Analysis of domino effect in pipelines

Abstract

Parallel pipelines are frequently installed over long distances, due to the difficulty in creating or maintaining the required corridor. This implies that a release in one pipeline can seriously affect another one. The main risks associated with this domino effect are erosion by fluid-sand jets and the thermal action of jet fires. In this paper a survey has been performed on the accidents that have occurred, and the diverse associated domino sequences are analyzed. The probability of occurrence of domino effect is a function of the location of the hole, the jet direction and solid angle, the diameter of both pipelines and the distance between them. A mathematical model has been developed to estimate this probability. The model shows how the probability of domino effect decreases with the distance and diameter of the source pipe, and increases with the diameter of the target pipe. Its frequency can be estimated from this probability and from the frequency of the initiating pipe failure plus, in the case of jet fire impingement, the probability of ignition. The frequency of the target pipe failure thus calculated, always higher than its individual frequency, allows a more realistic risk analysis.

Keywords: Impingement modeling; Jet fire; Jet impingement; Pipe erosion.