The methodology of redundant design schemes and the method of contour minimization for tracing systems of field gas and oil pipelines

Abstract

Abstract The goal of the work is to develop a methodology and a method for optimizing the tracing of oil and gas field pipelines. The analysis showed that the solution to this problem does not receive due attention from both designers and specialists in the automation of design solutions. The paper proposes to solve this problem on the basis of redundant design schemes that represent a graph of possible routes for the passage of field pipelines. As a method, the procedure of the contour (coordinatewise relative to the contour variables) minimization of the cost function of the life cycle of the pipeline system is proposed. A procedure for rejecting inefficient connections in the column of an excessive scheme of field pipelines is proposed. The proposed methodology and method are implemented in the TRACE-NG software package, which is successfully used in practice to substantiate the structure and parameters of pipelines for various technological purposes. Findings. The proposed methodology, method and software package are an effective computing tool useful for designers.