Course Overview
This professional development course is designed for engineers and technicians who need to gain an understanding of offshore pipeline design, construction, installation, operation, and maintenance.
Course Benefits
- You may be eligible to claim CPD points through your local engineering association.
- This course has been mapped to Australian Pipelines and Gas Association (APGA) Pipeline Engineer Competency Standards. Learn more.
- Receive a Certificate of Completion from EIT.
- Learn from well-known faculty and industry experts from around the globe.
- Flexibility of attending anytime from anywhere, even when you are working full-time.
- Interact with industry experts during the webinars and get the latest updates/announcements on the subject.
- Experience a global learning with students from various backgrounds and experience which is a great networking opportunity.
- Gain in-depth understanding of pipeline engineering – pipeline design, construction, installation, operation, and maintenance.
- Learn about advanced practices in asset management and pipeline economics.
- Develop knowledge on the applicable international standards and specifications related to pipeline design, operation, and maintenance.
- Understand the use of key performance indicators (KPI’s) and how they are derived to measure the performance of the pipeline.
Onshore & Offshore Pipeline Systems Course Details
There are millions of kilometers of onshore and offshore pipelines spread across the world. However, many personnel involved in pipeline operations do not receive even basic pipeline engineering training, while some are exposed only to specialized areas.
This course will equip you with the core skills in pipeline engineering that will help enhance your career and benefit your organization. We will examine pipeline design, construction, and routing through to pipeline economics and advanced practices in asset management.
It doesn’t matter if you are a new mechanical or pipeline technician, technologist or engineer, or if you are a practicing operations and facilities engineer, you will find this course extremely beneficial.
You will gain an in-depth understanding of the applicable standards and specifications related to pipeline design, operation, and maintenance, as also grasp the engineering principles involving liquid and gas flow and their importance in relation to pipeline design. The use of key performance indicators will be derived to measure the performance of your valuable asset, the pipeline.
With its relevance to both onshore and offshore pipelines, the program equips you with a multidisciplinary understanding of pipelines and enables you to understand the full cycle of pipeline engineering.
The course is composed of 12 modules, covering topics such as pipeline specifications and standards, key requirements that define pipeline routing, fluid properties, and processes and their importance to pipeline design and construction, similarities and differences in onshore and offshore pipelines, assessing pipeline failures and preventing damage, and safety and environmental regulations in pipeline design.
Module 1: Introduction and Overview
- Pipeline basics and factors influencing pipeline design
- Pipeline route selection
- Codes and standards affecting pipeline design, construction, operation and maintenance
- Pipeline design principles – hydraulics, mechanical design, materials of construction
- Pipeline construction fundamentals
- Pipeline protection and maintenance
- Pipeline economics
- Physical quantities and units used in pipeline design
Module 2: Pipeline Design, Operation and Maintenance Standards
- Codes and specifications
- Codes and standards governing the design, operation, and maintenance of pipeline
- Common features of pipeline codes and standards
- Symbols and units used in pipeline design standards
- Abbreviation used in pipeline design standards
- Information typically contained in piping specifications
- Guidelines for pipeline operation and maintenance
Module 3: Pipeline Routing
- Introduction to pipeline routing
- Factors influencing pipeline routing
- Pipeline routing “rules of thumb”
- Tools and data used in pipeline routing
- Consideration of alternate routes
Module 4: Liquid and Gas Flow
- Liquid and gas flow fundamentals
- Basic hydrodynamics
- Multiphase flow
- Coping with fluctuations in pipeline operating conditions
- Optimization of line size, pressure drop and location of pumping stations
- Hydrate formation/prevention
- Wax formation/protection
- Design optimization of gas pipelines
Module 5: General Pipeline Design Considerations
- Forces and stresses in pipelines
- Criteria for mechanical design including code criteria
- Specified minimum yield strength of pipeline materials
- Mechanical design equations: calculations of Maximum Allowable Pressure (MAP) and minimum required wall thickness of pipelines
- Sustained loads in pipelines and stresses due to thermal expansion/contraction
- Estimating the maximum span of unsupported pipe
- Offshore spanning, spanning control and spanning correction
- Design of pipeline riser for offshore pipelines
- Pipeline shore approaches
Module 6: Pipeline Materials
- Common pipeline materials
- Metallurgy and manufacture of low-alloy carbon-manganese steel pipes
- Effect of treatment of pipeline steels
- Flexible and composite pipelines
- High pressure and high-temperature pipelines
Module 7: Onshore Pipeline Construction
- Sequence of construction activities
- Construction equipment
- Preparing of the Right of Way (ROW) for the pipeline
- Stringing the pipeline
- Bending
- Welding and post-weld qualification
- Lowering
- Tie-in and assembly
- Testing and inspection
- Backfilling of trench
- Construction techniques used in water crossing
- Commissioning the pipeline
Module 8: Offshore Pipeline Construction
- Construction methods (lay barges, reel barges, pull and tow)
- Pipeline trenching methods
- Pipeline bundles
- Pipe in pipe method
- Flexible pipelines and umbilical
- Cross country and offshore system welding
Module 9: Pipeline Installation
- Pipeline installation methods
- Pipeline bending stress control
- Pipeline on-bottom stability control
- S-lay, J-lay, deepwater installation
- Allowable installation stresses/fatigue
- Burial methods and depths
Module 10: Pipeline Commissioning, Operation, Maintenance and Failures
- Pipeline pressure testing and pre-commissioning
- Flow assurance
- Pigging operations
- Pipeline integrity management
- Pipeline monitoring and inspection
- Leak detection and emergency planning
- Defect assessment
- Intervention, repair, and modification
- Failure modes
- Risks, reliability, and safety
- Environmental and regulatory requirements
Module 11: Pipeline Protection
- Possible causes and consequences of pipeline damage
- Prevention of pipeline damage
- Corrosion fundamentals
- Characteristics and properties of pipeline coatings
- Cathodic protection
- Internal corrosion
- Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC)
- Pipeline integrity programs
- Thermal coating and pipeline insulation
- Weight coating for stability on seabed
Module 12: Pipeline Economics and Asset Management
- Introduction to pipeline economics
- Terminology used in pipeline economics
- Pipeline performance: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for monitoring and assessing pipeline performance
To obtain a certificate of completion for EIT’s Professional Certificate of Competency, students must achieve a 65% attendance rate at the live, online fortnightly webinars. Detailed summaries/notes can be submitted in lieu of attendance. In addition, students must obtain a mark of 60% in the set assignments which could take the form of written assignments and practical assignments. Students must also obtain a mark of 100% in quizzes. If a student does not achieve the required score, they will be given an opportunity to resubmit the assignment to obtain the required score.
For full current fees in your country go to the drop down filter at the top of this page or visit the Fees page.
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Learn about our instructors.
You are expected to spend approximately 5-8 hours per week learning the course content. This includes attending fortnightly webinars that run for about 90 minutes to facilitate class discussion and allow you to ask questions. This professional development program is delivered online and has been designed to fit around full-time work. It will take three months to complete.
Registrations are open for our upcoming intakes. Please ensure you book your place at least one week before the start date of the program.
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