Jared Edwards

Math 1210
4/14/2016

Note: I have left the original assignment left untouched, my work and write up appear
after the assignment.
Salt Lake Community College
Math 1210
Pipeline Project
Spring 2016
The U.S. Interior Secretary recently approved drilling of natural gas wells near Vernal, Utah.
Your company has begun drilling and established a high-producing well on BLM ground. They
now need to build a pipeline to get the natural gas to their refinery.
While running the line directly to the refinery will be the least amount of pipe and shortest
distance, it would require running the line across private ground and paying a right-of-way fee.
There is a mountain directly east of the well that must be drilled through in order to run the
pipeline due east. Your company can build the pipeline around the private ground by going 5
mile directly west and then 15 miles south and finally 45 miles east to the refinery (see figure
below). Cost for materials, labor and fees to run the pipeline across BLM ground is $500,000
per mile.
Cost of drilling through the existing mountain would be a one-time cost of $3,500,000 on top of
the normal costs ($500,000 per mile) of the pipeline itself. Also the BLM will require an
environmental impact study before allowing you to drill through the mountain. Cost for the study
is estimated to be $420,000 and will delay the project by 6 months costing the company another
$180,000 per month.
For any pipeline run across private ground, your company incurs an additional $350,000 per
mile cost for right-of-way fees.
Your company has asked you to do the following:
a) Determine the cost of running the pipeline strictly on BLM ground with two different
cases:
i)
One running west, south and then east to the refinery.
ii)
One heading east through the mountain and then south to the refinery.
b) Determine the cost of running the pipeline:
i)
The shortest distance across the private ground to the refinery.
ii)
Straight across the private ground, then straight to the refinery.
c) Determine the optimal way to run the pipeline to minimize cost. Assume that the pipeline
runs across the private ground in straight path between the two paths from part b) above.
Determine the length of pipe that runs across private land and how far from the refinery it
starts running on BLM land. Clearly show all work including drawing the pipeline on the
figure below. Make it very clear how you use your knowledge of calculus to determine
the optimal placement of the pipeline.

d) Include a sketch of the graph of the cost function, C(x), for this pipeline for any

configuration involving crossing some private ground as well as some BLM ground.
Make sure to scale your axes appropriately and to label the minimum point.

BLM Ground

5 mile
miles
BLM15
Ground
Private Ground

45 miles - BLM Ground

Write up a report of your finding to submit to your companys CEO. This report should include
all steps for any math used to make determinations asked for above as well as statements as to
the costs to be incurred by each scenario. Include any appropriate figures to make each
scenario clear. Label the scenarios as they are labeled above.
Also, in your report, include a reflection of the things you have learned in your calculus class
and how they may apply to the real world. Can you make the argument that calculus is a useful
tool? What kinds of things have you learned that can be useful in your areas of interest?
Please be specific and give some examples to back up your statements. Your reflection
needs to be typed-not hand written and included with the report.
Math 1210 is a Quantitative Studies General Education course. Scan or save a copy of your
finished report to upload to your SLCC e-Portfolio so that it can be found under this category.
You will NOT receive a grade for the assignment if it is not uploaded to your e-Portfolio.

We have five different paths to run the pipe.

1. Avoiding the private grounds:

1. Going around
1. In this scenario we travel around the private grounds and avoid the mountains
as well. We travel five miles west, fifteen south, and then forty-five east. We
end up running 65 miles of pipe. At $500,000 a miles, this would cost us
$32,500,000.
2. Through the mountains:
1. With drilling through the mountain we have several costs to consider
1. Environmental impact study: $420,000
2. 6 month wait: $180,000 * 6 = $1,080,000
3. Cost of drilling: $3,500,000
4. 55 miles of pipe: $27,500,000
2. This also gives us a total of $32,500,000.

2. Going through private grounds

1. Shortest path, straight to the refinery
1. We know the length of the x and y components (south and east)
1. X = 40
2. Y = 15
3. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, we know that X^2 + Y^2 = H^2
1. In short, this gives us H = 42.72
2. 42.72($350,000 + 500,000) = $36,312,015.92
2. Directly across the private ground, then through BLM grounds
1. Cost for private ground section
1. 15($350,000 + 500,000) = $12,750,000
2. Cost for BLM section
1. 40*500,000 = $20,000,000
3. Total
1. $12,750,000 + $20,000,000 - $32,750,000
As we can see, all of these are close to the same cost. However, if we cut across the
private ground at an angle, we can balance the cost of the right of way fees with the
savings in laying less pipe.

3. Optimal path
1. We know that H = sqrt(X^2 + Y^2)
2. If we adjust either X or Y, we adjust H, which is the length of pipe on private land.
3. We are going to leave Y = 15 and adjust X
1. Let us change the value of the X component to 40-x
4. That gives us H = sqrt( (40-x) + 15^2)

1. Simplified, this is H = sqrt(X^2 80X + 1825)

5. The cost for the entire pipeline will be:
1. C(x) = $850,000 *( sqrt(X^2 80X + 1825)) + $500,000*X
6. We need to find the minimum cost of this function, we can do this using the
derivative
1. dC/dX = (42500(2x-80))/( sqrt(X^2 80X + 1825)) + 500,000
2. Now we need to find the critical points, you can see the work below:
1. Critical point within domain: X = 40 ((9sqrt(21)/3.78)
3. We test a point to the left and right of the critical point to find the shape of the
graph.
1. The critical point is around 29.08910549
2. dC/dX at 25 = -101040.76
3. dC/dX at 30 = 28504.8
1. This tells us that the slope of the original function, the cost function, is
negative until our critical point, then turns positive. This indicates a
local minimum, and in this case an absolute minimum on our domain.
4. We know that the minimum value of the cost occurs at X = 40
((9sqrt(21)/3.78), so we must now plug this value in to our cost function.
1. C(40 ((9sqrt(21)/3.78)) = $30,310,795.31

4. Here is the graph of C(x) on the domain of 0<=x<=40.

Reflection:
I have learned quite a bit in this calculus class. While most of the things we learned
in this class is only useful in the next math class (which I believe to be a real world
application) there have been a few things that are useful real world applications. One
example was when we were doing the related rates problems. Radar guns are a related
rates scenario. Calculus can also be used to mathematically break down a function without
having to graph it and to find things such as the min, max, as well as the rate of change at
a certain point. I really am not sure how this would be useful in my areas of interest, unless
you include my interest in not getting a speeding ticket. I am a computer engineering
major, and much of the math learned in this class could be included in a program. I am not
sure how it will apply to the electrical part of my major, as I have not yet learned many of
the technical details pertaining to that section of my major.

I am including all of my hand written work here to clarify any issues with the report given
above.