COMPEL: The International Journal for Computation and Mathematics in Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compute the values of induced voltages and currents in an underground gas pipeline, which shares the same right of way with a high voltage power line (HVPL) in unbalanced phase currents regime, in order to detect the possibility of the AC corrosion occurring in the pipeline.

Design/methodology/approach – The analysis of the induced voltages in metallic structures (gas pipeline) was done using a professional analysis and modeling software which uses the electromagnetic field method.

Findings – It was shown that during fault conditions, large currents and voltages are induced on the pipelines, which may pose a threat to operating personnel and equipment. Induced voltages also occur in cases of unbalanced phase currents of the HVPL, which may pose a threat voltage that could lead to damages of the underground gas pipeline due to corrosion phenomena.

Practical implications – Because the electromagnetic field approach involves complicated analytical expression and introduces serious computational difficulties, among which matrix of coefficients representing the set of simultaneous linear equations, the use of professional analysis and modeling software is justified.

Originality/value – The paper reveals that even in unbalanced phase currents regime of the HVPL, the nearby metallic structures that share the same right of way with the transmission line are in danger of degradation because of the induced voltages, whose values exceed the values imposed by regulation.