COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE MINIMUM THICKNESS OF NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION TUBES FOCUSING ON LOCATED PLASTICIZATION

Natural gas distribution systems traditionally rely on the use of carbon steel pipes. As with the engineering of other mechanical components, specific standards for the design of these components and accessories must be applied appropriately for each corresponding project. For the specific case of transmission networks and distribution of piped natural gas, one should use as reference the Brazilian code NBR-12712 Systems design of fuel gas transmission and distribution. Among the various items covered by this code, the sub-item that provides guidelines to calculate the minimum thickness of the pipe for a given design pressure deserves special attention. The present work, therefore, makes a comparative analysis between the wall thicknesses defined by the mentioned standard, the wall thicknesses used in certain operational situations, and the wall thicknesses corresponding to the limit yield and plasticization conditions of the material considered. The present study also reviews the operational data of the COMPAGAS distribution network the company responsible for the distribution of piped natural gas in the state of Paraná, Brazil.