Prioritizing the pipeline maintenance approach using Analytical Hierarchical Process

Abstract - There are a number of cases reported for pipeline failures both in onshore and offshore
situation. In order to minimize such failure, there is a need to clearly understand the failure mechanisms,
governing factors and further analysis of data can determine the cause and extent of failure. In this study
Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to determine the risk factor for pipeline failure of the chosen
system. AHP provides the multiple criteria scoring results based on expert judgement for prioritizing the
pipeline maintenance strategy. For this case study two pipelines networks administered by two different
operators, the first one in Malaysia and the other one in Indonesia were chosen. From the analysis of the
data obtained by interviewing the pipeline engineers from Malaysia operator, it was obtained that highest
risk factor i.e. 41.7% for pipeline failure involved internal corrosion; the other factors in descending order
are internal erosion, external impacts, external corrosion, free span and on-bottom stability. From the
analysis of Indonesian pipeline, failure due to system operation involved the highest risk factor i.e. 34.7%;
other factors are design index, maintenance, and third party index.