'I would like to welcome you to the Pipeline Systems Division of ASME.
Most people associate ‘pipes’ with the hot and cold water they see in their houses. Also, most of us will have seen the plastic pipes laid under our streets and roads to locally distribute natural gas. But what most people do not know is that there are hundreds of thousands of kilometres of very large ‘pipelines’ crossing our nations and oceans delivering (‘transmitting’) huge quantities of crude oil, oil products. and gas. They are underground or undersea: out of sight, out of mind!
Crude oil is often transported between continents in large tankers, but oil and natural gas is transported across continents by pipelines. These pipelines are very large diameter (the Russian system has diameters up to 1422mm), and can be over 1000km in length.
Transmission pipelines are the main ‘arteries’ of the oil and gas business; working 24 hours per day, seven days a week, continuously supplying our energy needs. They are critically important to most countries' economies. They have a long history: pipelines have been used to transport liquids and gases for thousand of years: the Chinese used bamboo pipe to transmit natural gas to light their capital, Peking, as early as 400 BC.
The oil and gas are transported in these large ‘transmission’ pipelines to refineries, power stations, etc., and converted into energy forms such as gasoline for our automobiles, and electricity for our homes. Oil and gas provides most of the world with its energy: without these pipelines we would not be able to supply the huge energy needs of our planet.
The world’s pipelines carry hazardous fluid, and their safety is the prime business concern. These pipelines are ageing, but are required to continue operation for many more decades.
PSD is committed to ensuring our pipelines continue to be safe, and provide secure energy for the future.
If you have an interest in pipelines, why not join ASME and its Pipeline Systems Division? The 'Membership' page has all the necessary details.'
Phil Hopkins, Chairman, PSD, 2006-7
