The Educational and Research Laboratory for Construction and Operation of Oil and Gas Pipelines, Bases, and Storage Facilities operates at the Department of Transportation and Storage of Energy Products of Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas. The laboratory is a specialized scientific and educational unit where students gain practical skills in the design, construction, and safe operation of main pipelines and underground hydrocarbon storage facilities.
The laboratory provides a wide range of research directly related to real engineering tasks of the industry:
- Determination of rock permeability and assessment of their suitability for underground gas storage construction.
- Determining the permeability of rocks to assess their suitability for constructing gas and oil storage facilities.
- Research on the stress-strain state of hermetic bulkheads in mine storage and the form of their embedding in the massif.
- Study of the Depth of Rock Mass Fracturing during the Construction of Underground Gas and Oil Storage of Shaft Type.
- Research on the Strength of Underground Storage and Determination of Their Volume.
Laboratory installations and models
Layout of the laboratory setup for determining shaft runout allows for the exploration of dynamic deviations of rotating elements in pump and compressor equipment. Shaft runout is one of the diagnostic indicators of the technical condition of pumping units at pumping and compressor stations of main pipelines.
Layout of the laboratory setup for measuring pipeline longitudinal displacements due to soil force impact reproduces the conditions of interaction between an underground pipeline and the surrounding soil mass. Seasonal temperature fluctuations and soil pressure cause axial deformations of the pipe, the study of which is mandatory during the design and technical inspection of underground pipelines.
Layout of the laboratory setup for investigating transverse stresses in a pipeline designed to study the transverse force effects on the pipeline — from uneven ground settlement, external load, or the pressure of the product inside the pipe. The obtained data is used in calculating the load-bearing capacity and residual life of pipeline systems.
Layout of the laboratory setup for static balancing of rotors and shafts applied for practicing the skills of detecting and eliminating imbalance of rotating parts of pumps and compressors. Quality balancing is a necessary condition for reliable and economical operation of pumping equipment.
Installation for Launching and Receiving Small Diameter Pigs models the technology of in-line inspection and cleaning of pipelines. Piston devices (scrapers and diagnostic tools) are the main instruments for monitoring the technical condition of operating main pipelines without taking them out of service.
Educational Process
Practicals in specialized disciplines of the Department of Transportation and Storage of Energy Materials are conducted at the laboratory. Students study the mechanical behavior of pipeline systems under various types of loads, master methods of diagnostics and maintenance of pumping equipment, and gain knowledge in the field of geomechanics of underground storage facilities. The combination of physical models with specialized testing methods allows the training to be as close to real production conditions as possible.