Continuous Monitoring of External Temperature of Buried Pipelines in Critical Applications

Abstract In many circumstances the external temperature on buried pipelines must be maintained within specific ranges to facilitate both operational integrity and environmental health and safety. There are use cases where continual monitoring of external pipeline temperature is advantageous: first, maintaining sufficient minimum temperatures on some crude oil pipelines to assure proper viscosity, thereby avoiding potential damage to the pipeline and leaks due to pressure buildup; second, preventing excessive heat buildup in natural gas pipelines exiting compressor stations. The excessive pipeline temperatures damage the environment around the pipeline, and contribute to premature coating disbonding and degradation, leading to corrosion and integrity management issues. In many cases, the field sites where these measurements are critical are often remote, making data acquisition costly and difficult. This paper is a case study focusing on the development of a system combining temperature sensors with remote monitoring devices for continuous monitoring of the pipeline temperature, downstream from compressor stations, on a natural gas transmission pipeline. The exception-based data transmittal enables periodic temperature status messages as well as immediate alarm messages from field sites outside of the company's SCADA system. This system provides a level of data visibility improving regulatory compliance and pipeline integrity management.