Remotely controlled valves on interstate natural gas pipelines : September 1999.

PDFTech ReportPipelinesNatural gas pipelinesRemote controlValvesUnited StatesUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Special Programs AdministrationUnited States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Special Programs AdministrationNTL-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Bridges and StructuresUS Transportation CollectionThis report is in response to a Congressional mandate in theAccountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act of 1996 to surveyand assess the effectiveness of remotely controlled valves (RCVs)on interstate natural gas pipelines and to determine theirtechnical and economical feasibility to shut off gas after arupture.This report contains a discussion of the results of a publicmeeting held in Houston, Texas on October 30, 1997 for thepurpose of gathering information and discussing issues relevantto the survey and assessment. The report also contains theresults of an RCV field evaluation conducted by Texas EasternTransmission Corporation (TETCO) as part of a Consent Orderissued by the Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) (CPF 15102) toprovide information on TETCO\ue2\u20ac\u2122s experience with RCVs. There isalso a discussion of status briefings before the TechnicalPipeline Safety Standards Committee (TPSSC) and a cost versusbenefit study.The report addresses the four main issues raised by theCongressional mandate to study RCVs, i.e., effectiveness,technical feasibility, economic feasibility, and risk reduction.The report concludes with a proposal for further action, which isa public meeting to seek input on information for specifying thetime-to-isolate a ruptured pipeline section