Validation of Some Protection Guidelines for Neighboring Pipelines against Fault Currents from Power Transmission Tower

Fault current can be discharged from power transmission tower due to lightning or inadvertent contact of crane, etc. Pipelines in proximity to either the source of the ground fault or the substation grounding grid may provide convenient conductive path for the fault current to travel. Inappropriate measures to the neighboring pipelines against the fault current may cause severe damages to the pipes such as coating breakdown, arc burn, puncture, loss in wall thickness, or brittle heat-affected zone. Like inductive and conductive AC coupling, steadily induced fault current right after the coating breakdown can lead to corrosion of the pipeline. In this work, some protection guidelines against fault currents used in the field have been validated through the simulation and analytical method.