I will briefly wax lyrical here about revivals, restarting, and getting rejuvenated. 

There’s something about a ‘restart’ of a past habit or dedication or hobby.  Rejuvenating is a good word – it means bringing renewed life to something old by giving it a new vitality.  It’s the process of “freshening” something up by reviving it.   

And besides, revivals are kind of a ‘thing’ right now anyway:  look at the number of GenX bands that are touring again.  Everything old is new again, or at least coming around at us again, right?

So with the calendar turning over to September, I figured it’s time to get back to it.  

September has a feeling of ‘restart’ for me; I’ve heard it suggested that the new year should really start in September, instead of January… because September is when the northern hemisphere school year starts.  “Back to school” and all that.

Though I’ve lived in the southern hemisphere now for half my life, where September is spring and the school year is more calendar oriented (Feb-Nov), so maybe September doesn’t mean as much as it when associated with the start of the school year …. I did grow up in the northern hemisphere, and September still has this ‘back to school after the holidays’ feel about it for me. 

Which brings us to this little blog to support the AS2885.info wiki.  It has languished for 18 months, and it’s time to bring it back to life. 

A key reason for starting up here again is that I want to – need to – be able to think out loud, think in public. 

We’ve taken on a significant project to combine the 7 parts of AS2885 into one.  At the outset, back in February 2023 when the decision was made by the AS2885 Main Committee, I said back then that it was a 10-year project.  I’d like to say it still is, (still 10 years away), when I think of what needs to be done… but I’m also one who tries to stick to schedules.  So, some progress needs to be made.

I’ll be using this platform to formulate thinking around the structure of a new (re-)combined AS2885 – hence the ‘thinking out loud’. 

By the way, AS2885 used to be one document, way back in 1987.  I wonder if anyone out there still has a copy of that yellow 1987 version of AS2885!  I remember seeing it on someone’s desk when I first arrived in Brisbane in 1997 (the 1987 version had already been superseded by the 1997 version … I do still have my copy of the 1997 AS2885.1!).

A good history of AS2885 can be found on the AS2885.info wiki here.

So now we look to the future. 

A first step we’ve taken, while small, is the renaming of the Standards Australia committee.  Previously it was “Petroleum Pipelines” within the Standards Australia terminology. 

This is the Committee name, not the Series or Standard name. 

Our committee is now named “ME-038 High Pressure Pipelines”. 

This allows for more flexibility and scope to cover other contents including petroleum.  In reality, of course, it is already written into the AS2885 Standard allowing other fluids, but, of course, it’s really written for, and focusses quite specifically on, as I like to say: 

High-pressure,
cross-country,
hydrocarbon gas or liquids
carried by buried steel pipelines. 

Our strategy in widening the scope includes simply changing the series title, which is currently “Pipelines – gas and liquid petroleum”.

Next, we’ll work on a reissue the series under the new title:

“AS2885: Pipeline Systems – High Pressure”. 

Determining that title was based on a robust discussion by the Main Committee in February 2023, which included many terms that didn’t get included (Transportation, and Fluid, being the two stand outs left out). That’s what committee work is about: consensus!

And anyway, the title isn’t usually a full representation of the allowed scope anyway (given that, for example, slurry lines are designed to AS2885, and slurries aren’t gas or liquid petroleum) … but the title does direct a new reader into a certain thought about what the standard covers.   

(By the way, it’s already been brought to my attention that we may need to define “high pressure”… but I’m not sure…). 

So here we go: here’s to the future.

My writings here will evolve over the next weeks & months. 

I’ll ask questions, I’ll give my views, I’ll think out loud about many things, look for input, advise on potential decisions, muse about many things.

Maybe the first question is, how should ‘high pressure’ be defined, or, does it need to be?

Obviously, this is not a Standards committee, and there is no formal connection here to a revision to the standard. 

Nothing that is written here can be taken as anything formal. It’s just musings and discussion.

So, contributing here doesn’t mean much … but it could mean a lot, if you know what I mean. 

These will be informal discussions by technically-minded people like me and you, about how we might make an existing, and well-regarded, Standard, better.

Here’s to the future – I’m looking forward to it!

Susan / Sept 2, 2024