Safety and Customer Service

In this lesson, 
we're going to talk about pipeline incidents and their underlying causes. 
Keep in mind that there are over 305,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines and 
another 2.1 million miles of 
natural gas distribution lines that are operated by natural gas utilities. 
First, let's take a look at the natural gas transmission pipeline data. 
Even though we've got thousands of miles of 
natural gas transmission pipelines that have been operating over 50 years, 
the number of incidences annually has ranged between 90 and 140 in the last five years. 
One to six people died because of a natural gas pipeline incident between 2014 and 2016, 
and the highest number occurred in the year 2000 with 15 people dying. 
Now, let's turn our attention to 
natural gas distribution lines operated by natural gas utility companies. 
The data from natural gas distribution lines is only 
listed by the number of fatalities for that year. 
We can see that the highest number of fatalities occurred in 2014 with 17 deaths. 
The number of fatalities has declined to nine between 2015 through 2017. 
Injuries caused by natural gas distribution lines 
between 2014 and 2017 declined from 
73 in 2014 to about 13 in 2017. 
What caused this pipeline explosion leaks and spills? 
Certainly, the failure of the pipe weld or equipment is a factor as is corrosion, 
excavation damage, an incorrect operation and maintenance practices. 
Also, floods and hurricanes can erode 
streams and damage natural gas pipelines and distribution lines. 
Pfizer is certainly aware of the causes and are working with states and 
individual companies to correct and reduce 
incidents as well as injuries to life and property. 
This map will give you an idea of the overall incidences, injuries, 
and deaths caused by natural gas and liquid pipelines between 1999 and 2014. 
Overall, there were over 3,141 incidents, 
369 injuries and 78 deaths during this period. 
As you might expect, 
the number of incidents is higher in the U.S. Gulf Coast area. 
It also appears that liquid pipelines that carry 
crude oil and refined petroleum products like gasoline, 
diesel, and jet fuel are more numerous on 
the map than the light colored natural gas circles.
 Corrosion and Leaks

There are a number of key issues that are facing the natural gas industry. 
Especially natural gas utilities that operate distribution systems. 
The number one concern is corrosion and 
the need to upgrade the aging gas delivery system. 
That means eliminating cast iron and 
unprotected steel pipes from millions of miles of natural gas distribution systems. 
They have also been calls to reduce 
methane emissions and implement better leak detection at facilities. 
The latter is especially important since 
the Aliso Canyon natural gas facility methane leak in California, 
that made many people ill. Congress has passed new laws and PHMSA is developing 
new regulations and 24-hour monitoring of some natural gas facilities like Aliso Canyon. 
The industry is also being asked to use better tools 
to mitigate the risks of incidences and fatalities. 
All of these request and challenges are growing, 
as the abundance of low cost natural gas produces economic benefits across the country. 
Many states especially those shown on the map, 
have accelerated infrastructure replacement programs for 
natural gas utilities to replace their cast iron pipes. 
Corrosion is the major factor involved, 
and can occur on the exterior of a pipe due to the loss of its protective coating, 
manufacturing defects, and the lowest of cathodic protection. 
It can also occur as pitting corrosion or 
general corrosion which can cause the pipeline to fail over time. 
Internal corrosion occurs when corrosive substances are transported through pipelines. 
Externally, corrosion occurs from moist soil or groundwater. 
About 8,000 families had to be evacuated from the suburban, 
Los Angeles when the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility leak methane. 
Because methane cannot be seen with the naked eye or smelled, 
the facility leaked for months. 
Faulty weld repairs by pacific gas and electric on 
a natural gas distribution line killed 
eight people and injured 60 in San Bruno, California. 
An investigation found that the company 
had actually appropriated the money for the repairs, 
but instead compensated top management. 
In 2015, New York City's east village experienced a gas explosion. 
The explosion was caused by an illegal tap into a gas main, 
which caused an explosion that killed two people and injured 19. 
The fire completely destroyed three adjacent buildings.
 Pipeline Monitoring

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 

has developed a safety program and database that can be used by 
pipeline and LNG operators to help monitor natural gas facilities. 
The program concentrates on Integrity Management, 
for gas distribution and gas transmission pipelines, 
operation maintenance emergency, control management, 
public awareness, and damage prevention. 
Natural gas utilities have also been very progressive. 
The natural gas industry and its trade association, 
the American Gas Association have supported films 
as efforts and research into monitoring tools. 
New York Search is 
a non-profit collaborative research development and demonstration organization. 
Its members voluntarily participate in projects and programs to target 
RD & D areas that directly address their unique challenges and opportunities. 
NYSEARCH focuses on Improved installation, 
maintenance and repair of natural gas quality. 
They also look at pipe location and integrity, 
direct and remote assessments, 
new materials, damage prevention and leak detection. 
I'd like to now show you a number of technologies that Natural Gas Utilities and 
NYSEARCH have actually developed to 
address some of the big problems in the natural gas industry. 
For example, Con Ed and National Fuel have installed 
NYSEARCH's real time corrosion monitoring system on their natural gas lines. 
This monitoring system is a flexible sensor tape 
that contains micro linear resistance corrosion centers, 
on a live steel transmission Yes Maine. 
It monitors any evidence of corrosion in real time. 
Natural Gas Utilities also started using drones to inspect facilities and detect methane. 
Baltimore Gas and Electric and Uming Gas, 
routinely use drones to inspect their remote facilities and their distribution systems. 
Last but not least, 
let's take a look at 
the tetherless robotic inspection system 
developed by Pipetel through the NYSEARCH program. 
Typically, natural gas pipelines and distribution lines are 
inspected using a pipeline inspection gadget called a PIG. 
However, many distribution lines are not pigable, 
because they contain many valves which 
prevent the device from traveling through the pipe. 
Pipetel's tetherless robotic inspection system is quite different, 
and is very flexible. 
It also comes in a variety of sizes so it 
can inspect even the smallest distribution line, 
and take pictures, find measurements, 
detect corrosion and send the operator a visual reading to see where problems are.
 Customer Service and Metering

Customer service and metering work directly with customers. 

A call center deals with your request for service in billing and service complaints. 
They also deal with emergencies like digging near a gas line or reports of smelling gas. 
Dispatch issues written endure electronic work orders to technicians. 
Those technicians could be installing or replacing meters, 
turning your gas on or off, 
relighting home appliances following a service interruption, 
or even just sending someone quickly if there is a suspected leak. 
Let me now talk about some typical classes of gas service. 
There are generally two types of service, firm and interruptible. 
Residential service is always firm and 
we are guaranteed service or natural gas no matter what. 
Interruptible service means that your supplies of 
gas may be curtailed with little notice. 
Industrial users are usually offered 
interruptible service and may get a better price if they accept it. 
It's important to really understand the components of a residential natural gas bill. 
So, let's take a minute and go over this. 
In your monthly bill, 
you not only pay for the gas you use, 
but the maintenance of the distribution system, 
plus a profit for the natural gas utility. 
The customer charge is really for the gas meter that is measuring how much gas you use. 
The distribution charge is actually 
the charge for the therms or the volume of gas you actually use. 
This is measured in dollars per therm. 
A therm is a commonly used gas measurement by natural gas utilities. 
It's equivalent to 1,000 cubic feet or one million BTU of natural gas. 
The purchase gas adjustment in your natural gas bill is a pass through 
charge from the gas utility for 
the cost of the natural gas that it buys on the open market. 
The utility does not make any profit on this item.
 System Design & Pipeline Operators

While system design standards used in countries and regions differ, 

there is still wide overlap of the fundamental guidelines between them. 
The major criteria considered in the system design of 
natural gas transportation and 
distribution systems includes pressure and temperature ratings, 
gas specifications, gas velocity, 
pipelines sizing, and stress analysis. 
The natural gas transmission system in the US is no different. 
Compression stations design also follows these engineering guidelines, 
and natural gas distribution system design is also similar. 
The Colorado Springs System illustrates a typical design of 
a natural gas distribution system and its relationship with various kinds of customers. 
Notice that the city gate separates 
the distribution system from the gas transmission pipeline, 
while the natural gas distribution system looks simple, 
it serves thousands of customers. 
As an example, the Colorado Springs utility 
requires 196,635 meters, 
2,530 miles of gas mains, 
and 2,809 service lines to serve its customers. 
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued 
operator qualification regulations that have enhanced training pipeline operators. 
The regulation doesn't detail the training, 
but requires pipeline operators to document that 
certain employees have been trained to respond 
to have normal operating conditions that may occur. 
The Gas Technology Institute provides 
numerous field training modules that pipeline operators can use to train their employees, 
since it complies with the Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulations. 
These training modules cover construction, 
corrosion control, pipeline installation, pipe joining, 
pipeline operations as well as maintenance, 
gas control, pressure regulation, and emergency preparedness.