Pipeline operations rely heavily on operator experience gained with years of operations as safety and uptime are top priority. Although there are optimization methods that exist, they are often limited by simplifications and scalability. In this paper, we bring together the detailed physics of fluid behaviors (including models of drag reduction agents), energy pricing, schedules, geographical location in an integrated optimization framework to identify the operating procedure that maximizes operating margin while obeying all global and local constraints. We will demonstrate this with two case studies: (1) drag reduction agent injection for a cross country and cross grid pipeline (2) Natural gas gathering asset optimization for cost of operation controlling the pumping between various wells.
We will introduce the challenges and constraints for each of these cases, explain the underlying technologies and methods used and the end outcomes, scalability and impact to operators of such an approach.