Math 1210 Pipeline Project

Reid Gardner
Math 1210-002 Fall 2016
CEO,
As requested, I have calculated the costs for various pipeline routes that
have been proposed between our high- producing natural gas well near
Vernal, Utah, and our refinery. At the end of this report is a recommendation
to construct a pipeline from the well to the refinery at the lowest possible
cost.
There are two possible routes to run the pipeline strictly on BLM ground:
1. To run the pipeline eight miles west, sixteen miles south, and forty
miles east to the refinery.
2. To run the pipeline forty miles east (Through a mountain), and sixteen
miles south to the refinery.

The only cost factor in Route 1 is the $480,000 per mile cost associated with
running through BLM land, so with 74 miles of pipeline needed, this route will
cost $30,720,000.
$ 480,000
( 8+16+ 40 ) mi .=$ 30,720,000
mi

Route 2, while still remaining exclusively in BLM land, involves running the
pipeline through a mountain, which incurs additional costs including:

One-Time cost of $4,500,000 to drill through the mountain

A BLM Required environmental impact study, estimated to cost
$600,000
A loss of $100,000 per month while the 8-month study is being
conducted: $800,000

These costs, in addition to the $480,000 per mile cost for the 48 mile run,
brings the total cost for this route to $28,940,000.
( 32+16 ) mi ) +$ 4,500,000+ $ 600,000+ ( 8$ 100,000 )=$ 28,940,000
( $ 480,000
mi

Two other proposed routes involve running the pipeline through the private
land adjacent to the well:
3. To run the pipeline the shortest distance across the private land to the
refinery.
4. To run the pipeline straight south through the private land, then
straight east through BLM land to the refinery.

The only costs associated with Route 3 are the $480,000 per mile cost of
running the pipeline, and an additional cost of $360,000 per mile for right-of-

way fees. The length of the pipeline is calculated to be about 36 miles, so

this run will cost $30,052,753.62.
d= 322 +162= 1280=35.78 mi

$ 480,000+ $ 360,000
35.78 mi=$ 30,052,753.62
mi

Route 4 involves a 16 mile run through private land, and a 32 mile run
through BLM land to get to the refinery. The 16 mile run will be subjected to
both of the aforementioned costs associated with the private land ($480,000
and $360,000), and the 32 mile run will only be subjected to the $480,000
per mile cost. This route will cost $28,800,000.
16

mi( $ 480,000+ $ 360,000 )

mi$ 480,000
+32
=$ 28,800,000
mi
mi

The final proposed route, (Route 5), consists of running the pipeline through
the private land at some angle, ,for some distance, P, and then going
straight east on BLM land the rest of the way, B, until it reaches the refinery.

To determine the optimal lengths of each run in order to make the cost of the
pipeline as low as possible, I first determined the cost function of the pipeline
to be:
C ( x )=( 360,000+ 480,000 ) P+ 480,000 B

C ( x )=840,000 P+480,000 B
For ease of taking the derivative, this can be rewritten as:
C ( x )=840 P+480 B
I then determined two parameters to link P and B to the same variable by
defining the latitudinal component of the angled run of pipe as x. The total
longitudinal distance of the diagram shown is 40 miles, the 8-mile section to
the west is excluded from this scenario, so that leaves 32 miles. This allows
me to get B in terms of x:

( 408 )= X + B
32=X + B

B=32 X
I then used the Pythagorean theorem to get P in terms of x:
P2=162 + x 2
P= x 2+ 256
Now that I have P and B both in terms of x, this can be plugged into the cost
function, making it a function of a single variable:
C ( x )=840 x 2+256+480 ( 32x )

To find the x value that will optimize the cost of the pipeline, I first took the
derivative:
(Multiplied out the second term to make it easier to take the derivative)
C ( x )=840 x 2+256+ 15360480 x
C' ( x ) =2

'

C ( x) =

x840
480
2 x 2 +256

840 x
480
x 2+ 256

I then set the derivative equal to zero and solved for x:

2

840 x
'
2
C ( x) = 2
480 =0
x +256
8402 x 2
=4802
2
x +256
8402 x2=4802 (x 2 +256)
2

705600 x =230400 x +58982400

2

475200 x =5898240 0
2

x =124.1212121
x=11.14096998

Using this optimal x value, I can plug it back into previous equations to
determine the length of pipeline runs P and B, and find the angle :
P= x 2+ 256
P= 11.140969982 +256
P=19.497 miles

B=32 X
B=3211.14096998

B=20.85 9 miles
tan ( ) =

x
16

tan ( ) =

11.14096998
16

tan 1 ( .6963106238 )=

=34.85
Plugging this x value back into the original cost function will calculate the
cost of this route:
C ( x )=840 , 000 x2 +256+ 480 , 000 (32x )
C ( 11.14096998 ) =840 , 000 11.14096998 2+256+ 480 , 000 ( 3211.14096998 )
C ( 11.14096998 ) =$ 26,389,560.28
Here is a graph of the cost function, C(x), for any configuration involving
crossing both private and BLM land. As you can see, the optimal x value I
calculated results in the lowest possible cost for this scenario.

C(x)
31000000
30000000
29000000
28000000
27000000
26389560.28

26000000
25000000
24000000

10

15

20

25

30

35

This optimal route, which consists of running the pipeline 19.5 miles at an
angle of 34.85 from the south through the private land, then running it
the rest of the way (20.9 miles) east through BLM land to the refinery, will be
the most cost effective option to run a pipeline between the well and the
refinery.
In my calculus class, I have learned the concepts of limits, derivatives, and
integrals. I can see that these concepts apply to the real world through
applications like defining the relationship between position, velocity, and
acceleration, and optimizing situations like this, where there are many
possible combinations, and testing values would take much more time and
effort than to derive a function and determine where the rate of change is

zero to find a desired minimum or maximum. Determining related rates of

change has many real world applications when dealing with systems that
have variables directly changing each other, and finding areas under curves
can be applied in areas like thermodynamics, where areas under curves
represent quantities like energy. It is obvious that calculus will be a very
important and useful tool for me as an engineer, since engineering involves
creating systems that function as efficiently as possible, often under cost/
material/ dimensional restrictions.