The key advantage of this technology compared to other available methods is its level of performance which safely accommodates several feet of ground movements in the most cost-effective way.
Installation of Geobuffers maximizes the use of pipes natural deformability without making any alteration in the body of the pipeline system. Therefore, all new or existing pipelines can be upgraded to endure a certain magnitude of any ground movement.
For new pipelines, this system can be installed at the time of construction or after completion of construction to avoid interfering with the pipeline laydown sequences. It can be implemented after pipe installation or even few years later, when all critical spots are exactly identified and located. For old pipes under steady and slow ground movements, an efficient way for this system installation is right after stress-relief excavation on the critical pipeline segment.
All the upgrades in this method are performed on the pipe boundaries not the pipeline body. Therefore, the retrofit process can be technically completed with no or minimum service interruption.
The elements used in this technology are made of light materials and they are manufactured and assembled in small segments letting the crew to lift and install mostly by hand or light lifts. Hence, the installation of the system can be efficient and may not need heavy equipment or large crew.
The system only changes the immediate vicinity of the pipe and can be installed with zero disturbances beyond the right of way and will add no more difficulties in this regard.
This system will let pipes stay underground which eliminates additional costs for supports construction and maintenance, and protects the pipe from vandalism or vehicle accidents.
This system absorbs longitudinal, vertical and lateral displacements by sectional deformation and in-plane and out-of-plane curvatures. These smooth curves are not only associated with a higher level of deformation capacity, they are much easier to be mapped and monitored compared to sectional deformations (tension and compression).
This system is effective under all possible ground movement directions (longitudinal, lateral and vertical) especially for tension sensitive (e.g. segmented cast-iron pipes) or compression sensitive (e.g. continuous steel) pipelines. This capability makes it efficient in all fault or slope crossings angle which can potentially minimize costly by-passing and re-routing.
Besides, multiple parameters in the system design (e.g. length or width of the elements, overall and overlap lengths of the installation, friction coefficients, etc.) can be adjusted to make the final design more optimized and effective.
The input data required for the design of this system are:
1- Pipe size, material properties and operational pressure
2- Surrounding soil and backfill properties
3- Geo-hazard risk assessment which identifies probability, type and magnitude of ground movements
All these input data are typically available for pipeline projects.
Using this technology, the pipe displacement is mostly accommodated by the Elements not the surrounding soil, hence, the temperature change, freezing or underground water level has minimal effect on the performance of the system.
By preventing strain concentrations in critical spots of the pipeline, using this system decreases the gradual strain accumulation on the pipe caused by steady ground movements during the lifetime of the line. As a result, the operating life span of the pipeline in unstable soils will be increased.
The instrumentation installed on the hybrid buffering elements takes advantage of the predefined deformed shape of the pipe to accurately monitor the system response and measure the pipe deformation induced by ground movements in real-time. This in-built monitoring instrumentation measures the pipe deformation and the ground movement and transfers data through the wireless network.
In addition to all above advantages of this system, increasing pipelines safety against a natural hazard can also benefit pipeline projects in general. For all pipelines, reducing the risk and increasing the reliability can reduce intensity of monitoring procedures and frequency of periodic preventive actions such as stress-relief excavations. For new pipeline constructions, it can minimize costly re-routings and also contribute to facilitating the approval process of new pipeline projects and improving the quality of their social license.