Identifying potentially dangerous areas of frost heaving and surfacing of the buried oil pipeline

Abstract

This scientific study aims to automatically identify potentially dangerous areas of frost heaving and surfacing of a buried oil pipeline using the geological description of soil profile. The geological description of soil profile along the proposed route of a pipeline entails the study and identification of various layers of soil to determine the soil's suitability for pipeline installation and support. Enriching the geological description of soils in the first stage was achieved by creating a family of parameters that characterize the presence of water in two states and the interaction of the buried oil pipeline with soil layers. In the second stage, missed and erroneous soil parameters were restored by searching for similar patterns along the route of the pipeline using the enriched geological description of soil profile. Afterward, the selected areas of frost heaving and surfacing were ranked by potential danger in the third stage. The algorithm developed was shown to reduce the risk of damage to the oil pipeline and enrich the geological description of soil profile without additional field works. The results of the study allowed for the allocation of potentially dangerous areas where frost heaving and surfacing occur. The methodology described in the study can be applied in the midstream segment of the oil and gas industry to minimize the risk of pipeline damage.