This document appears to be a presentation given by an intern at The Williams Companies detailing their engineering and project management work. The presentation covers two main projects the intern worked on - managing anomaly dig repairs along a pipeline, and identifying unnecessary methanol injections at well sites. It also discusses additional engineering analyses and site visits conducted by the intern during their time at Williams. The presentation aims to provide updates on the projects, discuss lessons learned, and reiterate the intern's commitment to taking on increased responsibilities.
Theory of Time 2024 (Universal Theory for Everything)
Engineering and Project Management on the Frontier
1. NYSE: WMB | williams.com
WE MAKE ENERGY HAPPEN
KENSINGTON GAS PROCESSING PLANT
Columbiana County, Ohio
VIRGINIA SOUTHSIDE II CONSTRUCTION
Transco Pipeline, Southern Virginia
SUMAS COMPRESSOR STATION
Northwest Pipeline, Washington
July 23rd, 2019 / Jacob Saletsky / Green River, WY
Engineering and Project Management on the Frontier
As my presentation title says; it will be divided into two main parts, project management and engineering, followed by site visits I went on and lessons I learned.
Once I learned what projects my summer would consist of, I thought about how I could contribute to Williams’ success as a company. The goals I set for myself not only allowed me to further the One Williams Mission, but strengthened my management and engineering skills, as well as giving me an in-depth knowledge of the industry as a whole.
On my 1st week of the job, I assumed a Project Manager role for the repair of eight anomaly digs along the Westrans Gathering Line.
An anomaly is simply a pipe defect, and can be characterized as internal or external corrosion damage.
Are located by using smart pigs, which are measurement devices that are periodically inserted into flowing pipelines.
The presence of anomalies indicates a thinning pipe wall, leading to a reduction in pipe strength.
All internal or external anomalies, no matter how small, must be repaired promptly, as they will spread and eventually lead to rupture.
This picture was the result of an untreated external anomaly that occurred in 2012.
Columbia Natural Gas (Transmission)
As you can see, the consequences can be dire.
Now, there is a significant amount of planning that occurs “behind the scenes” prior to each project:
This includes ordering materials, reaching out to contractors, leading site visits and receiving estimates.
Based off these estimates, I selected the most appropriate contractor and got management approval for the scope of work.
Completing all of these steps beforehand ensures that we are able to get a fair and accurate price for the project, reliable contractors, which contribute to minimizing unexpected costs.
After all was said and done, the project costs around ~$300,000
After all preliminary steps were complete, I began constructing a “plan of attack”
1) Going out to the job site and staking/marking digs based of the data obtained from the “smart pig” – to ensure that the contractor excavates in the correct spot.
2) Initiating “one-calls” a week before July 15th - important so we don’t hit anything unexpected when we dig – Accidentally hitting a competitor’s pipeline not only leads to significant costs, but also puts those working at the site in extreme danger.
3) Drafting a work plan approximating critical points within the job – mobilization, excavation/assessment of each dig, creating contingencies incase something goes wrong - Ensures that all involved people are on the same page - prevents disagreements/conflict on job site.
As one of the Williams’ representatives for the project, I am onsite 12-13 hours a day, 7 days a week, helping ensure that all work is performed up to spec.
As of yesterday, we have excavated, assessed, repaired, and backfilled 5/8 anomalies.
As with any project, however, we have been faced with numerous challenges.
After the first few days of missed callouts, we determined that the girth weld data obtained from the smart pig is inaccurate, leading to multiple mis-digs.
This was extremely frustrating for everyone involved, as it was no one on site’s fault, but rather the fault of the pigging contractor themselves.
But, we were able to power through and make-up for lost time.
In addition to the anomaly digs, I PM’ed the replacement of five steel valve cans with plastic culverts.
Valve cans are large pieces of steel pipe that house standard ball and blowdown valves, with covers that can be removed to allow easy access to valves while keeping them out of harms way.
The metal-to-metal contact between the metal cans and pipe can speed up the process of corrosion, which could lead to scenarios similar to that of the anomaly digs.
To rectify this, I contacted two contractors, who provided bids to remove the steel cans, install plastic ones, and perform a corrosion assessment on the surrounding pipe.
However, as the project began going through it’s initial round of approvals, higher management elected to postpone the project to 2020, citing budgetary and lack of urgency concerns.
While I was initially disappointed, as I enjoyed working on this small project, it had a silver lining, as I became exposed to the importance of project ranking and keeping to a departmental budget, two very important aspects in Williams’ continued success.
Now switching gears a little bit, I was made aware of an unexpected opportunity for improvement through a simple conversation with one of the senior employees in my department.
He brought to my attention the issue of unnecessary methanol injections along the Wamsutter gathering field.
Methanol is added automatically to raw natural gas as a dehydrator to prevent the formation of solid hydrates, which can clog up pipes and lead to over pressurization.
However, the issue is that these skids are programmed to inject methanol at a constant rate, no matter the amount of gas coming from the well.
Poses a problem for the intermittently flowing wells in the field, meaning methanol continues to flow even if there is no gas flow.
To test the feasibility of this issue, I looked at 5 older wells with large amounts of “dead time”, and low wellhead pressure.
At $2 a gallon, this adds up to significant savings.
Working with a team of engineers and op-techs, I drafted a project plan detailing the basis of design – including the expected payoff time, solution methodology, and risk assessment.
The proposition is to utilize the input/output capabilities of existing flow meters and injection controllers, and have gas flow rates relayed back to the injection controller.
A program known as an FST can be written for the injection controller, which, when wired up to the flow meter, tells the device to shut off the methanol injection when there’s no gas flow present.
In addition to my daily workload, I was able to go on a number of site visits:
Echo Springs Plant, where I worked from an average of twice a week, many times more.
Parachute, CO, got to see a smart pig run.
SLC corporate office.
Funny story, my second week on the job, I got to experience a planned plant shutdown at ES, and even got to help out.
Op-techs were inspecting knockout vessel, which are underground tanks that collect any residual liquid prior to flaring. I was the only employee nearby that was small enough to fit inside the 12” pipe, so I stood knee deep in sludge, inspecting these vessels for cracks.
Luckily, I didn’t find any.
Had gas monitor and safety glasses and coveralls.
In addition, I flew down to Tulsa to attend the 3-day Intern Institute in July, where I was able to meet my fellow interns and hear from executive employees.
1) First, things will always go wrong, always plan for contingencies. No matter the project, always have a Plan B.
2) Second, the importance to be able to strike up a conversation with a wide range of employees. No matter whether they are a contractor, op-tech, or engineer, I received some of my best advice, both personal and professional, by simply asking a co-worker, “what do you think of this?” or “how would you do this?”
3) Third, cheaper is not always better. TDW, the contractor we used to run the smart pigs, is one of the cheaper options, but gave us inaccurate data as a result. This led to the project being 2.5 days longer than it should, due to multiple mis-digs occurring. By spending more upfront, we can potentially reduce the likelihood for these mis-digs, shortening project times and reducing construction costs.
3) Finally, No matter who you are working with, you’d be surprised how much smoothly things go when everyone’s input is valued and everyone’s concerns are understood.
Last but not least, I’d like to thank everyone who made my experience this summer an extremely enjoyable and fulfilling one.
These are a natural part of pipeline operation, and are caused by a number of factors.
It is important that each anomaly is repaired, as their presence can damage pigging apparatus and lowers the overall the strength of the pipe, by thinning the walls.
Can be repaired by excavating the pipe, performing an assessment on the anomaly, and using wax tape/coating or pipe wrap, depending on results of assessment.
We believe that the problem lies in TDW – the contractor who runs the smart pigs and obtains the data.
To get an idea how far off many of these features were, take a look at the picture above.
The downstream girth weld, which is required to be located prior to excavating the feature, was about 12 feet off.
Initially, all of this pipe was hand dug to reach the pipe per Williams’ procedure, not with a trackhoe.
Mis-digs, or sport-digging, added about 2.5 extra days to the job.
Not the first time this has happened, the same thing happened last year in 2018.
Might be beneficial to look into other, more accurate, pigging contractors – it may be more expensive up front, but we can save in excavation and recoat fees in the long run.
Here is a list of the distances the actual girth welds were away from their callouts.
Excavating the girth weld must always be done prior to the anomaly, as the anomaly is called out as “distance from the upstream or downstream girth weld”.
Each inaccurate callout contributes to lengthening of the project.
