Discover the ultimate pipeline integrity management system for Engineering

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ing to statistics published by the u.s department of transportation interstate natural gas transmission pipelines are the safest form of transportation in the united states the safe operation of spectra energy's natural gas transmission pipeline systems is attributed to its design and robust ongoing maintenance procedures part of these comprehensive procedures includes safeguards against corrosion corrosion occurs all around us on a daily basis it is nature's slow reaction to metal which causes it to rust and deteriorate over time however with proper material selection construction techniques and maintenance practices corrosion can be prevented in this example a piece of bare metal is buried in the ground and comes into direct contact with the soil as a result a naturally occurring electric current flows from the metal into the surrounding soil causing corrosion a very effective method of preventing this natural occurrence involves a two-step process which spectra energy uses in its pipeline projects first the pipe is covered with a coating material known as fusion bonded epoxy or fbe fbe is a state-of-the-art coating formulation with proven effectiveness as a corrosion resistant coating secondly after installation the fbe coated pipeline is further protected from corrosion through a supplemental process called cathodic protection in the cathodic protection process the flow of any natural occurring electric current from the pipe to the surrounding soil is stopped the electrical current flow is reversed and subsequently flows to the pipe the redirection of the electric current from the pipe that we're protecting called the cathode to what we are sacrificing on purpose called anodes wards off nature's ability to create corrosion on the pipe in this process a type of system called ground beds are placed adjacent to the pipeline a power supply induces a low voltage dc charge through the ground beds and into the soil these electrical charges introduced at strategic points along the pipeline force the anodes to deteriorate instead of the pipeline the electric current used in this process is similar to that generated by a flashlight battery and is harmless to humans animals and the surrounding environment operating under federal regulations and spectra energy's own rigorous procedures the effectiveness of the cathodic protection system is tested regularly and the anodes are replaced if necessary by spectra energy's qualified maintenance team the combination of state-of-the-art coding a cathodic protection system and our operating procedures results in a pipeline that is highly resistant to corrosion spectra energy's corrosion prevention processes help preserve the integrity of our pipelines throughout their life cycles enabling our facilities to deliver safe reliable supplies of natural gas