Page 210 - Pipeline Risk Management Manual Ideas, Techniques, and Resources

Computer environments 81187
If suitable off-the-shelf software is not available, custom soft- The ability to quickly and easily make changes will be a crit-
ware development is often an attractive alternative. Software ical characteristic of the tool. As soon as updates are no longer
design is a complex process and many reference books dis- being made, the tool loses its usefulness. For instance, suppose
cussing the issues are available. It is beyond the scope of this new data are received concerning the condition of coating for a
book to delve into the design process itself, but the following section of a pipeline. The user should be able to input the data in
paragraphs offer some ideas to the designer or to the potential one place and easily mark all records that are to be adjusted
purchaser of sohare. with the new information. With only one or two keystrokes, the
Before risk data are collected or compiled, a computer pro- marked records should be updated and recalculated. The date
grammer could be participating in the creation of design speci- and author of the change should be noted somewhere in the
fications. He must be given a good understanding of how the database for documentation purposes.
program is going to be used and by whom-software should As noted in Chapter 2 and also in this chapter, segmentation
always be designed with the user in mind. Programs often get strategies and issues can become challenging and software
used in ways slightly different from the original intentions. The assistance is often essential. Issues include initial segmentation
most powerful software has successfully anticipated the user’s options, persistence of segments, calculating cumulative
needs, even if the user himself has not anticipated every need. (length-sensitive) risks and risk values, and tracking risk per-
Data input and the associated calculations are usually straight- formance in a dynamic segmentation environment.
forward. Database searches, comparisons, and displays are
highly use-specific. The design process will benefit from an Searches
investment in planning and anticipating user needs.
A complete risk management software package will be In most applications, it will be necessary to find specific
called on to support several general functions. These functions records or groups of records. Most database routines make this
can be identified and supported in various ways. The following easy. Normally the user specifies the characteristics of the
is an example of one possible grouping of functionality: record or records she is seeking. These characteristics are the
search parameters the computer will use to find the record(s) of
1. Risk algorithms interest. User choices are made within fields or categories of
2. Preparation ofpipeline data the data. For instance, some fields that will be frequently used
3. Risk calculations in database searches include:
a. Decide on and apply a segmenting scheme
b. Run the risk assessment model against the data to calcu- Producttype
late the risks for each segment Geographical area
4. Risk management. Linesize
Leak impact factor
Risk management is supported by generating segment rank- Index values.
order lists and running “what-if” scenarios to generate work
plans. When the user perfoms searches, he chooses specifics
Many specific capabilities and characteristics of the best within each field: It is important to show what the possible
software environment can be listed. A restricted vocabulary choices are in each non-numeric field. The choices must
will normally be useful to control data input. Error-checking usually be exact matches with the database entries. Menus and
routines at various points in the process will probably be desir- other selection tools are useful here.
able. There will most likely be several ways in which the data The user may also wish to do specific searches for a single
will have to be sorted and displayed-reporting and charting item within an index such as
capabilities will probably be desired. This is again dependent
on the intended use. Find (depth ofcover scores) >1.6
Data entry and extraction should be simple-required key- or
strokes should be minimized, use of menus and selection tools Find (public education programs) = I5 pts
optimized and the need for redundant operations eliminated.
Some other important software capabilities are discussed below. It is useful if the user can specify ranges when she is search-
ing for numerical values, for example, (hydrotest scores) from 5
Dynamic environment to 15 points or (hydrotest scores) < 20 pts.
Searches can become complex:
Because the risk assessment tool is designed to be dynamic-
changing with changing conditions and new information-the Find all records where (product) =“natural gas” AND (locarion) =
software program must easily facilitate these changes. New “South Texas” AND [(pipe diameter) > “4 in.” AND < “1 2 in.” OR
regulations may require corresponding changes to the model. (construct date) < I9701 AND (corrosion index) < 50.
Maintenance and upgrade activities will be continuously gen-
erating new data. Changes in operating philosophies or the use Ideally, the user would be able to perform searches by
of new techniques will affect risk variables. New pipeline con- defining search parameters in general fields, but still have the
struction will require that new records be built. Increases in option of defining specific items. It would be cumbersome to
population densities and other receptors will affect conse- prompt the user to specify a search criteria in every field prior
quence potential. The relative weighting of index variables to a search. He should be able to quickly bypass fields in which
might also be subject to change after regular reviews. he is not interested. An acceptable solution would be to have