Total stub end abandonment

Completed

Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas)

Applied Research and Development

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Project Contact
Northern Gas Networks

Network Innovation Allowance

Ofgem

01 January 2015

01 January 2016

12 months

£302,629

Energy

Yorkshire & Humberside

Network Innovation Allowance

Project Contact, Northern Gas Networks

To produce a fit for technique and methodology to fully remove from risk Tier 1 stub ends connected to 9" mains and above. Introduce a new product or service to the sector for decommissioning pipes in this category without the need for major customer disruption. Gain approval for product to be used on the gas networkIntroduce, from a remote location, an isolation technique that 100% removes stub end tier 1 pipes connected to tier 2 and 3 parent mainsEnsure that the new technique complies fully with Stub End Policy and data is captured in recording systems.

GDNs are required to fully abandon all tier 1 mains within the HSE approved programme. This requires the removal of the total pipe length of the whole pipeline so that it no longer transports gas. Where Tier 1 pipes join either a tier 2 or tier 3 pipeline the only existing method available is to remove a section of the parent main. Removal of the parent main, in many cases, can be extremely expensive, very disruptive to customers and often does not significantly decrease the risk. It is often impractical to abandon these short sections due to traffic sensitivity or where normal working practices are unacceptable to stakeholders. Research has shown that the main connection to above 9" mains is via very robust heavily constructed tees, which are classed as part of the tier two or three pipeline. Existing connections on the tier 1 pipeline always result in a short "stub". The opportunity to prevent this "stub" from carrying gas will eliminate both the risk and the major disruption to customers. An existing method, Live Gas "Stub End" Abandonment, available from Steve Vick International currently does not fully meet the requirement to "fully" abandon the tier 1 pipe as the process requires the operative to pull back the isolation method by 500mm. This leaves a short length of tier 1 pipe transporting gas and hence poses a risk. To undertake a development and demonstration project with an SME (Steve Vick International) to produce a method with long life abandonment process that removes the risk of Tier 1 pipes connected to tier 2 or 3 pipelines. Undertake an adaptation of the existing process "Live Gas Stub End Abandonment" to ensure that the whole length of the tier 1 main is removed from risk.Note : Project Documents may be available via the ENA Smarter Networks Portal using the Website link above

17/12/18