The new frontier of natural gas distribution: a case study of bimodal PE 2708 gas pipe applications [PE]

The frontier of natural gas distribution 1s to improve the safety and integrity of pipeline systems.
The new trend is to use large diameter polyethylene gas pipes for new installation and the replacement of aging metallic gas pipe. Dominion East Ohio Gas Company (Dominion), a subsidiary of Dominion Resources and a major U.S. gas utility, has begun a 25 year Dominion infrastructure replacement program since 2009. The key end use performance requirements are determined by taking into consideration of the factors of operation pressure, application temperature, design life, pipe diameter, joining, construction and handling. The objective is to achieve significant field performance improvement. To better serve our customers, Dominion has successfully converted to bimodal PE2708 gas pipe by working with a resin producer and a pipe manufacturer. The new bimodal PE2708 gas pipe substantially improves the resistance to slow crack growth and rapid crack propagation failure. This case study reports Dominion’s experience in using the high performance bimodal PE2708 gas pipe.