Shortcut Estimation of Safety Distances of Pipelines from Explosives

Purposely or accidentally detonating explosives near pressurized gas pipelines may have severe consequences on them, ranging from permanent deformation to gas loss or even violent rupture. Owing to lack of analytical prediction models, a shortcut is proposed in this article by which conservative estimations can be obtained of the safety distance of a pipeline from an explosion source, when explosive quantity is known. Alternatively, the maximum allowable explosive quantity can be calculated, provided distance is given. If both explosive quantity and distance are given, stresses on the pipeline may be estimated. Experimentally determined ratios of circumferential to longitudinal strains found in the literature are used. This ratio depends on soil peak particle velocity in contact with the pipeline. For total stress estimations on the pipeline, either biaxial or Huber-Hencky-Mises stresses are used, the latter being more conservative. Validation of proposed method is obtained against experimental observations and results. In this prediction model the characteristics of the explosion source, of the soil, and of the pipeline are taken into account.