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ACADEMIC TOPICS

1) Management of natural hazards associated with pipeline design and construction

  • Route selection and characterization: state-of-the-art methods with remote sensing such as optical images, radar images, LiDAR
  • Special considerations for mountainous terrain
  • Design and installation of special crossings: open cut crossings, trenchless crossings and river structures, road crossings, terrain susceptible to instability, environmentally sensitive areas
  • Effects of climate variability on design and construction
  • Design and construction of slope stabilization and erosion control structures: new technologies and alternative solutions
  • Definition of Geohazard Monitoring Systems during design and installation during construction
  • Examples of solutions to limitations due to environmental and social management
  • Risk assessment and contingency management in the design and construction of pipelines
  • Geohazard Management in fluids transportation systems other than hydrocarbons.
  • Consideration of antropic origin hazards
  • Special cases of geohazard management in design and construction.
  • Cases of parallelism with coexistence and interference with other linear or point infrastructures

2) Geohazard Risk Analysis and Assessment, and their planning and management in pipeline integrity

Geohazard Risk Considerations:

  • Geohazard Characterization based on background information during design, construction, operation, maintenance and integrity and their impact on risk management.

  • Triggering factors activity (precipitation, earthquakes) in geotechnical and hydrotechnical morphodynamic processes

  • The geomorphological environment (e.g., process inventory, susceptibility zoning and identification of geohazards)

  • Definition of Admissible thresholds of critical variables (e.g. rainfall thresholds, percentages of pipeline deformation, relative displacements, seismic and volcanic activity, actions of third parties)

  • Risk management due to technological accidents (NATECH)

  • The interaction with third parties and their combined effects with Geohazards

Implementation of decision-making processes in integrity management planning:

  • Strategies for data collection, capture, preparation and management
  • Multidisciplinary Interaction threat analysis to pipeline integrity and their consequences compared to admissible, tolerant and non-tolerant risk values (e.g., ALARP)
  • Application of analysis methodologies, evaluation and risk criteria (i.e. geohazard probability of occurrence, pipeline vulnerability, mitigation and resilience effectiveness, consequence analysis including spill simulation)
  • Development of integrity plans and prioritization based on multidisciplinary analysis
  • Roadmap planning and implementation of transformation technologies
  • Standard, laws and regulations requirements applicable for each country

3) Geohazard monitoring and mitigation; implementation and performance management

It includes the application of monitoring, mitigation actions and lessons learned in the management of Geohazards

  • Technologies application for Geohazard monitoring in pipelines related to automated or manual techniques, such as:

  • In-Line Inspection (e.g., inertial, geometric, corrosion)

  • Geotechnical instrumentation (inclinometers, piezometers, extensometers, topographic control)

  • Remote sensors (satellite monitoring, multispectral images, LiDAR, radar)

  • Unmanned aircraft, drones

  • Topography, fiber optics, among others

  • Tools, technologies and specialized instrumentation for monitoring settlements or anthropogenic effects on geohazards (e.g., right-of-way, displacements of pipelines subject to vertical or lateral loads)

  • Proposals of cutting-edge monitoring methods, applications, such as: virtual reality, predictive models, early warning systems, artificial intelligence (AI), among others.

  • Cost and time effectiveness through the use of new technologies or innovative methods in geohazard management.
  • Practical examples of management based on specific monitoring techniques, including the integration and analysis of results, operational intervention and correlations with the expected time of interventions.
  • Practical cases of occurrence of unforced errors in the development of monitoring due to inadequate systems, invalid readings, among others
  • Examples of conventional or innovative geotechnical mitigation or repair solutions to maintain the integrity of pipelines
  • Lessons learned in the process of mitigation, monitoring and management of geohazards

4) Anthropic effects management (third parties) in pipeline geohazards

It includes anthropogenic activities that can activate, generate or worsen geotechnical or hydrotechnical instability processes affecting pipeline transportation systems. Consequently, the proactive management of anthropogenic effects and their influence on geohazards will benefit both the pipeline system and people, communities and the environment.

These anthropogenic interferences can be associated with the construction or maintenance of roads, railways, other pipeline transportation systems, hydraulic works (upstream or downstream of crossing sites), mining activity, land use change, among other cases. Likewise, it is observed in the construction of embankments, or structures or the execution of excavations that may involve the right of way or be parallel to it, or in adjacent areas of influence, which modify the geomorphological characteristics of the environment and therefore the right of way. This topic specifically includes:

 

  • Anthropic effects management, including the identification and assessment of their impact on the Geohazards and subsequent integrity of the pipeline

  • Case studies, designs and construction of solutions to manage anthropogenic management

  • Management for the early detection of anthropogenic interference that may trigger effects on the pipeline system and its surroundings.

  • Social and engineering strategies and solutions for the mitigation and protection of pipelines from anthropogenic effects;

  • Follow-up and monitoring management of anthropogenic effects

  • Prevention mechanisms, construction and maintenance agreements, signage, emergency lines