Natural gas transmission systems play a vital role in ensuring energy supply, economic stability, and energy security. Due to rapid environmental changes, the expansion of transmission networks, and increasing operational complexities, risk management in natural gas pipelines has become increasingly important. Among various threats, corrosion is recognized as one of the most critical factors affecting pipeline integrity, potentially leading to significant economic, environmental, and safety consequences. Therefore, identifying and prioritizing the critical factors influencing corrosion is essential for improving managerial decision-making and planning preventive actions. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the importance of critical corrosion factors in natural gas pipelines using the Full Consistency Method (FUCOM). The research was conducted during the fall of 2024 with the participation of experts and engineers in the gas pipeline sector who possessed at least ten years of professional experience. FUCOM was employed due to its ability to reduce the number of pairwise comparisons while improving the accuracy and consistency of criteria weighting. The results indicate that, in sour gas pipelines, factors such as pipeline age, inspection frequency, in-line inspection, coating and cathodic protection, inhibitor injection, and acidic gases are of primary importance. In sweet gas pipelines, monitoring and protection-related factors, including inspection frequency, in-line inspection, cathodic protection, and coating, were identified as the most influential factors. The findings provide valuable insights for enhancing corrosion risk management, developing effective maintenance strategies, and improving the reliability and integrity of natural gas transmission networks.
Adabavazeh et al. (Mon,) studied this question.