Pipe Route Design Using Variable Topography Distance Transforms

In this paper the Variable Topography Distance Transform method (VTDT) is used to find optimal paths across physical landscapes for pipelines carrying a two-phase geothermal fluid. The method incorporates constraints such as obstacles, land costs, building costs, variable gradients, height, and environmental issues in the route selection process. The method is an expanded form of Distance Transform algorithms that are used in image processing. It offers a way to look at land surfaces as a slope-adjusted 2-D model rather than as a more complex and computationally intensive 3-D model. The VTDT method works with a digital representation, called a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), of the landscape in question. The method is then tested on the route design for pipelines carrying a two-phase geothermal fluid at the Hellisheidi Power Plant in Iceland, which is currently (early 2005) in the design and construction phase.