Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Honourable Chair and members of the committee, good afternoon. Thank you for your invitation.
I am Director General of CanmetMATERIALS, a Natural Resources Canada laboratory.
I will provide you with an overview of our laboratory. I will then give you a description of the laboratory's research program on pipelines and give you examples of activities in this field.
I've prepared a deck, so for those of you who are following, I'm on the third slide.
CanmetMATERIALS' mandate is to perform applied research on advances materials.
The research focuses on the processing, which includes alloy and materials composition, casting, and forming; performance assessment, including testing of mechanical properties and assessing corrosion resistance; microstructural characterization, which allows us to explain the behaviour of materials; and computational engineering, which accelerates and reduces the cost of material development.
Our research supports value-added processing of our minerals and metal resources. It helps improve the competitiveness of our manufacturing sector. The materials we develop are used in energy production and distribution, and they contribute to improving energy efficiency and emissions in the transportation sector. Our scientists play a leadership role in the development of codes and standards, both in Canada and globally. Our equipment allows us to develop materials and procedures at the laboratory scale and then test them at the pilot, or semi-industrial, scale.
We have moved into a new laboratory in Hamilton, Ontario. We have a small team located in Calgary.
On the next slide we talk about our pipelines program.
Our Pipeline Program aims at developing and validating materials and technologies that will extend the life of pipelines, increase their capacity and improve the reliability and integrity of pipelines.
The research we perform generates scientific knowledge and information on performance of pipeline materials, which we communicate to the government, the industry, and the public. The science is disseminated through workshops, conferences, and peer-reviewed publications. Much of our research is done in collaboration with academia, other research groups, industry, and associations. Ultimately, our work is incorporated in industry practice by the pipeline industry and its suppliers of goods and services.
In summary, our work supports the development of consensus standards that are referenced in Canadian regulation. This helps to ensure the safety and integrity of our pipelines.
All of these contributions are aimed at ensuring the safety of the public and the environment and ensure continuity in getting oil and gas to markets.
On the last slide I have examples of key activities.
We perform work in two major areas. The first is materials performance, which is the mechanical properties of the steels used in line pipe, the welds joining the pipes together, and the integrity of the pipes under service conditions. The second area we are active in is corrosion of pipelines, from the point of view of understanding the conditions that lead to corrosion but also in preventing corrosion.
The materials performance area includes the development of advanced steels—alloys that can be used at higher pressures and transport greater volumes. We work on the development of standards for the toughness of pipelines and welds. We develop testing protocols that are simple and reproducible but that can also accurately represent field conditions. We develop welding standards to ensure that welds applied in the field will perform as required and to ensure that the welding will not adversely affect the pipe steel surrounding the weld.
Corrosion can occur inside the pipe—this rarely, if ever, leads to failure in the case of transmission pipelines—or outside the pipe, such as stress-corrosion cracking. Stress-corrosion cracking is the result of environmental conditions that may combine with stress, such as the pressure from the oil or gas being transported. Pipe protection comes from coatings to prevent water and soil from making contact with the steel, which is combined with cathodic protection, where a small current is applied to a section of pipe to counter any effect from the environment.
Our scientists work at understanding the conditions that lead to corrosion. They research corrosion inhibitors, coatings, and cathodic protection.
In conclusion, CanmetMATERIALS plays a key role in developing materials for pipelines and understanding how these materials will perform in the field when they're used to transport oil and gas. This contributes to maintaining access to markets for Canadian oil and gas while protecting Canadians and the environment.
Thank you. Merci.