Success Stories
16"OD NATURAL GAS PIPELINE REPAIR
Problem
A 16" carbon steel, natural gas pipe operating at 99 psi (6.8 bar) located in New York experienced a 13.5' (4.1 m) gouge along its length. The gouge's width at worst location was 1.5" (3.8 cm), and depth at worst location was 0.15" (3.8 mm). The company was required by regulators to install a repair or replace the section of damaged pipe to prevent an unexpected shutdown or catastrophic rupture in the pipeline as it is located in a densely populated area.
Conditions
The 99 psi (6.8 bar), 16" natural gas pipeline was located underground in a populated area and an emergency repair was required inorder to meet city, state, and federal pipeline codes and regulations for safety reasons.
Solution
After excavation, the pipe was cleaned to remove rust, paint, and other foreign matter in accordance with Sa2.5 (NACE 2) to promote adhesion. The gouge was ground out of the pipeline and filled with Syntho-Poxy™ HC, a high compression strength, load transferring filler epoxy. The repair staging was then broken into sections due to manpower and speed for proper application. 30 mils (0.75 mm) of Syntho-SubSea™ LV epoxy was then applied over the first section to provide corrosion protective over the bare steel pipe effectively locking out any atmospheric conditions from the environment. The Viper Skin™ carbon fiber composite system was then applied at the calculated number oflayers over the first section of pipe. The pipeline was fully restored to its original integrity upon completion of the entire length of repair.
Result
The Viper Skin™ composite repair system eliminated the need to immediately replace the defective section of pipe. In only one afternoon, the Viper Skin™ system was installed and fully restored the pipe's operating pressure to enable full pipeline operations with no disruption to the continuing service.
