Alternative Piping Material for Malaysian Fuel Gas Distribution

Abstract

Sistem pengagihan bahan api gas di Malaysia boleh dibahagikan kepada sistem pengagihan gas asli dan sistem pengagihan gas petroleum cecair. Sistem talian paip pengagihan untuk gas asli dan gas petroleum cecair di Malaysia menggunakan bahan perpaipan sama ada dari jenis keluli ataupun jenis plastik (paip polietilena). Walau bagaimanapun, adalah menjadi kebiasaan bagi negara–negara seperti Amerika Syarikat, Australia, Kanada, Eropah dan Jepun menggunakan paip “copper†dalam sistem talian paip pengagihan mereka. Paip tembaga telah didapati sebagai bahan yang alternatif yang sesuai dan selamat untuk sistem pengagihan dalaman. Oleh itu, paip “copper†sepatutnya turut dipertimbangkan sebagai bahan alternatif bagi perpaipan untuk pengagihan gas di Malaysia. Kertas keria ini akan membincangkan tentang apa yang dinyatakan dalam piawai dan kod antarabangsa serta tempatan mengenai paip “copperâ€, had penggunaan dan pengujian ke atas kandungan hidrogen sulfida dalam bahan api gas di Malaysia dalam menentukan kesesuaian penggunaan “copper†sebagai bahan alternatif bagi perpaipan. Perbandingan terhadap penggunaan paip “copper†pada sistem talian paip di negara lain dan had sistem talian paip gas di Malaysia, penilaian terhadap prestasi dan juga had penggunaan paip “copper†dari perspektif kod amalan antarabangsa dan kod amalan di Malaysia juga dibincangkan. Kata kunci: Paip “Copperâ€; retikulasi bahan api gas; perpaipan gas Fuel gas distribution system in Malaysia can be divided into the Natural Gas (NG) and the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distribution system. The distribution pipeline system for NG and LPG in Malaysia are using either steel pipes or plastic pipes (polyethylene pipe). However it has become common in other parts of the world such as the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan that copper pipes are being used for their distribution system. They have found that copper is an altemative for safe and superior piping material suitable for interior distribution systems. Therefore copper pipes should also be considered as an alternative piping material for Malaysian gas distribution. This paper will discuss what the International Code and Malaysian Code of Practice has to say about copper, what are the limitations of using copper and also the testing of Malaysian Gas in order to determines its suitability in using copper as pipe material. The comparisons were made between the utilisation of copper pipe in gas pipeline installation in other countries and the limitations of gas pipeline systems in Malaysia, the assessment of their performance and the duty limit of copper pipes. Key words: Copper pipe; fuel gas reticulation; gas pipeline