Materials Performance is the world's most widely circulated magazine dedicated to corrosion prevention and control. MP provides information about the latest corrosion control technologies and practical applications for every industry and environment.
Issue link: http://mp.epubxp.com/i/123600
M AT E R I A L M AT T E R S Continued from page 15 Don Kramer, NTSB senior materials engineer, identifes a section of pipe to be cut and removed for further examination at the NTSB's lab in Ashburn, Virginia. Photo courtesy of NTSB. 16 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE May 2013 eventually issue a report with recommendations for preventing this type of accident in the future. He added that the NTSB intends to fnd out what led to and caused the corrosion in this specifc pipeline and what could have prevented the corrosion; and will evaluate the CP systems designed to minimize and eliminate corrosion. He also said, "The NTSB recognizes that pipeline operations are a very safe mode of transportation for shipping products. But due to events like this one in Sissonville, we are very concerned and remain concerned about pipeline safety. Just one month ago…the NTSB added pipeline safety to our Most Wanted List. This list points out the 10 areas where we feel the greatest attention needs to be paid for improving transportation safety." During a subsequent feld hearing on pipeline safety ("Pipeline Safety: An Onthe-Ground Look at Safeguarding the Public") before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in Charleston, West Virginia, NTSB Chair Deborah A.P. Hersman testifed that the frst call to 911 about the Sissonville pipeline rupture and fre came at 12:41 p.m. from a person at a nearby retirement home. At 12:43 p.m., the Columbia Gas controller on duty at the gas control center in Charleston, West Virginia, began receiving alerts on the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system from instrumentation at the Lanham compressor station located 4.7 miles (7.6 km) upstream from the rupture location. Over the next 10 min, 16 SCADA alerts indicated that the discharge pressure was dropping on Line SM-80 and two other pipelines in the SM-80 system (Line SM-86 and Line SM-86 Loop). Columbia Gas SCADA data indicated that the discharge pressures on the three pipelines leaving the Lanham compressor station had dropped ~100 psig. The frst notifcation of the rupture received by the Columbia Gas control center was provided at about 12:53 p.m. by a controller from Cabot Oil and Gas Co., who had received a report of the rupture NACE International, Vol. 52, No. 5