The New CSA Standard for Leak Detection Available to Purchase

Standards and Recommended Practices require periodic updating so they represent current technology and industry practices. Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Z662 “Oil and Gas Pipeline Systems” contains Annex E that covers software-based leak detection for liquid hydrocarbon pipelines. The CSA Technical Committee determined that is was time to update Annex E. A Task Force of industry experts and regulators met over a period of 18 month to draft a new Annex E. This paper outlines some of the significant features of the new Annex and where possible does a comparison with the similar section in American Petroleum Institute’s API 1130 which covers recommended practice for software based leak detection in the US. A pipeline operator should consider using both Annex E and API 1130 in the implementation and use of a software-based leak detection system. The CSA Task Force did not want to copy and modify API 1130 to provide a new Annex E, so both documents provide necessary information.