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MAY 2013

SUBSEA LINE PIPE TESTS VALIDATE PP

ROBOT COATING FOR INTERNAL JOINTS

PIPELINE COATING 2013 CONFERENCE

STEEL PIPE COATING MARKET UPDATE

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Copyright Applied Market Information. No part may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Coming next issue November 2013 Field jointing systems Coating developments Standards and testing

Click here to make sure you get your copy

Applied Market Information Ltd

AMI House, 45-47 Stokes Croft,

Bristol, BS1 3QP, United Kingdom

Tel:+44 (0)117 924 9442

Fax:+44 (0)117 989 2128

www.amiplastics.com

04 News

11 Energy demand drives pipeline growth Growing global demand for energy and the ever changing dynamics of oil and gas

production means the pipeline coating sector can look to the future with confidence,writes Noru Tsalic.

17 The future for Europes mega-pipelines With the European economy remaining deep in recession, Nicholas Newman asks

what the future may hold for the continents mega-scale gas pipeline projects.

21 Long term ageing of PP foam line pipe The decommissioning of Statoils Tordis field presented a rare opportunity to examinePP foam insulation after almost 20 years of operation in demanding subseaconditions.

28 Russias CELER marks weld sleeve milestone Advertisement feature: CELER marked a milestone in its history last year when it

delivered its one-millionth welded pipe joint protection sleeve.

33 Bayou Wasco goes for flow with Neptune Bayou Wasco Insulations new line pipe coating facility at New Iberia is the first in

North America capable of applying Dows Neptune two-layer end-to-end insulationsystem.

35 Internal protection using robotic technology Corrosion is one of the biggest threats to pipeline integrity and a major contributor to

leaks and increased maintenance cost. Robotic internal weld joint coating canminimise the risk.

41 Conference report: Pipeline Coating 2013 AMIs fifth Pipeline Coating conference in Austria earlier this year provided an

unmatched opportunity to discuss market and technical developments. Chris Smithreports.

46 New materials and equipment

contents

PAGE

4

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17

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21

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33

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35

contact us

Head of business publishing: Andy Beevers E-mail: [email protected]

Editor: Chris Smith E-mail: [email protected]

Consulting editor: Noru Tsalic E-mail: [email protected]

Designer: Nicola Crane

Advertisement manager: Claire Bishop E-mail: [email protected]

Direct tel: +44 (0)20 8686 8139

May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 3

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PIPELINE COATING | May 20134

news

Plains All American to

build crude pipelineAll Americans existing Orion

station, from where crude oil

will flow on the companys

existing pipeline system to its

terminal at Cushing.

The pipeline extension is

expected to be in service by the

end of the first quarter of 2014,

the company said.The announcement was

made just weeks after the

company said it is to construct a

310 mile (496km) 20-inch crude

oil pipeline from McCamey to

Gardendale in Texas.

The Cactus Pipeline is

expected to begin service in the

first quarter of 2015 and will

transport both sweet and sour

crude from the Permian Basin

to the Eagle Ford JV Pipeline,

which directly serves the Three

Rivers and Corpus Christi

markets and can supply the

Houston-area market througha connection to the Enterprise

South Texas Crude Oil Pipeline.

The Cactus Pipeline will

initially be designed to provide

approximately 200,000 barrels/

day of capacity.

www.paalp.com

US-based Plains All American

Pipeline said this month it is to

construct a 95 mile (152 km)

extension to its Oklahoma

crude oil pipeline system to

service increasing production

from the Granite Wash,

Hogshooter and Cleveland

Sands areas of westernOklahoma and the Texas

panhandle.

The new Western Oklahoma

pipeline will provide up to

75,000 barrels/day of new

crude takeaway capacity from

Reydon in Oklahoma to Plains

Jotunposted a record result

for 2012, pushing sales up

6.5% to NOK 11.35bn

(1.5bn) and profits up by

more than 17% to NOK

1.126bn (149m). The

company reported particu-

larly strong results in its

Decorative Paints and

Protective and Powder

Coatings business units.

Jotun CEO Morten Fon said

the company had benefitedfrom falling raw materials

prices and the successful

start-ups of its new factory at

Sandefjiord in Norway and a

new powder coatings plant at

Zhangjiagang in China.

www.jotun.com

Sabah Shell Petroleum has

awarded a contract for

construction and installation

of two new subsea pipelines

for the Malikai Deepwater

project in Malaysia, which

will operate at depths up to

650m off the coast of Sabah,

to Technip. The contract

includes transportation,

installation and pre-commis-

sioning of a 50km 8-inch gas

pipeline and a 55km 10-inch

liquids pipeline. The contract

will be run from Technipfacilities in Malaysia and

Singapore.

www.technip.com

Aegionsubsidiary Insitu-

form Technologies has been

awarded a $5.6m three-year

contract by the City of Dallas,

in Texas, US, for in-situ

rehabilitation of wastewater

pipelines using its Cured-in-

Place Pipe (CIPP) technology.

The project will run to the

end of 2015.

www.aegion.com

news in brief

Allseas has selected Exova to

provide a range of pipeline

testing services as part of a

three-year agreement valued

at up to 1m.

Under the arrangement,

Exova will provide coatings

testing and consultancy

services, immersion ultrasonic

testing, mechanical and failure

testing to Allseas on a global

basis.

Allseas is a major

international customer and

this agreement will present

exciting challenges on a global

scale, said Exova coatings

expert and strategic account

director for its global engi-

neering division, John Carter.

www.exova.com

Exova inks1m test contract

Trelleborg acquires Ambler

Fredrick Mueller

Trelleborg Offshore and

Construction has acquired

UK-based Ambler Technolo-

gies, which develops and

produces composite materials

for buoyancy and insulation

applications in deep sea

environments.

Ambler Technologies is

located near Manchester in the

UK and generated sales of

around SEK 50m in 2012(around 5.8m).

Trelleborg said the

acquisition is part of a strategy

designed to bolster its position

in oil and gas exploration by

giving it access to specialist

expertise in design and

production of key components

such as buoyancy modules for

remotely operated vehicles.

The acquired operation

commands unique expertise

and experience in composite

materials that complement

our global offering, said

Fredrik Mueller, president of

Trelleborgs Offshore &

Construction business unit. In

conjunction with the transac-

tion, we will create a Centre ofExcellence focused on

advanced buoyancy modules in

deep-sea environments.

www.trelleborg.com

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news

Irancommitsto invest

Norways Statoil has awarded

contracts valued at NOK 4bn

(530m) for the fabrication and

installation of the Polarled

pipeline, which will link the

companys new Aasta Hansteen

field in the sea off Norway to

its Nyhamma gas plant.

The contract for the fabrica-

tion of the 482km 36-inch line

pipe has been awarded to

Marubeni Itochu/JFE whilecoating will be undertaken by

Wasco and laying carried out

by Allseas.

The coating component of

the contract is worth around

NOK 1.2bn (160m). Internal

and external anti-corrosion

coatings will be applied at

Wasco plant in Malaysia, with

concrete coating applied at a

facility to be established at Mo

I Rana in the North of Norway.

According to Statoil, the

Polarled project breaks new

ground in using a steel pipe of

this large diameter laid at

depths up to 1,265m. The

Aasta Hansteen field will also

be the first to use a floating

SPAR platform on the

Norwegian continental shelf.

530m Polarled contracts placed

The head of the Iranian Oil

Pipeline and Telecommuni-

cation Company, Ali Ziar

has announced a major

investment in maintenance

and construction of thecountrys oil pipeline

network, according to

reports in the FARS News

Agency.

Ziar told the news

agency that projects for the

current year include

inspection pigging of

6,000km of pipeline and

construction of three new

projects : the Farashband-

Shiraz condensates

pipeline, Tabriz-Khoi-Oru-

miyeh oil pipeline, and the

Abadan-Rey pipeline.

Russia has terminated a 16-year contract under

which it allowed Azerbaijan to pump oil from

Baku in Azeri to the Russian Black Sea port of

Novorossisk, saying that current shipment

volumes were insufficient, according to reports

by Reuters.

The news agency said when the deal was

signed Azerbaijan guaranteed to ship at least

5m tonnes of oil a year through the 1,330km

pipeline; it now pumps just 2m tonnes.

Reuters reports Russias Transneft, which

operates the Russian section of the pipeline, has

said deliveries will be unaffected this year but

that transit charges may change from 2014.

ExxonMobil starts up at Kearl

The Norwegian Sea is an

exciting area on the Norwegian

continental shelf. Polarled

underpins this. Establishing

new infrastructure increases

the opportunities for the

discoveries already made, and

at the same time paves the way

for further exploration and the

development of future discover-

ies, said Rune Bjrnson,

Statoils head of natural gas.The pipeline project will

require 325,000 tonnes of steel

pipe. Pipe laying will begin in

March 2015 with pulling at

Nyhamma. Pipeline lay down

at Aasta Hansteen is sched-

uled for the third quarter of

2015, said Statoil.

www.statoil.com

ExxonMobil has started up its

Kearl oil sands project in

Alberta, Canada, which will

provide 110,000 barrels/day

ramping to 220,000 barrels/

day in 2015.

The Kearl facility is the first

oil sands unit to operate

without an upgrader. This isclaimed to reduce carbon

dioxide emissions to levels

similar to other US crude

production methods.

By combining a high-quali-

ty resource with our propri-

etary technologies, proven

project execution capability

and operational excellence,

Kearl will provide attractive

returns over the long term

with a smaller environmental

footprint than traditional oilsands mining, said ExxonMo-

bil Development president Neil

Duffin in a statement this

month.

The new plant uses a

proprietary paraffinic froth

treatment to produce bitumen

with no need for on-site

upgrading. Planned energy

co-generation will further

reduce its energy needs,

claims ExxonMobil.

The Kearl project isexpected to produce 4.6bn

barrels of oil over 40 years,

according to the company.

www.exxonmobil.com

Russia ends Azeri oil agreement

Polarled will

connect Statoils

Aasta Hansteen field

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news

Dubai officefor HarrisPye

OMS measures up for Bredero Shaw

Engineering services group

Harris Pye has established

a new office in Dubai where

it will centralise its global

offshore business support.

This office is specifically

set for a purpose the oil

and gas market sector,

said group managing

director Mark Prendergast.

He said Dubai was selected

for its position as a global

hub in the oil and gas

markets.

www.harrispye.com

Measurement technology

specialist Optical Metrology

Services (OMS) has completed

a major contract to measure

19,000 pipe ends for Bredero

Shaw at its pipe coating facility

at Leith in Scotland.

The 20 and 22-inch diameter

pipes, destined for use on

Chevrons Congo River

Crossing pipeline project, were

internally and externally

measured immediately after

the preservation coating

removal process. The measure-

ment was performed in-line

within a two minute job window.

www.omsmeasure.com

read more at www.norner.no / [email protected]

Testing of protective coatings and polymers

How can we help you?

NORNER is an industrially focused plastics institute.

We offer testing of protective coatings for marine and offshoreapplications based on NORSOK M-501 and comparable standards.We perform exposure and durability tests including NORSOK M-710.Our laboratory includes a microscopy failure analysis centre.

We are an Achilles Qualified and ISO9001:2008 certified laboratory

Keyera Corporation and Plains

Midstream Canada, a wholly-

owned subsidiary of Plains All

American Pipeline, have

proposed construction of a

jointly-owned liquids pipeline

system in northwest Alberta.

The proposed 570km

Western Reach Pipeline

System is expected to run from

the Gordondale area of

north-western Alberta to the

NGL energy hub at Fort

Saskatchewan.

It is planned to include two

new pipelines, one carrying a

propane, butane and conden-

sate mix and the other for a

segregated condensate

service. This will avoid the

additional costs incurred in

batch mode operation, it is

claimed.

Keyera and Plains Mid-

stream have begun an open

season process seeking

non-binding nominations for

volumes to underpin the

construction.

Last month Keyera said it

plans to expand its Simonette

gas plant with the construction

Keyera targets Albertaof a sour gas gathering pipeline

linking it to the Wapati region of

north west Alberta. Construc-

tion of the 90km 12-inch Wapati

pipeline will begin in the

autumn for a scheduled

start-up in the second quarter

of 2014. The project is expected

to cost $120m.

The company said it is also

considering construction of a

separate 6-inch diameter pipe-

line to carry segregated

condensate along the same

route.

www.keyera.com

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Canusa-CPS is the industry leader in field-applied coatings for corrosion, mechanicaland thermal protection of both onshore and offshore pipelines. Our advancedtechnology heat-shrinkable sleeves, high-build liquid epoxy coatings and adhesive-based products provide excellent functionality through a broad range of applications

and temperatures.

Canusas advanced technology GTS-PP and GTS-PE heat-shrinkable sleevescoupled with IntelliCOAT, state-of-the-art equipment for automated field installation,provide field-joint coating systems that not only far exceed the requirements of theISO 21809-3 standard for 3LPE and 3LPP joint coatings, but that also provideequivalent performance to the 3LPE and 3LPP mainline coatings as per therequirements of the ISO 21809-1 standard for these coating types.

ShawCor when you need to be sure

Advanced, field-applied pipelineprotection coatings

shawcor.comcanusa.com

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news

Technip

buysIngenium

The US Department of Energy

has conditionally authorised

Freeport LNG Expansion and

FLNG Liquefaction to export

liquefied natural gas from the

Freeport LNG Terminal at

Quintana Island in Texas to

countries that do not have a

free trade agreement (FTA)

with the US.

It is the second authorisa-

tion for exports of LNG from

the US shale gas industry to

non-FTA countries (Louisianas

Sabine Pass LNG Terminal was

authorised to export up to 2.2

bcf/day in 2011). The condi-

US approves Freeportnon-FTA LNG exports

tional authority, which is

subject to environmental

review, will run for 20 years

and will allow exports of up to

1.4 bcf/day.

Shale gas is transforming

the US energy landscape.

However, some US-based

industries, such as petro-

chemicals, have expressed

concern that the cost benefit of

this low cost energy source

could undermine their

competitive advantage.

US federal law generally

requires approval of natural

gas exports to countries with

which it has an FTA agree-

ment. However, US export

authorisation is required

where it does not, with the

applicant having to prove

exports are not inconsistent

with the [US] public interest.

Dow Chemical, which has

been vocal in its opposition to

widespread LNG exports,

described the Department of

Energy decision as a prudent

step in pursuit of a measured

and balanced approach to LNG

exports that will benefit

producers and consumers.

www.energy.gov

Technip has acquired

Ingenium, the Norwegian

offshore engineering

services provider to the oil

and gas industry and pipe

and cable installation

sector.

Based in Oslo in Norway,

Ingenium employs morethan 20 subsea engineering

specialists. One of its more

recent projects included the

umbilical lay spread on the

North Sea Giant, part of the

Goliat project.

Ingenium brings a team

with solid experience and

engineering capabilities

that reinforces Technips

presence in one of the

Groups key markets.

Technip has a long history

of working on projects with

Ingenium, we are thrilled

that they will be joining the

Group and complementing

our competencies to

accompany us in taking it

further, said Odd Strm-

snes, managing director of

Technip in Norway.

www.technip.com

TWI has permeation in handUK-based TWI has developed a high pressure facility for permea-

tion testing of polymeric materials used in applications including

oil and gas.

The custom-designed equipment is said to allow faster and

more accurate prediction of polymeric barrier performance.

The testing system works by exposing four polymer discs to

gas mixtures at small pressure intervals up to 650 bar and

temperatures up to 100C. Then, using a gas chromatograph, it

detects the transport coefficients of components of these

mixtures as they pass through the film under test.

www.twi.co.uk

The Freeport LNG facility at Quintana Island

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news

Final APLNG

pipes shippedThe final shipment of pipesrequired to complete the

520km Australian Pacific LNG

(APLNG) pipeline arrived at

Gladstone Port in the Austral-

ian state of Queensland earlier

this month, according to

project managers.

This final shipment of

pipes arriving today as plannedensures we remain on

schedule for delivery of first

LNG in mid-2015, said

Graeme Hogarth, pipelines

project manager at Origin,

which is responsible for

construction.

The 42-inch diameter pipes

were manufactured in Japan by

Nippon Steel and coated by

Wasco in Malaysia.

The APLNG project involves

the development of gas fields

in Queenslands Surat and

Bowen basins and a new coal

seam gas to a liquefied naturalgas facility located on Curtis

Island. More than 140km of

pipeline has already been laid,

with more than 80km of that

already reinstated.

www.aplng.com.au

Momentive grows in ChinaMomentive Specialty Chemicals has opened a new plant at

Tianjin in China to manufacture its Epikure epoxy curing agents.

The new facility expands the companys regional capacity

for amine curing agents and will produce both standards such

as its Epikure 3115-X-70 grade, as well as specialty grades for

low temperature curing high solids systems.

www.momentive.com

TMK adds US-based

joint capabilityRussian steel pipe supplier

TMK has, through its US-based

service company OFS Interna-

tional, acquired the Houston,

Texas-based manufacturing

assets of ITS Tubular Services

(Holdings) Limited (Aberdeen,

Scotland).

The ITS Tubular Services

facility is located on an 84 acresite to the north east of

Houston and has the capacity

to produce more than 700,000

threaded pipe joints and

250,000 couplings. It also

provides pipe inspection

services under the Independ-

ent Inspection Services name.

This acquisition marks

another step in TMKs

expansion in the US and

reinforces the companys focus

on developing service and

producing high value-addedtools for the oil and gas

industry, said TMK CEO

Alexander Shiryaev.

www.tmk-group.com

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lifeguardsLets extend pipeline lifetime

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Manufacturing sites: Houston - USA, Tijuana - Mexico, Westerlo - Belgium, Baroda - India, Stadskanaal - the Netherlands, Dammam - Saudi Arabia

8/13/2019 PCMay2013 (1)

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Update |market

Growing global energy demand andthe ever changing dynamic of the Oil

& Gas industry makes for anoptimistic future for the pipeline

industry, writes Noru Tsalic

The global market for steel pipe coating was worth

around 5.5bn in 2012, with oil and gas pipelines

accounting for the greatest part of this value. On the

face of it, this may be interpreted as overdependence on

one particular market. Strategically speaking, then, it

could be asked if that overdependence is a significant

risk for the pipeline coating industry? Crude oil and

natural gas are primarily used as sources of energy. But

will the world need more energy in the long run? We

hear every day about efforts to reduce the consumption

of energy.So it is reasonable to ask whether the world will use

less, rather than more, energy in the future? And

whether that energy will come from oil and gas? After

all, the trend appears to be one of moving away from

fossil fuels and towards sustainable sources of energy.

Finally, even if the world continues to use oil and gas to

produce energy, does that mean that more pipelines

will need to be built? Mankind has been building oil and

gas pipelines for decades now. Are there enough

already?

This article will focus attention on each of these

questions and attempt to provide answers based on

facts, rather than impressions.

Firstly, will the world need more energy? As the

price of energy increases and the environmental issues

receive more attention, numerous efforts are beingmade to reduce the consumption of energy in every field

of human activity. This has been going on for many

years now and is certainly likely to continue. Yet an

analysis of the energy demand shows that consumption

has increased, not decreased. This is because, while on

one hand mankind is attempting to reduce consump-

tion, on the other hand economic growth increases the

demand for energy (Figure 1). In fact, it can be shown

that there is an excellent correlation between the two

(Figure 2). This should of course be obvious: economic

activities are ultimately about creating value; and it is

impossible (the laws of nature preclude it) to create

things without using energy in the process.

Economic growth is a must, of course, if mankind is

to progress and prosper. In fact, if anything, faster

Energy demand drivespipeline growth

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market | Update

economic growth is needed in order to remedy many of

the worlds current problems. It should not be over-

looked that a large proportion of the worlds population

still lives in poverty and under-development, deprived of

basic needs such as safe drinking water, decent

sanitation, access to electrical power, etc. And, given

that the worlds population continues to grow, outputs

need to be increased just in order to maintain the

existing situation. In summary, this means we are likely

to see a more or less continuous increase in world

demand for energy.

So, will the world need more Oil & Gas? In recent

years, sustainability topics have increasingly come to

the forefront of public debate. Among them is the issue

of energy: there is increased usage of sustainable

energy sources such as hydroelectric energy, solar and

wind power, etc. This is certainly a positive develop-

ment, in so far as it also makes economic sense. But a

glance at the data shows that sustainable sources of

energy represent a very small proportion of the current

energy mix (Figure 3). Furthermore, even in the mostoptimistic scenarios, renewable energy sources (despite

achieving considerable growth) are expected to remain

a minority for the foreseeable future.

This leads to the question, will the world need

additional pipelines? Pipelines are built primarily to

gather, transport and distribute crude oil, natural gas

and products resulting from their processing. As

mentioned, many such pipelines have been built in the

course of recent decades. So why would we need any

more?

Firstly, it should be noted that the demand for oil and

gas is still growing (Figure 4). That in itself would

indicate that additional pipelines are needed. But the

growth in Oil & Gas demand is hardly the sole (or even

the most important) driver of new pipeline construction.

A dynamic industry

Oil & Gas production is a very dynamic industry. On

one hand, the reserves held by each field and basin

are finite at some point they inevitably start to run

out; on the other hand, new basins and new fields are

discovered and brought into exploitation. Obviously,pipelines are not mobile: they cannot be simply moved

around. New fields mean new pipelines, even if that

new production replaces older fields that have run

dry. In fact, it is more than that because the low

hanging fruit has already been picked. New fields

tend to be more difficult to access: deeper under-

ground or under the sea, farther offshore or situated

in more inhospitable and/or remote regions. This

often translates into longer pipelines and more

complex coating systems.

All this is true even of conventional Oil & Gas

reserves. Crucially, however, entirely new, unconven-

tional sources are being brought into play (Figure 5).

Bituminous sands have been exploited (especially in

Canada) for a number of years already. Tight gas and

Figure 1: Trends in energy demand and economic growth Figure 2: Correlation between economic growth and the demand

for energy

Figure 3: Global primary energy mix in 2012

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Update |market

coal seam methane are also being increasingly

exploited. Tight oil is having a huge impact in terms of

new production (Figure 6). However, perhaps the

biggest impact is that of shale gas. Huge reserves of

natural gas are embedded in a particular rock forma-

tion, called shale. A relatively new technique, known as

hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is able to release a

large proportion of that gas. In simple terms, the

technique involves directional drilling into the shale,

followed by the injection of large volumes of water at

high pressure. The jet of water (containing certain

chemicals and sand) causes micro-cracks to develop

and propagate through the shale. The gas is released

through these micro-cracks and is collected at the

mouth of the well.

Exploiting shale

The exploitation of shale gas has boomed in recent years

in the US, dramatically changing its position in terms of

energy supply and demand. So unexpected was this

change that, just a few years ago, large investments

were made in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals.

Faced with the decrease in its domestic production of

natural gas, the US was preparing the infrastructure for

long-range imports of gas. Not only were such imports

rendered unattractive by the local production of shale

gas; some of the terminals are, in fact, being reversed in

order to allow LNG exports.

This is not likely to remain an exclusively North

American phenomenon. A recent study commissioned

by the US Energy Information Agency shows there are

huge reserves of shale gas distributed around the

globe. Although both were slower off the mark than the

US, China and Europe may soon follow in its steps.

Considerable shale gas reserves are located in Chinas

Szechuan and (especially) Xinjiang provinces; in Europe

reserves have been found in Eastern and Central

Europe, as well as in the UK (Figure 7).

While the full potential of shale gas is still many

years away from being fully exploited, there is already

renewed interest in shale oil. The technologies for

exploiting this resource are available and have been

Figure 4: Consumption of oil and gas, 1965-2011

Figure 5:

Schematic

showing

various types

of gas reserves

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market | Update

Figure 7: Schematic of shale gas exploitationSource: ProPublica

used in the past. Shale oil was rendered uneconomic by

the advent of cheap Middle Eastern crude, but a

combination of new technologies and an increase in the

price of crude may well change that in the future.

All these changes in Oil & Gas supply are powerful

drivers for pipeline construction. So are changes on the

demand side - the fast growing manufacturing output in

Asia and South America, for instance, results in

increased demand for energy. This, in turn, drives the

construction of new pipelines.

Securing future supplies

However, new pipeline construction is not only driven by

the growth of Oil & Gas volume that needs to be

transported. The need for supply reliability acts as an

amplifier of demand. Since Oil & Gas represents a

strategically important resource, countries are often

interested in diversifying sources and routes of

transportation. Europe is a good example in this

context. Technically, Europe may be able to source allits natural gas needs from Russia. In reality, however, it

has sought to also access sources in North Africa,

Central Asia and the Middle East. This has had the

effect of driving pipeline construction activity beyond

that which would have been strictly necessary to

transport the volumes.

So far, we have been discussing new pipelines. But,

as already mentioned, mankind has been building

pipelines for many decades now. Some of these

pipelines are already old and need to be repaired,

rehabilitated or replaced. This kind of activity is gaining

in importance in the pipeline industry.

In addition, while this analysis has focused mainly on

Oil & Gas pipelines (which currently account for the

lions share of the total), there is also considerable

Figure 6: US crude oil production, million barrel/daySource: EIA

growth in the construction of pipelines carrying potable

water and water-based liquids. To start with, the

sources of fresh water are very unequally distributed

around the globe. Some countries and regions suffer

from water penury a situation that is further exacer-

bated by climate change, population growth and

desertification. Solutions involve either transport of

water from other regions, or desalination. Both

solutions involve the construction of pipelines.

In the slightly more distant future, we are also likely

to see numerous pipelines transporting carbon dioxide.

As previously mentioned, the world is far from being

able to wean itself away from fossil fuels. On the other

hand, continuing to burn such fuels produces CO2, which

adds to the greenhouse effect and causes climate

change. Part of the solution is a technology called

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This involves

capturing the carbon dioxide produced by power plants

and storing it, for instance in exhausted Oil & Gas fields.

Between source and storage site, the pressurised gaswill be transported through pipelines.

In summary, there are plenty of reasons to answer

the third question of our analysis with a confident

affirmative: Yes, the world is likely to need many

additional pipelines. The pipe coating industry can look

to the future with optimism.

For more information

Quantitative outcomes of the analysis in this article (in

terms of pipe coating) are provided in the newly-pu-

bished third edition of Applied Market Informations

study: Steel Pipe Coating the Global Market 2013.

For more information contact Noru Tsalic, senior

vice president AMI Consulting. Tel: +44 (0)1173 111526.

Email: [email protected].

8/13/2019 PCMay2013 (1)

15/48

Winn & Coales (Denso) LtdDenso House, Chapel Road, London SE27 OTR Tel: +44 (0) 208 670 7511

Fax: +44 (0) 0208 761 2456 Email: [email protected] Web: www.denso.net

FM 01548

EMS 583748

Established in 1883 - 130 Years Service to Industry

Leaders in Corrosion Prevention & Sealing Technology

Long-term Pipeline CoatingSolutions for Corrosion Control

A Member of Winn & Coales International

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highly-targeted and cost-effective means to put yourcompanys products or services in front of an audienceof more than 5,200 key decision makers in this globalindustry. Download our media packto find out more

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SUBMIT YOUR NEWS:Secured a new contract? Launched a new product?

Written a technical article? Contact Pipeline Coatingeditor Chris Smith with submissions for publication.

Email: [email protected]

www.pipeline-coating.com

MAY2013

SUBSEA LINEPIPETESTSVALIDATEPPROBOTCOATINGFORINTERNAL JOINTSPIPELINECOATING2013CONFERENCE

STEELPIPECOATINGMARKETUPDATE

NOVEMBER2012

NEWOPPORTUNITIES INSHALEGAS

DELIVERING WATERINBOTSWANA

LININGSUBSEAHYDROCARBONPIPE

IMPROVEDDEEPSEAJOINTTESTING

MAY2012

THEDRIVERSFORPIPELINEDEMAND

ACOUSTICMONITORINGTECHNIQUES

REVIEWINGPIPELINECOATING2012

ANIN-DEPTHLOOKATNORDSTREAM

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European pipelines | analysis

A number of major

European gaspipeline projectsemerged over thepast decade. Butwith the continent inrecession,NicholasNewman considers

the outlook for theseschemes

PHOT

O:NORD

STREAM

Over the past decade and before the 2008 financial

crisis consortia comprised of energy companies,

investment funds and government agencies developed

ambitious proposals to construct major new pipelines

across Europe. With Europe now in recession, questions

over the financial viability, operational sense and even

the need for such a large expansion of capacity are

emerging.

Russias Gazprom and the European Commission

(EC) were among the principle instigators in these

schemes. Today, Gazprom supplies one-quarter ofWestern Europes gas requirements. It has proposed at

least three mega pipeline projects to connect its Arctic

gas fields in Siberias Yamal Peninsular with Western

Europe in order to provide sufficient capacity to meet

Europes future needs, maintain market share and to,

perhaps, divert gas transmission to Western Europe

away from the Ukrainian pipeline network.

Meanwhile, the EC has produced a rival plan for a

mega pipeline to link Central Europe, via Turkey, to the

gas fields in Central Asia and the Gulf Region. It also

plans smaller fill-in projects to make up for gaps in

the existing pan-European pipeline network in order to

create a single European gas market.

These pipeline schemes shared the one major

assumption that European demand for gas would rise. In

2006, for instance, Eurogas predicted demand would rise

43% by 2030, from 438 mtoe (million tonnes of oil

equivalent) in 2005 to 625 mtoe in 2030 (1). More recently,

the IEA World Energy Outlook 2012 forecast that,

because of declining output from European gas fields,

Europe would need to increase imports of gas from 302

bcm (billion cubic metres) in 2011 to 554 bcm by 2035 (2).

Much of this increase in demand is expected to derive

from expanding Europes power generation sector.

Unfortunately for Europes pipeline investors,

however, the demand for electricity in Europe hascontracted by 1.2% per year since 2008, according to the

ECs Quarterly Report on European Electricity Mar-

kets(3). This drop in demand has been especially marked

in energy intensive industries such as steel, pharma-

ceuticals, plastics, fertilisers, construction, cement and

chemicals, which have been burdened by both a

contraction in home demand as well as price un-com-

petitiveness with American counterparts benefiting

from the shale energy revolution.

Given the extent of Europes crisis and Americas

improved competitiveness, this could mean a perma-

nent loss in capacity. In many European countries,

including France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain,

gas power plants are failing to break even. In part, this

is due to the success of Europes renewables policy.

Where next for Europes

gas mega-pipelines

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analysis | European pipelines

This has cut into both base load and peak load demand

the most profitable for gas power generation.

Moreover, the price of coal has fallen at a time when

gas and oil prices have risen, leading to a dash for

coal in power generation in some countries. As a

consequence, many gas power stations are on short-

term working or are being mothballed and gas power

utilities experiencing a declining share of a contracting

market have put plans on hold for new plants. Un-

changed, this could reduce the need for gas imports

from Russia, and hence the additional pipelines.

Furthermore, Europes climate and environmental

policies aim to increase the contribution of renewables,

throwing further doubt on the need for Russian pipeline

expansion. And potential future exports of LNG from theUS shale gas industry to Europe could depress Euro-

pean gas prices by at least 3%, raising more questions

over the long-term viability of many of the new pipelines

into Europe. European shale gas production in Poland,

Germany, France, Italy and the UK, should it be

realised, would further depress imported gas demand.

This combination of long term weakness in demand

for gas together with the prospect of potentially growing

shale gas supplies raises questions over the viability of

some of the planned new pipelines.

In 2012, Gazprom exported 203.22 bcm of Russian

gas to Europe. Current pipeline plans will raise Russias

export capacity to 380bcm, according to Rovshan

Ibrahimov, head of international relations at Qafqaz

University, Azerbajan(4).

According to Carlo Malarcarne, CEO of SNAM (the

Italian natural gas infrastructure company): It is

difficult for suppliers to sign long-term contracts with

Europe because there has been an over-supply of gas

since the financial crisis.

Professor Jonathan Stern, at the Oxford Institute for

Energy Studies says: Gas demand is in free-fall

virtually all over Europe; what new capacity do we really

need?

Many of these gas pipeline projects have been

delayed due to difficulties in finding sufficient capital to

commence construction. Traditionally, banks have

accounted for around 75% of infrastructure funding with

the rest coming from governments, sovereign wealth

funds, investment and pension funds. The financial

crisis has reduced the amount of available funding and

increased its cost. Even Gazprom, with political backing

from the Russian state, relied for a third of the Nord-

stream pipelines funding on international shareholders

within the Nord Stream consortium: Gazprom, Winter-

shall, E.ON, Ruhrgas and Gasunie. Half of the remain-der came from commercial bank lending, and the rest

from export credit agencies(5).

Funding difficulties are likely to increase when

European banks raise their capital ratio requirements

at the end of this year. To add to the difficulties of

fundraising, Stern predicts that some of the projects

may never recoup their investments. Nobody wants to

invest in a project which is not going to at least break-

even within a reasonable time, he points out.

The Nordstream pipeline project is designed to

directly link Russia, via the Baltic Sea, to the heart of

the European Union. Once complete, it will consist of

four parallel pipelines running from Vyborg near St

Petersburg to Lubmin on the North East German Baltic

coast. Phases 1 and 2 of this 1224 km pipeline network

were completed in 2012 at a cost of 7.4bn(6). It is

expected that Phases 3 and 4 will cost a similar

amount. Once fully complete, Nord Stream is designed

to transport 55 bcm of Russian gas every year to central

and Western Europe.

The design of the route for Nord Stream has not

been without difficulty. Planners have had to bear in

mind the existing complex network of subsea electricalcables, oil and gas pipelines that criss-cross the Baltic

seabed. In addition, the seabed is not flat and in parts

there are significant obstacles, ranging from natural

rocky outcrops to man-made hazards such as unex-

ploded munitions. As a result, the seabed route has had

to be adjusted several times(7). At present, Nord Stream

is conducting a series environmental and social impact

studies for Phases 3 and 4 to be submitted for approval

to regulators in the Baltic States.

The building of Nord Stream 3 and 4 is likely to use

the same construction infrastructure as for earlier

stages. The completed project will use the Portovaya

compressor station in Vyborg near the Gulf of Finland

for front-end gas boosting.

In 2010, Ukrainian pipelines accounted for 80% of

Below: Map

showing some

of the key

proposed

pan-European

natural gas

pipeline axes.

Source:

Inogate/EC

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European pipelines | analysis

Russian gas destined for Europe(8). UkrTranzGaz, the

Ukrainian pipeline operator, has estimated that on

completion of Nordstream, the Ukraine is likely to lose

some $720 million per year in transit fees.

Nabucco is the European Unions priority pipeline

project designed to reduce dependency on Russian gas.

It aims to construct a pipeline from the Baumgarten gas

hub in Austria to Turkey. The pipeline infrastructure

will consist of main, local and sub control centres,

compressor stations, custody transfer bordering

metering stations, intermediate take-offs, cathodic

protection stations, pigging and block valve stations,

SCADA and a fibre optic telecommunication system(9).

In Turkey, it is planned to link with pipelines exporting

gas from Azerbaijan and eventually the Gulf.If constructed, the route will consist of a 3,900 km

pipeline, which will be able to transmit 23 bcm of gas

per year to Europe. However, since its conception in

2002, this project has faced numerous delays and

setbacks. There have been problems in obtaining

sufficient political and financial backing, as well as

securing sufficient gas supplies. This year alone, power

utility RWE, one of the projects major backer, sold its

shares in the pipeline project to Austrias OMV.

For the future, both Hungary and Bulgaria have

announced that the Nabucco gas pipeline project has

successfully completed its environmental impact

assessment process(10). More significantly, due diligence

awaits completion from its backers, including the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,

the International Finance Corporation and the European

Investment Bank. In June, an agreement by the

Azerbaijan government is expected to ship gas from its

massive Shah Deniz Phase 2 offshore gas fields in the

southern Caspian Sea(11)via the Nabucco pipeline to

Europe, thereby ensuring sufficient gas.

Gross European gas consumption (EU27) in mtoe

Source: Eurostat

Pipeline Projects State of Progress Principle Partners Capacity per year in Estimated date

billion cubic meters of Completion

Nordstream 1&2 Completed Gazprom, Wintershall, 27.5 2012

E.ON, Ruhrgas, Gasunie,

GDF Suez,

Nordstream 3&4 Awaiting Regulatory Gazprom, Wintershall, 27.5 No date

Approval E.ON, Ruhrgas, Gasunie,

GDF Suez

Nabucco Awaiting Regulatory OMV, MOL Group, 23 No date

Approval Bulgargaz, Transgaz, BOTAS, EU.

Sudstream Awaiting completion of Gazprom, Transport AG, 63 No date

Feasibility Study. Construction Eni, EDF, Wintershall

may start in 2014.

Yamal-Europe 2 Awaiting completion of Gazprom PGNiG 15 2019

Feasibility Study.

Memorandum of understanding

signed between companies.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline Awaiting full political Axpo, Statoil, E.ON, EU. 20 No date

go-ahead

Polish- Lithuania Awaiting completion of AB Lietuvos Dujos and 2 2018

Feasibility Study. Gaz-System S.A., EU.

North South Corridor Awaiting completion of Eustream, GAZ-SYSTEM S.A., EU. 7.5 No date

(Poland Slovakia section) Feasibility Study.

Source: various sources including Financial Times, Bloomberg, RT.com

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analysis | European pipelines

Gazproms Yamal Europe 2 project is designed to

carry 50bcm of gas a year from Russia via Poland to the

central European states of Slovakia, Hungary and

Austria. It still awaits Polish approval to cross its

territory(xii). However, Poland has little to gain apart

from transit fees because of improved integration with

the European gas network and the soon-to-be opened

LNG terminal at Swinoujscie.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the financial

viability of many of the proposed gas pipelines from

East to Western Europe is uncertain. If built, some could

be destined to become white elephants potentially in

the wrong place and maybe even pointing in the wrong

direction. With money for these mega projects scarce

and expensive, it is possible that Europe may turn its

attention over the coming years to the construction of

shorter pipelines that fill the gaps in the existing

network.

References:

1 http://www.eurogas.org/uploaded/Eurogas%20long%20term%20outlook%20to%202030%20-%20final.pdf

2 http://www.nord-stream.com/media/news/press_releases/en/2013/04/nord-stream-publishes-project-information-document-on-

extension_433_20130408_1.pdf

3 http://ec.europa.eu/energy/observatory/electricity/doc/qreem_2012_quarter2.pdf4 http://www.regionplus.az/en/articles/view/2015

5 http://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/nord-stream-wins-project-finance-award

6 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/nord-stream-the-worlds-largest-gas-pipeline/1002075.article

7 http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/article/32128/gas-dispute-europe-2010-lng-terminals.html

8 http://www.nabucco-pipeline.com/portal/page/portal/en/pipeline/overview

9 http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=150168

10 http://www.rferl.org/content/nabucco-rwe-sells-omv/24957233.html

11 http://www.euroinfrastructure.eu/en/infrastructure/polska-przedmiotem-rozgrywki-czyli-gazociag-jamal-ii/

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Lifetime testing | technical paper

PHOTO:STATOIL

Polypropylene foam has been used as a thermal

insulation material for over 20 years and a good trackrecord has been built up over that period. Statoil recent-

ly decommissioned its Tordis field after 20 years of

operation and sections of line pipe and field joints were

retrieved for testing of corrosion attack on the steel

pipe. Sections were also made available to Bredero

Shaw for testing and analysis. This is the first time that

testing has been able to be performed on real samples

after the full field life and serves as an acid test for the

validity of the assumptions made in the selection of

materials and the design of the system. Both mechani-

cal and chemical testing was performed on the

retrieved coating samples and the results are reported

in this paper.

The Tordis field was originally developed by Saga

Petroleum and came on stream in 1994. The field is in

Block 34/7 in the Tampen area of the Norwegian North

Sea. The water depth was 200m and the design operatingtemperature was 70C. The insulation coating was

applied to a 275 mm OD pipe, with a wall thickness of

15.9mm and the total system (all layers) was applied at a

thickness of 50 mm. The design lifetime used for the

Tordis project was 20 years.

The insulation itself represents the first generation

Decommission-

ing of theTordis field

(main image)

presented an

opportunity to

analyse long

term ageing of

foamed PP

insulation

Long term ageing of PP foam

Table 1: Results of GPC analysis on exposed

and unexposed PP samples

Sample Mw Mn PDI

Unexposed field joint 380000 73000 5,2Exposed field joint 385000 75000 5,1

Unexposed foam 505000 81000 6,2

Exposed foam 520000 80000 6,5

Statoils decommissioning of its Tordis field presented a rareopportunity to determine the real impact that 20 years of continuous

operation places on the PP foam line pipe insulation system

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technical paper | Lifetime testing

of the Thermotite system and the coating was per-

formed in KWHs plant in Vasa, Finland, in 1992. The

application process, although no longer used, was as

follows:

Step 1:

Cleaning and blasting of steel;Heating of steel and application of FBE and powder

adhesive.

Step 2:

Application of adhesive, foam and outer shield by

cross head extrusion to cold pipe;

Induction heating to fuse the materials applied in

Step 1 to the materials applied in Step 2.

The field joint process was an early version of the

IMPP process. One facet of this process is that the use

of the induction coil to fuse material resulted in a region

within the insulation layer, close to the FBE / adhesive,

where the foam density is higher than the core of the

foam layer.

The Tordis line pipe insulation system was built up

as follows: FBE (300 micron); Adhesive (700 micron); PP

foam (density 700 40 kg/m3, 45 mm) BA202E; Solid PP

shield (4 mm) Borcoat EA165E. The Tordis injection

moulded polypropylene field joint was built up as

follows: FBE (300 micron); Adhesive (700 micron); Solid

PP (56 mm) Borcoat EA165E.

Samples and analysis

As the Tordis project was a milestone for subsea

polypropylene foam (PPF) technology, several samples

were retained as demonstration pieces. These have

been kept in office conditions and thus not exposed to

compressive loads, thermal loads or environmentalstresses. These have been used in the current paper as

reflecting the initial state of the produced insulated pipe

(t=0).

The end of life sample was retrieved as part of a

corrosion study and 2m of the retrieved section included

a section of the injection moulded polypropylene (IMPP)

field joint.

Operational data supplied by Statoil indicates that the

sample had been operated close to the design tempera-

ture for a significant part of the field life (Figure 1).

In order to determine the extent of change in the

materials it is important to address aspects of change

in the material at the molecular level. The following

techniques were used:

Gel Permeation Chromatography - providing

information on change in average molecular weight and

molecular weight distribution.

Melt Flow Index measurements - providing a single

point viscosity measurement indicative of changes in

molecular weight.

In order to determine change in mechanical

properties the following techniques were used:

Three-point flexural testing.Uni-axial tensile testing.

Oxygen induction time measurements were also

performed to determine the level of residual anti-oxi-

dant in the samples and thermal conductivity was

measured on the exposed foam samples and compared

to the design curve for the material to confirm whether

the 20 year design assumptions were met.

Where possible, tests were performed on both

exposed and unexposed samples. However, due to the

shape and quantity of the unexposed samples this was

not possible in all cases.

GPC test results

Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) analysis was

carried out according to ISO 16014-1, 2 and 4, 140C,

Table 2: MFI measurements on exposed and

unexposed PP samples

Sample MFR (g/10 min)

Unexposed field joint 0.559

Exposed field joint 0.560

Unexposed foam 0.713

Exposed foam 0.759

Table 3: OIT measurements on exposed and

unexposed PP samples

Sample OIT /min.

Unexposed field joint 49

Exposed field joint 54

Unexposed foam 20

Exposed foam 17

Figure 1: Operation data - temperature after subsea choke

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Lifetime testing |technical paper

trichlorobenzene solution. GPC is a fractionation

method aimed at gaining information concerning the

molecular weight distribution within a sample of

polymeric material.

Analyis was performed on exposed and unexposed

samples of both the foam and field joint material. For

comparative purposes, the molecular weight (Mw) and

the number average molecular weight (Mn) were

determined, from which the polydispersity index (PDI)

was determined as Mw/Mn. [Mw is the average weight

of polymer chains in the sample weighted according to

weight fractions, Mn is the average weight of polymer

chains in the sample weighted according to number

fractions, PDI is a measurement of spread in the

molecular weight distribution within a sample.]Significant chemical change, such as cleaving of

polymer chains, would be expected to change the values

of Mw and Mn and to narrow the PDI.

The results are shown below in Table 1 and Figure 2.

Samples from the exposed section were taken from the

hot region of the field joint during operation. The values

of Mn and Mw for exposed and unexposed samples are

identical within the uncertainty of the measurement

and, as can be seen in Figure 2, the GPC curves for

exposed and unexposed samples lie on top of each

other for both the line pipe and the field joint materials.

Therefore, at the molecular level there is no evidence of

significant change.

MFI test results

Melt Flow Index (MFI) measurements were carried out

according to ISO 1133; 230C, 2.16 kg load. MFI is a

technique that is used as a QC tool to determine whether

a material has the same melt behavior under a given set

of conditions.

As the rheological properties of polypropylene

materials are dependent on the molecular weight and

the molecular weight distribution at a given tempera-ture and under a given loading, this simple tool has

been used to indicate change. Although not as exhaus-

tive in terms of data as the GPC analysis performed

above, the test is simple and cheap to perform and the

results are generally more available to the reader.

Increase in MFI is assumed to be indicative of reduction

in average molecular chain length and thus degrada-

tion.

MFI results are shown in Table 2. As with the GPC

analysis, there is little evidence of significant change in

the MFI of the materials pre- and post exposure. While a

slight increase in MFI can be seen between the exposed

and unexposed foam, the significance of this relative to

the accuracy of the measurement is questionable.

Oxygen induction testing

Oxygen Induction Time (OIT) measurements were

carried out according to ISO 11357-6; 210C, O2. OIT

reflects the amount of residual anti-oxidant additive

present in a material. For many materials the presence

of such additives is essential to prevent oxidative

cleavage of polymer chains and the corresponding

reduction in mechanical properties. OIT is often

measured following material application to ensure that

suitable processing conditions have been used.

The question of change in OIT in the subsea environ-ment is often asked and, until this point, little material

has been retrieved for analysis. In the Tordis case,

however, samples were available for analysis post

application and post exposure. The results in Table 3

Table 4: Three-point flexural tests for exposed and typical raw materials

Exposed Typical Exposed Typical raw

foam raw material field joint material

FLEXURAL MODULUS MPa 1010,8 1000* 754,8 800

FLEXURAL STRENGTH MPa 27,5 26* 21,3 21,5

FLEXURAL STRAIN AT FLEXURAL STRENGTH % 6,9 6,6 6,8 6,5FLEXURAL STRESS AT 3,5% STRAIN MPa 23,1 21* 17,6 18

FLEXURAL STRESS AT BREAK MPa 27,1 - 21,5 -

FLEXURAL STRAIN AT BREAK % 7,9 - 7,7 -

Figure 2: Comparison of GPC curves for exposed and unexposed PP samples

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technical paper | Lifetime testing

show there is no significant change in the values

measured and, as such, no loss in stabilization over the

20 year operation of the line.

Three-point flex testing

Three-point flexural testing was carried out in accord-

ance with ISO 178. Due to the availability of suitably

sized samples this testing was limited to the exposed

material and the raw material properties are used for

comparative purposes. As such, the degree of changefrom produced article to exposed article is not known.

This comparison is, however, useful to address the

overall change from raw material. From the data

presented in Table 4 it is clear that there has not been

any significant change in properties from the initial that

could be considered injurious to the performance of the

insulation and field joint systems.

Tensile test results

Uni-axial tensile tests were performed on samples

retrieved from both the exposed and unexposed

specimens and in accordance with ASTM D638-03; type

IV specimens, 50 mm/min at 21C. Tensile bars

measuring 12 mm x 8 mm were used to reduce the

impact of the foam structure on the ultimate elongation

(elongation at break) of the materials. This is sufficient

for a comparative study. However, as can be seen in the

right hand column in Table 5, the data is still associated

with very high standard deviations relative to the mean,

and graphical information is more informative. Tensile

stress-strain curves are included for that reason later

in Figure 3.

From Table 5, it can be seen that the yield stress and

stress at break have reduced for both sets of samples

post exposure. The fall is relatively small, but signifi-cant. As there is no evidence of chemical degradation in

the polymer from the GPC study, this reduction may be

a long term effect of the development of the thermody-

namic phase/morphological structure of the material

over time post-application.

Elongation at yield is affected only slightly for both

sets of samples over time, as is also the case for

extension at break when the effects of premature

failures are taken into consideration in the interpreta-

tion of the results (Figure 3).

Thermal conductivity

Thermal conductivity was measured for the exposed

material and compared to the current design curve for

BA202E at 660 kg/m3. The results are shown in Figure 4,

Figure 3: Stress/strain curves for materials pre and post exposure

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advertising feature | Joint protection

Russian company CELER marked a milestone last year with theproduction of its one millionth welded pipe joint protection sleeve.

It is now working to meet even more demanding goals

Russian company CELER celebrated a milestone in its

history last year: the production of its one millionth

internal weld joint protection sleeve for steel pipes.

Developed to protect the exposed surface at the

welded joint area on steel pipelines with an internal

anti-corrosion applied coating, CELERs CE pipeline

internal welding joint protection sleeve is simple to use

and, due to its elastic rubber collar sealing system, is

suitable for use with all grades of pipes. The sleeve, the

intellectual property of CELER, is both the companys

that has laid the ground for all of its ongoing develop-

ments.

CELER manufactures two versions of the CE pipeline

internal welding joint protection sleeve: one for the oil

industry or for industrial/waste water applications; and

one for potable water. Both variants carry all the

necessary certifications and are supplied complete with

the companys CH-5-A mastic sealant (the price of this

is included with the sleeve). This mastic also carries all

the necessary certifications (including hygiene) and may

be applied in oil as well as potable water pipeline

applications.

One million installed sleeves manufactured,

supplied and installed over 14 years means

10,000 km of oil pipelines with internal

corrosion-resistant coating are benefiting from

CELERs joint protection technology. That is the

equivalent to a distance of one quarter of the

worlds equator, the company says.CELER was established in February 1999,

commencing operation with just 400m2of

production space. In those early days, the company

carried out only assembly work, outsourcing its

engineering requirements to a number of aircraft

manufacturing plants. Maximum production capacity in

the first year was 100 sleeves a day.

The decision was taken in 2001 to stop

outsourcing and begin in-house production.

CELER began manufacturing its own

blanks, setting up its own welding, coating

and rubber production units. Capacity in the

first year of in-house manufacturing was

35,000 to 50,000 sleeves a year. Today, the

company operates from a 12,000m2

Russias CELER marksweld sleeve milestone

CELER

manufactures

its CE joint

protection

sleeves for a

wide range of

pipe diameters.

Last year it

delivered its

one millionth

sleeve first product and the one

8/13/2019 PCMay2013 (1)

29/48


Joint protection | advertising feature

production facility and is able to produce as many as

1,000 sleeves each day, in sizes ranging from 57 mm to

1,220 mm in diameter. One factor that has played a part

in this fast production growth is the simplicity of the CE

sleeve design, which does not call for complex machin-

ing and welding processes.

When CELER first introduced the CE sleeve to the

Russian market, it was competing against a number of

alternative welded joint corrosion protection technolo-

gies, including slip casting, protectors, and stainless

sleeves. At that time, Russian oil companies had no

particular weld protection preference. However, within

five years, the sleeve had proved itself to be the most

efficient protection technology in terms of reasonable

pricing, reliable performance, and easy installation (the

collar and two design variants means the CE sleeve can

be installed on any pipe grade without the need to

calibrate the pipe ends). By 2012, CELERs sleeve

production volume had grown to 200,000 units a year.This rapid growth in demand for sleeves lead the

company to begin production of a range of pipeline

accessories, such as the Ch-5-A mastic and a complete

line of special fittings (including pipe-bends, reducers,

T-joints and flanges with anti-corrosion coating and

weldolets that are connectable to the sleeves). Several

of these special fittings and mastics are also patented.

During the first five years, CELER exploited its

growing income to equip itself to manage the entire

production cycle for manufacturing sleeves, mastic and

various fitting types in-house. The company has

continued to grow since by expanding its production

capacity and increasing its production areas. Each year

a new production shop is added to the manufacturing

facility.

The company has also worked to continually improve

the CE sleeve design and quality. In 2005, it introduced a

new collar (which is patented separately) which is

easier to install and achieves a tighter fit. The mastic

formulation was also improved, allowing its shelf life to

be extended from six months to eighteen months to

meet the increasingly demanding requirements of

customers.

In the same year (2005), CELER also obtained a

Certificate of Conformity of the Quality Management

System to GOST R ISO 9001-2008. This conformity has

been successfully renewed each year and the company

proudly claims that it has not received a single quality

complaint since then.

CELERs customer list includes almost all of

Russias major oil companies. Long-standing custom-

ers such as TNK-BP, Lukoil and Rosneft, have more

recently been joined by Tatneft, Bashneft, Gazprom, and

Slavneft. Two years ago, CELER also started workingvery closely with Surgutneftegaz.

A key strategy in the companys business develop-

ment has been to collaborate closely with design

institutes. This enables it to ensure that its products are

included in new field development projects such as the

construction of field oil pipelines as early as possible in

the development stage. Currently, more than 30 R&D

and design institutes include CELERs CE range in their

projects. This includes the sleeves, as well as CE

fittings and all kinds of special parts.

In recent years, the company has also focused on

introducing new equipment to increase labour efficiency

and to expand its production capacities. A year ago,

CELER commissioned a robot-aided welding complex

supplied by KUKA, which is said to be unique in Russia.

Special fittings

in the CELER

factory. The

epoxy-coated

parts are

designed for

joining using

CE sleeves

Above right:

A custom pipe

bend compris-

ing T-joint,

reducer and

flange under

construction

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advertising feature | Joint protection

Apart from the robot-aided

welding complex, high quality and

capacity is also ensured by means

of the companys other equipment,

which includes welding units (manufac-

tured in Finland, the USA and Sweden) and universal

welding rotators.

The company uses two package semi-automatic

units for facing operations and small diameter sleeve

manufacturing. These units were specifically designed

and manufactured for CELER, a process that took two

years. However, the end result has proved worthwhile

as the application of these units enabled the production

output of small sleeves (57 to 219 mm in diameter) to

be increased from 150 to 500 units per day per semi-

automatic unit.

The CH-5-A mastic is used as part of CELERs own

CE joint protection system, but is also suitable as a

lower cost alternative for sealing joints in pipe connec-

tions made using the Butler mechanical pipe joining

system. Supplying the mastic for use with the Butler

system required development of an automated dosing

system to increase production capacity and CELER iscurrently introducing two automated units for mastic

dosing into its packing systems.

CELER is equipped to use a variety of protective

coatings including epoxy powder, liquid epoxy and

polyurethane - which can be applied according to

different procedures approved by the client or design

engineer. All powder coatings are applied using the

electrostatic method and high-efficiency equipment

supplied by Gema of Switzerland. CELER has, however,

modified the powder coating application unit using its

own application expertise to achieve online control of

powder weight for a specific part. This has allowed the

company to achieve a high level of precision in applied

coating thickness, which has a critical influence on the

overall quality. Liquid epoxy and polyurethane paints

are applied using a high-efficient airless

spraying unit manufactured by Graco.

CELER is now building on its joint

protection expertise and expanding its

product offering to include production

of pre-fabricated process pipeline

units with internal or full coating.

The first step in this was to manufac-

ture special complex pipeline

connecting parts with anti-corrosion

insulation, such as branch pipes with

flanges and welded weldolets for

pressure or temperature gauges

connected by branch pipes of a number

of pipe-bends, T-joint reducers andsimilar parts.

The company now aims to be proficient

in manufacturing all products necessary for

the assembly of a closed oil & gas gathering

system of pipes, standard and special pipe fittings,

support units and welding joint protection sleeves. It

has completed orders for the manufacture of pre-fabri-

cated pipeline units with internal corrosion-resistant

protection, measuring and metering units, cleansing

and diagnostic agent injection/receiving units, pump

station manifolds and other process piping for field and

transit pipelines. It now considers this area to be the

most promising in the field of anti-corrosion protection

of internally coated pipelines.

The most recent addition to the CELER capability

programme is the introduction of joint insulation

technologies. The company now has expertise in the

installation of foamed polyurethane heat insulating

coatings inside a galvanised casing, which can be

appied to all of its fittings and units.

Looking forward, CELER aims to ensure it continues

to maintain its current pace of development by staying

in touch with the most recent developments in order toprovide an integrated approach to field pipeline

anti-corrosion protection and to manufacture the

highest quality products. To that end, it takes inspira-

tion from the English writer Lewis Carroll, who said: It

takes all the running you can do to keep in the same

place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run

at least twice as fast as that!

For more information:

Telephone: +7-846-2000-264, +7-846-2000-168

Fax: +7 846 2000-168


Internet: www.celer.ru

Address: 6, Baltiyskiy passage, Promyshlennaya area,

Kinelskiy district, Samara region, 446441, Russia

Above:

A custom-

manufactured

welded flanged

joint manufac-

tured to order

by CELER with

external

polyurethane

and internal

epoxy corrosion

protection

coatings

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24-26 February 2014Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen,

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Organised by:

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Information Ltd.

Media supporter:Also sponsored by:

PipelineCoating2014International conference on pipeline protection, coating technology, materials and markets

CALL FOR PAPERS

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subsea | Flow assurance

Bayou Wasco Insulations new US line pipeinsulation facility is the first in North America to

use Dows Neptune two-layer flow assurance technology

Bayou Wasco Insulation has commissioned the first

flow assurance system facility in North America capable

of applying Dow Chemicals Neptune insulation system

to oil and gas line pipe at its newly-established facility

at New Iberia in Louisiana, US.

The company collaborated with Dow Chemical on the

full-scale qualification of the process for Neptune P

insulation coating for line pipe and optimisation of the

insulation application capability at the new state-of-

the-art plant.

We are very pleased with the progress that has

been made to successfully and quickly bring this brand

new facility on-line, says Eldridge Indest, vice presi-

dent and general manager of The Bayou Companies.

The Bayou Wasco Insulation facility, which was

formally inaugurated this month, is located close to the

US Gulf Coast oil and gas markets.

We built this plant with our offshore customers in

mind, offering them favorable logistics with an

accessible location near the Gulf of Mexico.

Additionally, we believe they will be very interestedin the end-to-end and elevated temperature

insulation performance of the pipes coated with

Neptune technology that we produce, says

Indest.

Now that we have the ability to produce

coated pipes that will meet our customers

deep water insulation needs, we are ready to

discuss upcoming offshore projects, he says.

Bayou Wasco Insulation is a joint venture

established in 2011 between The Bayou

Companies and Wasco Energy. It was estab-

lished to provide offshore insulation services to

customers in North America, Central America

and the Caribbean. The New Iberia facility is

configured for application of a range of flow

Right:

Dow

claims its

Neptune

two-layer

systemprovides the

widest

operating

temperature

range of any

wet-applied

system

Far right:

Applied

insulation has

passed

demanding

qualification

tests

Bayou Wasco goes for

flow with Neptuneassurance coatings, including syntactic polyurethaneand multi-layer PP systems as well as the Dow system.

End-to-end solutions

The Neptune P advanced flow assurance insulation

system for line pipe is part of a new proprietary

end-to-end flow assurance system that also includes

Dows Neptune F field joint coating and Neptune C

coating for subsea architecture. The simple, two-layer

system includes an underlay of a high temperature

fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) for corrosion protection and

an overlay of Dows advanced hybrid polyether thermo-

set insulation.

According to Dow, the hybrid polyether thermoset is

a new insulation technology developed to provide robust

flow assurance in the increasingly harsh conditions

experienced during subsea oil production. Applied over

the proprietary FBE layer, the system has passed

demanding qualification tests, including small- and

production-scale trials employing extreme testing

8/13/2019 PCMay2013 (1)

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Flow assurance | subsea

procedures to validate compressive strength, durability,

and thermal performance.

The system is said to eliminate the need for the use

of the multiple materials and adhesive tie-layers

usually employed in flow assurance systems, which is

said to allow a thinner coating profile to be maintained

while achieving higher consistency in K-factor between

tree, to line pipe, and to field joint.

The Neptune P coated line pipe produced at the

Bayou Wasco facility is intended solely for use with the

Neptune F insulation coating for field joints. This

simple, reproducible field joint coating process was

recently demonstrated by UK-based Pipeline Induction

Heat (PIH), part of the CRC Evans group of companies,

to produce high-quality field joints on an eight inch

diameter line pipe.

PIH and Dow have a long history of collaborating to

bring innovation to offshore oil and gas production,

says Tony Pontefract, director of business development

at PIH. Through our collaboration on Neptune FInsulation, we now have the ability to offer customers a

simpler, reproducible field joint coating process,

competitive cycle time, high mobility and a compact

equipment footprint.

According to Dow, the Neptune technology provides

the widest end-to-end installation and operating

temperature range of any wet insulation system currently

available on the market. The company claims the system

offers excellent physical properties, remaining highly

flexible down to -40C and retaining its thermal stability

at service temperatures of up to 160C. The system has

been tested for use at depths of up to 4,000m.

Dow worked closely with polymer and syntactic

foam-based coating specialist Trelleborg Offshore in

development of the Neptune C component for subsea

architecture protection.

Since its introduction early last year, the Neptune

system has won a World Oil Award for Best Production

Technology and an Offshore Technology New Technology

Award.

Click on the links for more information:

www.bayoucompanies.com

www.dow.com

www.pih.co.uk

www.trelleborg.com

Low temperature performance of Neptune P and F subsea

insulation coatings

Product Temperature (C) Elongation at break (%)

Neptune P -40 65

(line pipe applications) 0 90

50 64

Neptune F -40 72

(field joint applications) 0 87

50 67

Source: Dow Chemical Company

Typical properties of Neptune subsea flow assurance

insulation system

Installation method Reel, S-Lay, J-Lay

Depth rating At least 4,000m

Subsea service temperature, C -40 to +160

Thermal conductivity under SST conditions1 0.152

Density (ASTM D792, 23C) 1.1Heat capacity (ASTM E1269, 0 to 160C) 1.2 to 1.7

1 160C at 300 bar for 28 days

Source: Dow Chemical Company

Above: Flexural

fatigue testing

of the Neptune

P coating

simulates

real-world

exposure

8/13/2019 PCMay2013 (1)

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