Repairable system modeling of natural gas transmission networks

With natural gas deposits now being extracted from previously unattainable shale formations, natural gas transmission networks throughout North America are required to be more dynamic in terms of transportation receipt/delivery points than anytime in the past 50 years. New production sources must access interstate transmission and storage lines to deliver natural gas to market. System modifications and constraints require that a regulated service business built on excess capacity must now demonstrate a high degree of system reliability. NiSource Gas Transmission \\& Storage (NGT\\&S) has adopted two complimentary strategies, each one to address reliability growth but with separate focus. Autonomous activity undertaken by operations and maintenance stakeholders throughout the system must engage in an effective defect elimination program and cultural transformation. The more small issues that are corrected today result in less planned and unplanned maintenance in the future. This strategy aims to deliver long term reliability growth. As the compliment, strategic reliability growth is sought through structured processes and procedures within four sub-topic areas: Critical Assessment and System Strategy (CASS), Core Reliability Processes, Real Time Data Systems (RTDS) and Modernization and Automation (M\\&A). Each of these focus areas are developed to work in the following manner: 1) CASS determines what assets are needed to be available to Gas Control (the central monitoring and control office that ensures customer demands are met) and define when they are needed 2) Core Reliability engineers conduct a macro level analysis of the magnitude of reliability required based on system constraints 3) Failure Reporting and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) data and site assessments provide information to be transformed into current state quantification of likelihood of achieving the desired state 4) Core Reliability, RTDS and M\\&A collaborate to derive projects, p- > - > reventive and predictive actions, and long range plans to achieve the desired reliability levels 5) Senior leadership reviews these finding and balances the variant business factors to approve the migration plan in accordance with acceptable risk to the enterprise. A common platform architecture is being developed to serve as a central location for metrics, condition monitoring actions, operational values, etc. in a role based resolution independent of the data source. Partnerships with leading academic institutions are being developed to support progressive strategies and world class analytic procedures. With the U.S. natural gas infrastructure being critical to near and long term energy markets, reliable transmission and storage networks are essential to managing our energy future.