Haw. Code R. § 6-77-166 - Maximum allowable operating pressure: steel or plastic pipelines

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), no person may operate a segment of steel or plastic pipeline at a pressure that exceeds the lowest of the following:

(1) The design pressure of the weakest element in the segment, determined in accordance with subchapters 5 and 6;

(2) The pressure obtained by dividing the pressure to which the segment was tested after construction as follows:

(A) For plastic pipe in all locations, the test pressure is divided by a factor of 1.5;

(B) For steel pipe operated at 100 p.s.i.g. or more, the test pressure is divided by a factor determined in accordance with the following table:

	| Factors[1], segment--
	| Installed	| Installed	| Converted
Class location	| before	| after	| under
	| (Nov. 12, 1970)	| (Nov. 11, 1970)	| § 6-77-18
1 ....................	| 1.1	| 1.1	| 1.25
2....................	| 1.25	| 1.25	|1.25
3....................	| 1.4	| 1.5	|1.5
4....................	| 1.4	| 1.5	|1.5
	|-------------------|-----------	-|------------

(3) The highest actual operating pressure to which the segment was subjected during the five years preceding July 1, 1970 (or in the case of offshore gathering lines, July 1, 1976), unless the segment was tested in accordance with paragraph (2) after July 1, 1965 (or in the case of offshore gathering lines, July 1, 1971), or the segment was uprated in accordance with subchapter 13;

(4) For furnace butt welded steel pipe, a pressure equal to sixty percent of the mill test pressure to which the pipe was subjected;

(5) For steel pipe other than furnace butt welded pipe, a pressure equal to eighty five percent of the highest test pressure to which the pipe has been subjected, whether by mill test or by the post installation test; or

(6) The pressure determined by the operator to be the maximum safe pressure after considering the history of the segment, particularly known corrosion and the actual operating pressure.

(b) No person may operate a segment to which subsection (a)(6) is applicable, unless over pressure protective devices are installed on the segment in a manner that will prevent the maximum allowable operating pressure from being exceeded, in accordance with section 6-77-68.

(c) Notwithstanding the other requirements of this section, an operator may operate a segment of pipeline found to be in satisfactory condition, considering its operating and maintenance history, at the highest actual operating pressure to which the segment was subjected during the five years preceding July 1, 1970, or in the case of offshore gathering lines, July 1, 1976, subject to the requirements of section 6-77-161.

Notes

Haw. Code R. § 6-77-166

[Eff ] (Auth: HRS § 269-6) (Imp: 49 C.F.R. §192.619, OCT 1, 1990)