consumption and intensiveness estimates for crude oil trunk lines, crude oil gathering lines and oil products lines, for the nation as well as by state and by pipe diameter. It characterizes the efficiency of typical pipelines of various diameters operating at capacity. Ancillary results include estimates of oil movements by state and by diameter and approximate pipeline capacity utilization nationwide.

Economic evaluation: wood stave pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rook, M.E.

The spray of leakage from the wood stave water supply pipeline serving the New England Power Company's (NEPCO) Searsburg hydroelectric development had caused this facility to be dubbed ''The Searsburg Car Wash.'' In July, 1982, excessive leakage from this pipeline prompted NEPCO to perform a technical inspection which would inform the company's decision to replace, repair, or abandon the pipeline. The inspection indicated that a combination of interrelated factors has led to rapid deterioration. The feasibility study, which included a benefit -cost analysis of a times replacement with a continued repair program weighed annually by a risk factor representing the probability of pipeline failure during the replacement period, determined that direct replacement was most advantageous. 4 figures, 1 figures.

An advanced automation system for operation of Sao Paulo pumping stations from TRANSPETRO Master Control Center - CNCO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corcioli, Mario Sergio; Barreto, Camila Maria Benevenuto [TRANSPETRO, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

Since 2000 the operations of the TRANSPETRO pumping stations in the state of Sao Paulo region began to be transferred from local control centers located at the transfer and storage terminals to the National Operational Control Center (CNCO) of TRANSPETRO, located at the headquarters of the company, in Rio de Janeiro. The proposed paper aims to presenting an overview of the automation system that was developed to enable such pumping stations to be operated from CNCO in a reliable and secure manner, focusing on tools that offer an embedded system alarms completely free of false alarms with automatic determining of the root cause, and also automatic and advanced diagnoses of problems caused by failures of hardware, human error and abnormal conditions of the process, providing the CNCO SCADA system of accurate and quality information that help operators to make decisions. The referred automation system was integrated for the first time to CNCO SCADA system in 2000, for pipeline pumps of Osvat (Sao Sebastiao - Vale do Paraiba pipeline) station at the Sao Sebastiao Terminal - northern coast of Sao Paulo region. (author)

Acoustic system for communication in pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, II, Louis Peter; Cooper, John F [Oakland, CA

2008-09-09

A system for communication in a pipe, or pipeline, or network of pipes containing a fluid. The system includes an encoding and transmitting sub-system connected to the pipe, or pipeline, or network of pipes that transmits a signal in the frequency range of 3-100 kHz into the pipe, or pipeline, or network of pipes containing a fluid, and a receiver and processor sub-system connected to the pipe, or pipeline, or network of pipes containing a fluid that receives said signal and uses said signal for a desired application.

Current status and future prospects of an automated sample exchange system PAM for protein crystallography

Science.gov (United States)

Hiraki, M.; Yamada, Y.; Chavas, L. M. G.; Matsugaki, N.; Igarashi, N.; Wakatsuki, S.

2013-03-01

To achieve fully-automated and/or remote data collection in high-throughput X-ray experiments, the Structural Biology Research Centre at the Photon Factory (PF) has installed PF automated mounting system (PAM) for sample exchange robots at PF macromolecular crystallography beamlines BL-1A, BL-5A, BL-17A, AR-NW12A and AR-NE3A. We are upgrading the experimental systems, including the PAM for stable and efficient operation. To prevent human error in automated data collection, we installed a two-dimensional barcode reader for identification of the cassettes and sample pins. Because no liquid nitrogen pipeline in the PF experimental hutch is installed, the users commonly add liquid nitrogen using a small Dewar. To address this issue, an automated liquid nitrogen filling system that links a 100-liter tank to the robot Dewar has been installed on the PF macromolecular beamline. Here we describe this new implementation, as well as future prospects.

Health, safety and environment risk assessment in gas pipelines by indexing method:case of Kermanshah Sanandaj oil pipeline

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Hamidi

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Background and AimsUsing pipelines for oil products transportation involves ranges of safety, health and environmental risks, this option however, is dominant with numerous  advantages. The purpose of this study was; relative risk assessment of abovementioned risk in Kermanshah-Sanandaj Oil Pipeline.MethodsThe method used in this study was Kent Muhlbauer method in which relative risk was assessed using third-party damage, corrosion, design, incorrect operations and leak impact  factor.ResultsOnce applying this method, collection of required data and performing needed experiments, scoring results showed 96 risk segments along the pipeline length in which lengths 100+860, 101+384 and 103+670 had relative risk scores 9.74, 9.82 and 9.91 respectively and therefore these segments were identified as focal risk points and priority for improvement actions.ConclusionRegarding importance of pipeline failure, inspection and regular patrol along the pipeline route, precise control of cathodic protection of pipeline and using communication technologies such as SCADA or optical fibers along the pipeline route were amongst the mostimportant control action suggested by the study.

Bulletin 2005-12 : revised Alberta pipeline regulation issued

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-05-31

A revised Pipeline Regulation has been issued and is currently available on the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) website. Changes to the regulation reflect bothchanges in EUB regulatory policy and processes and technological improvements. Goals of the revision include improvements in overall pipeline performance, and the implementation of recommendations derived from the Public Safety and Sour Gas Committee concerning sour gas pipeline safety. The regulation was re-organized for greater clarity, and structured into 11 parts. Issues concerning the transition to the revised regulation were presented. The summary of notable administrative changes included clarifications of when a pipeline application is not required; when ABSA approval is required for steam lines; situations for which low-pressure natural gas lines must be licensed; and emergency response requirements. Technical clarifications include requirements for pipeline operations and maintenance manuals; composite materials; limitations on amounts of H{sub 2}S in polymeric pipe; pressure mismatches; approval for testing with gaseous media; venting of small volumes of raw gas; right-of-way surveillance; inspection of surface construction activities; annual corrosion evaluations; registering of pipelines and excavators in controlled areas with Alberta One-Call; ground disturbance training; restoration and signage maintenance on abandoned pipelines; sour service steel pipelines; unused pipelines and abandoned pipelines; and remediation of stub ends in operating pipelines.

Leak detection systems as a central component of pipeline safety concepts; Leckueberwachungssysteme als zentrale Bestandteile von Pipeline-Sicherheitskonzepten

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogt, Daniel [KROHNE Oil and Gas B.V., Breda (Netherlands)

2013-03-15

The transport of materials in pipelines is continuously increasing worldwide. Pipelines are one of the most economic and safe transport systems in all directions. In order to ensure this, not only new pipelines but also existing pipelines have to be kept up to date technically. Leakages are a possible safety risk. Leaks are manifold and range from earth quakes, corrosion or material fatigue up to open-up by drilling by thieves. A specific leakage detection often is used in order to limit the risks. The minimization of the consequences of accidents, downtimes and product losses as well as regulatory procedures is the reason for the detection of leakages. Leaks in pipelines can be detected on different kinds - from a simple visual inspection during the inspection up to computer-assisted systems monitoring certain states also in underground and submarine pipeline.

Comprehensive investigation into historical pipeline construction costs and engineering economic analysis of Alaska in-state gas pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Rui, Zhenhua

This study analyzes historical cost data of 412 pipelines and 220 compressor stations. On the basis of this analysis, the study also evaluates the feasibility of an Alaska in-state gas pipeline using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Analysis of pipeline construction costs shows that component costs, shares of cost components, and learning rates for material and labor costs vary by diameter, length, volume, year, and location. Overall average learning rates for pipeline material and labor costs are 6.1% and 12.4%, respectively. Overall average cost shares for pipeline material, labor, miscellaneous, and right of way (ROW) are 31%, 40%, 23%, and 7%, respectively. Regression models are developed to estimate pipeline component costs for different lengths, cross-sectional areas, and locations. An analysis of inaccuracy in pipeline cost estimation demonstrates that the cost estimation of pipeline cost components is biased except for in the case of total costs. Overall overrun rates for pipeline material, labor, miscellaneous, ROW, and total costs are 4.9%, 22.4%, -0.9%, 9.1%, and 6.5%, respectively, and project size, capacity, diameter, location, and year of completion have different degrees of impacts on cost overruns of pipeline cost components. Analysis of compressor station costs shows that component costs, shares of cost components, and learning rates for material and labor costs vary in terms of capacity, year, and location. Average learning rates for compressor station material and labor costs are 12.1% and 7.48%, respectively. Overall average cost shares of material, labor, miscellaneous, and ROW are 50.6%, 27.2%, 21.5%, and 0.8%, respectively. Regression models are developed to estimate compressor station component costs in different capacities and locations. An investigation into inaccuracies in compressor station cost estimation demonstrates that the cost estimation for compressor stations is biased except for in the case of material costs. Overall average

optimization for trenchless reconstruction of pipelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhmakov Gennadiy Nikolaevich

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Today the technologies of trenchless reconstruction of pipelines are becoming and more widely used in Russia and abroad. One of the most perspective is methods is shock-free destruction of the old pipeline being replaced with the help of hydraulic installations with working mechanism representing a cutting unit with knife disks and a conic expander. A construction of a working mechanism, which allows making trenchless reconstruction of pipelines of different diameters, is optimized and patented and its developmental prototype is manufactured. The dependence of pipeline cutting force from knifes obtusion of the working mechanisms. The cutting force of old steel pipelines with obtuse knife increases proportional to the value of its obtusion. Two stands for endurance tests of the knifes in laboratory environment are offered and patented.

Stress analysis and mitigation measures for floating pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Wenpeng, Guo; Yuqing, Liu; Chao, Li

2017-03-01

Pipeline-floating is a kind of accident with contingency and uncertainty associated to natural gas pipeline occurring during rainy season, which is significantly harmful to the safety of pipeline. Treatment measures against pipeline floating accident are summarized in this paper on the basis of practical project cases. Stress states of pipeline upon floating are analyzed by means of Finite Element Calculation method. The effectiveness of prevention ways and subsequent mitigation measures upon pipeline-floating are verified for giving guidance to the mitigation of such accidents.

Inquiry into the Alaska road pipeline. Enquete sur le pipeline de la route de l'Alaska

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rowan, P

1977-01-01

This report is addressed to the Minister of Indian Affairs and to the Canadian North in Ottawa and deals with the social and economic impacts of a proposed gas pipeline in the South of Yukon and with the attitudes of the Yukonnese people with respect to this project. Many public hearings were held. The report discusses the Yukon people (Indians and non-Indians) and the consequences of the projected pipeline on the environment, the economics of the region and the way of life of its people. The report also presents the claims of the Indians pertaining to the land. It is advocated that an advance payment of $50M be made to the Indians and that the pipeline corporation pay a compensation of at least $200M to a fund administered by the Yukon. An organization for planning and regulating the pipeline should be establised. It is advised to delay constructing the pipeline until August 1981. Other recommendations are made. Many witnesses supported a layout following roughly the Tintina groove, but none supported the Dawson deviation. Most witnesses opposed constructing the lateral Dempster pipeline for the moment. The report is illustrated with numerous colour photographs. 7 figs., 2 tabs.

Methodology for environmental audit of execution in gas-pipelines and pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hurtado Palomino, Maria Patricia; Vargas Bejarano, Carlos Hernando

1999-01-01

In first instance the constructive aspects and the environmental impact related with the gas-pipes and pipelines construction are presented; then a methodology to make the environmental audit of execution in gas-pipes and pipelines, is showed. They contemplate four stages basically: planning, pre-auditory, execution and analysis, and post-auditory with their respective activities. Also, it is given to know, generalities of the practical case, to evaluate the applicability of the proposed methodology

Best practices for the abandonment of pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mackean, M; Reed, R; Snow, B [Nabors Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada). Abandonrite Service

2006-07-01

Pipeline regulations implemented in 2006 require that licensees register all pipelines. Training must also be provided for ground disturbance supervisors. In addition, signage must be maintained on abandoned pipelines, and discontinued pipelines must be properly isolated. Corrosion control and internal inhibition is required for discontinued lines. However, pipelines are often neglected during the well abandonment process. This presentation provided recommendations for coordinating well and pipeline abandonment processes. Pipeline ends can be located, depressurized, flushed and purged while wells are being abandoned. Contaminated soils around the wells can also be identified prior to reclamation activities. Administrative reviews must be conducted in order to provide accurate information on pipeline location, reclamation certification, and line break history. Field operation files must be reviewed before preliminary field work is conducted. Site inspections should be used to determine if all ends of the line are accessible. Landowners and occupants near the line must also be notified, and relevant documentation must be obtained. Skilled technicians must be used to assess the lines for obstructions as well as to cut and cap the lines after removing risers. The presentation also examined issues related to pressure change, movement, cold tapping, and live dead legs. tabs., figs.

Comparisons of sediment losses from a newly constructed cross-country natural gas pipeline and an existing in-road pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Pamela J. Edwards; Bridget M. Harrison; Daniel J. Holz; Karl W.J. Williard; Jon E. Schoonover

2014-01-01

Sediment loads were measured for about one year from natural gas pipelines in two studies in north central West Virginia. One study involved a 1-year-old pipeline buried within the bed of a 25-year-old skid road, and the other involved a newly constructed cross-country pipeline. Both pipelines were the same diameter and were installed using similar trenching and...

77 FR 27279 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-09

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... collections relate to the pipeline integrity management requirements for gas transmission pipeline operators... Management in High Consequence Areas Gas Transmission Pipeline Operators. OMB Control Number: 2137-0610...

75 FR 53733 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2010-0246] Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous... liquefied natural gas, hazardous liquid, and gas transmission pipeline systems operated by a company. The...

77 FR 46155 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-02

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... collections relate to the pipeline integrity management requirements for gas transmission pipeline operators... Management in High Consequence Areas Gas Transmission Pipeline Operators. OMB Control Number: 2137-0610...

Diagnosing plant pipeline system performance using radiotracer techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kasban, H.; Ali, Elsayed H.; Arafa, H. [Engineering Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority, Inshas (Egypt)

2017-02-15

This study presents an experimental work in a petrochemical company for scanning a buried pipeline using Tc{sup 99m} radiotracer based on the measured velocity changes, in order to determine the flow reduction along a pipeline. In this work, Tc{sup 99m} radiotracer was injected into the pipeline and monitored by sodium iodide scintillation detectors located at several positions along the pipeline. The flow velocity has been calculated between every two consecutive detectors along the pipeline. Practically, six experiments have been carried out using two different data acquisition systems, each of them being connected to four detectors. During the fifth experiment, a bypass was discovered between the scanned pipeline and another buried parallel pipeline connected after the injection point. The results indicate that the bypass had a bad effect on the volumetric flow rate in the scanned pipeline.

78 FR 46560 - Pipeline Safety: Class Location Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-01

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 49 CFR Part... class location requirements for gas transmission pipelines. Section 5 of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory... and, with respect to gas transmission pipeline facilities, whether applying IMP requirements to...

77 FR 15453 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-15

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... information collection titled, ``Gas Pipeline Safety Program Certification and Hazardous Liquid Pipeline... collection request that PHMSA will be submitting to OMB for renewal titled, ``Gas Pipeline Safety Program...

Pipeline Decommissioning Trial AWE Berkshire UK - 13619

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agnew, Kieran [AWE, Aldermaston, Reading, RG7 4PR (United Kingdom)

2013-07-01

This Paper details the implementation of a 'Decommissioning Trial' to assess the feasibility of decommissioning the redundant pipeline operated by AWE located in Berkshire UK. The paper also presents the tool box of decommissioning techniques that were developed during the decommissioning trial. Constructed in the 1950's and operated until 2005, AWE used a pipeline for the authorised discharge of treated effluent. Now redundant, the pipeline is under a care and surveillance regime awaiting decommissioning. The pipeline is some 18.5 km in length and extends from AWE site to the River Thames. Along its route the pipeline passes along and under several major roads, railway lines and rivers as well as travelling through woodland, agricultural land and residential areas. Currently under care and surveillance AWE is considering a number of options for decommissioning the pipeline. One option is to remove the pipeline. In order to assist option evaluation and assess the feasibility of removing the pipeline a decommissioning trial was undertaken and sections of the pipeline were removed within the AWE site. The objectives of the decommissioning trial were to: - Demonstrate to stakeholders that the pipeline can be removed safely, securely and cleanly - Develop a 'tool box' of methods that could be deployed to remove the pipeline - Replicate the conditions and environments encountered along the route of the pipeline The onsite trial was also designed to replicate the physical prevailing conditions and constraints encountered along the remainder of its route i.e. working along a narrow corridor, working in close proximity to roads, working in proximity to above ground and underground services (e.g. Gas, Water, Electricity). By undertaking the decommissioning trial AWE have successfully demonstrated the pipeline can be decommissioned in a safe, secure and clean manor and have developed a tool box of decommissioning techniques. The tool box of includes

77 FR 51848 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-27

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... Program for Gas Distribution Pipelines. DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or.... These regulations require operators of hazardous liquid pipelines and gas pipelines to develop and...

77 FR 26822 - Pipeline Safety: Verification of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-07

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0068] Pipeline Safety: Verification of Records AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... issuing an Advisory Bulletin to remind operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities to verify...

77 FR 74275 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-13

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No.... These regulations require operators of hazardous liquid pipelines and gas pipelines to develop and... control room. Affected Public: Operators of both natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline systems. Annual...

Increase of ecological safety of the pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dr Movsumov, Sh.N.; Prof Aliyev, F.G.

2005-01-01

Full text : For increase of ecological safety of the pipeline, necessary decrease of damage (risk) rendered by the pipeline on surrounding natural environment which depends: on the frequency of damage of the pipeline; on the volume poured oil; on the factor of sensitivity of an environment where flood of oil was. Frequency of damage of the pipeline depends on physico-chemical properties of a material of the pipeline, from its technical characteristics (thickness of a wall, length of a pipe, working pressure), on the seismic area of the district where the pipeline passed and also on the way of lining of the pipeline (underground or overground). The volume poured oil depends on diameter of the received damage, from stability of the pipeline mechanical and other external actions, from an ambient temperature, from capacity of the pipeline, from distance between the latches established in the pipeline, and also from time, necessary for their full closing. The factor of sensitivity of environment depends on geological structure and landscapes of district (mountain, the river, settlements) where passed the pipeline. At designing the pipeline, in report is shown questions of increase of ecological safety of the pipeline are considered at his construction and exploitation. For improvement of ecological safety of the pipeline is necessary to hold the following actions: Ecological education of the public, living near along a line of the oil pipeline; carrying out ecological monitoring; working of the public plan of response to oil spills; For ecological education of the public is necessary: carrying out informing of the public for all (technical, ecological, social and economic and legal) questions connected to an oil pipeline, and also on methods of protection of the rights at participation in acceptance of ecological significant decisions; Creation of public groups for realization of activity on observance of the legislation and to prevention of risks; Exposure of hot

Pipeline monitoring with unmanned aerial vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Kochetkova, L. I.

2018-05-01

Pipeline leakage during transportation of combustible substances leads to explosion and fire thus causing death of people and destruction of production and accommodation facilities. Continuous pipeline monitoring allows identifying leaks in due time and quickly taking measures for their elimination. The paper describes the solution of identification of pipeline leakage using unmanned aerial vehicles. It is recommended to apply the spectral analysis with input RGB signal to identify pipeline damages. The application of multi-zone digital images allows defining potential spill of oil hydrocarbons as well as possible soil pollution. The method of multi-temporal digital images within the visible region makes it possible to define changes in soil morphology for its subsequent analysis. The given solution is cost efficient and reliable thus allowing reducing timing and labor resources in comparison with other methods of pipeline monitoring.

Efficiency improvements in pipeline transportation systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Banks, W. F.; Horton, J. F.

1977-09-09

This report identifies potential energy-conservative pipeline innovations that are most energy- and cost-effective and formulates recommendations for the R, D, and D programs needed to exploit those opportunities. From a candidate field of over twenty classes of efficiency improvements, eight systems are recommended for pursuit. Most of these possess two highly important attributes: large potential energy savings and broad applicability outside the pipeline industry. The R, D, and D program for each improvement and the recommended immediate next step are described. The eight technologies recommended for R, D, and D are gas-fired combined cycle compressor station; internally cooled internal combustion engine; methanol-coal slurry pipeline; methanol-coal slurry-fired and coal-fired engines; indirect-fired coal-burning combined-cycle pump station; fuel-cell pump station; drag-reducing additives in liquid pipelines; and internal coatings in pipelines.

75 FR 73160 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-29

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No...-Related Conditions on Gas, Hazardous Liquid, and Carbon Dioxide Pipelines and Liquefied Natural Gas... Pipelines and Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities.'' The Pipeline Safety Laws (49 U.S.C. 60132) require each...

California Natural Gas Pipelines: A Brief Guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neuscamman, Stephanie [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Price, Don [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Pezzola, Genny [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Glascoe, Lee [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2013-01-22

The purpose of this document is to familiarize the reader with the general configuration and operation of the natural gas pipelines in California and to discuss potential LLNL contributions that would support the Partnership for the 21st Century collaboration. First, pipeline infrastructure will be reviewed. Then, recent pipeline events will be examined. Selected current pipeline industry research will be summarized. Finally, industry acronyms are listed for reference.

Challenges in developing a comprehensive, automated and flexible oil accounting system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nordell, L.F.; Ruda, H. [Enbridge Pipelines Inc., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

2004-07-01

Enbridge Pipelines Inc. operates a long and complex system of pipelines which transport hydrocarbon liquid commodities, including crude oils, refined products and natural gas liquids across provincial and national boundaries. Due to growing internal demands for the addition of pipelines, the company developed a comprehensive oil accounting (OA) system in 1998. The OA accommodated changing business requirements by incorporating more complex tariff agreements and the demand for customized system reporting for customers. The new OA was also compatible with the company's technology direction, which focused on aligning information technology (IT) with business drivers and upgrading the flexibility of the entire OA system. This paper summarized the business improvement and redevelopment study; the OA system redevelopment project; challenges of integrating new system components with the legacy system during system development; specific process improvement results that were targeted and achieved by the new system development team; and, the project development challenges. The project team adopted a software development approach that was responsive to changes in the requirements and in the project direction introduced by key stakeholders during the life of the project. The project management approaches and logic of the SCRUM and extreme programming (XP) methods were combined to incorporate the principles of agile development to ensure a quality product. The result was an automated crude oil balancing and revenue accounting system that interfaced with other pipeline management software systems. 6 refs., 5 figs.

Extending the Fermi-LAT Data Processing Pipeline to the Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmer, S.; Arrabito, L.; Glanzman, T.; Johnson, T.; Lavalley, C.; Tsaregorodtsev, A.

2012-12-01

The Data Handling Pipeline (“Pipeline”) has been developed for the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (Fermi) Large Area Telescope (LAT) which launched in June 2008. Since then it has been in use to completely automate the production of data quality monitoring quantities, reconstruction and routine analysis of all data received from the satellite and to deliver science products to the collaboration and the Fermi Science Support Center. Aside from the reconstruction of raw data from the satellite (Level 1), data reprocessing and various event-level analyses are also reasonably heavy loads on the pipeline and computing resources. These other loads, unlike Level 1, can run continuously for weeks or months at a time. In addition it receives heavy use in performing production Monte Carlo tasks. In daily use it receives a new data download every 3 hours and launches about 2000 jobs to process each download, typically completing the processing of the data before the next download arrives. The need for manual intervention has been reduced to less than 0.01% of submitted jobs. The Pipeline software is written almost entirely in Java and comprises several modules. The software comprises web-services that allow online monitoring and provides charts summarizing work flow aspects and performance information. The server supports communication with several batch systems such as LSF and BQS and recently also Sun Grid Engine and Condor. This is accomplished through dedicated job control services that for Fermi are running at SLAC and the other computing site involved in this large scale framework, the Lyon computing center of IN2P3. While being different in the logic of a task, we evaluate a separate interface to the Dirac system in order to communicate with EGI sites to utilize Grid resources, using dedicated Grid optimized systems rather than developing our own. More recently the Pipeline and its associated data catalog have been generalized for use by other experiments, and are

Pipeline integrity: ILI baseline data for QRA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Porter, Todd R. [Tuboscope Pipeline Services, Houston, TX (United States)]. E-mail: tporter@varco.com; Silva, Jose Augusto Pereira da [Pipeway Engenharia, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)]. E-mail: guto@pipeway.com; Marr, James [MARR and Associates, Calgary, AB (Canada)]. E-mail: jmarr@marr-associates.com

2003-07-01

The initial phase of a pipeline integrity management program (IMP) is conducting a baseline assessment of the pipeline system and segments as part of Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA). This gives the operator's integrity team the opportunity to identify critical areas and deficiencies in the protection, maintenance, and mitigation strategies. As a part of data gathering and integration of a wide variety of sources, in-line inspection (ILI) data is a key element. In order to move forward in the integrity program development and execution, the baseline geometry of the pipeline must be determined with accuracy and confidence. From this, all subsequent analysis and conclusions will be derived. Tuboscope Pipeline Services (TPS), in conjunction with Pipeway Engenharia of Brazil, operate ILI inertial navigation system (INS) and Caliper geometry tools, to address this integrity requirement. This INS and Caliper ILI tool data provides pipeline trajectory at centimeter level resolution and sub-metre 3D position accuracy along with internal geometry - ovality, dents, misalignment, and wrinkle/buckle characterization. Global strain can be derived from precise INS curvature measurements and departure from the initial pipeline state. Accurate pipeline elevation profile data is essential in the identification of sag/over bend sections for fluid dynamic and hydrostatic calculations. This data, along with pipeline construction, operations, direct assessment and maintenance data is integrated in LinaViewPRO{sup TM}, a pipeline data management system for decision support functions, and subsequent QRA operations. This technology provides the baseline for an informed, accurate and confident integrity management program. This paper/presentation will detail these aspects of an effective IMP, and experience will be presented, showing the benefits for liquid and gas pipeline systems. (author)

Flooding simulation of hilly pipeline commisionning process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nan, Zhang [China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation and China University of Petroleum, Beijing (China); Jing, Gong [China University of Petroleum, Beijing (China); Baoli, Zhu [China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corporation, Beijing (China); Lin, Zheng [CNPC Oil and Gas Control Center, Beijing (China)

2010-07-01

When the construction of a pipeline has been completed, the pipeline flooding is done as part of the pipeline commissioning process. This method consists of filling the empty pipe with water or oil. In a pipeline situated in hilly terrain, air entrapped in the fluid causes problems with the flooding process and it is necessary to discharge the accumulated air to address this issue. The aim of this paper is to provide a model for predicting the location and volume of air pockets in a pipeline. This model was developed based on the fundamentals of mass balance and momentum transfer in multiphase flow and was then applied to a pipeline in China and compared with the SCADA data. Results showed a good match between the model's predictions of hydraulic movement and the real data from SCADA. The two flow model developed can predict hydraulic movement during pipeline flooding in a hilly area and thus it can be used to predict water front location and air pocket movement in the pipe.

Beyond the pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barnsley, J.; Ellis, D.; McIntosh, J.

1979-12-01

A study was conducted on the lives of women and their families in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, two communities which are to be affected by the proposed construction of the Alaska Highway gas pipeline. The womens' socio-economic concerns resulting from the proposed construction were examined by means of interviews with samples of women living in the two communities. Results from the study include descriptions of the communities and their basic services, community planning and housing, women's work in the home and for wages, and the perceived impact of the pipeline on such matters as employment, social services, living costs, business, housing, crime, and the overall community. Recommendations are made to improve the planning process for the pipeline to include the taking into account of womens' needs in such areas as training, health care, housing, and community services. 213 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

Pipeline operators training and certification using thermohydraulic simulators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barreto, Claudio V.; Plasencia C, Jose [Pontificia Universidade Catolica (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Nucleo de Simulacao Termohidraulica de Dutos (SIMDUT); Montalvao, Filipe; Costa, Luciano [TRANSPETRO - PETROBRAS Transporte S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

The continuous pipeline operators training and certification of the TRANSPETRO's Pipeline National Operations Control Center (CNCO) is an essential task aiming the efficiency and safety of the oil and derivatives transport operations through the Brazilian pipeline network. For this objective, a hydraulic simulator is considered an excellent tool that allows the creation of different operational scenarios for training the pipeline hydraulic behavior as well as for testing the operator's responses to normal and abnormal real time operational conditions. The hydraulic simulator is developed based on a pipeline simulation software that supplies the hydraulic responses normally acquired from the pipeline remote units in the field. The pipeline simulation software has a communication interface system that sends and receives data to the SCADA supervisory system database. Using the SCADA graphical interface to create and to customize human machine interfaces (HMI) from which the operator/instructor has total control of the pipeline/system and instrumentation by sending commands. Therefore, it is possible to have realistic training outside of the real production systems, while acquiring experience during training hours with the operation of a real pipeline. A pilot Project was initiated at TRANSPETRO - CNCO targeting to evaluate the hydraulic simulators advantages in pipeline operators training and certification programs. The first part of the project was the development of three simulators for different pipelines. The excellent results permitted the project expansion for a total of twenty different pipelines, being implemented in training programs for pipelines presently operated by CNCO as well as for the new ones that are being migrated. The main objective of this paper is to present an overview of the implementation process and the development of a training environment through a pipe simulation environment using commercial software. This paper also presents

Crude oil growth impact on pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devries, O.

2005-01-01

This paper provided an outline of crude oil production and supply in Canada. Details of oil sands projects in Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River were presented. A chart of oil sands growth by major project was provided. A list of new emerging oil sands crude types was also presented along with details of a synthetic bitumen blending synergy. Maps of Western Canadian crude oil markets were provided, along with details of refinery and market demand by crude type. Various pipeline alternatives to new markets were examined, with reference to Enbridge Pipeline's supply and capacity. Details of the Hardisty to U.S Gulf Coast Pipeline and the Edmonton to Prince Rupert Pipeline and its terminal and dock facilities were presented. It was concluded that pipeline capacity and seasonal factors will influence market demand, while linefill, crude types and the quality of the product will influence operational strategies. tabs., figs

Public perceptions of CO2 transportation in pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gough, Clair; O'Keefe, Laura; Mander, Sarah

2014-01-01

This paper explores the response by members of the lay public to the prospect of an onshore CO 2 pipeline through their locality as part of a proposed CCS development and presents results from deliberative Focus Groups held along a proposed pipeline route. Although there is a reasonable level of general knowledge about CO 2 across the lay public, understanding of its specific properties is more limited. The main concerns expressed around pipelines focused on five areas: (i) safe operation of the pipeline; (ii) the risks to people, livestock and vegetation arising from the leakage of CO 2 from the pipeline; (iii) the innovative and ‘first of its kind' nature of the pipeline and the consequent lack of operational CO 2 pipelines in the UK to demonstrate the technology; (iv) impacts on coastal erosion at the landfall site; and (v) the potential disruption to local communities during pipeline construction. Participants expressed scepticism over the motivations of CO 2 pipeline developers. Trust that the developer will minimise risk during the route selection and subsequent construction, operation and maintenance of the pipeline is key; building trust within the local community requires early engagement processes, tailored to deliver a variety of engagement and information approaches. - Highlights: • Lay publics express good general knowledge of CO 2 but not of its specific properties. • Key concerns relate to risk and safety and ‘first of a kind' nature of CO 2 pipeline. • Group participants are sceptical about motivations of CO 2 pipeline developers. • Communities' trust in developer is a major element of their risk assessment

Hydrogeological considerations in northern pipeline development. [Permafrost affected by hot or chilled pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harlan, R L

1974-11-01

Some of the hydrogeological implications of construction and operation of oil and gas pipelines in northern regions of Canada are considered in relation to their potential environmental impacts and those factors affecting the security of the pipeline itself. Although the extent to which water in permafrost participates in the subsurface flow regime has not been fully demonstrated, the role of liquid as well as vapor transport in frozen earth materials can be shown from theory to be highly significant; water movement rates in frozen soil are on the same order as those in unsaturated, unfrozen soil. Below 0/sup 0/C, the unfrozen water content in a fine-grained porous medium is dependent on temperature but independent of the total water content. The thermal gradient controls the rate and direction of water movement in permafrost. The groundwater stabilizes the streamflow and in the absence of large lakes provides the main source of flow during the winter. As groundwater is frequently confined by the permafrost, degradation of the permafrost can have significant consequences. The thaw bulb formed around a hot oil pipeline can induce liquefactioned flow of the thawed material. A chilled pipeline could restrict groundwater movement, resulting in buildup of artesian conditions and icings. The liberation and absorption of latent heat on freezing and thawing affects the thermal regime in the ground surface. Recommendations are given for pipeline construction and areas for further study pointed out. (DLC)

iMir: an integrated pipeline for high-throughput analysis of small non-coding RNA data obtained by smallRNA-Seq.

Science.gov (United States)

Giurato, Giorgio; De Filippo, Maria Rosaria; Rinaldi, Antonio; Hashim, Adnan; Nassa, Giovanni; Ravo, Maria; Rizzo, Francesca; Tarallo, Roberta; Weisz, Alessandro

2013-12-13

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of small non-coding RNAs by next generation sequencing (smallRNA-Seq) represents a novel technology increasingly used to investigate with high sensitivity and specificity RNA population comprising microRNAs and other regulatory small transcripts. Analysis of smallRNA-Seq data to gather biologically relevant information, i.e. detection and differential expression analysis of known and novel non-coding RNAs, target prediction, etc., requires implementation of multiple statistical and bioinformatics tools from different sources, each focusing on a specific step of the analysis pipeline. As a consequence, the analytical workflow is slowed down by the need for continuous interventions by the operator, a critical factor when large numbers of datasets need to be analyzed at once. We designed a novel modular pipeline (iMir) for comprehensive analysis of smallRNA-Seq data, comprising specific tools for adapter trimming, quality filtering, differential expression analysis, biological target prediction and other useful options by integrating multiple open source modules and resources in an automated workflow. As statistics is crucial in deep-sequencing data analysis, we devised and integrated in iMir tools based on different statistical approaches to allow the operator to analyze data rigorously. The pipeline created here proved to be efficient and time-saving than currently available methods and, in addition, flexible enough to allow the user to select the preferred combination of analytical steps. We present here the results obtained by applying this pipeline to analyze simultaneously 6 smallRNA-Seq datasets from either exponentially growing or growth-arrested human breast cancer MCF-7 cells, that led to the rapid and accurate identification, quantitation and differential expression analysis of ~450 miRNAs, including several novel miRNAs and isomiRs, as well as identification of the putative mRNA targets of differentially expressed mi

49 CFR 192.627 - Tapping pipelines under pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Tapping pipelines under pressure. 192.627 Section... NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Operations § 192.627 Tapping pipelines under pressure. Each tap made on a pipeline under pressure must be performed by a crew qualified to make...

Diagnostics and reliability of pipeline systems

CERN Document Server

Timashev, Sviatoslav

2016-01-01

The book contains solutions to fundamental problems which arise due to the logic of development of specific branches of science, which are related to pipeline safety, but mainly are subordinate to the needs of pipeline transportation.          The book deploys important but not yet solved aspects of reliability and safety assurance of pipeline systems, which are vital aspects not only for the oil and gas industry and, in general, fuel and energy industries , but also to virtually all contemporary industries and technologies. The volume will be useful to specialists and experts in the field of diagnostics/ inspection, monitoring, reliability and safety of critical infrastructures. First and foremost, it will be useful to the decision making persons —operators of different types of pipelines, pipeline diagnostics/inspection vendors, and designers of in-line –inspection (ILI) tools, industrial and ecological safety specialists, as well as to researchers and graduate students.

Integrated surface management for pipeline construction: The Mid-America Pipeline Company Four Corners Project

Science.gov (United States)

Maria L. Sonett

1999-01-01

Integrated surface management techniques for pipeline construction through arid and semi-arid rangeland ecosystems are presented in a case history of a 412-mile pipeline construction project in New Mexico. Planning, implementation and monitoring for restoration of surface hydrology, soil stabilization, soil cover, and plant species succession are discussed. Planning...

Pipeline dreams face up to reality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryan, Orla

1999-01-01

This article gives details of two gas pipelines which are expected to be built in Turkey to meet the estimated demand for gas. The Bluestream joint ENI/Gasprom project pipeline will convey Russian gas across the Black Sea to Turkey, and the PSG joint Bechtel/General Electric venture will bring gas from Turkmenistan to Turkey across the Caspian Sea. Construction of the pipelines and financing aspects are discussed. (uk)

Cost reducing factors in effective pipeline piling structure design and construction in Alberta's thermal SAGD gathering pipeline systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farrokhzad, M.A. [IMV Projects, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2008-10-15

Oil sands steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) gathering pipeline systems are typically arranged so that above-ground steam pipeline and production pipelines lay next to each other on the same steel structure. Longitudinal and lateral loads build up in the pipeline supports, and the loads are consistently changing until pipeline temperatures reach a steady state condition. SAGD pipelines are required to have enough flexibility to absorb thermal expansion or contraction movements. However, most pipeline engineers only consider upper and lower temperature limits in the design of steel structures and pilings. This paper examined the effect of considering both the thermal gradient and time factor in designing supports for pipelines. The study examined how the factors impacted on standard load calculations and pile sizings. Sixteen stress analysis models for steam and production lines were prepared and designated thermal gradients were introduced to each model. Longitudinal and lateral loads caused by thermal gradient movements were calculated for all supports. The models were analyzed and absolute values for longitudinal and lateral loads were recorded. Results of the study showed that engineers do not necessarily need to rely on maximum temperatures as the condition that results in maximum longitudinal and lateral loads on supports. It was concluded that costs related to pipeline construction can be significantly reduced by considering the effects of thermal gradients in stress analyses and load calculations. 5 refs., 14 figs.

Fully Automated Atlas-Based Hippocampus Volumetry for Clinical Routine: Validation in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment from the ADNI Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Suppa, Per; Hampel, Harald; Spies, Lothar; Fiebach, Jochen B; Dubois, Bruno; Buchert, Ralph

2015-01-01

Hippocampus volumetry based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has not yet been translated into everyday clinical diagnostic patient care, at least in part due to limited availability of appropriate software tools. In the present study, we evaluate a fully-automated and computationally efficient processing pipeline for atlas based hippocampal volumetry using freely available Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) software in 198 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI1). Subjects were grouped into MCI stable and MCI to probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) converters according to follow-up diagnoses at 12, 24, and 36 months. Hippocampal grey matter volume (HGMV) was obtained from baseline T1-weighted MRI and then corrected for total intracranial volume and age. Average processing time per subject was less than 4 minutes on a standard PC. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of the corrected HGMV for identification of MCI to probable AD converters within 12, 24, and 36 months was 0.78, 0.72, and 0.71, respectively. Thus, hippocampal volume computed with the fully-automated processing pipeline provides similar power for prediction of MCI to probable AD conversion as computationally more expensive methods. The whole processing pipeline has been made freely available as an SPM8 toolbox. It is easily set up and integrated into everyday clinical patient care.

Security of pipeline facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, S.C. [Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Calgary, AB (Canada); Van Egmond, C.; Duquette, L. [National Energy Board, Calgary, AB (Canada); Revie, W. [Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2005-07-01

This working group provided an update on provincial, federal and industry directions regarding the security of pipeline facilities. The decision to include security issues in the NEB Act was discussed as well as the Pipeline Security Management Assessment Project, which was created to establish a better understanding of existing security management programs as well as to assist the NEB in the development and implementation of security management regulations and initiatives. Amendments to the NEB were also discussed. Areas of pipeline security management assessment include physical safety management; cyber and information security management; and personnel security. Security management regulations were discussed, as well as implementation policies. Details of the Enbridge Liquids Pipelines Security Plan were examined. It was noted that the plan incorporates flexibility for operations and is integrated with Emergency Response and Crisis Management. Asset characterization and vulnerability assessments were discussed, as well as security and terrorist threats. It was noted that corporate security threat assessment and auditing are based on threat information from the United States intelligence community. It was concluded that the oil and gas industry is a leader in security in North America. The Trans Alaska Pipeline Incident was discussed as a reminder of how costly accidents can be. Issues of concern for the future included geographic and climate issues. It was concluded that limited resources are an ongoing concern, and that the regulatory environment is becoming increasingly prescriptive. Other concerns included the threat of not taking international terrorism seriously, and open media reporting of vulnerability of critical assets, including maps. tabs., figs.

Bayesian automated cortical segmentation for neonatal MRI

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Zane; Paquette, Natacha; Ganesh, Bhavana; Wang, Yalin; Ceschin, Rafael; Nelson, Marvin D.; Macyszyn, Luke; Gaonkar, Bilwaj; Panigrahy, Ashok; Lepore, Natasha

2017-11-01

Several attempts have been made in the past few years to develop and implement an automated segmentation of neonatal brain structural MRI. However, accurate automated MRI segmentation remains challenging in this population because of the low signal-to-noise ratio, large partial volume effects and inter-individual anatomical variability of the neonatal brain. In this paper, we propose a learning method for segmenting the whole brain cortical grey matter on neonatal T2-weighted images. We trained our algorithm using a neonatal dataset composed of 3 fullterm and 4 preterm infants scanned at term equivalent age. Our segmentation pipeline combines the FAST algorithm from the FSL library software and a Bayesian segmentation approach to create a threshold matrix that minimizes the error of mislabeling brain tissue types. Our method shows promising results with our pilot training set. In both preterm and full-term neonates, automated Bayesian segmentation generates a smoother and more consistent parcellation compared to FAST, while successfully removing the subcortical structure and cleaning the edges of the cortical grey matter. This method show promising refinement of the FAST segmentation by considerably reducing manual input and editing required from the user, and further improving reliability and processing time of neonatal MR images. Further improvement will include a larger dataset of training images acquired from different manufacturers.

Estimation of efficiency of hydrotransport pipelines polyurethane coating application in comparison with steel pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Aleksandrov, V. I.; Vasilyeva, M. A.; Pomeranets, I. B.

2017-10-01

The paper presents analytical calculations of specific pressure loss in hydraulic transport of the Kachkanarsky GOK iron ore processing tailing slurry. The calculations are based on the results of the experimental studies on specific pressure loss dependence upon hydraulic roughness of pipelines internal surface lined with polyurethane coating. The experiments proved that hydraulic roughness of polyurethane coating is by the factor of four smaller than that of steel pipelines, resulting in a decrease of hydraulic resistance coefficients entered into calculating formula of specific pressure loss - the Darcy-Weisbach formula. Relative and equivalent roughness coefficients are calculated for pipelines with polyurethane coating and without it. Comparative calculations show that hydrotransport pipelines polyurethane coating application is conductive to a specific energy consumption decrease in hydraulic transport of the Kachkanarsky GOC iron ore processing tailings slurry by the factor of 1.5. The experiments were performed on a laboratory hydraulic test rig with a view to estimate the character and rate of physical roughness change in pipe samples with polyurethane coating. The experiments showed that during the following 484 hours of operation, roughness changed in all pipe samples inappreciably. As a result of processing of the experimental data by the mathematical statistics methods, an empirical formula was obtained for the calculation of operating roughness of polyurethane coating surface, depending on the pipeline operating duration with iron ore processing tailings slurry.

Development of high productivity pipeline girth welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yapp, David; Liratzis, Theocharis

2010-01-01

The trend for increased oil and gas consumption implies a growth of long-distance pipeline installations. Welding is a critical factor in the installation of pipelines, both onshore and offshore, and the rate at which the pipeline can be laid is generally determined by the speed of welding. This has resulted in substantial developments in pipeline welding techniques. Arc welding is still the dominant process used in practice, and forge welding processes have had limited successful application to date, in spite of large investments in process development. Power beam processes have also been investigated in detail and the latest laser systems now show promise for practical application. In recent years the use of high strength steels has substantially reduced the cost of pipeline installation, with X70 and X80 being commonly used. This use of high strength pipeline produced by thermomechanical processing has also been researched. They must all meet three requirments, high productivity, satisfactory weld properties, and weld quality

Sea water pipeline for nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Ken-ichi.

1992-01-01

Heating coils, for example, are wound around sea water pipelines as a heater. The outer wall surface of the sea water pipelines is heated by the heating coils. The inner wall surfaces of the sea water pipelines can be warmed to higher than a predetermined temperature by heating the outer wall surfaces to die out marine organisms deposited at the inner surfaces. Further, thermocouples for the external wall and the internal wall are disposed so that the temperature at the inner wall surface of the sea water pipelines can be controlled. Further, a temperature keeping material is disposed at the external surface of the sea water system pipelines. With such a constitution, the marine organisms deposited on the internal wall surface of the sea water system pipelines are died out to suppress the deposition amount of the marine organisms. Accordingly, the maintenance and the operation reliability is improved after maintenance. (I.N.)

Black powder removal in a Mexico gas pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morrow, John R. [TDW Services, Inc., New Castle, DE (United States); Drysdale, Colin; Warterfield, Bob D. [T.D.Williamson, Inc., Tulsa, OK (United States)

2008-07-01

This paper focuses on the cleaning methodology and operational constrains involved with the removal of black powder in a high pressure natural gas transmission pipeline. In this case, the accumulation of black powder along the pipeline system over the seven year period since it was put into service was creating significant problems in the areas of maintenance, customer relations, and cost to the pipeline operator due to clogging of filters, reduced gas flow, and penalties as result of non-compliant delivery contracts. The pipeline cleaning project consisted of running cleaning pigs or scrappers with batches of cleaning solution through each section of the pipeline while dealing with such factors as three (3) pipeline section lengths in excess of 160 kms (100 miles), gas flow velocity fluctuations, shutdowns, and gas delivery schedule requirements. The cleaning program for the entire pipeline system included the use of chemical and diesel based cleaning solution, running multiple cleaning pigs, liquid injection and separation system, mobile storage tanks, various equipment and personnel for logistical support. Upon completion of the cleaning program, the level of black powder and other solids in all pipeline sections was reduced to approximately 0.5% liquid/solid ratio and the pipeline system returned to normal optimum operation. (author.

New territory for NGL pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, C.L.; Billings, F.E.

1994-01-01

Even though the NGL pipeline industry appears mature, new geographic territory exists for expansion of NGL pipelines. However, the most fertile territory that must be pursued is the collective opportunities to better link the existing NGL industry. Associations like the Gas Processors Association can not perform the role demanded by a need to share information between the links of the chain on a more real time basis. The Association can not substitute for picking up the phone or calling a meeting of industry participants to discuss proposed changes in policies and procedures. All stakeholders must participate in squeezing out the inefficiencies of the industry. Some expansion and extension of NGL pipelines will occur in the future without ownership participation or commitments from the supply and demand businesses. However, significant expansions linking new supply sources and demand markets will only be made as the supply and demand businesses share long-term strategies and help define the pipeline opportunity. The successful industries of the twenty-first century will not be dominated by a single profitable sector, but rather by those industries which foster cooperation as well as competition. A healthy NGL industry will be comprised of profitable supply businesses and profitable demand businesses, linked together by profitable pipeline businesses

Millennium Pipeline Presentation : a new northeast passage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolnik, J.

1997-01-01

Routes of the proposed Millennium Pipeline project were presented. The pipeline is to originate at the Empress gas field in Alberta and link up to eastern markets in the United States. One of the key advantages of the pipeline is that it will have the lowest proposed rates from Empress to Chicago and through links via affiliates to New York and other eastern markets. It will include 380 miles of new 36-inch pipeline and have a capacity of 650 million cubic feet per day. In many instances it will follow existing rights-of-way. The pipeline is expected to be in service for the 1999 winter heating season. The project sponsors are Columbia Gas Transmission, CMS Energy, MCN Energy, and Westcoast Energy. 6 figs

Accuracy Limitations of Pipelined ADCs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Quinn, P.J.; Roermund, van A.H.M.

2005-01-01

In this paper, the key characteristics of the main errors which affect the performance of a switched capacitor pipelined ADC are presented and their effects on the ADC transfer characteristics demonstrated. Clear and concise relationships are developed to aid optimized design of the pipeline ADC and

Managing the market risk in pipeline capacity positions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simard, T.S.

1998-01-01

Managing the risk involved in adding new pipeline capacity was explored in this presentation. Topics discussed included: (1) pipeline capacity positions as basis swaps, (2) physical capacity versus basis transactions, (3) managing the market price risk in a capacity position, and (4) sharing of pipeline market risk. Pipeline owners were advised to recognize that pipeline capacity carries significant market price risk, that basis markets can sometimes be more volatile than outright markets, and to treat physical capacity market risk the same way as one would treat a financial basis position. 2 figs

The Bakou-Ceyhan pipeline: paradoxes and coherence of the USA strategy of pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jafalian, A.

2004-01-01

In 2002, the construction of the Bakou-Ceyhan pipeline, from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, is begun, in spite of the the controversies of industrialists against politicians and experts. The diplomatic USA activity in favor this pipeline largely contributes to the problems solution. The author presents the USA policy and strategy in the region, the economic constraints and the negotiations. (A.L.B.)

77 FR 32631 - Lion Oil Trading & Transportation, Inc., Magnolia Pipeline Company, and El Dorado Pipeline...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-01

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. OR12-13-000] Lion Oil... of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.202 (2011), Lion Oil Trading & Transportation, Inc., Magnolia Pipeline Company, and El Dorado Pipeline Company, collectively, Lion Companies...

Pipeline investigation report : crude oil pipeline-third party damage : Trans Mountain Pipeline LP 610 millimetre-diameter crude oil pipeline : kilometre post 3.10, Westridge dock transfer line, Burnaby, British Columbia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-03-01

This report discussed an oil spill which occurred in July 2007 when a contractor's excavator bucket punctured a pipeline during the excavation of a trench for a new storm sewer line at a location in Burnaby, British Columbia (BC). The puncture caused the release of approximately 234 cubic meters of crude oil, which flowed into Burrard Inlet Bay via a storm sewer system. Eleven houses were sprayed with crude oil, and many other properties required restoration. Approximately 250 residents left their homes. While emergency workers and firefighters responding to the incident were sprayed with crude oil, no explosions, fires, or injuries occurred. The report provided details of studies conducted to determine the placement of the sewer line, as well as attempts made by the contractors to determine the lateral connection of the crude oil pipeline. Discrepancies between the location of the pipeline design drawing and its actual location on other construction drawings were also noted by the contractor. Twenty-four minutes after the rupture, the terminal was fully isolated and the drain-down of the pipeline was completed within an hour. The cause of the accident was attributed to inaccurate construction drawings and inadequate communications between contractors and consulting companies. 3 figs

Impedance Method for Leak Detection in Zigzag Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Lay-Ekuakille, A.; Vergallo, P.; Trotta, A.

2010-01-01

Transportation of liquids is a primary aspect of human life. The most important infrastructure used accordingly is the pipeline. It serves as an asset for transporting different liquids and strategic goods. The latter are for example: chemical substances, oil, gas and water. Thus, it is necessary to monitor such infrastructures by means of specific tools. Leakage detection methods are used to reveal liquid leaks in pipelines for many applications, namely, waterworks, oil pipelines, industry heat exchangers, etc. The configuration of pipelines is a key issue because it impacts on the effectiveness of the method to be used and, consequently, on the results to be counterchecked. This research illustrated an improvement of the impedance method for zigzag pipeline by carrying out an experimental frequency analysis that has been compared with other methods based on frequency response. Hence, the impedance method is generally used for simple (straight) pipeline configurations because complicated pipelines with many curves introduce difficulties and major uncertainties in the calculation of characteristic impedance and in the statement of boundary conditions. The paper illustrates the case of a water pipeline where the leakage is acquired thanks to pressure transducers.

Permanent cathodic protection monitoring systems for offshore pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Britton, Jim [Deepwater Corrosion Services Inc., Houston, TX (United States)

2009-07-01

Historically offshore pipeline cathodic protection monitoring has relied on the use of portable survey techniques. This has typically relied on ROV assisted or surface deployed survey methods. These methods have been shown to have technical as well as economic shortcomings, this is particularly true of buried offshore pipelines where accuracy is always questionable. As more focus is being placed on offshore pipeline integrity, it was time for a new method to emerge. The technology discussed involves the retro-placement of permanent clamp-on monitors onto the pipeline which can measure pipeline to seawater potential as well as current density. The sensors can be interrogated locally using light powered subsea voltage readouts. Application of the technology can be either during pipeline construction, during installation of life extension CP systems, or during routine subsea pipeline interventions. The new method eliminates the need for long cables or expensive acoustic or modulated data transfer and provides all the information required to fully verify CP system performance, thus eliminating the need for expensive close-interval surveys. Some deployment case histories will be presented along with feasibility of application on deep water pipelines and comparative economics. (author)

Surface wave propagation effects on buried segmented pipelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peixin Shi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with surface wave propagation (WP effects on buried segmented pipelines. Both simplified analytical model and finite element (FE model are developed for estimating the axial joint pullout movement of jointed concrete cylinder pipelines (JCCPs of which the joints have a brittle tensile failure mode under the surface WP effects. The models account for the effects of peak ground velocity (PGV, WP velocity, predominant period of seismic excitation, shear transfer between soil and pipelines, axial stiffness of pipelines, joint characteristics, and cracking strain of concrete mortar. FE simulation of the JCCP interaction with surface waves recorded during the 1985 Michoacan earthquake results in joint pullout movement, which is consistent with the field observations. The models are expanded to estimate the joint axial pullout movement of cast iron (CI pipelines of which the joints have a ductile tensile failure mode. Simplified analytical equation and FE model are developed for estimating the joint pullout movement of CI pipelines. The joint pullout movement of the CI pipelines is mainly affected by the variability of the joint tensile capacity and accumulates at local weak joints in the pipeline.

Assessing and preparing a pipeline for in line inspection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Payne, Larry [T.D. Williamson Inc., Tulsa, OK (United States)

2003-07-01

In today's pipeline environment, operators around the world face new and emerging state and federal regulations requiring validation of their pipelines' integrity. In line inspection, or smart pigging, is generally the preferred methodology used to investigate metal loss and corrosion in pipelines. Although many pipelines can accommodate smart pigging, there are many pipelines that cannot, for various reasons. Those reasons can vary from not having pig launchers and receivers installed on the line to impassable bends or restrictions and general cleanliness of the pipeline itself. Pipeline cleanliness, more times than not, is one of the main reasons for inaccurate in line inspection data gathering or failed smart pig runs. (author)

The Dangers of Pipeline Thinking: How the School-to-Prison Pipeline Metaphor Squeezes out Complexity

Science.gov (United States)

McGrew, Ken

2016-01-01

In this essay Ken McGrew critically examines the "school-to-prison pipeline" metaphor and associated literature. The origins and influence of the metaphor are compared with the origins and influence of the competing "prison industrial complex" concept. Specific weaknesses in the "pipeline literature" are examined.…

78 FR 5866 - Pipeline Safety: Annual Reports and Validation

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-28

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID PHMSA-2012-0319] Pipeline Safety: Annual Reports and Validation AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... 2012 gas transmission and gathering annual reports, remind pipeline owners and operators to validate...

Location of leaks in pressurized underground pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eckert, E.G.; Maresca, J.W. Jr.

1993-01-01

Millions of underground storage tanks (UST) are used to store petroleum and other chemicals. The pressurized underground pipelines associated with USTs containing petroleum motor fuels are typically 2 in. in diameter and 50 to 200 ft in length. These pipelines typically operate at pressures of 20 to 30 psi. Longer lines, with diameters up to 4 in., are found in some high-volume facilities. There are many systems that can be used to detect leaks in pressurized underground pipelines. When a leak is detected, the first step in the remediation process is to find its location. Passive-acoustic measurements, combined with advanced signal-processing techniques, provide a nondestructive method of leak location that is accurate and relatively simple, and that can be applied to a wide variety of pipelines and pipeline products

Economic evaluation of CO2 pipeline transport in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Dongjie; Wang Zhe; Sun Jining; Zhang Lili; Li Zheng

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We build a static hydrodynamic model of CO 2 pipeline for CCS application. ► We study the impact on pressure drop of pipeline by viscosity, density and elevation. ► We point out that density has a bigger impact on pressure drop than viscosity. ► We suggest dense phase transport is preferred than supercritical state. ► We present cost-optimal pipeline diameters for different flowrates and distances. - Abstract: Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is an important option for CO 2 mitigation and an optimized CO 2 pipeline transport system is necessary for large scale CCS implementation. In the present work, a hydrodynamic model for CO 2 pipeline transport was built up and the hydrodynamic performances of CO 2 pipeline as well as the impacts of multiple factors on pressure drop behavior along the pipeline were studied. Based on the model, an economic model was established to optimize the CO 2 pipeline transport system economically and to evaluate the unit transport cost of CO 2 pipeline in China. The hydrodynamic model results show that pipe diameter, soil temperature, and pipeline elevation change have significant influence on the pressure drop behavior of CO 2 in the pipeline. The design of pipeline system, including pipeline diameter and number of boosters etc., was optimized to achieve a lowest unit CO 2 transport cost. In regarding to the unit cost, when the transport flow rate and distance are between 1–5 MtCO 2 /year and 100–500 km, respectively, the unit CO 2 transport cost mainly lies between 0.1–0.6 RMB/(tCO 2 km) and electricity consumption cost of the pipeline inlet compressor was found to take more than 60% of the total cost. The present work provides reference for CO 2 transport pipeline design and for feasibility evaluation of potential CCS projects in China.

77 FR 2606 - Pipeline Safety: Random Drug Testing Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-18

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID PHMSA-2012-0004] Pipeline Safety: Random Drug Testing Rate AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... pipelines and operators of liquefied natural gas facilities must select and test a percentage of covered...

75 FR 9018 - Pipeline Safety: Random Drug Testing Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-26

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID PHMSA-2010-0034] Pipeline Safety: Random Drug Testing Rate AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... pipelines and operators of liquefied natural gas facilities must select and test a percentage of covered...

77 FR 34458 - Pipeline Safety: Requests for Special Permit

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-11

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0112] Pipeline Safety: Requests for Special Permit AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... BreitBurn Energy Company LP, two natural gas pipeline operators, seeking relief from compliance with...

78 FR 14877 - Pipeline Safety: Incident and Accident Reports

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-07

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID PHMSA-2013-0028] Pipeline Safety: Incident and Accident Reports AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... PHMSA F 7100.2--Incident Report--Natural and Other Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems and...

Regulatory reform for natural gas pipelines: The effect on pipeline and distribution company share prices

Science.gov (United States)

Jurman, Elisabeth Antonie

1997-08-01

The natural gas shortages in the 1970s focused considerable attention on the federal government's role in altering energy consumption. For the natural gas industry these shortages eventually led to the passage of the Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA) in 1978 as part of the National Energy Plan. A series of events in the decade of the 1980s has brought about the restructuring of interstate natural gas pipelines which have been transformed by regulators and the courts from monopolies into competitive entities. This transformation also changed their relationship with their downstream customers, the LDCs, who no longer had to deal with pipelines as the only merchants of gas. Regulatory reform made it possible for LDCs to buy directly from producers using the pipelines only for delivery of their purchases. This study tests for the existence of monopoly rents by analyzing the daily returns of natural gas pipeline and utility industry stock price data from 1982 to 1990, a period of regulatory reform for the natural gas industry. The study's main objective is to investigate the degree of empirical support for claims that regulatory reforms increase profits in the affected industry, as the normative theory of regulation expects, or decrease profits, as advocates of the positive theory of regulation believe. I also test Norton's theory of risk which predicts that systematic risk will increase for firms undergoing deregulation. Based on a sample of twelve natural gas pipelines, and 25 utilities an event study concept was employed to measure the impact of regulatory event announcements on daily natural gas pipeline or utility industry stock price data using a market model regression equation. The results of this study provide some evidence that regulatory reforms did not increase the profits of pipeline firms, confirming the expectations of those who claim that excess profits result from regulation and will disappear, once that protection is removed and the firms are operating in

Monitoring device for the reactor pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukumoto, Akira.

1983-01-01

Purpose: To enable rapid and accurate operator's monitoring for the state of pipelines in a BWR type reactor. Constitution: Specific symbols are attached respectively to a fluid supply source constituting the pipelines of a nuclear reactor facility, a plurality of fluid passing points and equipments to be supplied with the fluid, and a symmetrical matrix comprising these symbols in rows and columns is constituted. Then, a matrix is prepared based on detection signals for the states of the liquid supply source, equipments to be supplied with fluid and pipeline equipments by rendering the matrix elements between the signals expressing the state capable of passing the fluid as 1 and the matrix elements between the signals expressing the state incapable of passing the fluid as 0 . The matrix thus prepared in a signal procession circuit and a matrix in a memory circuit previously storing the matrix expressing the normal state of the pipelines are compared to judge the state of the pipelines in a short time and with no misjudging. (Moriyama, K.)

Effort problem of chemical pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okrajni, J.; Ciesla, M.; Mutwil, K. [Silesian Technical University, Katowice (Poland)

1998-12-31

The problem of the technical state assessment of the chemical pipelines working under mechanical and thermal loading has been shown in the paper. The pipelines effort after the long time operating period has been analysed. Material geometrical and loading conditions of the crack initiation and crack growth process in the chosen object has been discussed. Areas of the maximal effort have been determined. The material structure charges after the long time operating period have been described. Mechanisms of the crack initiation and crack growth in the pipeline elements have been analysed and mutual relations between the chemical and mechanical influences have been shown. (orig.) 16 refs.

World pipeline work set for rapid growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports on international pipeline construction which has entered a fast-growth period, accelerated by the new political and economic realities around the world and increasing demand for natural gas, crude oil and refined petroleum products. Many projects are under way or in planning for completion in the mid- to late 1990s in Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East. Pipeline And Gas Journal's projection calls for construction or other work on 30,700 miles of new natural gas, crude oil and refined products pipelines in the 1992-93 period outside Canada and the U.S. These projects will cost an estimated $30 billion-plus. Natural gas pipelines will comprise most of the mileage, accounting for almost 23,000 miles at an estimated cost of $26.3 billion. Products pipelines, planned or under construction, will add another 5,800 miles at a cost of $2.8 billion. Crude oil pipelines, at a minimum, will total 1,900 new miles at a cost of slightly under $1 billion

Modeling and monitoring of pipelines and networks advanced tools for automatic monitoring and supervision of pipelines

CERN Document Server

Torres, Lizeth

2017-01-01

This book focuses on the analysis and design of advanced techniques for on-line automatic computational monitoring of pipelines and pipe networks. It discusses how to improve the systems’ security considering mathematical models of the flow, historical flow rate and pressure data, with the main goal of reducing the number of sensors installed along a pipeline. The techniques presented in the book have been implemented in digital systems to enhance the abilities of the pipeline network’s operators in recognizing anomalies. A real leak scenario in a Mexican water pipeline is used to illustrate the benefits of these techniques in locating the position of a leak. Intended for an interdisciplinary audience, the book addresses researchers and professionals in the areas of mechanical, civil and control engineering. It covers topics on fluid mechanics, instrumentation, automatic control, signal processing, computing, construction and diagnostic technologies.

Remotely operated closure device for a pipeline with a fixed pipeline flange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westendorf, H.

1987-01-01

The remotely operated closure is set by suspension centring on the circumference of a blank flange on the fixed pipeline flange to be closed. By operating a central actuating mechanism at the closure, the clamping levers are adjusted so that the blank flange is clamped to the pipeline flange and the two flanges are pressed together. The spring-loaded clamping levers are particularly suitable for actuating the closure with the pliers of a manipulator of a large cell. (DG) [de

76 FR 11853 - Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-03

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2011-0027] Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... a 24-inch mainline natural gas pipeline, 595 feet in length. The first segment of the special permit...

78 FR 65429 - Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-31

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2010-0041] Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials...-0041 Williams Gas Pipeline 49 CFR 192.150........ To authorize the extension Company, LLC (WGP). of a...

Lessons Learned from Developing and Operating the Kepler Science Pipeline and Building the TESS Science Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Jon M.

2017-01-01

The experience acquired through development, implementation and operation of the KeplerK2 science pipelines can provide lessons learned for the development of science pipelines for other missions such as NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and ESA's PLATO mission.

Pipeline capacity and heavy oil markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, G.R.

1993-01-01

Aspects of transporting heavy crude to markets from Canadian sources are discussed, with reference to pipeline expansion, western Canadian crude supply, and exports to various Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADDs) in the USA. Pipeline expansions have been proposed by Interprovincial Pipeline, Trans Mountain Pipeline, Rangeland, and Wascana, and some of these proposals are in the review stage. Western Canadian crude supply is expected to peak at 1.9 million bbl/d in 1996. An increase in heavy crude supply is expected but this increase will not be sufficient to offset a decline in light crude supply. Adequate pipeline capacity should exist with the Interprovincial expansion volume of 170,000 bbl/d and the Trans Mountain expansion of 38,000 bbl/d forecast to be in place by 1995. Canadian crude exports to the USA have steadily increased since 1989, and heavy crude exports have grown an average of 20,000 bbl/d each year. In PADD Region IV, oil production is declining and ca 20,000 bbl/d of heavy crude will be needed by the year 2000; additional pipeline capacity will be required. In PADD Region II, Canadian heavy crude imports are ca 390,000 bbl/d and further market opportunities exist, after the Interprovincial expansion is complete. When the various combinations of possible pipeline expansions or reversals are considered, a range of heavy crude near-term growth potentials is obtained in which Canadian heavy oil would displace offshore heavy oil supplied to USA refineries. This potential is seen to range from 35,000 bbl/d to 200,000 bbl/d. 7 refs., 20 figs., 3 tabs

49 CFR 192.513 - Test requirements for plastic pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Test requirements for plastic pipelines. 192.513 Section 192.513 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) PIPELINE AND... Test requirements for plastic pipelines. (a) Each segment of a plastic pipeline must be tested in...

75 FR 35516 - Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-22

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2010-0147] Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... with the Class 1 location portion of a 7.4 mile natural gas pipeline to be constructed in Alaska. This...

An Automated, High-Throughput System for GISAXS and GIWAXS Measurements of Thin Films

Science.gov (United States)

Schaible, Eric; Jimenez, Jessica; Church, Matthew; Lim, Eunhee; Stewart, Polite; Hexemer, Alexander

Grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) are important techniques for characterizing thin films. In order to meet rapidly increasing demand, the SAXSWAXS beamline at the Advanced Light Source (beamline 7.3.3) has implemented a fully automated, high-throughput system to conduct SAXS, GISAXS and GIWAXS measurements. An automated robot arm transfers samples from a holding tray to a measurement stage. Intelligent software aligns each sample in turn, and measures each according to user-defined specifications. Users mail in trays of samples on individually barcoded pucks, and can download and view their data remotely. Data will be pipelined to the NERSC supercomputing facility, and will be available to users via a web portal that facilitates highly parallelized analysis.

76 FR 21423 - Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-15

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2011-0063] Pipeline Safety: Request for Special Permit AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials... application is for two 30-inch segments, segments 3 and 4, of the TPL 330 natural gas pipeline located in St...

75 FR 67807 - Pipeline Safety: Emergency Preparedness Communications

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-03

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... is issuing an Advisory Bulletin to remind operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities... Gas Pipeline Systems. Subject: Emergency Preparedness Communications. Advisory: To further enhance the...

76 FR 65778 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-24

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No...: 12,120. Frequency of Collection: On occasion. 2. Title: Recordkeeping for Natural Gas Pipeline... investigating incidents. Affected Public: Operators of natural gas pipeline systems. Annual Reporting and...

The great pipeline debate : the Minister of everything

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2008-01-01

This article described the challenges facing Trans-Canada Pipelines (TCPL) in the 1950s regarding the construction of a pipeline to deliver gas to central Canadian markets. Alberta had been granted gas export permits, and the proposed pipeline was financed primarily by American interests. In addition, TCPL had difficulties with several competing proposals to move gas east from Alberta. There was also opposition to TCPL's original route which was through American territory. When the pipeline was rerouted through rugged Precambrian Shield, private-sector financiers balked at the additional costs. During the Great Pipeline debate in 1956, federal Minister C.D. Howe encouraged TCPL and its competitors to merge and put a bill before Parliament to create a Crown corporation to build and own the Canadian Shield portion of the line, leasing it back to TCPL. The first president of TCPL was Eldon Tanner, member of Alberta's Legislative Assembly. He remained at the helm until the pipeline was completed. Industrialist Frank McMahon who participated in drilling activities in British Columbia and at Turner Valley, Alberta, also promoted a plan to complete the construction of the Westcoast Transmission pipeline from the Peace River, Canada's first large natural-gas pipeline. 4 figs

The Independence Pipeline project : ANR's supply link - Independence Pipeline, Transco's market link

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persells, T.

1998-01-01

An overview of the Independence Pipeline project was presented. The project offers access from Chicago to the U.S. Midwest market, as well as to Ontario via MichCon, Consumers Power, Great Lakes and Panhandle. The project has three components: ANR's Supply Link, the Independence Pipeline and Transco's MarketLink. The three components are budgeted at $ 1.332 billion dollars and projected for completion between Nov 1999 and Nov 2000. Each component (services, access advantages, market links, rates, storage services, etc ) are described separately. figs

Automated segmentation of pulmonary structures in thoracic computed tomography scans: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Rikxoort, Eva M; Van Ginneken, Bram

2013-01-01

Computed tomography (CT) is the modality of choice for imaging the lungs in vivo. Sub-millimeter isotropic images of the lungs can be obtained within seconds, allowing the detection of small lesions and detailed analysis of disease processes. The high resolution of thoracic CT and the high prevalence of lung diseases require a high degree of automation in the analysis pipeline. The automated segmentation of pulmonary structures in thoracic CT has been an important research topic for over a decade now. This systematic review provides an overview of current literature. We discuss segmentation methods for the lungs, the pulmonary vasculature, the airways, including airway tree construction and airway wall segmentation, the fissures, the lobes and the pulmonary segments. For each topic, the current state of the art is summarized, and topics for future research are identified. (topical review)

76 FR 45904 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-01

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... at U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 1200...: On Occasion. Title: Record Keeping for Natural Gas Pipeline Operators. OMB Control Number: 2137-0049...

75 FR 13807 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-23

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE...: Updates to Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas Reporting Requirements (One Rule). The Notice of Proposed...

Multi-Criteria Decision Making Models for Water Pipelines

OpenAIRE

El Chanati, Hisham; El-Abbasy, Mohammed S.; Mosleh, Fadi; Senouci, Ahmed; Abouhamad, Mona; Gkountis, Iason; Zayed, Tarek; Al-Derham, Hassan

2016-01-01

The deterioration of water pipelines leads to impaired water quality, increased breakage rate, and reduced hydraulic capacity. The planning of maintenance programs for water pipelines is essential to minimize health and safety concerns and ensure an adequate supply of water in a safe, cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable manner. It is essential to assess the performance of water pipelines to assist municipalities in planning inspection and rehabilitation programs for their pipelines. Sev...

Corrosion behavior of API 5L-X80 Pipeline steel for natural gas pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Asyadi Azam Mohd Abid; Imai, Hachiro

2007-01-01

Natural energy problem, including the environmental aspects had changes into certain circumstances in recent years and natural gas has been a focus of constant attention from the viewpoint of energy efficiency and pollution free. From that kind of background, pipeline construction for petroleum and natural gas were considerate as energy infrastructure maintenance plan. Based on the clarification of Asian Pipeline Project (1997-2007) centered in Japan, international pipeline is needed as the natural gas is mainly transported from gas field in Russia and Middle East to consumer country such as Japan etc. It used in severe condition such as cold district and sea. In the meantime, pipeline steel is not just received damages by earth crust fluctuation and corrosion, but also suffered from the corrosion caused by anions that were dissolved in sea and groundwater. The diversification of dispersion and consumption structure of natural gas supply acceptance base are seen regarding, that made the needs of the storing are rising and dealt with the quantitative spatial expansion of the demand. By that, corrosion resistance, not only the hardness, tough, weldability, corrosiveness gas environment is extremely required. (author)

Distributed acoustic sensing for pipeline monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hill, David; McEwen-King, Magnus [OptaSense, QinetiQ Ltd., London (United Kingdom)

2009-07-01

Optical fibre is deployed widely across the oil and gas industry. As well as being deployed regularly to provide high bandwidth telecommunications and infrastructure for SCADA it is increasingly being used to sense pressure, temperature and strain along buried pipelines, on subsea pipelines and downhole. In this paper we present results from the latest sensing capability using standard optical fibre to detect acoustic signals along the entire length of a pipeline. In Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) an optical fibre is used for both sensing and telemetry. In this paper we present results from the OptaSense{sup TM} system which has been used to detect third party intervention (TPI) along buried pipelines. In a typical deployment the system is connected to an existing standard single-mode fibre, up to 50km in length, and was used to independently listen to the acoustic / seismic activity at every 10 meter interval. We will show that through the use of advanced array processing of the independent, simultaneously sampled channels it is possible to detect and locate activity within the vicinity of the pipeline and through sophisticated acoustic signal processing to obtain the acoustic signature to classify the type of activity. By combining spare fibre capacity in existing buried fibre optic cables; processing and display techniques commonly found in sonar; and state-of-the-art in fibre-optic distributed acoustic sensing, we will describe the new monitoring capabilities that are available to the pipeline operator. Without the expense of retrofitting sensors to the pipeline, this technology can provide a high performance, rapidly deployable and cost effective method of providing gapless and persistent monitoring of a pipeline. We will show how this approach can be used to detect, classify and locate activity such as; third party interference (including activity indicative of illegal hot tapping); real time tracking of pigs; and leak detection. We will also show how an

Transient leak detection in crude oil pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beushausen, R.; Tornow, S.; Borchers, H. [Nord-West Oelleitung, Wilhelmshaven (Germany); Murphy, K.; Zhang, J. [Atmos International Ltd., Manchester (United Kingdom)

2004-07-01

Nord-West Oelleitung (NWO) operates 2 crude oil pipelines from Wilhemshaven to Koln and Hamburg respectively. German regulations for transporting flammable substances stipulate that 2 independent continuously working procedures be used to detect leaks. Leak detection pigs are used routinely to complement the surveillance system. This paper described the specific issues of transient leak detection in crude oil pipelines. It was noted that traditional methods have failed to detect leaks that occur immediately after pumps are turned on or off because the pressure wave generated by the transient dominates the pressure wave that results from the leak. Frequent operational changes in a pipeline are often accompanied by an increased number of false alarms and failure to detect leaks due to unsteady operations. NWO therefore decided to have the Atmos statistical pipeline leak detection (SPLD) system installed on their pipelines. The key to the SPLD system is the sequential probability ratio test. Comprehensive data validation is performed following reception of pipeline data from the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. The validated data is then used to calculate the corrected flow imbalance, which is fed into the SPRT to determine if there is an increase in the flow imbalance. Pattern recognition is then used to distinguish a leak from operational changes. The SPLD is unique because it uses 3 computational pipeline monitoring methods simultaneously, namely modified volume balance, statistical analysis, and pressure and flow monitoring. The successful installation and testing of the SPLD in 2 crude oil pipelines was described along with the main difficulties associated with transient leaks. Field results were presented for both steady-state and transient conditions. 5 refs., 2 tabs., 16 figs.

Seismic vulnerability of natural gas pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanzano, Giovanni; Salzano, Ernesto; Santucci de Magistris, Filippo; Fabbrocino, Giovanni

2013-01-01

This work deals with the analysis of the interaction of earthquakes with pipelines transporting and distributing natural gas for industrial and civil use. To this aim, a new large data-set of seismic information classified on the basis of selected seismological, geotechnical and structural parameters is presented and analyzed. Particular attention is devoted to continuous pipelines under strong ground shaking, which is the geotechnical effect due to passage of waves in soil. Results are provided in terms of the likelihood of the loss of containment with respect to Peak Ground Velocity (PGV), a seismic intensity parameter which may be easily retrieved either from local authorities and public databases or from site dependent hazard analysis. Fragility functions and seismic intensity threshold values for the failure and for the loss of containment of gas from pipeline systems are also given. The obtained functions can be easily implemented in existing codes and guidelines for industrial risk assessment, land-use planning, and for the design of public distribution network, with specific reference to Natural—Technological interaction (Na-Tech). -- Highlights: • The seismic vulnerability of natural gas pipelines is analyzed. • A collection of data for pipelines damaged by earthquake is given. • Damage states and risk states for pipelines are defined. • Consequence-based fragility formulations for the loss of containment are given • Seismic threshold values for public authority, risk assessment and gas distribution are shown

Outlook '98 - Gas and oil pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curtis, B.

1998-01-01

Due to rising North American demand, especially by the United States, by the end of 1997 there were plans to build 15 new pipelines over the next three years, at an estimated cost of $17 billion. Canada''s proximity to the United States, combined with huge Canadian reserves, and the fact that Canada already supplies some 15 per cent of U.S. requirements, makes Canada the obvious choice for filling future demand. This explains why most, if not all, current pipeline expansion projects are targeting markets in the U.S. Market forces will determine which of the projects will actually go forward. From the point of view of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association pipeline regulatory reform, pipeline safety, integrity and climate change will be the Association''s key concerns during 1998. To that end, the Association is cooperating with the National Energy Board in a multi-million dollar study of stress corrosion cracking. The Association has also developed a Manual of Recommended Practices for the use of member companies to assist them to tailor stress corrosion cracking practices to their own operations. Meeting Canada''s commitment at the Kyoto Conference for greenhouse gas emissions of six per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2008 to 2012 (in effect a 25 per cent reduction from the level anticipated in the year 2000), a very difficult task according to industry experts, is also among the high priority items on the pipeline industry''s agenda for 1998

Pipeline modeling and assessment in unstable slopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caceres, Carlos Nieves [Oleoducto Central S.A., Bogota, Cundinamarca (Colombia); Ordonez, Mauricio Pereira [SOLSIN S.A.S, Bogota, Cundinamarca (Colombia)

2010-07-01

The OCENSA pipeline system is vulnerable to geotechnical problems such as faults, landslides or creeping slopes, which are well-known in the Andes Mountains and tropical countries like Colombia. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate the pipe behaviour during the soil displacements of slow landslides. Three different cases of analysis are examined, according to site characteristics. The process starts with a simplified analytical model and develops into 3D finite element numerical simulations applied to the on-site geometry of soil and pipe. Case 1 should be used when the unstable site is subject to landslides impacting significant lengths of pipeline, pipeline is straight, and landslide is simple from the geotechnical perspective. Case 2 should be used when pipeline is straight and landslide is complex (creeping slopes and non-conventional stabilization solutions). Case 3 should be used if the pipeline presents vertical or horizontal bends.

Validation of pig operations through pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tolmasquim, Sueli Tiomno [TRANSPETRO - PETROBRAS Transporte S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Nieckele, Angela O. [Pontificia Univ. Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica

2005-07-01

In the oil industry, pigging operations in pipelines have been largely applied for different purposes: pipe cleaning, inspection, liquid removal and product separation, among others. An efficient and safe pigging operation requires that a number of operational parameters, such as maximum and minimum pressures in the pipeline and pig velocity, to be well evaluated during the planning stage and maintained within stipulated limits while the operation is accomplished. With the objective of providing an efficient tool to assist in the control and design of pig operations through pipelines, a numerical code was developed, based on a finite difference scheme, which allows the simulation of two fluid transient flow, like liquid-liquid, gas-gas or liquid-gas products in the pipeline. Modules to automatically control process variables were included to employ different strategies to reach an efficient operation. Different test cases were investigated, to corroborate the robustness of the methodology. To validate the methodology, the results obtained with the code were compared with a real liquid displacement operation of a section of the OSPAR oil pipeline, belonging to PETROBRAS, with 30'' diameter and 60 km length, presenting good agreement. (author)

JGI Plant Genomics Gene Annotation Pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shu, Shengqiang; Rokhsar, Dan; Goodstein, David; Hayes, David; Mitros, Therese

2014-07-14

Plant genomes vary in size and are highly complex with a high amount of repeats, genome duplication and tandem duplication. Gene encodes a wealth of information useful in studying organism and it is critical to have high quality and stable gene annotation. Thanks to advancement of sequencing technology, many plant species genomes have been sequenced and transcriptomes are also sequenced. To use these vastly large amounts of sequence data to make gene annotation or re-annotation in a timely fashion, an automatic pipeline is needed. JGI plant genomics gene annotation pipeline, called integrated gene call (IGC), is our effort toward this aim with aid of a RNA-seq transcriptome assembly pipeline. It utilizes several gene predictors based on homolog peptides and transcript ORFs. See Methods for detail. Here we present genome annotation of JGI flagship green plants produced by this pipeline plus Arabidopsis and rice except for chlamy which is done by a third party. The genome annotations of these species and others are used in our gene family build pipeline and accessible via JGI Phytozome portal whose URL and front page snapshot are shown below.

Energy geopolitics and Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verma, Shiv Kumar

2007-01-01

With the growing energy demands in India and its neighboring countries, Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline assumes special significance. Energy-deficient countries such as India, China, and Pakistan are vying to acquire gas fields in different parts of the world. This has led to two conspicuous developments: first, they are competing against each other and secondly, a situation is emerging where they might have to confront the US and the western countries in the near future in their attempt to control energy bases. The proposed IPI pipeline is an attempt to acquire such base. However, Pakistan is playing its own game to maximize its leverages. Pakistan, which refuses to establish even normal trading ties with India, craves to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees and other annual royalties from a gas pipeline which runs from Iran's South Pars fields to Barmer in western India. Pakistan promises to subsidize its gas imports from Iran and thus also become a major forex earner. It is willing to give pipeline related 'international guarantees' notwithstanding its record of covert actions in breach of international law (such as the export of terrorism) and its reluctance to reciprocally provide India what World Trade Organization (WTO) rules obligate it to do-Most Favored Nation (MFN) status. India is looking at the possibility of using some set of norms for securing gas supply through pipeline as the European Union has already initiated a discussion on the issue. The key point that is relevant to India's plan to build a pipeline to source gas from Iran relates to national treatment for pipeline. Under the principle of national treatment which also figures in relation to foreign direct investment (FDI), the country through which a pipeline transits should provide some level of security to the transiting pipeline as it would have provided to its domestic pipelines. This paper will endeavor to analyze, first, the significance of this pipeline for India

Energy geopolitics and Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verma, Shiv Kumar [Political Geography Division, Center for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067 (India)

2007-06-15

With the growing energy demands in India and its neighboring countries, Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline assumes special significance. Energy-deficient countries such as India, China, and Pakistan are vying to acquire gas fields in different parts of the world. This has led to two conspicuous developments: first, they are competing against each other and secondly, a situation is emerging where they might have to confront the US and the western countries in the near future in their attempt to control energy bases. The proposed IPI pipeline is an attempt to acquire such base. However, Pakistan is playing its own game to maximize its leverages. Pakistan, which refuses to establish even normal trading ties with India, craves to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees and other annual royalties from a gas pipeline which runs from Iran's South Pars fields to Barmer in western India. Pakistan promises to subsidize its gas imports from Iran and thus also become a major forex earner. It is willing to give pipeline related 'international guarantees' notwithstanding its record of covert actions in breach of international law (such as the export of terrorism) and its reluctance to reciprocally provide India what World Trade Organization (WTO) rules obligate it to do-Most Favored Nation (MFN) status. India is looking at the possibility of using some set of norms for securing gas supply through pipeline as the European Union has already initiated a discussion on the issue. The key point that is relevant to India's plan to build a pipeline to source gas from Iran relates to national treatment for pipeline. Under the principle of national treatment which also figures in relation to foreign direct investment (FDI), the country through which a pipeline transits should provide some level of security to the transiting pipeline as it would have provided to its domestic pipelines. This paper will endeavor to analyze, first, the significance of this pipeline for India

Energy geopolitics and Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verma, Shiv Kumar [Political Geography Division, Center for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067 (India)]. E-mail: vermajnu@gmail.com

2007-06-15

With the growing energy demands in India and its neighboring countries, Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline assumes special significance. Energy-deficient countries such as India, China, and Pakistan are vying to acquire gas fields in different parts of the world. This has led to two conspicuous developments: first, they are competing against each other and secondly, a situation is emerging where they might have to confront the US and the western countries in the near future in their attempt to control energy bases. The proposed IPI pipeline is an attempt to acquire such base. However, Pakistan is playing its own game to maximize its leverages. Pakistan, which refuses to establish even normal trading ties with India, craves to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees and other annual royalties from a gas pipeline which runs from Iran's South Pars fields to Barmer in western India. Pakistan promises to subsidize its gas imports from Iran and thus also become a major forex earner. It is willing to give pipeline related 'international guarantees' notwithstanding its record of covert actions in breach of international law (such as the export of terrorism) and its reluctance to reciprocally provide India what World Trade Organization (WTO) rules obligate it to do-Most Favored Nation (MFN) status. India is looking at the possibility of using some set of norms for securing gas supply through pipeline as the European Union has already initiated a discussion on the issue. The key point that is relevant to India's plan to build a pipeline to source gas from Iran relates to national treatment for pipeline. Under the principle of national treatment which also figures in relation to foreign direct investment (FDI), the country through which a pipeline transits should provide some level of security to the transiting pipeline as it would have provided to its domestic pipelines. This paper will endeavor to analyze, first, the significance of this

ORAC-DR: A generic data reduction pipeline infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Jenness, Tim; Economou, Frossie

2015-03-01

ORAC-DR is a general purpose data reduction pipeline system designed to be instrument and observatory agnostic. The pipeline works with instruments as varied as infrared integral field units, imaging arrays and spectrographs, and sub-millimeter heterodyne arrays and continuum cameras. This paper describes the architecture of the pipeline system and the implementation of the core infrastructure. We finish by discussing the lessons learned since the initial deployment of the pipeline system in the late 1990s.

East, West German gas pipeline grids linked

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that Ruhrgas AG, Essen, has started up the first large diameter gas pipeline linking the gas grids of former East and West Germany. Ruhrgas last month placed in service a 40 in., 70 km line at Vitzeroda, near Eisenach, linking a new Ruhrgas pipeline in Hesse state with a 330 km gas pipeline built last year in Thuringia and Saxony states by Erdgasversorgungs GmbH (EVG), Leipzig. The new link enables pipeline operator EVG to receive 70 bcf/year of western European gas via Ruhrgas, complementing the 35 bcf/year of gas coming from the Commonwealth of Independent States via Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG), Leipzig

Managing changes of location classes of gas pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cunha, Sergio B; Sousa, Antonio Geraldo de [PETROBRAS Transporte S.A. (TRANSPETRO), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-12-19

Most of the gas pipeline design codes utilize a class location system, where the design safety factor and the hydrostatic test factor are determined according to the population density in the vicinities of the pipeline route. Consequently, if an operator is requested or desires to maintain an existing gas pipeline in compliance with its design code, it will reduce the operational pressure or replace pipe sections to increase the wall thickness whenever a change in location class takes place. This article introduces an alternative methodology to deal with changes in location classes of gas pipelines. Initially, selected codes that utilize location class systems are reviewed. Afterwards, a model for the area affected by an ignition following a natural gas pipeline leak is described. Finally, a methodology to determine the MAOP and third part damage mitigation measures for gas transport pipelines that underwent changes in location class is presented. (author)

Automatic ultrasonic inspection of pipeline girth weldswith a corrosive resistant alloy (Cra) layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ent, Jan Van Der; Portzgen, Niels; Findlay, Niele; Nupen, Oddbjorn; Endal, Geir; Forli, Olav

2007-01-01

There is very limited experience in the Offshore Pipeline industry regarding the Automated Ultrasonic Inspection of Austenitic Girth Welds with CRA layers. The AUT inspection technique to be used for Austenitic welds having CRA layers deviates from the standard approach, which is described within internationally available AUT inspection standards. Due to the coarse grain and anisotropic structure of the weld material, special designed ultrasonic probes and adapted AUT system inspection software were required for examination of the Nome Satellite CRA welds. The 'new' inspection approach was subject for qualification and validation in order to demonstrate that the proposed technique could fulfill stringent inspection requirements which are applicable for the reeling process. Experiences from former projects are difficult to find, since this was the first clad pipeline to be reeled. To determine the overall qualification program to be performed for the Nome Satellite project, reference has been made to the existing development experiences on CRA weld inspection from the Shell Bonga project. The available defect population was obtained out of real CRA pipeline production welds and were therefore of a naturally coarse. Representatives from Technip, Statoil and DNV performed an audit at RTD premises with the objective to draw up an inventory of the performed CRA qualification work and to judge whether this work could be used for the benefit of the Nome Satellite project. It has been concluded that the existing CRA qualification work could be used to complement the Nome Satellite scope of CRA qualification work. As a result the statistical uncertainties were reduced merging the both qualification program results (referenced qualification data and additional Nome Satellite Field qualification work)

Proof of pipeline strength based on measurements of inspection pigs; Festigkeitsnachweis von Pipelines aufgrund der Messergebnisse von Pruefmolchen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De la Camp, H.J.; Feser, G.; Hofmann, A.; Wolf, B.; Schmidt, H. [TUeV Sueddeutschland Bau und Betrieb GmbH, Muenchen (Germany); Herforth, H.E.; Juengling, K.H.; Schmidt, W. [TUeV Anlagentechnik GmbH, Berlin-Schoeneberg (Germany). Unternehmensgruppe TUeV Rheinland/Berlin-Brandenburg

2002-01-01

The report is aimed at collecting and documenting the state of the art and the extensive know how of experts and pipeline operators with regard to judging the structural integrity of pipelines. In order to assess the actual mechanical strength of pipelines based on measurement results obtained by inspection pigs, guidance is given for future processing, which eventually can be used as a basis for an industry standard. A literature study of the commercially available types of inspection pigs describes and synoptically lists the respective pros and cons. In essence the report comprises besides check lists of operating data for the pipeline and the pig runs mainly the evaluation of defects and respective calculating procedures. Included are recommendations regarding maintenance planning, verification of defects as well as repetition of pig runs. (orig.) [German] Ziel des Berichtes ist die Erfassung und Dokumentation zum derzeitigen Stand der Technik und des vorhandenen umfangreichen Know-how von Sachverstaendigen und Pipelinebetreibern auf dem Gebiet der sicherheitstechnischen Beurteilung von Pipelines. Fuer den Festigkeitsnachweis von Pipelines aufgrund der Messergebnisse von Pruefmolchen wurde ein Leitfaden als Basis fuer die zukuenftige Vorgehensweise erstellt, der eventuell die Grundlage eines normativen Regelwerkes bilden kann. In einer Literaturstudie wurden die auf dem Markt befindlichen Pruefmolchtypen zusammenfassend beschrieben und ihre Vor- und Nachteile tabellarisch gegenuebergestellt und bewertet. Neben der Erstellung von Checklisten fuer notwendige Daten zum Betrieb der Pipeline und der Molchlaeufe bildet die Fehlerbewertung mit entsprechenden Berechnungsverfahren den Hauptteil dieses Berichtes. Hinweise zur Instandhaltungsplanung (Fehlerverifikation und Molchlaufwiederholung) werden gegeben. (orig.)

Streak detection and analysis pipeline for space-debris optical images

Science.gov (United States)

Virtanen, Jenni; Poikonen, Jonne; Säntti, Tero; Komulainen, Tuomo; Torppa, Johanna; Granvik, Mikael; Muinonen, Karri; Pentikäinen, Hanna; Martikainen, Julia; Näränen, Jyri; Lehti, Jussi; Flohrer, Tim

2016-04-01

We describe a novel data-processing and analysis pipeline for optical observations of moving objects, either of natural (asteroids, meteors) or artificial origin (satellites, space debris). The monitoring of the space object populations requires reliable acquisition of observational data, to support the development and validation of population models and to build and maintain catalogues of orbital elements. The orbital catalogues are, in turn, needed for the assessment of close approaches (for asteroids, with the Earth; for satellites, with each other) and for the support of contingency situations or launches. For both types of populations, there is also increasing interest to detect fainter objects corresponding to the small end of the size distribution. The ESA-funded StreakDet (streak detection and astrometric reduction) activity has aimed at formulating and discussing suitable approaches for the detection and astrometric reduction of object trails, or streaks, in optical observations. Our two main focuses are objects in lower altitudes and space-based observations (i.e., high angular velocities), resulting in long (potentially curved) and faint streaks in the optical images. In particular, we concentrate on single-image (as compared to consecutive frames of the same field) and low-SNR detection of objects. Particular attention has been paid to the process of extraction of all necessary information from one image (segmentation), and subsequently, to efficient reduction of the extracted data (classification). We have developed an automated streak detection and processing pipeline and demonstrated its performance with an extensive database of semisynthetic images simulating streak observations both from ground-based and space-based observing platforms. The average processing time per image is about 13 s for a typical 2k-by-2k image. For long streaks (length >100 pixels), primary targets of the pipeline, the detection sensitivity (true positives) is about 90% for

Repair methods for damaged pipeline beyond diving depth

OpenAIRE

Mohammadi, Keramat

2011-01-01

Master's thesis in Offshore Technology Mechanical damage of a subsea pipeline is found as one of the most severe concern in management of pipeline integrity. The need to reach and bring the hydrocarbons from the fields located in deep and ultra-deep waters, imposes the need to improve the technologies and techniques in order to repair any unacceptable damage in pipeline. The main objective of this work is to investigate various methods for repairing a subsea pipeline that has been damaged ...

Europe's gas imports via pipelines. Projects and safety aspects; Europas Gasimporte durch Pipelines. Projekte und Sicherheitsaspekte

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goetz, R.

2008-08-15

By the year 2030 Europe's gas imports will have risen to approximately 200 bn m{sup 3}, necessitating the installation of new pipelines and LNG terminals. The largest growth in imports is not expected from Russia but from Africa and the Near East. An analysis of projected pipelines demonstrates these regions' contribution to securing Europe's gas supply. Because they help to establish market dominance or to fend off potential competitors these pipelines also serve corporate strategies. The most reliable supply will continue to come from Norway. By contrast, gas imports via pipelines from North Africa, Russia and the Persian Gulf all carry high risks of approximately the same degree. The greatest risks are associated with gas imports from the Caspian Sea.

Crossing Active Faults on the Sakhalin II Onshore Pipeline Route: Pipeline Design and Risk Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattiozzi, Pierpaolo; Strom, Alexander

2008-01-01

Twin oil (20 and 24 inch) and gas (20 and 48 inch) pipeline systems stretching 800 km are being constructed to connect offshore hydrocarbon deposits from the Sakhalin II concession in the North to an LNG plant and oil export terminal in the South of Sakhalin island. The onshore pipeline route follows a regional fault zone and crosses individual active faults at 19 locations. Sakhalin Energy, Design and Construction companies took significant care to ensure the integrity of the pipelines, should large seismic induced ground movements occur during the Operational life of the facilities. Complex investigations including the identification of the active faults, their precise location, their particular displacement values and assessment of the fault kinematics were carried out to provide input data for unique design solutions. Lateral and reverse offset displacements of 5.5 and 4.5 m respectively were determined as the single-event values for the design level earthquake (DLE) - the 1000-year return period event. Within the constraints of a pipeline route largely fixed, the underground pipeline fault crossing design was developed to define the optimum routing which would minimize stresses and strain using linepipe materials which had been ordered prior to the completion of detailed design, and to specify requirements for pipe trenching shape, materials, drainage system, etc. Detailed Design was performed with due regard to actual topography and to avoid the possibility of the trenches freezing in winter, the implementation of specific drainage solutions and thermal protection measures

Environmental audit guidelines for pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

Environmental auditing is a form of management control which provides an objective basis by which a company can measure the degree of compliance with environmental regulations. Other benefits of this type of auditing include improved environmental management, furthering communication on environmental issues of concern within the company, and provision of documentation on environmental diligence. A series of environmental audit guidelines for pipelines is presented in the form of lists of questions to be asked during an environmental audit followed by recommended actions in response to those questions. The questions are organized into seven main categories: environmental management and planning; operating procedures; spill prevention; management of wastes and hazardous materials; environmental monitoring; construction of pipelines; and pipeline abandonment, decommissioning and site reclamation

Transport of solid commodities via freight pipeline: freight pipeline technology. Volume II. First year final report. [Slurry, pneumatic, pneumo-capsule, and hydro-capsule

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zandi, I.; Gimm, K.K.

1976-07-01

In order to determine the feasibility of pipeline as an intercity freight transportation mode, it was necessary to examine its technological feasibility and reliability. This report describes the technology of the major generic freight pipelines in terms of both historical and current trends and operations. Additionally, it presents a state-of-the-art review of calculating energy requirements of various generic freight pipelines. It was concluded that slurry and pneumatic pipelines are technologically feasible and reliable. There are many commercial installations of both types operating around the world. Based on European experience with pneumo-capsule pipelines for mail delivery and Russian gravel- and sand-transport installations, it appears that a pneumo-capsule pipeline is a technologically feasible and operationally reliable mode for transport of solids. Since no commercial pneumo-capsule pipeline installations yet exist in the U.S., it seems desirable that a service demonstration of the advantages and feasibility of this mode of transport be undertaken to attract the shippers' confidence. Hydro-capsule pipelines are technologically feasible, but its reliability within a commercial environment remains to be tested.

A pipeline for the de novo assembly of the Themira biloba (Sepsidae: Diptera) transcriptome using a multiple k-mer length approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Melicher, Dacotah; Torson, Alex S; Dworkin, Ian; Bowsher, Julia H

2014-03-12

The Sepsidae family of flies is a model for investigating how sexual selection shapes courtship and sexual dimorphism in a comparative framework. However, like many non-model systems, there are few molecular resources available. Large-scale sequencing and assembly have not been performed in any sepsid, and the lack of a closely related genome makes investigation of gene expression challenging. Our goal was to develop an automated pipeline for de novo transcriptome assembly, and to use that pipeline to assemble and analyze the transcriptome of the sepsid Themira biloba. Our bioinformatics pipeline uses cloud computing services to assemble and analyze the transcriptome with off-site data management, processing, and backup. It uses a multiple k-mer length approach combined with a second meta-assembly to extend transcripts and recover more bases of transcript sequences than standard single k-mer assembly. We used 454 sequencing to generate 1.48 million reads from cDNA generated from embryo, larva, and pupae of T. biloba and assembled a transcriptome consisting of 24,495 contigs. Annotation identified 16,705 transcripts, including those involved in embryogenesis and limb patterning. We assembled transcriptomes from an additional three non-model organisms to demonstrate that our pipeline assembled a higher-quality transcriptome than single k-mer approaches across multiple species. The pipeline we have developed for assembly and analysis increases contig length, recovers unique transcripts, and assembles more base pairs than other methods through the use of a meta-assembly. The T. biloba transcriptome is a critical resource for performing large-scale RNA-Seq investigations of gene expression patterns, and is the first transcriptome sequenced in this Dipteran family.

Real-Time Location-Based Rendering of Urban Underground Pipelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The concealment and complex spatial relationships of urban underground pipelines present challenges in managing them. Recently, augmented reality (AR has been a hot topic around the world, because it can enhance our perception of reality by overlaying information about the environment and its objects onto the real world. Using AR, underground pipelines can be displayed accurately, intuitively, and in real time. We analyzed the characteristics of AR and their application in underground pipeline management. We mainly focused on the AR pipeline rendering procedure based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM technology. First, in aiming to improve the spatial accuracy of pipeline rendering, we used differential corrections received from the Ground-Based Augmentation System to compute the precise coordinates of users in real time, which helped us accurately retrieve and draw pipelines near the users, and by scene recognition the accuracy can be further improved. Second, in terms of pipeline rendering, we used Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO to track the rendered objects and made some improvements to visual effects, which can provide steady dynamic tracking of pipelines even in relatively markerless environments and outdoors. Finally, we used the occlusion method based on real-time 3D reconstruction to realistically express the immersion effect of underground pipelines. We compared our methods to the existing methods and concluded that the method proposed in this research improves the spatial accuracy of pipeline rendering and the portability of the equipment. Moreover, the updating of our rendering procedure corresponded with the moving of the user’s location, thus we achieved a dynamic rendering of pipelines in the real environment.

Oil and Natural Gas Pipelines, North America, 2010, Platts

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Oil and Natural Gas Pipeline geospatial data layer contains gathering, interstate, and intrastate natural gas pipelines, crude and product oil pipelines, and...

Australia's changing natural gas and pipeline industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimber, M.J.

1998-01-01

The future is bright for continued development of Australia's natural gas pipeline infrastructure, as well as for privatization and private energy infrastructure growth. Gas demands are growing and the development of open access principles for all natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines heralds a much more market focused industry. Within the next few years gas-on-gas competition will apply to supply, pipelines, and retail marketing. No longer will operators be able to pass on high costs resulting from inefficiencies to their customers. This article describes the changing Australian gas industry, evaluates the drivers for change and looks at ways the industry is responding to new regulatory regimes and the development and use of new pipeline technology

Sensor and transmitter system for communication in pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, John F.; Burnham, Alan K.

2013-01-29

A system for sensing and communicating in a pipeline that contains a fluid. An acoustic signal containing information about a property of the fluid is produced in the pipeline. The signal is transmitted through the pipeline. The signal is received with the information and used by a control.

Alliance Pipeline - The new kid on the block

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edgeworth, A.

1998-01-01

Alliance Pipeline has taken on as its primary role to improve the competitive position of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB), to increase market access for WCSB production, to provide a link for North American gas pricing, and to increase the total gas supply available across North America to serve current and future requirements. A summary of the company's partnership structure and construction program is presented. Also discussed were issues facing Canadian transporters and producers such as: pricing dynamics, gas supplies, regulatory change, competition, convergence, pipeline integrity, land issues, environmental issues, aboriginal issues, cost structures and taxes. The potential impact of the Alliance Pipeline coming on-stream in October 2000 on existing pipelines, possible future pipelines and on the existing supply scene is also assessed. tabs., figs

Rupture detection device for pipeline in reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakoshi, Toshinori; Kanamori, Shigeru; Shirasawa, Hirofumi.

1991-01-01

A difference between each of the pressures in a plurality of pipelines disposed in a shroud a reactor container and a pressure outside of the shroud is detected, thereby enabling safety and reliable detection even for simultaneous rapture and leakage of the pipelines. That is, a difference between the pressure of a steam phase outside of the shroud and a pressure in each of a plurality of low pressure injection pipelines in an emergency core cooling system opened to the inside of the shroud in the reactor container is detected by a difference pressure detector for each of them. Then, an average value for each of the pressure difference is determined, which is compared with the difference pressure obtained from each of the detectors in a comparator. Then, if openings should be caused by rupture, leakage or the like in any of the pipelines, the pressure in that pipeline is lowered to a vicinity of an atmospheric pressure and at the vapor phase pressure at the lowest. If the pressure is compared with the average value by the comparator, a negative difference is caused. Accordingly, an alarming unit generates an alarm based on the pressure difference signal, thereby enabling to specify the failed pipeline and provide an announce of the failure. (I.S.)

GRAVITY PIPELINE TRANSPORT FOR HARDENING FILLING MIXTURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonid KROUPNIK

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In underground mining of solid minerals becoming increasingly common development system with stowing hardening mixtures. In this case the natural ore array after it is replaced by an artificial excavation of solidified filling mixture consisting of binder, aggregates and water. Such a mixture is prepared on the surface on special stowing complexes and transported underground at special stowing pipelines. However, it is transported to the horizons of a few kilometers, which requires a sustainable mode of motion of such a mixture in the pipeline. Hardening stowing mixture changes its rheological characteristics over time, which complicates the calculation of the parameters of pipeline transportation. The article suggests a method of determining the initial parameters of such mixtures: the status coefficient, indicator of transportability, coefficient of hydrodynamic resistance to motion of the mixture. These indicators characterize the mixture in terms of the possibility to transport it through pipes. On the basis of these indicators is proposed methodology for calculating the parameters of pipeline transport hardening filling mixtures in drift mode when traffic on the horizontal part of the mixture under pressure column of the mixture in the vertical part of the backfill of the pipeline. This technique allows stable operation is guaranteed to provide pipeline transportation.

CLOTU: An online pipeline for processing and clustering of 454 amplicon reads into OTUs followed by taxonomic annotation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shalchian-Tabrizi Kamran

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The implementation of high throughput sequencing for exploring biodiversity poses high demands on bioinformatics applications for automated data processing. Here we introduce CLOTU, an online and open access pipeline for processing 454 amplicon reads. CLOTU has been constructed to be highly user-friendly and flexible, since different types of analyses are needed for different datasets. Results In CLOTU, the user can filter out low quality sequences, trim tags, primers, adaptors, perform clustering of sequence reads, and run BLAST against NCBInr or a customized database in a high performance computing environment. The resulting data may be browsed in a user-friendly manner and easily forwarded to downstream analyses. Although CLOTU is specifically designed for analyzing 454 amplicon reads, other types of DNA sequence data can also be processed. A fungal ITS sequence dataset generated by 454 sequencing of environmental samples is used to demonstrate the utility of CLOTU. Conclusions CLOTU is a flexible and easy to use bioinformatics pipeline that includes different options for filtering, trimming, clustering and taxonomic annotation of high throughput sequence reads. Some of these options are not included in comparable pipelines. CLOTU is implemented in a Linux computer cluster and is freely accessible to academic users through the Bioportal web-based bioinformatics service (http://www.bioportal.uio.no.

Bauxite slurry pipeline: start up operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Othon, Otilio; Babosa, Eder; Edvan, Francisco; Brittes, Geraldo; Melo, Gerson; Janir, Joao; Favacho, Orlando; Leao, Marcos; Farias, Obadias [Vale, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Goncalves, Nilton [Anglo Ferrous Brazil S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

The mine of Miltonia is located in Paragominas-PA, in the north of Brazil. Bauxite slurry pipeline starts at the Mine of Miltonia and finishes in the draining installation of Alunorte refinery at the port of Barcarena-PA, located approximately 244km away from the mine. The pipeline runs over seven cities and passes below four great rivers stream beds. The system was designed for an underground 24 inches OD steel pipe to carry 9.9 million dry metric tonnes per annum (dMTAs) of 50.5% solid concentration bauxite slurry, using only one pumping station. The system is composed by four storage tanks and six piston diaphragm pumps, supplying a flow of 1680 m3/h. There is a cathodic protection system along the pipeline extension to prevent external corrosion and five pressure monitoring stations to control hydraulic conditions, there is also a fiber optic cable interconnection between pump station and terminal station. Pipeline Systems Incorporated (PSI) was the designer and followed the commissioning program of the start up operations. This paper will describe the beginning of the pipeline operations, technical aspects of the project, the operational experiences acquired in these two years, the faced problems and also the future planning. (author)

75 FR 4136 - Pipeline Safety: Request To Modify Special Permit

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-26

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2009-0377] Pipeline Safety: Request To Modify Special Permit AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous... coating on its gas pipeline. DATES: Submit any comments regarding this special permit modification request...

Instrumented Pipeline Initiative

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thomas Piro; Michael Ream

2010-07-31

This report summarizes technical progress achieved during the cooperative agreement between Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) and U.S. Department of Energy to address the need for a for low-cost monitoring and inspection sensor system as identified in the Department of Energy (DOE) National Gas Infrastructure Research & Development (R&D) Delivery Reliability Program Roadmap.. The Instrumented Pipeline Initiative (IPI) achieved the objective by researching technologies for the monitoring of pipeline delivery integrity, through a ubiquitous network of sensors and controllers to detect and diagnose incipient defects, leaks, and failures. This report is organized by tasks as detailed in the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO). The sections all state the objective and approach before detailing results of work.

Investigation on potential SCC in gas transmission pipeline in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jian, S. [Petroleum Univ., Beijing (China); Zupei, Y.; Yunxin, M. [China Petroleum Pipeline Corp., Beijing (China). Science and Technology Center

2004-07-01

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is a common phenomenon that occurs on the outer surfaces of buried pipelines. This paper investigated aspects of SCC on 3 transmission pipelines on the West-East Gas Pipeline Project in China. The study was comprised of 3 different investigations: (1) an investigation of SCC cases on constructed pipelines; (2) an evaluation of SCC sensitivity of pipeline steels in typical soil environments; and (3) an analysis of soil environments and operation conditions of western pipelines. The study included a review of pipeline corrosion investigations, as well as an examination of pipeline failure cases. Investigative digs were conducted at 21 sites to test soil chemistries. Slow strain rate stress were conducted to evaluate SCC sensitivity of steel pipelines used in China. Potentiodynamic polarization tests were conducted to characterize the electrochemical behaviour of the X70 line pipe steel in different soil environments. Results of the study showed that the environmental conditions in many locations in China contributed to SCC in pipelines. SCC was observed on the surface of X70 steel pipe specimens in both marsh and saline environments. Seasonal temperature changes also contributed additional stress on pipelines. The movement of soil bodies in mountainous areas also contributed to stress and coating damage. It was concluded that proper cathodic protection can alleviate concentrations of local solutions under disbanded coatings. Overprotection of SCC will accelerate the growth of cracks and the degradation of coatings. Samples gathered from the solutions found under the disbanded coatings of pipelines will be used to form part of a reference database for predicting SCC in oil and gas pipelines in the future. 2 refs., 4 tabs., 5 figs.

Skaha Lake crossing, innovations in pipeline installation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, M.L.; Bryce, P.W.; Smith, J.D.

1995-01-01

This paper describes the construction of a 10.8 km long NPS16 (406 mm, 16 inch diameter) pipeline, across Skaha Lake, in the south Okanagan valley, British Columbia, Canada. The water crossing is part of the 32 km South Okanagan Natural Gas Pipeline Project (SONG) operated by BC Gas. The pipeline is located in a region dependent on year-round tourism. Therefore, the design and construction was influenced by sensitive environmental and land use concerns. From earlier studies, BC Gas identified surface tow or lay as preferred installation methods. The contractor, Fraser River Pile and Dredge departed from a conventional laybarge methodology after evaluating environmental data and assessing locally available equipment. The contractor proposed a surface tow with multiple surface tie-ins. This approach modification to the ''Surface Tow and Buoy Release Method'' (STBRM) used previously with success on relatively short underwater pipelines. A total of 10 pipe strings, up to 1 km long, were towed into position on the lake and tied-in using a floating platform. The joined pipeline was lowered to the lakebed by divers releasing buoys while tension was maintained from a winch barge at the free end of the pipeline. From analysis and field verified measurement the installation stresses were well below the allowable limits during all phases of construction. The entire construction, including mobilization and demobilization, lasted less than three months, and actual pipelaying less than three weeks. Installation was completed within budget and on schedule, without any environmental or safety related incidents. The SONG pipeline became operational in December 1994

Pipelines and salmon in northern British Columbia : potential impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levy, D.A.

2009-10-01

Four pipeline projects have been proposed for northern British Columbia that could threaten the health of the Fraser, Skeena, and Kitimat watersheds. The pipelines will expose salmon to risks on several fronts. Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline project has generated the most concern for a several reasons, including the risks to salmon and freshwater habitat from pipeline failures, notably leaks or ruptures. This paper reviewed the salmon resources in affected watersheds; salmon and BC's economy; salmon diversity and abundance; impacts on fish from pipeline construction, operations and failures; behaviours of different petroleum products in fresh water; hydrocarbon toxicity; history of pipeline failures; sabotage and natural disasters; and Canadian case studies. Salmon are already experiencing stresses from forestry, hydro-electricity, transportation, agriculture, mining, mountain pine beetle, climate change and coalbed methane development. Their cumulative impact will dictate the long-term health and viability of salmon. It was concluded that if all of the proposed pipelines were built, they would extend over 4,000 km, crossing more than 1,000 rivers and streams in some of Canada's most productive salmon habitat. During construction, pipeline stream crossings are vulnerable to increased sedimentation, which can degrade salmon habitat. In the event of a spill, the condensate and oil sands products carried in the pipelines are highly toxic to salmon, with serious and lasting adverse impacts on salmon and their habitat. Any decision to approve such a pipeline should be made in recognition of these risks. 73 refs., 5 tabs., 15 figs., 2 appendices.

Structural reliability analysis applied to pipeline risk analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gardiner, M. [GL Industrial Services, Loughborough (United Kingdom); Mendes, Renato F.; Donato, Guilherme V.P. [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) of pipelines requires two main components to be provided. These are models of the consequences that follow from some loss of containment incident, and models for the likelihood of such incidents occurring. This paper describes how PETROBRAS have used Structural Reliability Analysis for the second of these, to provide pipeline- and location-specific predictions of failure frequency for a number of pipeline assets. This paper presents an approach to estimating failure rates for liquid and gas pipelines, using Structural Reliability Analysis (SRA) to analyze the credible basic mechanisms of failure such as corrosion and mechanical damage. SRA is a probabilistic limit state method: for a given failure mechanism it quantifies the uncertainty in parameters to mathematical models of the load-resistance state of a structure and then evaluates the probability of load exceeding resistance. SRA can be used to benefit the pipeline risk management process by optimizing in-line inspection schedules, and as part of the design process for new construction in pipeline rights of way that already contain multiple lines. A case study is presented to show how the SRA approach has recently been used on PETROBRAS pipelines and the benefits obtained from it. (author)

Modeling and Calculation of Dent Based on Pipeline Bending Strain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingshan Feng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The bending strain of long-distance oil and gas pipelines can be calculated by the in-line inspection tool which used inertial measurement unit (IMU. The bending strain is used to evaluate the strain and displacement of the pipeline. During the bending strain inspection, the dent existing in the pipeline can affect the bending strain data as well. This paper presents a novel method to model and calculate the pipeline dent based on the bending strain. The technique takes inertial mapping data from in-line inspection and calculates depth of dent in the pipeline using Bayesian statistical theory and neural network. To verify accuracy of the proposed method, an in-line inspection tool is used to inspect pipeline to gather data. The calculation of dent shows the method is accurate for the dent, and the mean relative error is 2.44%. The new method provides not only strain of the pipeline dent but also the depth of dent. It is more benefit for integrity management of pipeline for the safety of the pipeline.

The pipeline service obligation under changing LDC purchasing practices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neff, S.J.

1990-01-01

Historically, interstate natural gas pipelines served as aggregators and transporters of gas supplies from the producing fields to the city-gate. In turn, local distribution companies (LDCs) bought gas from pipelines at the city-gate under long-term sales contracts and resold the gas to retail customers. Once a pipeline/LDC sales relationship was established through a regulated certificate process, the LDC was assured of gas supply up to the level of its contract demand (CD) at just and reasonable rates until abandonment of the pipeline's sales service obligation was granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). During the years of regulated wellhead pricing and limited gas deliverability, pipelines signed long-term take-or-pay contracts with producers to induce them to develop and commit new gas supplies. Those supply cost obligations were reflected in tariff minimum bill provisions. For years, this pipeline/LDC arrangement was mutually beneficial and provided assured firm service. With the load diversity on large interstate pipeline systems and the make-up provisions under take-or-pay clauses, these gas purchase contracts provided supply reliability without negative economic consequence to the pipelines. Then, with the issuance of FERC Order Nos. 380, 436, and 500, LDCs' obligations to purchase gas from pipeline suppliers according to the terms of those long term sales agreements were irrevocably altered. The impacts of those long term sales agreements were irrevocably altered. The impacts of those orders the elimination of minimum bills and the advent of open access transportation caused a serious erosion of the mutual obligations between pipelines and their LDC customers. The result has been a significant loss of pipeline sales markets as LDC customers have chosen alternative supplied, often at the urging of state public utility commissions (PUCs) to lower short-term costs

Computational Testing for Automated Preprocessing 2: Practical Demonstration of a System for Scientific Data-Processing Workflow Management for High-Volume EEG.

Science.gov (United States)

Cowley, Benjamin U; Korpela, Jussi

2018-01-01

Existing tools for the preprocessing of EEG data provide a large choice of methods to suitably prepare and analyse a given dataset. Yet it remains a challenge for the average user to integrate methods for batch processing of the increasingly large datasets of modern research, and compare methods to choose an optimal approach across the many possible parameter configurations. Additionally, many tools still require a high degree of manual decision making for, e.g., the classification of artifacts in channels, epochs or segments. This introduces extra subjectivity, is slow, and is not reproducible. Batching and well-designed automation can help to regularize EEG preprocessing, and thus reduce human effort, subjectivity, and consequent error. The Computational Testing for Automated Preprocessing (CTAP) toolbox facilitates: (i) batch processing that is easy for experts and novices alike; (ii) testing and comparison of preprocessing methods. Here we demonstrate the application of CTAP to high-resolution EEG data in three modes of use. First, a linear processing pipeline with mostly default parameters illustrates ease-of-use for naive users. Second, a branching pipeline illustrates CTAP's support for comparison of competing methods. Third, a pipeline with built-in parameter-sweeping illustrates CTAP's capability to support data-driven method parameterization. CTAP extends the existing functions and data structure from the well-known EEGLAB toolbox, based on Matlab, and produces extensive quality control outputs. CTAP is available under MIT open-source licence from https://github.com/bwrc/ctap.

Analysis of buried pipelines at Kozloduy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asfura, A.

1999-01-01

This paper describes the analysis of the buried pipelines at Kozloduy NPP. It involves the description of the studied pipelines, their properties, a detailed description of the methodology applied, and the evaluation of the soil strain field as well as the graphical representation of the results obtained

CFD analysis of onshore oil pipelines in permafrost

Science.gov (United States)

Nardecchia, Fabio; Gugliermetti, Luca; Gugliermetti, Franco

2017-07-01

Underground pipelines are built all over the world and the knowledge of their thermal interaction with the soil is crucial for their design. This paper studies the "thermal influenced zone" produced by a buried pipeline and the parameters that can influence its extension by 2D-steady state CFD simulations with the aim to improve the design of new pipelines in permafrost. In order to represent a real case, the study is referred to the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean Oil Pipeline at the three stations of Mo'he, Jiagedaqi and Qiqi'har. Different burial depth sand diameters of the pipe are analyzed; the simulation results show that the effect of the oil pipeline diameter on the thermal field increases with the increase of the distance from the starting station.

Pipeline engineering. 8. rev. and enl. ed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, W.

2000-01-01

Apart from calculating the strength of pipeline components planning and design are the most important tasks on the areas of apparatus manufacturing, fluid engineering, process engineering and thermal engineering. It is therefore necessary that the flow diagrams of a plant are clearly understandable and in accordance with the technical rules even in the early stages of planning. This book concentrates on steel pipeline which are not laid underground but of the type used mostly in industrial applications. The pictures and equations provided can be used for the design of pipelines, tables and diagrams are given to facilitate estimation of elasticity, pipeline pressure losses and insulating thicknesses. An overview of the equations is given at the end of the book. Many examples facilitate learning. (orig.) [de

Alaska-Canada Pipeline Project : getting it done

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brintnell, R. [Enbridge Pipelines Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2005-07-01

Enbridge's unique qualifications for the proposed Alaska-Canada pipeline that will extend from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta was discussed. Enbridge is Canada's largest local distribution company (LDC), handling approximately 14 bcf of natural gas per day through pipeline, processing and marketing. It also operates the world's longest liquids pipeline, delivering more than 2 million barrels per day. The company also has 20 years of operational experience in perma frost regions. The key challenges facing the construction of the proposed new high pressure liquids rich pipeline were discussed with reference to market outlook; cost reduction; U.S. fiscal and regulatory issues; Alaska fiscal contract; and, Canadian regulatory efficiency. A successful project will mean a $15 billion capital expenditure in Canada, $16 billion in government revenues, 12,000 construction work years, and tens of thousands of new jobs. It will also improve Alberta's position as the key energy hub and will increase the utilization of the existing infrastructure. Canadian consumers will benefit from access to a new supply basin and a more secure source of clean-burning natural gas at a cost competitive price. In order to get the project completed, the following requirements must be met: regulatory regimes must be clear and predictable; land access must be ensured in a timely manner; access to skilled human resources, material and equipment must also be ensured to facilitate timely and efficient project implementation; and, the safe and environmentally sound operation of the pipelines must also be ensured. This paper highlighted Canadian regulatory options in terms of the National Energy Board Act, Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Act, and the Northern Pipeline Act. Enbridge's proposed straddle plant at Fort Saskatchewan was discussed along with inter-connecting pipeline options. Enbridge

78 FR 24309 - Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-24

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration List of Special Permit Applications Delayed AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA..., Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, East Building...

Porcupine: A visual pipeline tool for neuroimaging analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim van Mourik

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The field of neuroimaging is rapidly adopting a more reproducible approach to data acquisition and analysis. Data structures and formats are being standardised and data analyses are getting more automated. However, as data analysis becomes more complicated, researchers often have to write longer analysis scripts, spanning different tools across multiple programming languages. This makes it more difficult to share or recreate code, reducing the reproducibility of the analysis. We present a tool, Porcupine, that constructs one's analysis visually and automatically produces analysis code. The graphical representation improves understanding of the performed analysis, while retaining the flexibility of modifying the produced code manually to custom needs. Not only does Porcupine produce the analysis code, it also creates a shareable environment for running the code in the form of a Docker image. Together, this forms a reproducible way of constructing, visualising and sharing one's analysis. Currently, Porcupine links to Nipype functionalities, which in turn accesses most standard neuroimaging analysis tools. Our goal is to release researchers from the constraints of specific implementation details, thereby freeing them to think about novel and creative ways to solve a given problem. Porcupine improves the overview researchers have of their processing pipelines, and facilitates both the development and communication of their work. This will reduce the threshold at which less expert users can generate reusable pipelines. With Porcupine, we bridge the gap between a conceptual and an implementational level of analysis and make it easier for researchers to create reproducible and shareable science. We provide a wide range of examples and documentation, as well as installer files for all platforms on our website: https://timvanmourik.github.io/Porcupine. Porcupine is free, open source, and released under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

Putting the coal slurry pipelines to the test

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sauermann, H B

1978-03-01

This paper deals with the advantages and disadvantages of coal slurry pipelines and describes coal slurry tests undertaken in three test circuits with 100, 200 and 250 mm diameter pipes. The test results from the test circuits were used to scale-up pressure gradients to larger pipe diameters. The construction and installation of hydraulic transport pipelines is simple and requires a minimum of space. The crossing of rivers, roads, railways or any other obstacles is comparatively easy. The operation, supervision and maintenance of a pipeline is simple since any pipeline can be easily adapted for fully automatic control. For this reason manpower requirements are small resulting in only small increases in operating costs during the life of a pipeline. This is an attractive feature in any economy troubled by inflationary trends. In transporting a commodity such as coal the quantities handled are usually large and the distances are long. The profitability of hydraulic transportation systems benefits from such operating conditions. Even though the various components of a slurry transport system, such as the slurrying facilities at the mine end and the dewatering facilities at the utilization end, are complex, their reliability is high. Against the advantages, the following limitations can be visualized: It is practically impossible to transport solids other than those for which the pipeline was designed; in this regard, road and rail transportation is more versatile. The solids throughput through a pipeline cannot be economically increased beyond its design throughput. Pipelining involves the use of fluids, in most cases water, which in some instances may not be readily available.

Pipeline robots with elastic elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Matuliauskas

2002-10-01

Full Text Available In the article constructions of the pipeline robots with elastic elements are reviewed and the scheme of new original construction is presented. The mathematical models of a robot with one-dimensional vibration exciter with two degrees of freedom were developed and the equations of movement were formed and written. The mathematical model of the pipeline robot with circular elements is formed and its motion equations are presented.

Reasons for decision in the matter of Trans Mountain Pipeline Inc. (formerly Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) Inc.) : tariffs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

In 2006 and 2007 Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) Inc. (now Trans Mountain Pipeline Inc.) submitted a series of applications to the National Energy Board for revisions to the Trans Mountain Tariffs. They were filed in response to apportionment concerns on the Trans Mountain pipeline. Four of the applications involved pronounced and contentious changes to the capacity allocation procedures on the pipeline system. For ease of reference, the Board amalgamated its 4 decisions on these applications into a single document. A map of the Trans Mountain pipeline system as a whole was presented along with a detailed map indicating the delivery locations served by the system in the lower mainland of British Columbia and the state of Washington. The issues considered by the Board in each of these decisions included capacity allocation for Westridge Dock; capacity allocations to export destinations; common carriage requirements; and the need for creating a new barge subcategory. Relevant sections of the National Energy Board Act referred to in the decisions were highlighted. This document also listed the Trans Mountain Tariffs that have introduced notable revisions to the capacity allocation procedures on the system since September 2003. 16 refs., 2 figs., 3 appendices

Induced AC voltages on pipelines may present a serious hazard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirkpatrick, E.L.

1997-01-01

The problem of induced AC voltages on pipelines has always been with us. Early pipeline construction consisted of bare steel or cast iron pipe, which was very well grounded. Bell and spigot, mechanical, or dresser-style joint couplings often were used, creating electrically discontinuous pipelines which are less susceptible to AC induction. Although induced AC affects any pipeline parallel to a high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) power line, the effects were not noticeable on bare pipelines. With the advent of welded steel pipelines, modern cathodic protection (CP) methods and materials, and the vastly improved quality of protective coatings, induced AC effects on pipelines have become a significant consideration on many pipeline rights-of-way. In the last two to three decades, one has been seeing much more joint occupancy of the same right-of-way by one or more pipelines and power lines. As the cost of right-of-way and the difficulty in acquisition, particularly in urban areas, have risen, the concept of joint occupancy rights-of-way has become more attractive to many utility companies. Federal and state regulations usually insist on joint-use right-of-way when a utility proposes crossing regulated or publicly owned lands, wherever there is an existing easement. Such joint use allows the induced AC phenomena to occur and may create electrical hazards and interference to pipeline facilities. Underground pipelines are especially susceptible if they are well-coated and electrically isolated for CP

Pipeline leak detection method and control device therefor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bell, D.A.

1983-01-01

Leaks may be located in a pipeline by introducing into the pipeline an assembly that includes a pipe-sealing packer unit, a control unit, and a radioactive source shielded from the control unit. The control unit includes a gamma ray detector that controls the sealing and unsealing of the pipe by the packer in response to the detection of radiation exceeding a preset threshold - a detection event. The assembly is pushed through the pipeline by a relatively low fluid pressure behind it. The progress of the assembly through the pipeline may be monitored externally by a gamma ray detector

Optimal hub location in pipeline networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dott, D.R.; Wirasinghe, S.C.; Chakma, A. [Univ. of Calgary, Alberta (Canada)

1996-12-31

This paper discusses optimization strategies and techniques for the location of natural gas marketing hubs in the North American gas pipeline network. A hub is a facility at which inbound and outbound network links meet and freight is redirected towards their destinations. Common examples of hubs used in the gas pipeline industry include gas plants, interconnects and market centers. Characteristics of the gas pipeline industry which are relevant to the optimization of transportation costs using hubs are presented. Allocation techniques for solving location-allocation problems are discussed. An outline of the research in process by the authors in the field of optimal gas hub location concludes the paper.

Pipeline protection with multi component liquid polyurethane coating systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuprion, Rainer; Hornig, Maja [TIB Chemicals Ag, Mannheim (Germany)

2009-07-01

Protective coating systems are one of the major defence mechanisms against corrosion for transmission pipelines, pipes within a refinery or petrochemical processing facilities. More and more pipelines are being constructed for the supply and transmission of gas and oil, each year but, in addition many existing pipelines are approaching an age where inspection reveals the necessity to consider complete refurbishment. However, the number of rehabilitation projects each year is still relatively small. Therefore, in the coming years, a rising need and necessity can be expected, for the owners and operating companies to be faced with the option of either replacing the pipeline or refurbishing of the existing pipeline. If the pipeline is known to have external corrosion, then safe and economic operation should be assured. Rehabilitation should be done before it is too late in order to ensure its future integrity and operational life. Rehabilitation of pipelines has been both the economic solution and, more significantly, the ecological solution and in many of those cases the coatings selected for the external protection has been multi component liquids based on 100% solids polyurethanes. (author)

Application of risk assessment techniques to 'major hazard' pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cox, R A

1982-12-01

A risk analysis for a hazardous-material pipeline (carrying LPG, ammonia, or high-pressure gas) is presented. The analysis gives results in a form that will assist the decisionmaker in pipeline planning and route selection. The large inventory of hazardous materials in such pipelines means that risks exist even though the accident record of pipeline transportation compares favorably with that for competing modes of transport. Risk analysis techniques - commonly used in the civil aviation, nuclear, and process industries - can be equally well applied to pipelines and can produce results that not only give a measure of the risk but also indicate the principal sources of risk and possible areas for improvement. A number of pipeline risk analyses have demonstrated the viability of the technique and its usefulness as an aid to practical engineering in design, planning, and maintenance/repair phases.

The LOFAR Known Pulsar Data Pipeline

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alexov, A.; Hessels, J.W.T.; Mol, J.D.; Stappers, B.; van Leeuwen, J.

2010-01-01

Abstract: Transient radio phenomena and pulsars are one of six LOFAR Key Science Projects (KSPs). As part of the Transients KSP, the Pulsar Working Group (PWG) has been developing the LOFAR Pulsar Data Pipelines to both study known pulsars as well as search for new ones. The pipelines are being

Pipeline network and environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira Nascimento, I.; Wagner, J.; Silveira, T.

2012-01-01

The Rio de Janeiro is one of 27 units of Brazil. It is located in the eastern portion of the Southeast and occupies an area of 43 696.054 km², being effectively the 3rd smallest state in Brazil. This state in recent years has suffered from erosion problems caused by the deployment of the network pipeline. The deployment pipeline is part of the activities related to the oil industry has caused a more intense conflict between the environment and economic activities, modifying the soil structure and distribution of surface and subsurface flows. This study aimed to analyze the erosion caused by the removal of soil for the deployment of pipeline transportation, with the consequences of the emergence of numerous gullies, landslides and silting of rivers. For the development of this study were performed bibliographic research, field work, mapping and digital preparation of the initial diagnosis of active processes and what the consequent environmental impacts. For these reasons, we conclude that the problems could be avoided or mitigated if there was a prior geological risk management. (author)

Strength analysis of copper gas pipeline span

OpenAIRE

Ianevski, Philipp

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to analyze the stresses in a gas pipeline. While analyzing piping systems located inside building were used. Calculation of the strength of a gas pipeline is done by using information of the thickness of pipe walls, by choosing the suitable material, inner and outer diameter for the pipeline. Data for this thesis was collected through various internet sources and different books. From the study and research, the final results were reached and calculations were ...

Preliminary results from the hierarchical glitch pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukherjee, Soma

2007-01-01

This paper reports on the preliminary results obtained from the hierarchical glitch classification pipeline on LIGO data. The pipeline that has been under construction for the past year is now complete and end-to-end tested. It is ready to generate analysis results on a daily basis. The details of the pipeline, the classification algorithms employed and the results obtained with one days analysis on the gravitational wave and several auxiliary and environmental channels from all three LIGO detectors are discussed

Basic Block of Pipelined ADC Design Requirements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Kledrowetz

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper describes design requirements of a basic stage (called MDAC - Multiplying Digital-to- Analog Converter of a pipelined ADC. There exist error sources such as finite DC gain of opamp, capacitor mismatch, thermal noise, etc., arising when the switched capacitor (SC technique and CMOS technology are used. These non-idealities are explained and their influences on overall parameters of a pipelined ADC are studied. The pipelined ADC including non-idealities was modeled in MATLAB - Simulink simulation environment.

Chile's pipelines - who's out in the cold?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellhouse, G.

1998-01-01

There is a battle on in Northern Chile to supply the region with gas and electricity. Two pipelines and a transmission line are being built, but there is insufficient demand to merit the construction of all of these projects. It is widely believed that the first pipeline to be finished will be the overall winner, but the situation is not that simple. A more sensible conclusion could be the merger of the two pipeline projects, rationalising supply of gas to the region. (Author)

77 FR 61826 - Pipeline Safety: Communication During Emergency Situations

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-11

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... liquefied natural gas pipeline facilities that operators should immediately and directly notify the Public.... Background Federal regulations for gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities...

Experience with two pipeline river crossings in Argentina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yaremko, Eugene [Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (NHC), Edmonton (Canada); D' Agnillo, Pablo; Diaz, Jose A. [Minera Alumbrera XTRADA Copper S.A., Buenos Aires (Argentina); Bravo, Claudio

2009-12-19

The Alumbrera copper-gold mine located in the Province of Catamarca, northwest region of Argentina, commenced operation in October, 1997. Mine development included a 316 km long, 175 mm diameter slurry pipeline that conveys copper concentrate to a dewatering facility near the city of Tucuman, Province of Tucuman. It became apparent during the first few years of operation that, given the many potential risks of pipeline exposure associated with stream crossings, Minera Alumbrera would have to undertake an aggressive, formal program of risk management of crossings and risk mitigation. In this paper, the experience associated with two crossings is addressed: Rio Villavil; and, Rio Gastona. The original pipeline route through the 10 km length of pipeline connecting Pump Station (PS) 2 to PS 3 was directed along the bottom of the Rio Villavil valley, with most of it located within the flood way of the stream. The exposure of the pipeline at some locations and high risk of further pipeline exposures led to initiation of risk mitigation planning. Remediation work was completed by 2008. Rio Gastona, during the summer of 2001, experienced rapid shifting of the left bank at the crossing resulting in an undermined and unsupported length of pipeline. The subsequent risk mitigation method adopted in 2001 involved the planning and construction of groyne fields along both banks. (author)

77 FR 34457 - Pipeline Safety: Mechanical Fitting Failure Reports

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-11

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No... notice provides clarification to owners and operators of gas distribution pipeline facilities when... of a gas distribution pipeline facility to file a written report for any mechanical fitting failure...

Citizenship program in near communities of pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mascarenhas, Carina R.; Vilas Boas, Ianne P. [TELSAN Engenharia, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil); Bourscheid, Pitagoras [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-12-19

During the construction of a pipeline, the IENE - Engineering Unit of PETROBRAS, responsible for the construction and erection of pipelines and related plants in northeastern Brazil, crossed more than 7 states and 250 counties, had implemented a social responsibility program, in special a citizenship program. This action was the result of community studies located near of the pipelines AID - Direct Influence Area (438 yards right and left of the pipeline) and through the evidence that those locations were poor and have no personal documents and citizen position in society. This paper intents to share the experience of IENE about its citizen program that worked in three big lines: community mobilization; citizenship qualification; and citizenship board. This last one, turns possible to people obtains theirs personal documents and exercise the plenitude of citizenship. (author)

A geometrical approach for semi-automated crystal centering and in situ X-ray diffraction data collection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammad Yaser Heidari Khajepour; Ferrer, Jean-Luc; Lebrette, Hugo; Vernede, Xavier; Rogues, Pierrick

2013-01-01

High-throughput protein crystallography projects pushed forward the development of automated crystallization platforms that are now commonly used. This created an urgent need for adapted and automated equipment for crystal analysis. However, first these crystals have to be harvested, cryo-protected and flash-cooled, operations that can fail or negatively impact on the crystal. In situ X-ray diffraction analysis has become a valid alternative to these operations, and a growing number of users apply it for crystal screening and to solve structures. Nevertheless, even this shortcut may require a significant amount of beam time. In this in situ high-throughput approach, the centering of crystals relative to the beam represents the bottleneck in the analysis process. In this article, a new method to accelerate this process, by recording accurately the local geometry coordinates for each crystal in the crystallization plate, is presented. Subsequently, the crystallization plate can be presented to the X-ray beam by an automated plate-handling device, such as a six-axis robot arm, for an automated crystal centering in the beam, in situ screening or data collection. Here the preliminary results of such a semi-automated pipeline are reported for two distinct test proteins. (authors)

Raexplore: Enabling Rapid, Automated Architecture Exploration for Full Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yao [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Balaprakash, Prasanna [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Meng, Jiayuan [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Morozov, Vitali [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Parker, Scott [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Kumaran, Kalyan [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2014-12-01

We present Raexplore, a performance modeling framework for architecture exploration. Raexplore enables rapid, automated, and systematic search of architecture design space by combining hardware counter-based performance characterization and analytical performance modeling. We demonstrate Raexplore for two recent manycore processors IBM Blue- Gene/Q compute chip and Intel Xeon Phi, targeting a set of scientific applications. Our framework is able to capture complex interactions between architectural components including instruction pipeline, cache, and memory, and to achieve a 3–22% error for same-architecture and cross-architecture performance predictions. Furthermore, we apply our framework to assess the two processors, and discover and evaluate a list of architectural scaling options for future processor designs.

Using industry ROV videos to assess fish associations with subsea pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

McLean, D. L.; Partridge, J. C.; Bond, T.; Birt, M. J.; Bornt, K. R.; Langlois, T. J.

2017-06-01

Remote Operated Vehicles are routinely used to undertake inspection and maintenance activities of underwater pipelines in north-west Australia. In doing so, many terabytes of geo-referenced underwater video are collected at depths, and on a scale usually unobtainable for ecological research. We assessed fish diversity and abundance from existing ROV videos collected along 2-3 km sections of two pipelines in north-west Australia, one at 60-80 m water depth and the other at 120-130 m. A total of 5962 individual fish from 92 species and 42 families were observed. Both pipelines were characterised by a high abundance of commercially important fishes including: snappers (Lutjanidae) and groupers (Epinephelidae). The presence of thousands of unidentifiable larval fish, in addition to juveniles, sub-adults and adults suggests that the pipelines may be enhancing, rather than simply attracting, fish stocks. The prevalence and high complexity of sponges on the shallower pipeline and of deepwater corals on the deeper pipeline had a strong positive correlation with the fish abundance. These habitats likely offer a significant food source and refuge for fish, but also for invertebrates upon which fish feed. A greater diversity on the shallower pipeline, and a higher abundance of fishes on both pipelines, were associated with unsupported pipeline sections (spans) and many species appeared to be utilising pipeline spans as refuges. This study is a first look at the potential value of subsea pipelines for fishes on the north-west shelf. While the results suggest that these sections of pipeline appear to offer significant habitat that supports diverse and important commercially fished species, further work, including off-pipeline surveys on the natural seafloor, are required to determine conclusively the ecological value of pipelines and thereby inform discussions regarding the ecological implications of pipeline decommissioning.

FUZZY INFERENCE BASED LEAK ESTIMATION IN WATER PIPELINES SYSTEM

OpenAIRE

N. Lavanya; G. Anand; S. Srinivasan

2015-01-01

Pipeline networks are the most widely used mode for transporting fluids and gases around the world. Leakage in this pipeline causes harmful effects when the flowing fluid/gas is hazardous. Hence the detection of leak becomes essential to avoid/minimize such undesirable effects. This paper presents the leak detection by spectral analysis methods in a laboratory pipeline system. Transient in the pressure signal in the pipeline is created by opening and closing the exit valve. These pressure var...

Influence of Anchoring on Burial Depth of Submarine Pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Yuan; Li, Yang; Su, Wei

2016-01-01

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, there has been widespread construction of submarine oil-gas transmission pipelines due to an increase in offshore oil exploration. Vessel anchoring operations are causing more damage to submarine pipelines due to shipping transportation also increasing. Therefore, it is essential that the influence of anchoring on the required burial depth of submarine pipelines is determined. In this paper, mathematical models for ordinary anchoring and emergency anchoring have been established to derive an anchor impact energy equation for each condition. The required effective burial depth for submarine pipelines has then been calculated via an energy absorption equation for the protection layer covering the submarine pipelines. Finally, the results of the model calculation have been verified by accident case analysis, and the impact of the anchoring height, anchoring water depth and the anchor weight on the required burial depth of submarine pipelines has been further analyzed.

Deliverability on the interstate natural gas pipeline system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-05-01

Deliverability on the Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline System examines the capability of the national pipeline grid to transport natural gas to various US markets. The report quantifies the capacity levels and utilization rates of major interstate pipeline companies in 1996 and the changes since 1990, as well as changes in markets and end-use consumption patterns. It also discusses the effects of proposed capacity expansions on capacity levels. The report consists of five chapters, several appendices, and a glossary. Chapter 1 discusses some of the operational and regulatory features of the US interstate pipeline system and how they affect overall system design, system utilization, and capacity expansions. Chapter 2 looks at how the exploration, development, and production of natural gas within North America is linked to the national pipeline grid. Chapter 3 examines the capability of the interstate natural gas pipeline network to link production areas to market areas, on the basis of capacity and usage levels along 10 corridors. The chapter also examines capacity expansions that have occurred since 1990 along each corridor and the potential impact of proposed new capacity. Chapter 4 discusses the last step in the transportation chain, that is, deliverability to the ultimate end user. Flow patterns into and out of each market region are discussed, as well as the movement of natural gas between States in each region. Chapter 5 examines how shippers reserve interstate pipeline capacity in the current transportation marketplace and how pipeline companies are handling the secondary market for short-term unused capacity. Four appendices provide supporting data and additional detail on the methodology used to estimate capacity. 32 figs., 15 tabs.

Knowledge Pipeline: A Task Oriented Way to Implement Knowledge Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan Jiajie

2014-01-01

Concept of knowledge pipeline: There are many pipelines named by tasks or business processes in an organization. Knowledge contributors put knowledge to its corresponding pipelines. A maintenance team could keep the knowledge in pipelines clear and valid. Users could get knowledge just like opening a faucet in terms of their tasks or business processes

Inspection of the Sloka Branch pipeline. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-10-01

By agreement between Latvijas gaze and DONG (the Danish State Gas Company) the Sloka branch on the main gas pipeline Riga-Liepaja was selected for inspection. This pipeline is 30.5 km long and was constructed in 1966/67. The objective of the project has been, based on detailed inspection of relative short lengths of pipe, to determine the integrity of the pipeline and to give advice concerning the continued use as a high pressure transmission pipeline. A further objective has been to provide Latvijas gaze with a package of modern cathodic protection measuring instruments and the necessary know-how for using the instruments. The objectives have been met as follows: Based on a document review together with measurements and observations in the field and in the laboratory, the condition of approximately 10 km of pipeline has been evaluated; Recommendations are given in this report with the aim of extending the life of the pipeline; A cathodic protection instrument package was delivered and a two week training course was arranged in Latvia for Latvijas gaze`s staff covering the use of the instruments. (EG)

Virtual Instrumentation Corrosion Controller for Natural Gas Pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Gopalakrishnan, J.; Agnihotri, G.; Deshpande, D. M.

2012-12-01

Corrosion is an electrochemical process. Corrosion in natural gas (methane) pipelines leads to leakages. Corrosion occurs when anode and cathode are connected through electrolyte. Rate of corrosion in metallic pipeline can be controlled by impressing current to it and thereby making it to act as cathode of corrosion cell. Technologically advanced and energy efficient corrosion controller is required to protect natural gas pipelines. Proposed virtual instrumentation (VI) based corrosion controller precisely controls the external corrosion in underground metallic pipelines, enhances its life and ensures safety. Designing and development of proportional-integral-differential (PID) corrosion controller using VI (LabVIEW) is carried out. When the designed controller is deployed at field, it maintains the pipe to soil potential (PSP) within safe operating limit and not entering into over/under protection zone. Horizontal deployment of this technique can be done to protect all metallic structure, oil pipelines, which need corrosion protection.

Testing the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Owens, Emily G.

2017-01-01

The School-to-Prison Pipeline is a social phenomenon where students become formally involved with the criminal justice system as a result of school policies that use law enforcement, rather than discipline, to address behavioral problems. A potentially important part of the School-to-Prison Pipeline is the use of sworn School Resource Officers…

Improved cost models for optimizing CO2 pipeline configuration for point-to-point pipelines and simple networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knoope, M. M. J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/364248149; Guijt, W.; Ramirez, A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/284852414; Faaij, A. P. C.

In this study, a new cost model is developed for CO2 pipeline transport, which starts with the physical properties of CO2 transport and includes different kinds of steel grades and up-to-date material and construction costs. This pipeline cost model is used for a new developed tool to determine the

Market Brief : Turkey oil and gas pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-08-01

This report presented some quick facts about oil and gas pipelines in Turkey and presented opportunities for trade. The key players and customers in the oil and gas sector were described along with an export check list. Turkey is looking into becoming an energy bridge between oil and gas producing countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. The oil and gas sectors are dominated by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, a public enterprise dealing with exploration and production, and the State Pipeline Corporation which deals with energy transmission. They are also the key buyers of oil and gas equipment in Turkey. There are several pipelines connecting countries bordering the Caspian Sea. Opportunities exist in the areas of engineering consulting as well as contracting services for oil and gas pipeline transmission and distribution. Other opportunities lie in the area of pipeline construction, rehabilitation, materials, equipment, installation, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. Currently, the major players are suppliers from Italy, Germany, France, United States and Japan. Turkey has no trade barriers and imported equipment and materials are not subjected to any restriction. The oil and gas market in Turkey expected in increase by an average annual growth rate of 15 per cent from 2001 to 2003. A brief description of pipeline projects in Turkey was presented in this report along with a list of key contacts and support services. 25 refs., 1 append

pipelines cathodic protection design methodologies for impressed

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HOD

oil and gas pipelines corrosion in the United State of. American alone ... or preventing external corrosion of pipeline steels and other metallic .... 2.1 Materials and Impressed Current Design. Carbon steel ..... Research Analysis, Vol. 2, pp 2277 ...

Color correction pipeline optimization for digital cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Bianco, Simone; Bruna, Arcangelo R.; Naccari, Filippo; Schettini, Raimondo

2013-04-01

The processing pipeline of a digital camera converts the RAW image acquired by the sensor to a representation of the original scene that should be as faithful as possible. There are mainly two modules responsible for the color-rendering accuracy of a digital camera: the former is the illuminant estimation and correction module, and the latter is the color matrix transformation aimed to adapt the color response of the sensor to a standard color space. These two modules together form what may be called the color correction pipeline. We design and test new color correction pipelines that exploit different illuminant estimation and correction algorithms that are tuned and automatically selected on the basis of the image content. Since the illuminant estimation is an ill-posed problem, illuminant correction is not error-free. An adaptive color matrix transformation module is optimized, taking into account the behavior of the first module in order to alleviate the amplification of color errors. The proposed pipelines are tested on a publicly available dataset of RAW images. Experimental results show that exploiting the cross-talks between the modules of the pipeline can lead to a higher color-rendition accuracy.

Alberta benefits : economic impacts of northern gas pipeline construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rylska, N.L.; Graebeiel, J.E.; Mirus, R.K.; Janzen, S.S.; Frost, R.J.

2003-11-01

This paper describes the potential economic impact and benefits to Alberta from the proposed development of the Alaska Highway Pipeline (AHP) and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline (MVP). It also includes a planning framework for business and industry in the province. Each proposed pipeline was evaluated separately. The paper includes a list of Alberta companies that stand to benefit from the construction of one or both pipelines. The main findings indicate that northern pipeline development will bring opportunities to Alberta business in design, construction and management. There will be a secondary impact on petrochemical industries and infrastructure. Both pipeline developments will increase employment and yield billions of dollars in gross domestic product. The existing oil and gas industry in Alberta will receive value-added opportunities in areas of specialized expertise such as natural gas and natural gas liquid storage, natural gas liquid processing, and gas to liquid technology projects. The industry will also benefit from power generation and cogeneration. The northern pipelines have the potential to improve the role of First Nations in economic development. Gas consumers in Alberta should benefit from a secure supply of gas and lower prices. refs., tabs., figs

Risk from transport of gas by pipeline ''kokui-perm''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yelokhin, A.

1998-01-01

Full text of publication follows: the length of gas pipelines in Russia is 142 thousands km, 62 % are pipelines of the large diameters. Annually on gas pipelines in Russia there are more than 70 large accidents, more than 50 % from them is accompanied by ignition of gas. The average ecological looses from accident is: destruction arable lands - 78 hectares; removing from consumption agricultural soils - 6,2 hectares; destruction forests - 47,5 hectares. In work the reasons of accidents on gas pipelines of different diameters are analyzed. So, for pipelines a diameter of 1220 mm by the reasons of accidents are: marriage of civil and erection works - 39, 1 %; outside corrosion - 35,9 %; mechanical damages - 9,4 %; defects of pipes - 6,2 %; defects of the factory equipment - 1,6 %; nature disasters and other reasons - 7,8 %. In work the results of risk analysis on a gas pipeline 'Kokui - Perm' are analysed. The gas pipeline 'Kokui - Perm' passes near 22 towns and countries, crosses 15 highways, 2 rail ways, 15 rivers. In work the concrete recommendations for management of risk and safety of the population are given. (author)

Automated whole-genome multiple alignment of rat, mouse, and human

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brudno, Michael; Poliakov, Alexander; Salamov, Asaf; Cooper, Gregory M.; Sidow, Arend; Rubin, Edward M.; Solovyev, Victor; Batzoglou, Serafim; Dubchak, Inna

2004-07-04

We have built a whole genome multiple alignment of the three currently available mammalian genomes using a fully automated pipeline which combines the local/global approach of the Berkeley Genome Pipeline and the LAGAN program. The strategy is based on progressive alignment, and consists of two main steps: (1) alignment of the mouse and rat genomes; and (2) alignment of human to either the mouse-rat alignments from step 1, or the remaining unaligned mouse and rat sequences. The resulting alignments demonstrate high sensitivity, with 87% of all human gene-coding areas aligned in both mouse and rat. The specificity is also high: <7% of the rat contigs are aligned to multiple places in human and 97% of all alignments with human sequence > 100kb agree with a three-way synteny map built independently using predicted exons in the three genomes. At the nucleotide level <1% of the rat nucleotides are mapped to multiple places in the human sequence in the alignment; and 96.5% of human nucleotides within all alignments agree with the synteny map. The alignments are publicly available online, with visualization through the novel Multi-VISTA browser that we also present.

Prospects for coal slurry pipelines in California

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, J. F.

1978-01-01

The coal slurry pipeline segment of the transport industry is emerging in the United States. If accepted it will play a vital role in meeting America's urgent energy requirements without public subsidy, tax relief, or federal grants. It is proven technology, ideally suited for transport of an abundant energy resource over thousands of miles to energy short industrial centers and at more than competitive costs. Briefly discussed are the following: (1) history of pipelines; (2) California market potential; (3) slurry technology; (4) environmental benefits; (5) market competition; and (6) a proposed pipeline.

An Overview of New Progresses in Understanding Pipeline Corrosion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tan, M. YJ; Varela, F.; Huo, Y.; Gupta, R.; Abreu, D.; Mahdavi, F.; Hinton, B.; Forsyth, M. [Deakin University, Victoria (Australia)

2016-12-15

An approach to achieving the ambitious goal of cost effectively extending the safe operation life of energy pipeline to 100 years is the application of health monitoring and life prediction tools that are able to provide both long-term remnant pipeline life prediction and in-situ pipeline condition monitoring. A critical step is the enhancement of technological capabilities that are required for understanding and quantifying the effects of key factors influencing buried steel pipeline corrosion and environmentally assisted materials degradation, and the development of condition monitoring technologies that are able to provide in-situ monitoring and site-specific warning of pipeline damage. This paper provides an overview of our current research aimed at developing new sensors and electrochemical cells for monitoring, categorising and quantifying the level and nature of external pipeline and coating damages under the combined effects of various inter-related variables and processes such as localised corrosion, coating cracking and disbondment, cathodic shielding, transit loss of cathodic protection.

Influence of Anchoring on Burial Depth of Submarine Pipelines.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan Zhuang

Full Text Available Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, there has been widespread construction of submarine oil-gas transmission pipelines due to an increase in offshore oil exploration. Vessel anchoring operations are causing more damage to submarine pipelines due to shipping transportation also increasing. Therefore, it is essential that the influence of anchoring on the required burial depth of submarine pipelines is determined. In this paper, mathematical models for ordinary anchoring and emergency anchoring have been established to derive an anchor impact energy equation for each condition. The required effective burial depth for submarine pipelines has then been calculated via an energy absorption equation for the protection layer covering the submarine pipelines. Finally, the results of the model calculation have been verified by accident case analysis, and the impact of the anchoring height, anchoring water depth and the anchor weight on the required burial depth of submarine pipelines has been further analyzed.

Emergency preparedness of OSBRA Pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Magalhaes, Milton P.; Torres, Carlos A.R.; Almeida, Francisco J.C. [TRANSPETRO, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

This paper presents the experience of PETROBRAS Transporte S. A. - TRANSPETRO in the preparation for emergencies in the OSBRA pipeline, showing specific aspects and solutions developed. The company has a standardized approach for the emergency management, based on risk analysis studies, risk management plan and contingency plans. To cover almost 1,000 km of pipeline, the Company avails of Emergency Response Centers and Environmental Defense Center, located at strategic points. In order to achieve preparation, fire fighting training and oil leakage elimination training are provided. Additionally, simulation exercises are performed, following a schedule worked out according to specific criteria and guidelines. As a conclusion, a picture is presented of the evolution of the preparation for emergencies in the OSBRA System which bears the enormous responsibility of transporting flammable products for almost 1,000 km of pipeline, crossing 40 municipalities, 3 states and the Federal District. (author)

75 FR 58014 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activity; Request for Comments

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-23

..., supports pipeline safety by ensuring the proper functioning of CPM leak detection systems. Affected Public...-phase hazardous liquid pipeline facilities that use computational pipeline monitoring (CPM) leak... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No...

An automated, high-throughput plant phenotyping system using machine learning-based plant segmentation and image analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Unseok; Chang, Sungyul; Putra, Gian Anantrio; Kim, Hyoungseok; Kim, Dong Hwan

2018-01-01

A high-throughput plant phenotyping system automatically observes and grows many plant samples. Many plant sample images are acquired by the system to determine the characteristics of the plants (populations). Stable image acquisition and processing is very important to accurately determine the characteristics. However, hardware for acquiring plant images rapidly and stably, while minimizing plant stress, is lacking. Moreover, most software cannot adequately handle large-scale plant imaging. To address these problems, we developed a new, automated, high-throughput plant phenotyping system using simple and robust hardware, and an automated plant-imaging-analysis pipeline consisting of machine-learning-based plant segmentation. Our hardware acquires images reliably and quickly and minimizes plant stress. Furthermore, the images are processed automatically. In particular, large-scale plant-image datasets can be segmented precisely using a classifier developed using a superpixel-based machine-learning algorithm (Random Forest), and variations in plant parameters (such as area) over time can be assessed using the segmented images. We performed comparative evaluations to identify an appropriate learning algorithm for our proposed system, and tested three robust learning algorithms. We developed not only an automatic analysis pipeline but also a convenient means of plant-growth analysis that provides a learning data interface and visualization of plant growth trends. Thus, our system allows end-users such as plant biologists to analyze plant growth via large-scale plant image data easily.

Customer service drives pipelines' reorganization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Share, J.

1997-01-01

The concept behind formation of Enron Transportation and Storage tells plenty about this new gas industry. When executives at the Enron Gas Pipeline Group considered plans last year to streamline operations by merging the support functions of Transwestern Pipeline and their other wholly owned pipeline company, Northern Natural Gas, seamless customer service was foremost on their agenda. Instead of worrying about whether employees would favor one pipeline over the other, perhaps to the detriment of customers, they simply created a new organization that everyone would swear the same allegiance to. The 17,000-mile, 4.1 Bcf/d Northern system serves the upper Midwest market and two major expansion projects were completed there last year. Transwestern is a 2,700-mile system with an eastward capacity of 1 Bcf/d and westward of 1.5 Bcf/, that traditionally served California markets. It also ties into Texas intrastate markets and, thanks to expansion of the San Juan lateral, to southern Rocky Mountain supplies. Although Enron Corp. continues to position itself as a full-service energy company, the Gas Pipeline Group continues to fuel much of corporate's net income, which was $584 million last year. With ET and S comprising a significant portion of GPG's income, it was vital that the merger of Northern's 950 employees with Transwestern's 250 indeed be a seamless one. It was not easy either psychologically or geographically with main offices in Omaha, NE and Houston as well as operations centers in Minneapolis, MN; Amarillo, TX; W. Des Moines, IA; and Albuquerque, NM. But the results have been gratifying, according to William R. Cordes, President of ET and S and Nancy L. Gardner, Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

SAMPL4 & DOCK3.7: lessons for automated docking procedures

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Ryan G.; Sterling, Teague; Weiss, Dahlia R.

2014-03-01

The SAMPL4 challenges were used to test current automated methods for solvation energy, virtual screening, pose and affinity prediction of the molecular docking pipeline DOCK 3.7. Additionally, first-order models of binding affinity were proposed as milestones for any method predicting binding affinity. Several important discoveries about the molecular docking software were made during the challenge: (1) Solvation energies of ligands were five-fold worse than any other method used in SAMPL4, including methods that were similarly fast, (2) HIV Integrase is a challenging target, but automated docking on the correct allosteric site performed well in terms of virtual screening and pose prediction (compared to other methods) but affinity prediction, as expected, was very poor, (3) Molecular docking grid sizes can be very important, serious errors were discovered with default settings that have been adjusted for all future work. Overall, lessons from SAMPL4 suggest many changes to molecular docking tools, not just DOCK 3.7, that could improve the state of the art. Future difficulties and projects will be discussed.

Natural disasters and the gas pipeline system.

Science.gov (United States)

1996-11-01

Episodic descriptions are provided of the effects of the Loma Prieta earthquake (1989) on the gas pipeline systems of Pacific Gas & Electric Company and the Cit of Palo Alto and of the Northridge earthquake (1994) on Southern California Gas' pipeline...

Development of a Free-Swimming Acoustic Tool for Liquid Pipeline Leak Detection Including Evaluation for Natural Gas Pipeline Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

Significant financial and environmental consequences often result from line leakage of oil product pipelines. Product can escape into the surrounding soil as even the smallest leak can lead to rupture of the pipeline. From a health perspective, water...

European pipelines spill near record amounts in 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

European pipelines in 1993 spilled as much crude oil and petroleum products as in any year since 1971, when statistics first began to be reported. Final cost of cleanup will exceed $10 million, by far the most ever spent by western European oil pipelines operating on land. This cost figure is only preliminary: costs for three spills totaling nearly 2,600 cu m (approximately 16,380 bbl; 43.6% of total spilled) had not been reported through November 1994. Ten incidents of oil spills from pipelines occurred in 1993, compared with seven for 1992 and an average of 12.7/year since 1971. Total length of oil industry cross-country pipelines operating in Western Europe at the end of 1993 was 21,600 km, up from nearly 19,000 km in 1989. In all, 601 million cu m (3.8 billion bbl) of crude oil and refined products moved through the pipeline system. The paper briefly describes several of the accidents

What, me worry? Pipeline certification at the FERC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, J.D.

1997-01-01

Some of the new major pipeline projects that will bring Canadian gas into Chicago and the United States northeastern market were described. The seven projects discussed were: Independence Pipeline Company, Columbia's Millennium Project, Alliance Pipeline, Viking Voyageur, Pan Energy's Spectrum, Tennessee's Eastern Express, and National Fuel Expansion. The need for all this new capacity was questioned. The US FERC Commissioners are willing to let the market decide the need for this capacity. It was noted that the serious regulatory issues pipelines will face lie in the radically different rate treatment for pipelines, depending on the support the market shows for their respective projects. Various past decisions of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) were reviewed to illustrate the direction of the Commission's thinking in terms of regulatory approval, and to examine the question of whether FERC's approval policy makes good sense. The author's view is that the 'at risk' conditions of approval, coupled with incremental rate treatment by the Commission does, in fact, provide protection for consumers

Method of drying long-distance pipelines in sections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steinhaus, H.; Meiners, D.

1989-04-11

This invention provides a method of drying long distance pipelines using a vacuum, and provides high-quality drying over the whole length of the pipeline in a manageable and easily followed process. Evacuation of the pipeline is effected by means of a vacuum pump located at least at one point of the section of pipeline. The section is subsequently scavenged or flooded with scavenging gas. After a predetermined reduced pressure is reached, and while the vacuum pump continues to draw off, a scavenging is effected from the end or ends remote from the evacuation point with a molar flow rate of the stream of scavenging gas that is equal to or less than the evacuation stream in throughput, at least initially. The scavenging is effected not from the evacuation point, but from a remote point, and is also effected with a feed speed or feed amount that is throttled at least initially. This ensures that no condensation occurs even in the inner walls of the pipeline.

Examination of faults active motion on buried pipelines | Parish ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... lateral spreading, landslides and slope failures. Since the pipelines are widely spread, and in some areas necessarily cross through the areas with faults, therefore, improvement study of pipelines in areas with faults is very important. This article explores faults active motion on buried pipelines. Keywords: water utilities ...

Stress and Strain State Analysis of Defective Pipeline Portion

Science.gov (United States)

Burkov, P. V.; Burkova, S. P.; Knaub, S. A.

2015-09-01

The paper presents computer simulation results of the pipeline having defects in a welded joint. Autodesk Inventor software is used for simulation of the stress and strain state of the pipeline. Places of the possible failure and stress concentrators are predicted on the defective portion of the pipeline.

Induced voltages in metallic pipelines near power transmission lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grcev, Leonid; Jankov, Voislav; Filiposki, Velimir

2002-01-01

With the continuous development of the electric power system and the pipeline networks used to convey oil or natural gas, cases of close proximity of high voltage structures and metallic pipelines become more and more frequent. Accordingly there is a growing concern about possible hazards resulting from voltages induced in the metallic pipelines by magnetic coupling with nearby power transmission lines. This paper presents a methodology for computation of the induced voltages in buried isolated metallic pipelines. A practical example of computation is also presented. (Author)

The method of calculation of pipelines laid on supports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benin D.M.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available this article focuses on the issue of laying pipelines on supports and the method of calculation of vertical and horizontal loads acting on the support. As pipelines can be water piping systems, heat networks, oil and mazout lines, condensate lines, steam lines, etc. this article describes the calculations of supports for pipelines laid above ground, in crowded channels, premises, on racks, in impassable channels, hanging supports, etc. The paper explores recommendations for placement of the supports on the route of the pipelines, calculation of loads on rotating and stationary supports of pipelines; inspection of stresses in the metal pipe, resulting from elongation of the piping from the temperature from the thermal expansion of the metal during operation.

Sub-soil contamination due to oil spills in zones surrounding oil pipeline-pump stations and oil pipeline right-of-ways in Southwest-Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Iturbe, Rosario; Flores, Carlos; Castro, Alejandrina; Torres, Luis G

2007-10-01

Oil spills due to oil pipelines is a very frequent problem in Mexico. Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), very concerned with the environmental agenda, has been developing inspection and correction plans for zones around oil pipelines pumping stations and pipeline right-of-way. These stations are located at regular intervals of kilometres along the pipelines. In this study, two sections of an oil pipeline and two pipeline pumping stations zones are characterized in terms of the presence of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). The study comprehends sampling of the areas, delimitation of contamination in the vertical and horizontal extension, analysis of the sampled soils regarding TPHs content and, in some cases, the 16 PAHs considered as priority by USEPA, calculation of areas and volumes contaminated (according to Mexican legislation, specifically NOM-EM-138-ECOL-2002) and, finally, a proposal for the best remediation techniques suitable for the contamination levels and the localization of contaminants.

Method for keeping equipment and pipeline of nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okubo, Osamu.

1990-01-01

The present invention intends to suppress corrosion of equipments and pipelines in condensate, feedwater and feedwater heater drain systems during operation of a nuclear power plant. That is, condensate, feedwater and drain remained in equipments and pipelines just after the stopping of operation are passed through pipelines comprising only conduits, or they are introduced to a condensator passing through the pipelines and condensate pipes. Further, the remaining droplets on the inner surfaces are evaporated by the remaining heat of the equipments and the pipelines themselves. Then, the equipments and pipelines are isolated from other regions and kept. In view of the above, since condensate, feedwater and water feeder drains are introduced directly to the condensator passing through the conduits in which other equipments such as tanks and pumps are not present and are isolated and kept, corrosion of the equipments and the pipelines is suppressed and radioactive contamination is suppressed from prevailing by way of cruds. (I.S.)

Pipeline mapping and strain assessment using ILI (In-line Inspection) tolls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Purvis, Brian [GE PII Pipeline Solutions, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Huewener, Thomas [E.ON Ruhrgas AG, Essen (Germany)

2009-07-01

GE PII IMU Mapping inspection system measures pipeline location coordinates (x, y, z) and provides data for determining pipeline curvature and consequential pipeline bending strain. The changes in strain can be used in the application of structural analyses and integrity evaluation of pipeline systems. This paper reviews the Inertia Measuring Unit (IMU) system and field investigation works performed on a high-pressure gas pipeline for E.ON Ruhrgas AG. The Inertial Measuring Unit of the pipeline inspection tool provides continuous measurement of the pipeline centreline coordinates. More than one inspection run was performed which allowed a more accurate strain comparison to be made. Repeatability is important to establish the reasons for increasing strain values detected at specific pipeline sections through in-line inspection surveys conducted in regular intervals over many years. Moreover, the flexibility resulting from a combination of different sensor technologies, makes it possible to provide a more complete picture of the overall situation. This paper reviews the work involved in detecting, locating and determining the magnitude and type of strain corresponding to the pipeline movement in field. (author)

Sustainability of social-environmental programs along pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doebereiner, Christian [Shell Southern Cone Gas and Power (Brazil); Herrera, Brigitte [Transredes S.A. (Bolivia)

2005-07-01

The sustainability of Social and Environmental programs along pipelines, have shown to be a major challenge. Gas pipelines in Bolivia and Brazil operate in a diversity of environments and communities with different cultures, values and expectations. However, the pipeline network can also provide opportunities for contributing to regional development and working with local populations on topics of mutual interest. Many of these are quite strategic because they arise from topics of mutual interest for both the company and neighboring populations, and because they provide opportunities for achieving results of mutual benefit. These opportunities could include helping to make gas available to local communities, contributions to urban planning, hiring local services and other initiatives. Sustainable and integrated Social and Environmental programs are therefore key to a successful pipeline operation. These opportunities are often missed or under valued. Some successful examples are presented from Transredes S.A., Bolivia. (author)

A Java-based fMRI processing pipeline evaluation system for assessment of univariate general linear model and multivariate canonical variate analysis-based pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jing; Liang, Lichen; Anderson, Jon R; Gatewood, Lael; Rottenberg, David A; Strother, Stephen C

2008-01-01

As functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) becomes widely used, the demands for evaluation of fMRI processing pipelines and validation of fMRI analysis results is increasing rapidly. The current NPAIRS package, an IDL-based fMRI processing pipeline evaluation framework, lacks system interoperability and the ability to evaluate general linear model (GLM)-based pipelines using prediction metrics. Thus, it can not fully evaluate fMRI analytical software modules such as FSL.FEAT and NPAIRS.GLM. In order to overcome these limitations, a Java-based fMRI processing pipeline evaluation system was developed. It integrated YALE (a machine learning environment) into Fiswidgets (a fMRI software environment) to obtain system interoperability and applied an algorithm to measure GLM prediction accuracy. The results demonstrated that the system can evaluate fMRI processing pipelines with univariate GLM and multivariate canonical variates analysis (CVA)-based models on real fMRI data based on prediction accuracy (classification accuracy) and statistical parametric image (SPI) reproducibility. In addition, a preliminary study was performed where four fMRI processing pipelines with GLM and CVA modules such as FSL.FEAT and NPAIRS.CVA were evaluated with the system. The results indicated that (1) the system can compare different fMRI processing pipelines with heterogeneous models (NPAIRS.GLM, NPAIRS.CVA and FSL.FEAT) and rank their performance by automatic performance scoring, and (2) the rank of pipeline performance is highly dependent on the preprocessing operations. These results suggest that the system will be of value for the comparison, validation, standardization and optimization of functional neuroimaging software packages and fMRI processing pipelines.

Risk Analysis using Corrosion Rate Parameter on Gas Transmission Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Sasikirono, B.; Kim, S. J.; Haryadi, G. D.; Huda, A.

2017-05-01

In the oil and gas industry, the pipeline is a major component in the transmission and distribution process of oil and gas. Oil and gas distribution process sometimes performed past the pipeline across the various types of environmental conditions. Therefore, in the transmission and distribution process of oil and gas, a pipeline should operate safely so that it does not harm the surrounding environment. Corrosion is still a major cause of failure in some components of the equipment in a production facility. In pipeline systems, corrosion can cause failures in the wall and damage to the pipeline. Therefore it takes care and periodic inspections or checks on the pipeline system. Every production facility in an industry has a level of risk for damage which is a result of the opportunities and consequences of damage caused. The purpose of this research is to analyze the level of risk of 20-inch Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline using Risk-based inspection semi-quantitative based on API 581 associated with the likelihood of failure and the consequences of the failure of a component of the equipment. Then the result is used to determine the next inspection plans. Nine pipeline components were observed, such as a straight pipes inlet, connection tee, and straight pipes outlet. The risk assessment level of the nine pipeline’s components is presented in a risk matrix. The risk level of components is examined at medium risk levels. The failure mechanism that is used in this research is the mechanism of thinning. Based on the results of corrosion rate calculation, remaining pipeline components age can be obtained, so the remaining lifetime of pipeline components are known. The calculation of remaining lifetime obtained and the results vary for each component. Next step is planning the inspection of pipeline components by NDT external methods.

GASVOL 18'' gas pipeline - risk based inspection study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bjoernoey, Ola H.; Etterdal, Birger A. [Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Oslo (Norway); Guarize, Rosimar; Oliveira, Luiz F.S. [Det Norske Veritas (DNV) (Brazil); Faertes, Denise; Dias, Ricardo [TRANSPETRO - PETROBRAS Transporte S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2003-07-01

This paper describes a risk based approach and inspection planning as part of the Pipeline Integrity Management (PIM) system for the 95.5 km long 18'' GASVOL gas pipeline in the South eastern region of Brazil transporting circa 5 000 000 m3 dry gas per day. Pipeline systems can be subject to several degradation mechanisms and inspection and monitoring are used to ensure system integrity. Modern pipeline regulations and codes are normally based on a core safety or risk philosophy. The detailed design requirements presented in design codes are practical interpretations established so as to fulfill these core objectives. A given pipeline, designed, constructed and installed according to a pipeline code is therefore the realization of a structure, which, along its whole length, meets the applicable safety objectives of that code. The main objective of Pipeline Integrity Management (PIM) is to control and document the integrity of the pipeline for its whole service life, and to do this in a cost-effective manner. DNV has a specific approach to RBI planning, starting with an initial qualitative assessment where pipelines and damage type are ranked according to risk and potential risk reduction by an inspection and then carried forward to a quantitative detailed assessment where the level of complexity and accuracy can vary based on availability of information and owner needs. Detailed assessment requires significant effort in data gathering. The findings are dependent upon the accuracy of the inspection data, and on DNV's interpretation of the pipeline reference system and simplifications in the inspection data reported. The following specific failure mechanisms were investigated: internal corrosion, external corrosion, third party interference, landslides and black powder. RBI planning, in general words, is a 'living process'. In order to optimize future inspections, it is essential that the analyses utilize the most recent information regarding

A management systems approach to pipeline integrity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abes, J. [CC Technologies Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada)

2008-07-01

A management systems approach to pipeline integrity was discussed in terms of accident causation models, lessons from accidents, and management systems. Accident causation models include the Heinrich domino theory; epidemiological models; event chain models; and system-based models. A review of the Bellingham pipeline accident showed that if the pipeline had not been weakened by external damage, it likely would have been able to withstand the pressure that occurred on the day of the rupture, and the accident would not have happened. It was also determined that there was inadequate inspection of excavation work during the water treatment plant project and consequently, there was a failure to identify and repair the damage done to the pipeline. The presentation also addressed other findings, such as inaccurate evaluation of in-line pipeline inspection data; failure to manage and protect the supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA); and ineffective management oversight of construction and activation of products terminal. The Carlsbad pipeline explosion was also presented as another example of an accident. Several violations by El Paso were cited, including failure to ensure that qualified personnel performed internal corrosion control procedures; failure to perform necessary tests for corrosion; and failure to follow procedures for continuing surveillance of its facilities. Last, the presentation provided a definition of management systems and discussed the characteristics and elements of a management system. These elements included policy and leadership commitment; organizational structure and responsibilities; management of resources; communication plan; document and records management; operational controls; management of change; and continual improvement. 1 fig.

Simplified Technique for Predicting Offshore Pipeline Expansion

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, J. H.; Kim, D. K.; Choi, H. S.; Yu, S. Y.; Park, K. S.

2018-06-01

In this study, we propose a method for estimating the amount of expansion that occurs in subsea pipelines, which could be applied in the design of robust structures that transport oil and gas from offshore wells. We begin with a literature review and general discussion of existing estimation methods and terminologies with respect to subsea pipelines. Due to the effects of high pressure and high temperature, the production of fluid from offshore wells is typically caused by physical deformation of subsea structures, e.g., expansion and contraction during the transportation process. In severe cases, vertical and lateral buckling occurs, which causes a significant negative impact on structural safety, and which is related to on-bottom stability, free-span, structural collapse, and many other factors. In addition, these factors may affect the production rate with respect to flow assurance, wax, and hydration, to name a few. In this study, we developed a simple and efficient method for generating a reliable pipe expansion design in the early stage, which can lead to savings in both cost and computation time. As such, in this paper, we propose an applicable diagram, which we call the standard dimensionless ratio (SDR) versus virtual anchor length (L A ) diagram, that utilizes an efficient procedure for estimating subsea pipeline expansion based on applied reliable scenarios. With this user guideline, offshore pipeline structural designers can reliably determine the amount of subsea pipeline expansion and the obtained results will also be useful for the installation, design, and maintenance of the subsea pipeline.

Research on Connection and Function Reliability of the Oil＆Gas Pipeline System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Bo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Pipeline transportation is the optimal way for energy delivery in terms of safety, efficiency and environmental protection. Because of the complexity of pipeline external system including geological hazards, social and cultural influence, it is a great challenge to operate the pipeline safely and reliable. Therefore, the pipeline reliability becomes an important issue. Based on the classical reliability theory, the analysis of pipeline system is carried out, then the reliability model of the pipeline system is built, and the calculation is addressed thereafter. Further the connection and function reliability model is applied to a practical active pipeline system, with the use of the proposed methodology of the pipeline system; the connection reliability and function reliability are obtained. This paper firstly presented to considerate the connection and function reliability separately and obtain significant contribution to establish the mathematical reliability model of pipeline system, hence provide fundamental groundwork for the pipeline reliability research in the future.

Isotopic method of leaks detection in oil pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Listwam, W.; Mottl, J.

1974-01-01

Isotopic method of leaks detection in oil pipelines of diameter 200-800 mm is described. Tracer is injected into pipeline in the form of CH 3 Br 82 . After few hours one or two detectors are passed through pipeline to detect leaks. Detector set consists of scintillation radiometer with Na I/Tl crystal, electronic blecks with one-channel analyzer, recorder and storage batteries. Detector set is built on integrated circuits. (Z.M.)

A real-time non-contact monitoring method of subsea pipelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Song Dalei

2015-01-01

Full Text Available To monitoring the subsea pipeline in real-time, a special potentiometric sensor array and a potential prediction model are presented in this paper. Firstly, to measure the potential of seawater, a special potentiometric sensor array with Ag/AgCl all-solid-state reference electrodes is first developed in this paper. Secondly, according to the obtained distribution law of electric field intensities a prediction model of the pipeline potentials is developed. Finally, the potentiometric sensor array is applied in sink experiment and the prediction model is validated by the sink measurements. The maximum error for pipeline potential prediction model is 1.1 mV. The proposed non-contact monitoring method for subsea pipeline can predict the potential of sea pipeline in real-time, thus providing important information for further subsea pipeline maintenance.

The Bakou-Ceyhan pipeline: paradoxes and coherence of the USA strategy of pipelines; L'oleoduc Bakou-Ceyhan: paradoxes et coherence de la strategie americaine des pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jafalian, A

2004-07-01

In 2002, the construction of the Bakou-Ceyhan pipeline, from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, is begun, in spite of the the controversies of industrialists against politicians and experts. The diplomatic USA activity in favor this pipeline largely contributes to the problems solution. The author presents the USA policy and strategy in the region, the economic constraints and the negotiations. (A.L.B.)

75 FR 32836 - Pipeline Safety: Workshop on Public Awareness Programs

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-09

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket ID... American Public Gas Association Association of Oil Pipelines American Petroleum Institute Interstate... the pipeline industry). Hazardous Liquid Gas Transmission/Gathering Natural Gas Distribution (10...

Pipelines in Louisiana, Geographic NAD83, USGS (1999) [pipelines_la_usgs_1999

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This dataset contains vector line map information of various pipelines throughout the State of Louisiana. The vector data contain selected base categories of...

The MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrometer calibration pipeline

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Labiano, A.; Azzollini, R.; Bailey, J.; Beard, S.; Dicken, D.; García-Marín, M.; Geers, V.; Glasse, A.; Glauser, A.; Gordon, K.; Justtanont, K.; Klaassen, P.; Lahuis, F.; Law, D.; Morrison, J.; Müller, M.; Rieke, G.; Vandenbussche, B.; Wright, G.

2016-01-01

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) is the only mid-IR Integral Field Spectrometer on board James Webb Space Telescope. The complexity of the MRS requires a very specialized pipeline, with some specific steps not present in other pipelines of JWST instruments,

Oil pipeline performance review 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 : Technical/statistical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-12-01

This document provides a summary of the pipeline performance and reportable pipeline failures of liquid hydrocarbon pipelines in Canada, for the years 1995 through 1998. The year 1994 was the last one for which the Oil Pipeline Performance Review (OPPR) was published on an annual basis. The OPPR will continue to be published until such time as the Pipeline Risk Assesment Sub-Committee (PRASC) has obtained enough pipeline failure data to be aggregated into a meaningful report. The shifts in the mix of reporting pipeline companies is apparent in the data presented, comparing the volumes transported and the traffic volume during the previous ten-year period. Another table presents a summary of the failures which occurred during the period under consideration, 1995-1998, allowing for a comparison with the data for the previous ten-year period. From the current perspective and from an historical context, this document provides a statistical review of the performance of the pipelines, covering refined petroleum product pipelines, clean oil pipelines and High Vapour Pressure (HVP) pipelines downstream of battery limits. Classified as reportable are spills of 1.5 cubic metre or more of liquid hydrocarbons, any amount of HVP material, any incident involving an injury, a death, a fire, or an explosion. For those companies that responded to the survey, the major items, including number of failures and volumes released are accurate. Samples of the forms used for collecting the information are provided within the document. 6 tabs., 1 fig

A general pipeline for the development of anchor markers for comparative genomics in plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stougaard Jens

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Complete or near-complete genomic sequence information is presently only available for a few plant species representing a large phylogenetic diversity among plants. In order to effectively transfer this information to species lacking sequence information, comparative genomic tools need to be developed. Molecular markers permitting cross-species mapping along co-linear genomic regions are central to comparative genomics. These "anchor" markers, defining unique loci in genetic linkage maps of multiple species, are gene-based and possess a number of features that make them relatively sparse. To identify potential anchor marker sequences more efficiently, we have established an automated bioinformatic pipeline that combines multi-species Expressed Sequence Tags (EST and genome sequence data. Results Taking advantage of sequence data from related species, the pipeline identifies evolutionarily conserved sequences that are likely to define unique orthologous loci in most species of the same phylogenetic clade. The key features are the identification of evolutionarily conserved sequences followed by automated design of intron-flanking Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR primer pairs. Polymorphisms can subsequently be identified by size- or sequence variation of PCR products, amplified from mapping parents or populations. We illustrate our procedure in legumes and grasses and exemplify its application in legumes, where model plant studies and the genome- and EST-sequence data available have a potential impact on the breeding of crop species and on our understanding of the evolution of this large and diverse family. Conclusion We provide a database of 459 candidate anchor loci which have the potential to serve as map anchors in more than 18,000 legume species, a number of which are of agricultural importance. For grasses, the database contains 1335 candidate anchor loci. Based on this database, we have evaluated 76 candidate anchor loci

49 CFR 195.452 - Pipeline integrity management in high consequence areas.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Pipeline integrity management in high consequence... Management § 195.452 Pipeline integrity management in high consequence areas. (a) Which pipelines are covered... that could affect a high consequence area, including any pipeline located in a high consequence area...

Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Klaus, Todd C.; McCauliff, Sean; Cote, Miles T.; Girouard, Forrest R.; Wohler, Bill; Allen, Christopher; Middour, Christopher; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Jenkins, Jon M.

2010-01-01

The Kepler mission is designed to continuously monitor up to 170,000 stars at a 30 minute cadence for 3.5 years searching for Earth-size planets. The data are processed at the Science Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Ames Research Center. Because of the large volume of data and the memory and CPU-intensive nature of the analysis, significant computing hardware is required. We have developed generic pipeline framework software that is used to distribute and synchronize the processing across a cluster of CPUs and to manage the resulting products. The framework is written in Java and is therefore platform-independent, and scales from a single, standalone workstation (for development and research on small data sets) to a full cluster of homogeneous or heterogeneous hardware with minimal configuration changes. A plug-in architecture provides customized control of the unit of work without the need to modify the framework itself. Distributed transaction services provide for atomic storage of pipeline products for a unit of work across a relational database and the custom Kepler DB. Generic parameter management and data accountability services are provided to record the parameter values, software versions, and other meta-data used for each pipeline execution. A graphical console allows for the configuration, execution, and monitoring of pipelines. An alert and metrics subsystem is used to monitor the health and performance of the pipeline. The framework was developed for the Kepler project based on Kepler requirements, but the framework itself is generic and could be used for a variety of applications where these features are needed.

Design of Submarine Pipeline With Respect to Corrosion and Material Selection

OpenAIRE

El-Mogi, Hossam

2016-01-01

Master's thesis in Offshore technology : subsea technology Pipelines are an essential part of the oil and gas industry as they are the main means of transportation. As the offshore technology advances, subsea pipelines are being operated in more demanding environments. For the pipelines to operate efficiently, they have to be carefully designed. One of the main threats to the integrity of the pipeline is corrosion, which has caused many failures. Corrosion in subsea pipelines has different...

Seismic response of buried pipelines: a state-of-the-art review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datta, T.K.

1999-01-01

A state-of-the-art review of the seismic response of buried pipelines is presented. The review includes modeling of soil-pipe system and seismic excitation, methods of response analysis of buried pipelines, seismic behavior of buried pipelines under different parametric variations, seismic stresses at the bends and intersections of network of pipelines. pipe damage in earthquakes and seismic risk analysis of buried pipelines. Based on the review, the future scope of work on the subject is outlined. (orig.)

Pipeline developments 1998 and beyond : more choices, more difficult decisions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

VanderSchee, K. [EnergyERA (Canada)

1998-12-31

Some of the basic economic principles that drive gas prices and gas flows across North America, and the pressures these have placed on the pipeline sector, are reviewed. Of pressing importance to the natural gas industry in Western Canada is the prospect that in the near future industrial gas users in eastern Canada will have a wider array of pipeline choices available to them than ever before. This will mean that the users will face more offerings from more pipeline providers, forcing pipeline owners to make more difficult decisions regarding new pipeline capacity. Variables such as price, terms and conditions will become increasingly negotiable. Market power concerns also remain an important issue. As a result, there is increasing call for market-based financial regulation of pipelines. `Market gaming` a condition where a firm manipulates the market to its own market advantage is also receiving considerable attention. The latter is of particular concern in the United States. Against this background, the nature of competition (or the lack of it) in natural gas transport, the influence of short-term service revenues for pipelines, pipeline commitments through subsidiaries, and concerns over short term pipeline valuations skewing investment decisions, are issues that will continue to invite much attention. Regarding market outlook, it was noted that significantly increased export capacity from Alberta could raise the costs of Alberta supplies to eastern Canadian end-users relative to other supply/transport options which may now be viable economic alternatives. figs.

Pipeline developments 1998 and beyond : more choices, more difficult decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

VanderSchee, K.

1998-01-01

Some of the basic economic principles that drive gas prices and gas flows across North America, and the pressures these have placed on the pipeline sector, are reviewed. Of pressing importance to the natural gas industry in Western Canada is the prospect that in the near future industrial gas users in eastern Canada will have a wider array of pipeline choices available to them than ever before. This will mean that the users will face more offerings from more pipeline providers, forcing pipeline owners to make more difficult decisions regarding new pipeline capacity. Variables such as price, terms and conditions will become increasingly negotiable. Market power concerns also remain an important issue. As a result, there is increasing call for market-based financial regulation of pipelines. 'Market gaming' a condition where a firm manipulates the market to its own market advantage is also receiving considerable attention. The latter is of particular concern in the United States. Against this background, the nature of competition (or the lack of it) in natural gas transport, the influence of short-term service revenues for pipelines, pipeline commitments through subsidiaries, and concerns over short term pipeline valuations skewing investment decisions, are issues that will continue to invite much attention. Regarding market outlook, it was noted that significantly increased export capacity from Alberta could raise the costs of Alberta supplies to eastern Canadian end-users relative to other supply/transport options which may now be viable economic alternatives. figs

76 FR 70217 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-10

... combined comment from American Petroleum Institute (API) and American Oil Pipelines Association (AOPL) on... some rural low-stress hazardous liquid pipelines are not subject to part 195 although they are required...

PIPELINE CORROSION CONTROL IN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY: A ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Corrosion in pipelines is one of the major challenges faced by oil and gas industries all over the world. This has made corrosion control or management a major factor to consider before setting up any industry that will transport products via pipelines. In this study the types of corrosion found on system 2A pipeline were; ...

Optimizing pipeline transportation using a fuzzy controller

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aramaki, Thiago L.; Correa, Joao L. L.; Montalvoa, Antonio F. F. [National Control and Operation Center Tranpetro, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil)

2010-07-01

The optimization of pipeline transportation is a big concern for the transporter companies. This paper is the third of a series of three articles which investigated the application of a system to simulate the human ability to operate a pipeline in an optimized way. The present paper presents the development of a proportional integral (PI) fuzzy controller, in order to optimize pipeline transportation capacity. The fuzzy adaptive PI controller system was developed and tested with a hydraulic simulator. On-field data were used from the OSBRA pipeline. The preliminary tests showed that the performance of the software simulation was satisfactory. It varied the set-point of the conventional controller within the limits of flow meters. The transport capacity of the pipe was maximize without compromising the integrity of the commodities transported. The system developed proved that it can be easily deployed as a specialist optimizing system to be added to SCADA systems.

A novel approach to pipeline tensioner modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Grady, Robert; Ilie, Daniel; Lane, Michael [MCS Software Division, Galway (Ireland)

2009-07-01

As subsea pipeline developments continue to move into deep and ultra-deep water locations, there is an increasing need for the accurate prediction of expected pipeline fatigue life. A significant factor that must be considered as part of this process is the fatigue damage sustained by the pipeline during installation. The magnitude of this installation-related damage is governed by a number of different agents, one of which is the dynamic behavior of the tensioner systems during pipe-laying operations. There are a variety of traditional finite element methods for representing dynamic tensioner behavior. These existing methods, while basic in nature, have been proven to provide adequate forecasts in terms of the dynamic variation in typical installation parameters such as top tension and sagbend/overbend strain. However due to the simplicity of these current approaches, some of them tend to over-estimate the frequency of tensioner pay out/in under dynamic loading. This excessive level of pay out/in motion results in the prediction of additional stress cycles at certain roller beds, which in turn leads to the prediction of unrealistic fatigue damage to the pipeline. This unwarranted fatigue damage then equates to an over-conservative value for the accumulated damage experienced by a pipeline weld during installation, and so leads to a reduction in the estimated fatigue life for the pipeline. This paper describes a novel approach to tensioner modeling which allows for greater control over the velocity of dynamic tensioner pay out/in and so provides a more accurate estimation of fatigue damage experienced by the pipeline during installation. The paper reports on a case study, as outlined in the proceeding section, in which a comparison is made between results from this new tensioner model and from a more conventional approach. The comparison considers typical installation parameters as well as an in-depth look at the predicted fatigue damage for the two methods

Pipeline abandonment - a discussion paper on technical and environmental issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-11-01

The technical and environmental issues associated with pipeline abandonment were reviewed to provide a basis for the development of guidelines that companies could follow in order to abandon oil and gas pipelines in an environmentally safe and economic manner. Some of the topics discussed include land use management, ground subsidence, soil and groundwater contamination, erosion and the potential to create water conduits. A major issue still to be resolved, i.e., the legal and financial aspects of pipeline abandonment, was addressed. An industry-financed fund has been created to cover the cost of reclamation and abandonment of orphaned pipelines and certain associated pipeline facilities. 30 refs., 4 tabs., 3 figs

Optimal Energy Consumption Analysis of Natural Gas Pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Enbin; Li, Changjun; Yang, Yi

2014-01-01

There are many compressor stations along long-distance natural gas pipelines. Natural gas can be transported using different boot programs and import pressures, combined with temperature control parameters. Moreover, different transport methods have correspondingly different energy consumptions. At present, the operating parameters of many pipelines are determined empirically by dispatchers, resulting in high energy consumption. This practice does not abide by energy reduction policies. Therefore, based on a full understanding of the actual needs of pipeline companies, we introduce production unit consumption indicators to establish an objective function for achieving the goal of lowering energy consumption. By using a dynamic programming method for solving the model and preparing calculation software, we can ensure that the solution process is quick and efficient. Using established optimization methods, we analyzed the energy savings for the XQ gas pipeline. By optimizing the boot program, the import station pressure, and the temperature parameters, we achieved the optimal energy consumption. By comparison with the measured energy consumption, the pipeline now has the potential to reduce energy consumption by 11 to 16 percent. PMID:24955410

Alliance Pipeline : the new kid on the block

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornelson, D.

1998-01-01

An update on progress of Alliance Pipelines, comments on issues facing gas transporters from western Canada, some discussion of gas supply in general, and the prospects for future expansion of the natural gas industry are provided. According to industry insiders, North American gas demand is expected to increase by 1.5 per cent per year. In order for Canadian gas to participate in this growth additional pipeline capacity is needed. The Alliance Pipeline capacity represents about 20 per cent of this demand growth over the next 5 years. The Alliance Pipeline development will create an opportunity to deliver western Canadian gas to Chicago, a point where North American market competition exists and the market volume and liquidity is large. This presentation also provides an update on the current regulatory status and construction timing. Currently, Alliance has over C$8 billion in firm shipping commitments and up to C$5 billion in financing in place. Pipeline construction will begin in the spring of 1999; it is expected to be operational by the fall of 2000. tabs., figs

A comprehensive evaluation of the sl1p pipeline for 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Whelan, Fiona J; Surette, Michael G

2017-08-14

Advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have allowed for detailed, molecular-based studies of microbial communities such as the human gut, soil, and ocean waters. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, specific to prokaryotes, using universal PCR primers has become a common approach to studying the composition of these microbiota. However, the bioinformatic processing of the resulting millions of DNA sequences can be challenging, and a standardized protocol would aid in reproducible analyses. The short-read library 16S rRNA gene sequencing pipeline (sl1p, pronounced "slip") was designed with the purpose of mitigating this lack of reproducibility by combining pre-existing tools into a computational pipeline. This pipeline automates the processing of raw 16S rRNA gene sequencing data to create human-readable tables, graphs, and figures to make the collected data more readily accessible. Data generated from mock communities were compared using eight OTU clustering algorithms, two taxon assignment approaches, and three 16S rRNA gene reference databases. While all of these algorithms and options are available to sl1p users, through testing with human-associated mock communities, AbundantOTU+, the RDP Classifier, and the Greengenes 2011 reference database were chosen as sl1p's defaults based on their ability to best represent the known input communities. sl1p promotes reproducible research by providing a comprehensive log file, and reduces the computational knowledge needed by the user to process next-generation sequencing data. sl1p is freely available at https://bitbucket.org/fwhelan/sl1p .

Quantitative risk analysis in two pipelines operated by TRANSPETRO