For immediate release
San Antonio — November 20, 2015 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed a CAsed Pipeline COrrosion Model (CAPCOM) that allows engineers to evaluate corrosion conditions of cased pipeline sections, where product-carrying pipes are encased within an outer shell of protective piping. R&D Magazine recently recognized CAPCOM as one of the 100 most significant innovations for 2015.
The cased pipeline segments that lie beneath some of the most sensitive areas are also among the most difficult to inspect. The CAPCOM software helps address this problem by allowing engineers to evaluate the corrosion conditions as well as the effectiveness of cathodic protection systems under the complex geometrical, electrical, and environmental conditions associated with cased pipeline segments at highway, railroad, and river crossings.
“These assessments are vitally important for evaluating the thousands of cased crossings estimated by the U.S. Department of Transportation to be located nationwide, many in high-consequence areas,” said Dr. Pavan Shukla, a principal engineer in SwRI’s Geosciences and Engineering Division who led CAPCOM’s development. “Pipeline corrosion is a big issue, a big challenge. CAPCOM helps make pipeline infrastructure safer by providing a tool to analyze the corrosion conditions of the pipeline in this complicated environment.”
CCAPCOM is uniquely capable of cost-effectively predicting potentially dangerous pipeline corrosion conditions in hard-to-inspect cased pipeline segments. CAPCOM modeling supports evaluations and decisions associated with pipeline locations where the potential effects of a pipeline failure would be the most disastrous in terms of loss of life, economic impact, and environmental damage.
For more information, contact Deb Schmid, (210) 522-2254, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166.