Detection of Pressure Drops in Pipelines for the Transportation of Hydrocarbons with a Hydraulic Method

Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) is a Mexican company that produces, transports, refines, and markets oil and derivatives that cover the three segments of the oil value chain. This company has around 8,400 km of pipelines for the transportation of petroleum products and approximately 5,200 km of oil pipelines for the transportation of crude oil. The operation of these transport systems implies a risk that can affect the population and the environment when unwanted events occur, such as leaks due to mechanical integrity or, where appropriate, caused by hydrocarbon theft. Given the importance of safety in pipeline transportation, it was considered necessary to make a comparison of mathematical models to characterize containment losses in pipelines. The results show that by applying a hydraulic model it is possible to characterize and locate possible leak points along the pipelines in a stable and transitory state of the hydrocarbon flow. To determine the energy balance, it was observed that a negative pressure wave fulfills the function of detection and location of containment losses and allows interaction with the information generated by the installed instrumentation to achieve a system robust enough to guarantee the safety. of the population, as well as the impact on the environment.