Salt Lake CC, Math 1210

Pipeline Project
The U.S. Interior Secretary recently approved drilling of natural gas wells near Vernal,
Utah. Your company has begun drilling and established a high-producing well on BLM
ground. They now need to build a pipeline to get the natural gas to their refinery.
While running the line directly to the refinery will be the least amount of pipe and
shortest distance, it would require running the line across private ground and paying a
right-of-way fee. There is a mountain directly east of the well that must be drilled
through in order to run the pipeline due east. Your company can build Sthe pipeline
around the private ground by going 8 miles directly west and then 16 miles south and
finally 40 miles east to the refinery (see figure below). Cost for materials, labor, and
fees to run the pipeline across BLM ground is $480,000 per mile.
Cost of drilling through the existing mountain would be a one-time cost of $4,500,000 on
top of the normal costs ($480,000 per mile) of the pipeline itself. Also, the BLM will
require an environmental impact study before allowing you to drill through the mountain.
Cost for the study is estimated to be $600,000 and will delay the project by 8 months
costing the company another $100,000 per month.
For any pipeline run across private ground, your company incurs an additional $360,000
per mile cost for right-of-way fees.

Your company has asked you to do the following:

a. Determine the cost of running the pipeline strictly on BLM ground with two
different cases:
i. One running west, south and then east to the refinery.

Y
X

X=64
480000X=C
480000*64=30,270,000

ii.

One heading east through the mountain and then south to the refinery.

X=48
X (480,000) +59,000,000=C
48(480,000) +59,000,000=28,940,000$mi
Determine the cost of running the pipeline:
The shortest distance across the private ground to the refinery.

16mi

l=1280mi

32mi
l=162+322
X=1280
C= 840,000x
C=840,000*1280
C=30,052,753.62$mi

ii.

Straight south across the private ground, then straight east to the refinery.
16mi
32mi
X=32mi, Y=16mi
C=32(480,000)+16(840,000)
C=28,800,000$mi

c. Determine the cost function for the pipeline for the configuration involving running
from the well across the private ground at some angle and intersecting the BLM
ground to the south and then running east to the refinery. Use this function to
find the optimal way to run the pipeline to minimize cost. Determine the length of
pipe that runs across private land and how far from the refinery it starts running
on BLM land. Determine the angle at which your optimal path leaves the well.
Clearly show all work including drawing the pipeline on the figure below. Make it
very clear how you use your knowledge of calculus to determine the optimal
placement of the pipeline.

Necessary Equations
y2+x2=l2:
(32-X)480,000:
Cost of building on BLM Land Relative to distance traveled over Private land.
x2+256*840,000:
Cost of building on Private Land at any angle relative to the change in x.
Ct=840,000*256+x2+15360000-480,000x
Ct1=(840,000*12*1256+x2 *2x)-480,000

Ct1=840,000x256+x2-480,000
256+x2=840,000x480,000
256=2.0625x2
2562.0625=x
x11.14

sin-1 161622.0625 55.5

So then to find the length:
l2=162+11.142
l=162+11.142
l19.5
So, the Cost is found:
C=840,000*l+(32-x)*480,000
C(x)=840,000*162+2562.0625+(32-2562.0625*480,000

C=26,389,560.28$

d. Include a computer-generated graph of the optimal cost function, C(x), for this

pipeline for any configuration involving crossing some private ground as well as
some BLM ground. Make sure to use the correct domain of the function to scale

your graph appropriately, and to label the minimum point.

Reflection:
Using the various tools that we as a group learned during this semester, we were
able to find the cheapest possible route to build the pipeline from the oil well, to the
refinery station. By doing so, the given company gained a potential savings of up to
4 million dollars. We were also able to give a solution that could help avoid
unnecessary labor, and unnecessary damage to the surrounding nature. We as a
group were also able to learn, see and apply the various uses of Derivatives and
cost benefit analysis through this project. Furthermore, throughout the calculus
class, we were able to see the usefulness of calculus, and its application to many
various areas of actual real life situations. From determining the best route of
construction in this problem, to even finding the cheapest way to make objects of
various shapes. It is useful in many fields of study such as Engineering etc.