For pipelines transporting hydrocarbon products that remain in a liquid state after release, where the dominant concern is environmental damage and socioeconomic impact on people in the area affected by the release, there is general agreement that the magnitude of impact is, at least in part, a function of the volume of product released. Analytical models exist for estimating the release volume from pipelines as a function of the physical and operational parameters of the line (e.g. product flow rate, elevation profile, block valve spacing and closure times), and the effective size of the opening at the point of line break. While the line- and location-specific estimates of spill volumes obtained from such models are an important component of line-specific risk assessments and serve to inform emergency response planning activities, it is also useful to understand what historical data indicates in terms of actual release volumes and how they are affected by key pipeline attributes. This paper summarizes the findings of an analysis of product release events associated with the US hazardous liquid pipeline network, as obtained from reportable incident data publicly available from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The findings of the study suggest that, for major releases resulting from pipeline rupture, spill volumes are correlated with line diameter, whereas releases as the result of a leak are largely independent of line diameter. Based on this, simple models have been developed from which both the average release volume and the range of likely release volumes can be estimated as a function of the pipeline diameter and mode of failure (i.e. leak versus rupture). These simple models are useful for benchmarking more complex, line-specific release volume estimation models, and for the calibration of pipeline risk acceptance criteria and reliability targets based on average or expected release volumes.


Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Spill Volumes

Division / Sponsors: 
Pipeline Systems Division

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IPC/IPC2020/volume/84447

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