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Daniel Belnap
Calculus 1210
7/14/2017

If a well is located a distance x away from the same companys refinery and needs to run pipe from the
well to the refinery, our problem is to find the best way to run the pipeline that will reduce company
costs. There is private land between the well and the refinery however, which increases the cost of
running the pipeline if it is run across this private land. I will use calculus to determine the most cost-
efficient route for the pipeline by exploring several different routes with dollar amounts for each, as well
as demonstrating all math used in my analysis.

Scenario 1: In determining the cost of running the pipeline strictly on BLM ground, our first scenario of
running the pipeline West then South and finally East, has been calculated as follows. Since we must go
8 miles West then 15 miles South then 32 miles East our total length of pipeline is 8 + 15 + 32 =
55 . The route of this pipeline is depicted in Figure 1. The total cost of running the pipeline along

this route would therefore be 55 350,000
= 19,250,000 .

Figure 1: A depiction of gas pipeline route from well to refinery following red line as described for scenario 1.

Scenario 2: In determining the cost of running the pipeline through the mountain range to the East of
the well and then South to the refinery strictly on BLM ground, the total cost has been calculated as
follows. We know that the distance that the pipeline must traverse East through the mountains is the
total length of side x of the private land the well sits on minus the length from the close edge or side y of
the private land. In other words, the pipeline must go 32 8 = 24 East. The pipeline
then needs to go the distance of side y of the private land or 15 giving us a total distance traveled
of 24 + 15 = 39. The route of this scenario is depicted in Figure 2. In order to find total cost of
this route for the pipeline we need to take into account the fact that it costs a one-time cost of
$4,500,000 on top of the normal costs ($350,000 per mile) of the pipeline itself. There is an
environmental impact study that must be conducted costing an estimated $180,000. This impact study
delays the project by 5 months costing the company another $75,000 per month. The total cost of this

route is therefore, (39 350,000
)+ (4,500,000 + 180,000 +

(75,000
5 )) = 18,705,000 .
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Figure 2: A depiction of the route of the gas pipeline as shown in red and outlined in scenario 2.

Scenario 3: In determining the cost of running the pipeline the shortest distance across the private
ground to the refinery, I have calculated the shortest distance as being a straight line from the well to
the refinery. In order to find this distance, I used the distance of the well along the side x that it sits
going through the mountain. We found in the previous scenario that this distance is 24 I also used
the side y distance of the private land which is 15 and then solved for side z or the hypotenuse of
the resulting right triangle as follows. 242 + 152 = 389 28.3019434 . A depiction of this
pipeline route can be seen in Figure 3. Using this as the length of pipeline needed, we can then calculate

the total cost of this pipeline taking into account the extra 90,000
cost of running the line across

private land. Our total cost for this route is therefore, 28.3019434 (350,000
+

90,000
) = 12,452,855.10 .

Figure 3: A depiction of the gas pipeline route, shown in red, and outlined in scenario 3.

Scenario 4: In determining the cost of running the pipeline due South from the well across private land
and then East across BLM land to the refinery, we need to again take into account the accrual of private
land usage charges. The total distance of the pipeline would be the distance from one side x of private
land to the other side x or in other words just the distance of side y of the private land. We would again
be running the pipe 24 due East however, we would not have a mountain range in the way this
time since there only a mountain range on the North side of the private property. A depiction of the gas
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pipeline route is shown in Figure 4. Total distance traveled would be 24 + 15 = 39 .

The total cost of running the pipeline through this route would therefore, be (15

(350,000 + 90,000 )) + (24 350,000 ) = 15,000,000 .

Figure 4: A depiction of the gas pipeline route as outlined in red of Scenario 4.

Scenario 5: In determining 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 that will provide for the cheapest cost, I set up a relationship of the cost
with relation to x only as shown by Figure 5. I wrote y in terms of x using Pythagoreans theorem as
follows: = 152 + 2 . If we look back at Figure 4 from scenario 4 we can again use the distance of
24 for the total distance along the South side of the private ground and 15 as the distance
from the well to the South side of the private ground. Using this and our new y value our equation for

cost with relation to x or C(x) can be written as: () = ((350,000
+ 90,000
)

(152 + 2 )) + (350,000
(24 )). To find the optimal way to run the pipeline to minimize
cost we need to take the derivative of our cost function and then set the function equal to zero and
solve for x. Letting A equal the cost of the pipeline on private ground and B equal the cost of the pipeline
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on BLM ground and simplifying a bit we can re-write our cost function as () = (225 + 2 )2 + 24
1
1
. Taking the derivative of this equation, we get () = 2 (225 + 2 )2 (2) . This equation
1

2
needs to be simplified before we can solve for x. I have simplified this equation as () =
225+ 2

(2) . We can now solve for x by setting this equal to zero as follows:
225+ 2 225+ 2

=0 = = (225 + 2 ) ()2 = ((225 + 2 ))2 2 2 = 2 (225 +
225+ 2
2252
2 ) 2 2 = 225 + 2 2 2 2 2 2 = 2252 2 (2 2 ) = 2252 2 = (2
2
=
2 )
15
. Now that we know what x equals we can add back into the equation our values for A and B and
2 2

15 (350,000 )

solve for x to obtain = = 19.68903827 . We can use this x
2 2
(440,000 ) (350,000 )

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value to find the y value in Figure 5 by again using Pythagoreans theorem to obtain the following
= 152 + 19.689038272 = 24.75193382 . Now that we know the length of the pipe
that crosses the private land is equal to y and the length of pipe that goes East across the BLM land is
24-x or 24 19.68903827 = 4.31096173 we find that the total length of our pipe
in this scenario 5 will be 24.75193382 + 4.31096173 = 29.06289555 . The angle
that the pipe will follow down from the horizon as shown in Figure 5 can be found using the fact that
19.68903827
tan 2 = so solving for 2 = tan1 ( ) 2 = 52.69820971. We can now determine
15 15
since we know that 90 2 = = 90 52.69820971 = 37.30179029. In summary,
the pipeline needs to leave the well at an angle of 37.30179029 from due East and travel a distance of
24.75193382 then turn due East and travel a distance of 4.31096173 to get to the
refinery. The total cost for this scenario can be determined by multiplying the distance traveled over
private ground with the cost of the pipe on private ground added to the cost of building on BLM ground
times the distance traveled on BLM ground. In equation form the total dollar value is:

(24.75193382 440,000
) + (4.31096173 350,000
) =
12,399,687.49 .

Figure 5: A depiction of the gas pipeline route in red as described by scenario 5 where angle has been optimized,
as well as distances x and y to get minimal cost of the pipeline.

I have included a graph of my cost function or () = 440000(225 + 2 ) + 350000(24 ) with the

minimum point labeled showing the same value for x that was found using the derivative of the
function. The graph is included as Figure 6.
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Figure 6: a graph of () showing minimum value for the function used in scenario 5 above.

Reflection-

We have used calculus throughout this semester to determine safe stopping distances as well as safe
speeds for the Frontrunner train here in Utah. We have also used calculus to find the best seat available
at a movie theater and speeds and distances of a bungee jumper. I am however, more interested in
healthcare which is why I appreciated the issues of angioplasty and heart attack response times that we
learned about. It is very beneficial in my field of interest to know inflation times that are safe for stints,
while performing an angioplasty using related rates and hyperbolic functions, that will provide the best
patient care as well as the best results. To know the necessary response times for heart attack patients
and to be able to figure out success rates for patients suffering from myocardial infarctions using
differentiation rules is again invaluable to providing the best care for patients and accomplishing my
goal of saving lives. Because of this I can argue that calculus is an invaluable resource for healthcare
providers and can be used on a daily basis to save lives and improve the level of care provided.

We could argue that calculus is not necessary by saying that we can learn from experience the exact
same things. This would take a large amount of time, resources, and lives. I do not think I would want to
be a part of this learning curve. With that being said, experimentation is an invaluable tool to healthcare
and should be used in conjunction with other resources like calculus to improve lives. Not only can
calculus be used to help save lives, but as can be seen from the above problem, it can also be used to
save companies resources and reduce environmental impacts of humans on our planet using minimum
or maximum values.

As I progress in my understanding of calculus I look forward to learning new ways that math can
improve my life and the lives of others.