Tech Tracks

Safety and Loss Management , Safety Culture, Regulations and Standards, Leadership Accountability and Policy, Management Review and Audits, Training and Competency, Lifecycle Regulatory Frameworks, Quality Management, Risk Management, Management of Change, Process and Personal Safety, Incident Investigation and Lessons Learned, Stakeholder Engagement, Comparison of Regulations and Standards, Integrating Safety, Environment and Emergency Management Programs, Industry Recommended or Best Practices

Team Leadership, Effective Communication, Collaboration, High Value Engineering, System Planning (Hydraulics), Design, Routing, Survey, Logistics, Construction, Quality Control and Quality Assurance, Testing, Commissioning, Coatings, Compressor and Pump Stations, Terminals, Pigging Facilities, Valves, Piping Stress Analysis, Change of Service, Abandonment, Satellite Imaging and Remote Sensing, Field and Inspection Data Management, Geomatics, Global Positioning System Applications, Environmental Case Studies, Socioeconomic Studies, Community Involvement, Permitting Strategies, Reclamation, Mitigation, Abandonment, Land Issues, Emissions, Low-Carbon Transition, Hydrotesting Fluids, Remediation, Environmental Impact Assessments, Cumulative Effects Assessment, Route Selection, Monitoring, Security

1. Pipeline and Facilities Integrity Management (e.g., program development and implementation, lessons learned, and items not covered by other tracks
2. Hazard and Threat Identification (not including geohazard management – See Track 4)
3. Inspection Methods and Inspection Technologies including:
   • Inline Inspection Technologies (e.g., crack, MFL, UT, tethered tools, geometry, etc.)
   • Inspection Intervals & Scheduling
   • External Corrosion & Control (e.g., Coatings, Cathodic Protection, direct assessment)
   • Internal Corrosion & Control, (e.g., Coatings, coupons, flushing, sampling, inhibitors, direct assessment)
   • Environmental Stress Corrosion & Fatigue Cracking,
   • Mechanical Damage (e.g., Markers, aerial patrols, fiber optics, public awareness, etc.)
4. Field and Inspection Data Management,
   • Geographical Information Systems,
   • Inspection data management
   • Data Process Reliability
5. Defect Assessment and Repair (not including defect assessment and repair of girth welds – See Track 5)
   • Field NDE for ILI Data Validation
   • Corrosion assessment models
   • Cracking flaw assessment models
   • Defect Growth Rates

Applications of Technology, Operating Experience, Preventative-Maintenance Techniques, Lifecycle Engineering, Operating Equipment Optimization, Useful Life Extensions, Operating Cost Reductions, Vendor Alliances, Geohazard/Geotechnical Management, Geo Hazard Assessment & Characterization SCADA, Communications, Automation, Control Devices, Instrumentation, Sensor Technology, Measurement and Metering, Hydraulic Simulations, Leak Detection, Simulation and Trainers, Field and Inspection Data and Records Management, Hydrostatic Testing, Water Crossings

Materials Design, Materials for Alternative Energy, Thermo-mechanically Controlled processing (TMCP), Microstructure-property Relationship, High Strength Steels, Fracture Toughness Requirements, Welding Metallurgy, Properties of Girth Welds, Flaw Acceptance Criteria, Hot Tapping, Mechanical Joining, Joining Alternative Materials, Quality Control and Quality Assurance, Pipe Manufacture, Fittings, Nondestructive Examination

Strain-Based Design and Assessment (SBDA) for the Management of Geohazards, Strain-Based Design (SBD) of New Pipelines, Strain-Based Assessment (SBA) of Existing Assets, SBA of Pipelines Designed by Traditional (e.g., Stress-Based) Methods, Integrity Management Programs of Geohazards Using SBDA, Determination of Strain Demand (ILI, Direct Measurement, Pipe/Soil Interaction, etc.), Design and Construction of Strain-Resistant Pipelines (through Purposeful Line Pipe Specifications, Welding Practice, Construction Methods, etc.), Determination of Strain Capacity for Pipelines of Various Vintage and Construction Practice, Risk-Based Assessment incorporating SBDA, Best Practice in SBDA, New Testing and Analysis Procedures and Tools in SBDA

Risk and Reliability Assessments, Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Modelling, Risk Based Maintenance Planning, Reliability Based Design and Assessment, Failure Data Analysis and Failure Rate Estimation, Failure Consequence Modelling, Risk Tolerance Criteria and Reliability Targets, Case studies in application of reliability and risk criteria, Case studies in reliability and risk assessments (threat-specific or system-wide), Reliability assessment methodology, Novel risk and reliability assessment frameworks, Uncertainty modelling, Uncertainty propagation in risk and reliability analysis, Data analysis for statistical distribution modelling, Data analysis for likelihood predictions, Statistical analysis of inspection uncertainties for ILI and Field NDE.

Emerging fuels include renewable natural gas (RNG), Bio-Methane, Hydrogen, Ethanol, Bio-diesel, Ammonia, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and others. Innovative solutions for emerging fuels as they relate to: offset of greenhouse gas emissions, conversion of service, new pipeline construction, threat analysis, gathering of biogas, safety considerations, dilution impacts to gas transmission or distribution, impact of conversion on equipment, measurement of emerging fuels, storage, inspection and maintenance, effects on end users, preventative maintenance.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions includes reduction in methane emissions, and optimization of combustion and efficiency. Methods to improve compressor/pump efficiency. Regulatory considerations for greenhouse gas reductions, portable capture and recovery, methods for reforming greenhouse gases, continuous monitoring of facilities, field repair techniques to avoid blowdowns.