An Integrated Engineering Model for Prediction of Strain Demands in Pipelines Subject to Frost Heave

Long distance pipelines are actively pursued by the industry to transport natural gas from remote arctic regions to markets. A chilled gas pipeline is one of the options to minimize the environmental impact resulting from operation of such pipelines. When a chilled gas pipeline crosses discontinuous permafrost areas, differential frost heave can occur. The result is pipe being subjected to potentially high strains, primarily in the axial direction. Reliable prediction of strain demands is one of the key components for a strain-based design process and it is essential for both ensuring pipeline integrity and facilitating life-cycle cost optimization for the design and maintenance of pipelines. The prediction of strain demands resulting from frost heave of chilled gas pipelines involves three fundamental engineering analysis processes. They are gas hydraulic analysis, geothermal analysis and pipeline structural analysis. Not only are these three processes complex, they are also mutually interdependent. To reliably predict strain demands and fully capture the interactions among these processes, TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. (TransCanada) and its partners developed an integrated engineering model on the basis of three well established programs for the three individual engineering processes. This paper will briefly review the integrated model for strain demand prediction.