Held every two years, the International Pipeline Conference attracts a wide-range of delegates from the industry, from engineers, owners and operators, and technical experts, to product and service providers participating in the International Pipeline Exposition.

Conference

The Conference proceedings opened with a keynote presentation from the University of Alberta’s Department of Economics Professor Andre Plourde.

Mr Plourde gave an animated speech about how pipeline owners and operators can manage their assets, while working both with government bodies and the community. He said that there is a need for a close relationship between the pipeline industry and policy makers, although a clear separation of the bodies’ different interests was also important to maintain.

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Following Mr Plourde’s address, the technical papers began. Papers were organised into 14 streams covering issues such as integrity management, risk and liability, safety regulations, environmental concerns, material specifications, and construction techniques.

The technical papers were of a high-standard, with 25 papers being nominated for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Pipeline Systems Division’s (ASME PSDs) Rio Pipeline Award. The award is given to the best paper of the conference. This year, Kamal Botros and J. Geerligs won the award for their paper on ‘Decompression wave speed in rich gas mixtures at high pressures (37 MPa) and implications on fracture control toughness requirements in pipeline design’.

The conference included various panel sessions, at which delegates discussed topics including issues involved with transporting anthropogenic CO2, improving the effectiveness of seam weld anomalies when completing in-line inspections, and the obligation of parties to proactively remediate pipeline operational problems.

In addition to the technical and panel sessions, delegates heard from keynote speakers during the Conference lunches. On successing days the speakers were Common Ground Alliance (CGA) President Bob Kipp and Enhance Energy President Susan Cole.

Mr Kipp spoke of the recent activities of the CGA, which is a 1,420-strong member-driven Association made up of 16 key stakeholder groups such as engineering, gas distributors, one-call centres, and insurance companies. The Association champions pipeline safety and damage prevention in North America. CGA was recently instrumental in streamlining the different locale one-call centre numbers for companies to dial before commencing excavation works.

Ms Cole discussed the possibilities of CO2 use, with reference to Enhance Energy’s proposed project to construction a 240 km,16 inch diameter CO2 pipeline in Alberta. Ms Cole said that once this pipeline was completed it is likely that further CO2 transportation infrastructure will develop for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery in the area.

Exposition

Over 150 companies were on show at the Exposition, which ran from Tuesday to Thursday. Delegates visited the many stands, which showcased products and services ranging from construction companies to pipeline pig providers, to machinery and pipeline security devices.

The Exposition provided the perfect forum for delegates and service providers alike to make key contacts for further business.