MAY 2013

SUBSEA LINE PIPE TESTS VALIDATE PP

ROBOT COATING FOR INTERNAL JOINTS
PIPELINE COATING 2013 CONFERENCE
STEEL PIPE COATING MARKET UPDATE
BRS4545 Risk FP_2013_WP.indd 1 3/18/13 3:59 AM
Copyright Applied Market Information. No part may be reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Coming next issue November 2013
S Field jointing systems S Coating developments S 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 condence,
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 eld presented a rare opportunity to examine
PP foam insulation after almost 20 years of operation in demanding subsea
conditions.
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 ow with Neptune
Bayou Wasco Insulations new line pipe coating facility at New Iberia is the rst in
North America capable of applying Dows Neptune two-layer end-to-end insulation
system.
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 can
minimise the risk.
41 Conference report: Pipeline Coating 2013
AMIs fth Pipeline Coating conference in Austria earlier this year provided an
unmatched opportunity to discuss market and technical developments. Chris Smith
reports.
46 New materials and equipment
contents
P
A
G
E

4

P
A
G
E

1
7
P
A
G
E

2
1
P
A
G
E

3
3
P
A
G
E

3
5
contact us
Head of business publishing: Andy Beevers E-mail: abe@amiplastics.com
Editor: Chris Smith E-mail: cs@amiplastics.com
Consulting editor: Noru Tsalic E-mail: nt@amiplastics.com
Designer: Nicola Crane
Advertisement manager: Claire Bishop E-mail: claire@amimagazines.com
Direct tel: +44 (0)20 8686 8139
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 3
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 4
news
Plains All American to
build crude pipeline
All Americans existing Orion
station, from where crude oil
will ow 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 rst 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
rst 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 through
a 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 western
Oklahoma 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
Jotun posted a record result
for 2012, pushing sales up
6.5% to NOK 11.35bn
(E1.5bn) and prots up by
more than 17% to NOK
1.126bn (E149m). 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 beneted
from 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 Technip
facilities in Malaysia and
Singapore.
www.technip.com
Aegion subsidiary 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 inks E1m 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 E5.8m).
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 of
Excellence focused on
advanced buoyancy modules in
deep-sea environments.
www.trelleborg.com
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 5
news
Iran
commits
to 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
eld 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 while
coating 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 eld will also
be the rst to use a oating
SPAR platform on the
Norwegian continental shelf.
E530m 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 the
countrys 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 insufcient, 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 rst
oil sands unit to operate
without an upgrader. This is
claimed 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 oil
sands mining, said ExxonMo-
bil Development president Neil
Dufn in a statement this
month.
The new plant uses a
proprietary parafnic 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 is
expected 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 eld
news
Dubai ofce
for HarrisPye
OMS measures up for Bredero Shaw
Engineering services group
Harris Pye has established
a new ofce in Dubai where
it will centralise its global
offshore business support.
This ofce is specically
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 / post@norner.no
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 offshore
applications 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 Qualied and ISO9001:2008 certied 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 Alberta
of 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
Canusa-CPS is the industry leader in eld-applied coatings for corrosion, mechanical
and thermal protection of both onshore and offshore pipelines. Our advanced
technology 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 sleeves
coupled with IntelliCOAT

, state-of-the-art equipment for automated eld installation,

provide eld-joint coating systems that not only far exceed the requirements of the
ISO 21809-3 standard for 3LPE and 3LPP joint coatings, but that also provide
equivalent performance to the 3LPE and 3LPP mainline coatings as per the
requirements of the ISO 21809-1 standard for these coating types.
ShawCor when you need to be sure
Advanced, eld-applied pipeline
protection coatings
shawcor.com canusa.com
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 8
news
Technip
buys
Ingenium
The US Department of Energy
has conditionally authorised
Freeport LNG Expansion and
FLNG Liquefaction to export
liqueed 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 Freeport
non-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 benet 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 benet
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 more
than 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 hand
UK-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 coefcients of components of these
mixtures as they pass through the lm under test.
www.twi.co.uk
The Freeport LNG facility at Quintana Island
news
Final APLNG
pipes shipped
The nal shipment of pipes
required to complete the
520km Australian Pacic LNG
(APLNG) pipeline arrived at
Gladstone Port in the Austral-
ian state of Queensland earlier
this month, according to
project managers.
This nal shipment of
pipes arriving today as planned
ensures we remain on
schedule for delivery of rst
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 elds
in Queenslands Surat and
Bowen basins and a new coal
seam gas to a liqueed natural
gas 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 China
Momentive 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 capability
Russian 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 acre
site 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-added
tools for the oil and gas
industry, said TMK CEO
Alexander Shiryaev.
www.tmk-group.com
lifeguards
Lets extend pipeline lifetime
Seal For Life Ofce: Gasselterstraat 20, 9503 JB, Stadskanaal, the Netherlands
Manufacturing sites: Houston - USA, Tijuana - Mexico, Westerlo - Belgium, Baroda - India, Stadskanaal - the Netherlands, Dammam - Saudi Arabia
WE130224_ADV_LIFEGUARDS_WORLD_PIPELINES_210x297.indd 1 24-04-13 14:49
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 11
Update | market
Growing global energy demand and
the ever changing dynamic of the Oil
& Gas industry makes for an
optimistic 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 signicant
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 being
made to reduce the consumption of energy in every eld
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 drives
pipeline growth
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 12
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 most
optimistic 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 eld and basin
are nite at some point they inevitably start to run
out; on the other hand, new basins and new elds are
discovered and brought into exploitation. Obviously,
pipelines are not mobile: they cannot be simply moved
around. New elds mean new pipelines, even if that
new production replaces older elds that have run
dry. In fact, it is more than that because the low
hanging fruit has already been picked. New elds
tend to be more difcult 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
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 13
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 Liqueed 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
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 14
market | Update
Figure 7: Schematic of shale gas exploitation
Source: 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
amplier 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 all
its 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/day
Source: 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
desertication. 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 CO
2
, 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 elds.
Between source and storage site, the pressurised gas
will be transported through pipelines.
In summary, there are plenty of reasons to answer
the third question of our analysis with a condent
afrmative: 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: nt@amiplastics.com.
Winn & Coales (Denso) Ltd
Denso House, Chapel Road, London SE27 OTR Tel: +44 (0) 208 670 7511
Fax: +44 (0) 0208 761 2456 Email: mail@denso.net 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 Coating
Solutions for Corrosion Control
A Member of Winn & Coales International
Promote your company in
magazine





ADVERTISE:
Pipeline Coating magazine provides a
highly-targeted and cost-effective means to put your
companys products or services in front of an audience
of more than 5,200 key decision makers in this global
industry. Download our media pack to nd out more
about our great value advertising options.

SUBMIT YOUR NEWS:
Secured a new contract? Launched a new product?
Written a technical article? Contact Pipeline Coating
editor Chris Smith with submissions for publication.
Email: cs@amiplastics.com

www.pipeline-coating.com
MAY 2013
SUBSEA LINE PIPE TESTS VALIDATE PP ROBOT COATING FOR INTERNAL JOINTS PIPELINE COATING 2013 CONFERENCE
STEEL PIPE COATING MARKET UPDATE
NOVEMBER 2012
NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN SHALE GAS
DELIVERING WATER IN BOTSWANA
LINING SUBSEA HYDROCARBON PIPE
IMPROVED DEEP SEA JOINT TESTING
MAY 2012
THE DRIVERS FOR PIPELINE DEMAND
ACOUSTIC MONITORING TECHNIQUES
REVIEWING PIPELINE COATING 2012
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT NORD STREAM
November 2011
PiPeliNe coatiNg goes mobile
iN-service moNitoriNg oPtioNs
UNderstaNdiNg PiPe corrosioN
aNalysiNg global market treNds
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 17
European pipelines | analysis
A number of major
European gas
pipeline projects
emerged over the
past decade. But
with the continent in
recession, Nicholas
Newman considers
the outlook for these
schemes
P
H
O
T
O
:

N
O
R
D

S
T
R
E
A
M
Over the past decade and before the 2008 nancial
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 nancial 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 of
Western Europes gas requirements. It has proposed at
least three mega pipeline projects to connect its Arctic
gas elds in Siberias Yamal Peninsular with Western
Europe in order to provide sufcient 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 elds in Central Asia and the Gulf Region. It also
plans smaller ll-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 elds,
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 has
contracted 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 beneting
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
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 18
analysis | European pipelines
This has cut into both base load and peak load demand
the most protable 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 the
US 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
difcult for suppliers to sign long-term contracts with
Europe because there has been an over-supply of gas
since the nancial 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 difculties in nding sufcient 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 nancial
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 difculties are likely to increase when
European banks raise their capital ratio requirements
at the end of this year. To add to the difculties 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 E7.4bn
(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 difculty. Planners have had to bear in
mind the existing complex network of subsea electrical
cables, oil and gas pipelines that criss-cross the Baltic
seabed. In addition, the seabed is not at and in parts
there are signicant 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
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 19
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 bre 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
sufcient political and nancial backing, as well as
securing sufcient 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 signicantly, 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 elds in the
southern Caspian Sea
(11)
via the Nabucco pipeline to
Europe, thereby ensuring sufcient 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
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 nancial
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 ll the gaps in the existing
network.
References:
1 http://www.eurogas.org/uploaded/Eurogas%20long%20term%20outlook%20to%202030%20-%20nal.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.pdf
4 http://www.regionplus.az/en/articles/view/2015
5 http://www.oilandgaseurasia.com/news/nord-stream-wins-project-nance-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/
Reedy
International
Corporation


9301-A Forsyth Park Drive
Charlotte, NC 28273
USA
1.980.819.6930


25 E. Front Street
Suite 200
Keyport, NJ 07735
USA







www.reedyintl.com
is proud to offer Chemical Foaming Agents
for pipe coatings in sub-sea oil and gas transmissions:




Our advanced additive solutions include new technology that allow

Reduced density without embrittlement
Improved insulation
Overall cost reduction

Global representation and local manufacturing. New manufacturing facility in SE Asia.
Please visit our website or contact us today for information.

www.reedyintl.com
Imagine the possibilities...
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 21
Lifetime testing | technical paper
P
H
O
T
O
:

S
T
A
T
O
I
L
Polypropylene foam has been used as a thermal
insulation material for over 20 years and a good track
record has been built up over that period. Statoil recent-
ly decommissioned its Tordis eld after 20 years of
operation and sections of line pipe and eld 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 rst time that
testing has been able to be performed on real samples
after the full eld 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 eld was originally developed by Saga
Petroleum and came on stream in 1994. The eld is in
Block 34/7 in the Tampen area of the Norwegian North
Sea. The water depth was 200m and the design operating
temperature 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 rst generation
Decommission-
ing of the
Tordis eld
(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 eld joint 380000 73000 5,2
Exposed eld joint 385000 75000 5,1
Unexposed foam 505000 81000 6,2
Exposed foam 520000 80000 6,5
Statoils decommissioning of its Tordis eld presented a rare
opportunity to determine the real impact that 20 years of continuous
operation places on the PP foam line pipe insulation system
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 22
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:
G Cleaning and blasting of steel;
G Heating of steel and application of FBE and powder
adhesive.
Step 2:
G Application of adhesive, foam and outer shield by
cross head extrusion to cold pipe;
G Induction heating to fuse the materials applied in
Step 1 to the materials applied in Step 2.
The eld 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/m
3
, 45 mm) BA202E; Solid PP
shield (4 mm) Borcoat EA165E. The Tordis injection
moulded polypropylene eld 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 ofce conditions and thus not exposed to
compressive loads, thermal loads or environmental
stresses. These have been used in the current paper as
reecting 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)
eld joint.
Operational data supplied by Statoil indicates that the
sample had been operated close to the design tempera-
ture for a signicant part of the eld 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:
G Gel Permeation Chromatography - providing
information on change in average molecular weight and
molecular weight distribution.
G 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:
G Three-point exural testing.
G 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 conrm 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 eld joint 0.559
Exposed eld 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 eld joint 49
Exposed eld joint 54
Unexposed foam 20
Exposed foam 17
Figure 1: Operation data - temperature after subsea choke
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 23
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 eld 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.]
Signicant 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 eld 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 eld joint materials.
Therefore, at the molecular level there is no evidence of
signicant 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 signicant 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 signicance 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, O
2
. OIT
reects 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 exural tests for exposed and typical raw materials
Exposed Typical Exposed Typical raw
foam raw material eld 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 6,5
FLEXURAL 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
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 24
technical paper | Lifetime testing
show there is no signicant change in the values
measured and, as such, no loss in stabilization over the
20 year operation of the line.
Three-point ex testing
Three-point exural 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 change
from 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 signicant change in properties from the initial that
could be considered injurious to the performance of the
insulation and eld 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 sufcient
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 signi-
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/m
3
. The results are shown in Figure 4,
Figure 3: Stress/strain curves for materials pre and post exposure
DENSOLEN

DENSOMAT

DENSOLEN

-
Rockshield
Admittedly, we
copied from nature
DENSO is the inventor of the PETROLATUM Tape in the 1920s. Original DENSOLEN

Tapes
and Tape Systems, DENSOLID

-Polyurethane Coatings and DEKOTEC

Innovative Hotmelt and

Mastic Shrink-Sleeve Technology. Leader in Innovation since 90 years. Made in Germany.
Member of: Certied by:
denso.de
DENSO GmbH
Felderstrae 24
51371 Leverkusen | Germany
+49 214 2602-0
+49 214 2602-217
sales@denso.de
Find out more:
THE BEST PROTECTION
FOR A LIFETIME
to create the best
protection for you!
A Member of
Denso Group
Germany
dekotec.net
Certified
DINENISO9001

MEMBER OF
Denso Group Germany -
The Inventor of Passive
Corrosion Prevention
Follow us on...
Be the rst to know when we publish a new edition,
plus updates on our conferences and useful links.
www.twitter.com/plasticsworld
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 26
technical paper | Lifetime testing
with the upper and lower measurement tolerances (1%
level) included for reference. As can be seen, the data
points generated from the exposed material lie within
the design envelope. The gradient of the relationship of
k-value with temperature is different for the two data
sets. The reason for this departure is that the design
curve is generated on a large number of precisely
machined, stress relieved samples, whereas the data
points from the retrieved material were generated on
non-stress relived material in order to avoid inuencing
the results.
Some warpage of non-stress relieved samples is
expected at elevated temperatures. This leads to
imperfect thermal contact in the experiment and
articially low values.
Conclusion
From the analysis performed there is no evidence of
signicant degradation of the materials used in the
Thermotite polypropylene foam applied on pipes used in
the Tordis project in 1992 and subsequently used in the
subsea environment for 20 years. In particular:
G GPC and MFI measurements indicate that no
signicant change in the build-up of the materials at
the molecular level has taken place and the results of
IOT measurements also conrm that the material
remains adequately protected from potential oxidative
effects;
G Mechanical property measurements conrm that no
signicant change in mechanical properties has taken
place during the 20 years of exposure;
G Thermal conductivity measurements made on
exposed material are within the range used as the basis
for thermal system design for the end of life density
reached.
It is clear from the data presented that the Thermo-
tite polypropylene foam system used on the Tordis eld
has performed excellently during 20 years of service and
even after this time is showing no signicant indications
of property change.
In the absence of change it is impossible to predict a
failure case and the only lifetime conclusion that can be
reached is that the coating system, under the conditions
applied, can be expected to display a lifetime in excess of
the initial 20 year design.
About the authors:
This technical article is based on a paper titled Long
term ageing of polypropylene foam; results of testing
performed after 20 years of exposure in a subsea
environment, which was presented by Bredero Shaw
vice president of ow assurance products Adam
Jackson at the Oileld Engineering with Polymers
2012 conference. The full set of conference proceed-
ings, including all 21 presentations, is available here
http://bit.ly/10TBKNY
The paper was co-authored with E Simonsen at
Bredero Shaw AS, T Stark and R Nixon at Borealis
Group AG, and B Melve and D Ali at Statoil ASA.
S www.brederoshaw.com
Table 5: Tensile testing of exposed and unexposed samples
Specimen Stress at Elongation at Stress at Elongation at
Yield (MPa) Yield (%) Break (MPa) Break (%)
Exposed FJ Average 15,96 15,0 14,86 50,41
StDev 1,57 3,28 0,97 7,53
Unexposed FJ Average 17,14 18,24 19,42 47,70
StDev 0,35 1,11 1,18 20,62
Exposed foam Average 16,32 12,8 15,48 27,24
StDev 3,14 7,85 2,99 11,28
Unexposed foam Average 12,30 12,3 12,48 31,67
StDev 1,74 1,65 1,61 11,02
Figure 4: k-value of foamed BA202E after subsea exposure for 20 years
Field joint blast & coat
Spool base equipment
External blasting
External coating
Internal blasting & lining
Concrete weight coating
Ofshore pipe handling
Pipeline rehabilitation
Pipe blasting and coating systems
Pipe handling equipment
Your reliable partner for:
www.selmers.nl
Pipe handling equipment
Pipe blasting & coating plants
Pipeline rehabilitation equipment
Field joint blasting & coating
Deck handling equipment
Spool base facilities
for external & internal of pipe
for onshore & ofshore solutions
for shop & in-situ installation
design / engineering / manufacturing / installation /
commissioning / training / after sales servicing
Selmers B.V. Biesland 3 1948 RJ Beverwijk The Netherlands
telephone (+31) 251 211 999 fax (+31) 251 220 777 website www.selmers.nl email sales@selmers.nl
Selmers_A4_2011.indd 1 14-10-11 10:09
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 28
advertising feature | Joint protection
Russian company CELER marked a milestone last year with the
production 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 certications 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 certications (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 beneting 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 400m
2
of
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 rst 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
rst year of in-house manufacturing was
35,000 to 50,000 sleeves a year. Today, the
company operates from a 12,000m
2

Russias CELER marks
weld sleeve milestone
CELER
manufactures
its CE joint
protection
sleeves for a
wide range of
pipe diameters.
Last year it
delivered its
one millionth
sleeve rst product and the one
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 29
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 rst 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
ve years, the sleeve had proved itself to be the most
efcient 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 ttings (including pipe-bends, reducers,
T-joints and anges with anti-corrosion coating and
weldolets that are connectable to the sleeves). Several
of these special ttings and mastics are also patented.
During the rst ve years, CELER exploited its
growing income to equip itself to manage the entire
production cycle for manufacturing sleeves, mastic and
various tting 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 t. 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
Certicate 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 working
very 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 eld development projects such as the
construction of eld 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
ttings and all kinds of special parts.
In recent years, the company has also focused on
introducing new equipment to increase labour efciency
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 ttings
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
ange under
construction
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 30
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 specically 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 is
currently 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-efciency equipment
supplied by Gema of Switzerland. CELER has, however,
modied the powder coating application unit using its
own application expertise to achieve online control of
powder weight for a specic part. This has allowed the
company to achieve a high level of precision in applied
coating thickness, which has a critical inuence on the
overall quality. Liquid epoxy and polyurethane paints
are applied using a high-efcient 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 rst step in this was to manufac-
ture special complex pipeline
connecting parts with anti-corrosion
insulation, such as branch pipes with
anges and welded weldolets for
pressure or temperature gauges
connected by branch pipes of a number
of pipe-bends, T-joint reducers and
similar parts.
The company now aims to be procient
in manufacturing all products necessary for
the assembly of a closed oil & gas gathering
system of pipes, standard and special pipe ttings,
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 eld and
transit pipelines. It now considers this area to be the
most promising in the eld 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 ttings 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 to
provide an integrated approach to eld 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
Email: celer@celer.ru
Internet: www.celer.ru
Address: 6, Baltiyskiy passage, Promyshlennaya area,
Kinelskiy district, Samara region, 446441, Russia
Above:
A custom-
manufactured
welded anged
joint manufac-
tured to order
by CELER with
external
polyurethane
and internal
epoxy corrosion
protection
coatings
24-26 February 2014
Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen,
Vienna, Austria
Organised by:
Applied Market
Information Ltd.
Media supporter: Also sponsored by:
Pipeline Coating 2014
International conference on pipeline protection, coating technology, materials and markets
CALL FOR PAPERS
If you would like to give a paper at this event,
please send a short abstract to Dr. Sally Humphreys
before the deadline of 19th July 2013.
Email: sh@amiplastics.com
EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNT AVAILABLE
For details on attending, booking a table top stand
or sponsoring this premium conference, please
contact Ms. Sabine Prack, Senior Conference
Organiser. Tel: +44 117 924 9442
Email: sp@amiplastics.com
HEADLINE SPONSOR
Image courtesty of: Canusa-CPS
CLICK HERE
FOR DETAILS
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 32
subsea | Flow assurance
Bayou Wasco Insulations new US line pipe
insulation facility is the rst in North America to
use Dows Neptune two-layer ow assurance technology
Bayou Wasco Insulation has commissioned the rst
ow 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 qualication 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 interested
in 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
congured for application of a range of ow
Right:
Dow
claims its
Neptune
two-layer
system
provides the
widest
operating
temperature
range of any
wet-applied
system
Far right:
Applied
insulation has
passed
demanding
qualication
tests
Bayou Wasco goes for
ow with Neptune
assurance coatings, including syntactic polyurethane
and multi-layer PP systems as well as the Dow system.
End-to-end solutions
The Neptune P advanced ow assurance insulation
system for line pipe is part of a new proprietary
end-to-end ow assurance system that also includes
Dows Neptune F eld 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
ow assurance in the increasingly harsh conditions
experienced during subsea oil production. Applied over
the proprietary FBE layer, the system has passed
demanding qualication tests, including small- and
production-scale trials employing extreme testing
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 33
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 ow assurance systems, which is
said to allow a thinner coating prole to be maintained
while achieving higher consistency in K-factor between
tree, to line pipe, and to eld 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 eld joints. This
simple, reproducible eld 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 eld 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 F
Insulation, we now have the ability to offer customers a
simpler, reproducible eld 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
exible 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:
S www.bayoucompanies.com
S www.dow.com
S www.pih.co.uk
S 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
(eld joint applications) 0 87
50 67
Source: Dow Chemical Company
Typical properties of Neptune subsea ow 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) 1.1
Heat 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
Organized by:
Applied Market Information LLC & Compounding World Sponsored by:
The international conference on business strategies and new technologies for compounders
Attend
Our packed programme will ensure a
highly productive two days: learn about
the latest industry developments, and
network with key players from through-
out the supply chain. Book your place
before 31 May 2013 at a very special
rate of just $790 (saving $400 on the
full rate).
Exhibit
A limited number of table-top exhibition
places are available, providing a great
opportunity to promote your company
to an inuential and targeted audience.
Reserve your space by 31 May 2013 at
our special rate of $1,690 (this includes
one free delegate place and is $300
less than the full rate).
Sponsor
We have a range of exclusive sponsor-
ship packages for this exciting new event
that are available on a rst-come, rst-
served basis. Book your package now
to ensure maximum exposure on our
website, brochure and adverts.
December 10-11, 2013
Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Speakers already conrmed from: A. Schulman, AMI, Century, Chroma, Entek,
ESK, Leistritz, Sciessent, SPI, Techmer PM, Timcal and WoodForce, with many more to follow
Topics that will be addressed by our expert speakers include:
growing a protable compounding business in a fast changing world
clean compounding for medical applications
making compounding operations more sustainable
metal replacement: nding new applications for compounds
anticipating and responding to changing regulations
anti-counterfeiting additives to ght product piracy
developments in anti-microbials for thermoplastics
pushing the limits of polypropylene performance
practical advice for compounding bioplastics
developments in ame retardants for engineering plastics
natural bers for high-performance applications
thermally and electrically conductive compounds
adding functionality to medical compounds
top tips for getting the most from your twin-screw extruder
optimizing twin-screw extruder congurations
increasing loading levels and handling difcult ingredients
Click here
for more details or
contact Kelly Cressman
kc@amiplastics-na.com
Tel: +1 610 478 0800
Compounding World magazine and AMI are pleased to announce the rst Compounding
World Forum. This international conference will feature a high-level program brought
together by the editorial team of Compounding World, exploring and developing many of
the magazines most popular themes in a live event.
It will cover business strategies and new materials technologies, as well as providing
practical advice on getting the most from compounding lines. The primary focus will be the
production of technical compounds based on engineering thermoplastics, performance
polyolens and thermoplastic elastomers.
www.amiconferences.com
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 35
Internal coating | corrosion protection
Corrosion is one of
the biggest threats
to pipeline integrity
Caroline A Fisher
and James A
Huggins discuss
the corrosion
prevention benets
of robotic internal
joint coating
The threat of internal corrosion to a pipeline is not
merely probable, but palpable. With almost 52,800 km
(120,000 miles) of international pipelines planned and
under construction
1
the importance of corrosion
prevention should not go unheeded. The old adage an
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is as
relevant for the pipeline construction industry as any
other. Pipelines built right the rst time are more likely
to meet the owners requirements for return on
investment, longevity and environmental (corrosion)
diligence. Internal eld joint coating technology, such as
that developed by CRTS, provides one more ounce of
cure to the corrosion threat.
Why should pipeline companies consider internally
coating eld joints? Corrosion is one of the single
biggest threats to a thriving pipeline industry and
economic analysis can be used to develop strategies
that mitigate risks and improve performance. In fact,
many companies coat their pipes but allow the internal
eld joint (IFJ) to remain bare, making it the pipelines
weakest link. That decision is often made based on
some basic misconceptions about robotic IFJ coating
technology:
G IFJ coating may be considered to be unavailable or
simply impossible for a specic application, when it has
in fact been successfully applied on both onshore and
offshore projects for more than 30 years. It may be
considered to be too slow, when round-the-clock
working has pushed production rates to new highs.
G An IFJ coating may also be considered too expensive
or not worth the additional effort or investment. In fact,
application of an internal coating adds a modest 10-13%
to the typical overall project cost; IFJ coating accounts
for 3-4% of that overall cost, contributing to a high
return on investment. That additional investment can
also be offset by reduced pipeline ow friction, reduced
internal corrosion, and enhanced environmental
protection. All are examples of preventive medicine that
can actively reduce repair and rehabilitation.
Benets of IFJ coating
Each project, whether onshore or offshore, has unique
challenges but, overall, almost any pipeline can achieve
maximum corrosion protection with IFJ coating. The
technology offers pipeline operators a range of benets:
G IFJ coating acts as a corrosion protection and can
Main image:
The grit-blasted
and vacuumed
surface of an
internal pipe
girth weld
ready for
robotic
application of
the corrosion
protection
coating
Internal corrosion prevention
using robotic technology
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 36
corrosion protection | Internal coating
increase throughput and reduce wax and hydrate
formation;
l IFJ coating helps maintain wall thickness. Corrosion
reduces pipe wall thickness, which results in a higher
safety risk to the pipeline and the public;
l IFJ coating will reduce OPEX due to lower ongoing
repair costs;
l IFJ coating provides the environmental benet of
reducing the likelihood and delaying the onset of any
leakages;
l The IFJ coating process is environmentally-acceptable.
The FBE powders and plural component liquid epoxy
used in the CRTS system contain no volatile organic
compounds while abrasive grit used to robotically-clean
each IFC is recycled and re-used to cut wastage.
Effective protection
The World Corrosion Organizations 2009 report
2

warning that corrosion prevention is only effective
when the corrosion process is prevented should be a
wake-up call for the pipeline industry.
Fortunately, coating just the remaining 2% of the
internal surface area of a pipe can lead to 100%
protection from internal corrosion, addressing the
insidious threat that can lead to devastating pipeline
catastrophes.
CRTS practices this prevention premise by making
corrosion prevention technologies a top priority when
working with pipeline owners. The pipeline design and
analysis are discussed with contractors and subcon-
tractors prior to each project to help realise cost-saving
techniques that protect the pipe, the pipe owners
interests and the environment, but just as important is
the actual protective coating service. This approach
proved very successful on a recent Middle East project
where an offshore project was nished three months
earlier than scheduled.
Planning the project
Once the customers corrosion management plan is
complete, CRTS engineers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, US, test
the coating robot for compatibility with the customers
chosen coating product (FBE or liquid epoxy). The
project location, climate and geography are part of this
design and analysis. This pre-planning phase is
essential to prevent inadequate protection levels of
coating (and corrosion prevention) in pipelines
3
.
The CRTS robotic IFJ coating system comprises six
key components:
l Crawler the primary motivation device;
l Battery cart duplicating the battery and drive
system on the Crawler;
l Cleaner prepares the IFJ surface and creates an
anchor prole;
l Vacuum cleans the IFJ surface after cleaning;
l Liquid or FBE Coater applies the protective coating
and includes an onboard camera for visual verication
of the coated weld;
l Inspection machine measures the applied coating
thickness, detects holidays and allows visual inspection.
The train conguration differs according to the type of
project. An offshore robotic train conguration consists
of a crawler, battery cart, cleaner and vacuum, and a
coater. Onshore projects are usually congured in sets of
three: a battery cart, crawler, and cleaner-vacuum
perform the cleaning process; a crawler and coater
perform the coating process; and a crawler and inspec-
tion machine perform the coating thickness measuring
and holiday detecting process (where requested).
In addition to the pre-planning and quality work
methods, CRTS offers an inspection service, which is
one of the most important aspects of evaluating applied
coating integrity. When a customer incorporates both
robotic holiday inspection and dry lm thickness reading
Above:
Damaged
protection
sleeves - robotic
coating provides
pipeline
operators with
an alternative
corrosion
protection
option
Right: A
complete CRTS
robotic coating
train on deck
on a pipeline
laying vessel
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 37
Internal coating | corrosion protection
into the system, immediate qualitative results become
available for viewing and discussion.
The rigorous protocol of pipe preparation used by
CRTS and based on pre-cleaning, application and nal
inspection of the coating is critical in achieving optimal
corrosion protection. The U.S. Department of Transpor-
tations Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration reported that 11.2% of all reported US
pipeline incidents in 2011 were caused by internal
corrosion. Furthermore, maintaining and protecting
pipeline from corrosion costs US projects anywhere
from $3,000-$6,500 per kilometer annually, according
to former NACE International president Mark Byerley.
For gas/condensate pipeline projects, which
naturally invite internal corrosion, parafn, water
condensation and other unwanted problems into the
pipeline, IFJ coating is a welcome solution. These
elements are often addressed by using pigs to locate
problem areas, a reliable method for most pipelines,
but again the prevention is usually worth as much or
more than the rehabilitation cure.
Pipeline accountability
While the energy industry needs to be informed about
corrosion prevention techniques such as coating
internal eld joints, pipeline owners are not the only
ones keeping tabs on the internal corrosion disease.
Protests from Burma to Canada demonstrate the
publics keen interest in how much benet or damage a
proposed pipeline will do. Entities such as the Natural
Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, and the
Pipeline Safety Trust regularly prepare reports for
public dissemination about upcoming pipeline projects,
holding pipeline owners accountable for using corrosion
prevention techniques, a fundamental and key
enabling factor to this end
4
.
Industry research also backs the need for internal
corrosion prevention solutions. An Alberta, Canada,
study released in June 2009 demonstrated that 39% of
Canadas operating pipeline failures were due to
internal corrosion
5
. The study is representative of many
common corrosion means and addresses many past
corrosion problems. For instance, it says IFJ coating
helps counteract the corrosive presence of oxygen (O
2
),
carbon dioxide (CO
2
), hydrogen sulphide (H
2
S) and free
water, which can cause severe corrosion problems in
oil and gas pipelines
6
.
IFJ coating in action
With the facts and gures deeply ingrained in the
industry, it pays to assess the options thoroughly. A recent
offshore project undertaken by CRTS to coat nearly 2,300
IFJs involved a lengthy and productive corrosion manage-
ment selection that took several years to complete.
However, the customer realised that IFJ coating at the
construction phase was essential to minimise intelligent
pigging and other related costly methods of cure.
This plan correlates directly to Wood Group Integrity
Management principal advisor Binder Singhs observa-
tion to NACE that international surveys nd internal
corrosion in offshore oil and gas pipeline failures more
than 50% of the timeand inspection, monitoring, and
repair are very difcult and costly
7
.
CRTS made an initial coating technology presenta-
tion to the customer and then the customer developed
its own internal procedure and specications. Later,
when the company was ready to build, CRTS performed
a hands-on demonstration (pre-production test) for the
customer at its Tulsa facility. Although the customer
wanted the corrosion prevention coating applied, it also
expected that CRTS would be critical path. Fortunately,
the coating process was critical path on only two of
nearly 2,300 internal eld joints.
Critical efciency
Key to this success in avoiding critical path was the
diligence on the customers part and the organization of
the CRTS crew. Working two 12-hour shifts with eight
eld technicians and a project manager kept the IFJ
cleaning and coating process efcient. Field technicians
were positioned on the lay barge at various stations to
clean, coat and inspect each weld. Another eld
technician kept a close eye on the video monitors to
inspect each part of the process, and live feedback
allowed any issues to be corrected on the spot. The
inspection segment was available to the customer
on-site and on demand. This service is part of the CRTS
quality plan.
IFJ coating is not the only corrosion protection
technology available. Alternatives include couplings,
Above: Effective
offshore
organisation
can avoid
internal joint
coating
becoming
critical path
corrosion protection | Internal coating
PVC piping systems, man-entry (although this comes
with its own life-threatening risks). Each should be
explored to maximise economic, environmental and
logistical angles. CRTS invites pipeline owners to
consider the benets of IFJ coating to complement or
replace some of these alternatives because of the clear
benets corrosion prevention coating provides.
Pipeline integrity is another important aspect of
corrosion prevention as it helps maintain a safe and
healthy pipeline. Intelligent pigging and rehabilitation
are important but neither activity prevents corrosion,
although they do both document corrosion losses and
need for repairs. While corrosion assessment is
necessary, it will not prevent future corrosion.
Looking to the future, the Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration advised in mid-2011 that
there should be additional measures to prevent internal
corrosion in gas transmission pipelinescorrosion
control measures with clearly dened conditions and
appropriate mitigation efforts.. Internally coating
eld joints should be an essential component when
designing many types of pipelines because the environ-
mental and nancial benets address the corrosion
threat directly, rather than in hindsight.
Ultimately, corrosion prevention is only effective
when corrosion is prevented. IFJ coating can clearly
benet pipeline owners and protect the public trust
while protecting the environment from mishaps, spills
and unforeseen calamities.
About the authors:
Caroline A Fisher is technical writer at CRTS Inc, James
A Huggins is CRTS Inc president. Over the past 35 years,
CRTS has successfully coated more than 110,000
internal eld joints onshore and offshore. The company
currently has more than 10 R&D projects under
investigation and design in this eld.
S www.coatingrobotics.com
References:
1 Pipeline and Gas Journal, Volume 239, No 1. Retrieved from http://pipelineandgasjournal.com/2012-worldwide-pipeline-construction-report?page=show
2 The World Corrosion Organization. (2009). Global needs for knowledge dissemination, research, and development in materials deterioration and
corrosion control. New York, NY: Schmitt, G. et al.
3 Byerley, M. The ght against corrosion. Retrieved from http://www.ngoilgasmena.com/article/The-ght-against-corrosion/
4 The World Corrosion Organization. (2009). Global needs for knowledge dissemination, research, and development in materials deterioration and
corrosion control. New York, NY: Schmitt, G. et al.
5 Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. (2009). Mitigation of external corrosion on buried pipeline systems.
6 Nyborg, R. (2005). Controlling internal corrosion in oil and gas pipelines. Business Brieng: Exploration & Production: The Oil & Gas Review, 2.
7 Pipeline and Gas Journal, Volume 238, No 3. Retrieved from http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/nace-interview-integrity-management-solutions-
offshore-pipeline-corrosion?page=show
Right: Cleaner-
vacuum robot
unit in place in
the trough
during
pre-production
testing
Pipeline Coating is a new digital magazine from Applied Market Information
(AMI), the company behind the hugely successful Pipeline Coating
conference and the highly regarded Pipe and Prole Extrusion magazine.
Subscribe to...
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PREVIOUS EDITIONS
AMI Strategy Seminars
These one-day seminars are given by an AMI director and provide
invaluable insights into market trends and industry strategies.
They are held in small groups and provide ample
opportunities for questions and discussions.
Contact: Katy Cheng
kb@amiplastics.com
+44 117 924 9442
www.amiplastics.com/seminars
25 June 2013: Singapore
15 October 2013: Cologne, Germany
9 December 2013: Dubai, UAE
Download the
media pack here
Download the
media pack here
Download the
media pack here
Download the
media pack here
Download the
media pack here
Our high quality digital magazines can help you
achieve these goals. They deliver focused audiences,
international coverage and unrivalled value for money.
For more information, download our 2013 media
packs, which include features lists, circulation details
and our highly competitive advertisement rates
NEW UPDATED MEDIA PACKS
WITH OUR 2013 FEATURES LISTS,
INCLUDING COMPREHENSIVE
COVERAGE OF K 2013
Make sure that your 2013
marketing campaign is:
For more information, contact our
advertisement manager,
Claire Bishop claire@amimagazines.com
Tel: +44 20 8686 8139
Effective
Accessible
Global
Targeted
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 41
Pipeline coating 2013 | conference report
AMIs fth Pipeline Coating conference brought the pipe coating
industry together in Austria earlier this year to discuss market and
technical developments. Chris Smith reports
After a period of relatively stable year on year activity
from 2007 to 2010, the global market for steel pipe
coating returned to growth in value terms in 2011 and
the industry is likely to see that trend continue through
to 2016 and beyond driven by growth in exploitation of
non-conventional reserves such as shale and tight oil
and gas, according to Noru Tsalic, senior vice president
at AMI Consulting and author of the companys Steel
Pipe Coating The Global Market study.
We are predicting short term and long term growth
for this industry, Tsalic told delegates at AMIs fth Pipe-
line Coating conference in Vienna, Austria, in February
this year. Unconventional sources of oil and gas will
drive a lot of pipeline projects in the coming years.
Tsalic said AMI estimated the global steel pipe
coating market to be worth around 5.5bn in 2012,
more than 95% of which was accounted for by the oil
and gas industries (Figure 1). Concrete coatings
represented the largest single application sector,
accounting for almost 40% of the total. External
anti-corrosion coating made up the next largest
application sector by value, followed by internal
coating, thermal insulation and eld joint coating, he
said.
Jotun divisional manager pipelines Richard Cowl
said that while external pipe coating is a given today,
less than 10% of pipelines are internally coated. Flow
coating is gradually picking up a head of steam but
anti-corrosion is still a niche. This will grow, he said.
Cowl said major obstacles to more widespread use
of internal coatings included industry conservatism and
lack of standards. It is a relatively new industry and
there are relatively few standards, he said. Protection
of welds was also identied as an issue.
However, Cowl said the benets are clear and include
minimised corrosion, reduced pressure drop, savings on
steel and costly anti-corrosion alloys and lower inhibitor
cost. He cited studies showing that ow efciency
Conference focuses on
growth and innovation
Main image:
Delegates at
this years
Pipeline
Coating
conference
heard optimis-
tic growth
projections for
the industry
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 42
conference report | Pipeline coating 2013
coatings can reduce friction at a carbon steel surface by
50% and can improve transmission efciency by 15-25%.
It has been estimated that a 1% increase in ow
efciency carries enough cost justication, he said.
There are many reasons for internal coating but the
number one driver is cost.
Cowl said the key to achieving good ow perfor-
mance is to reduce the surface roughness of the pipe,
which is most effectively achieved using high volume
solids coatings. He said pipe delivered to the yard
typically displays an internal surface roughness of 20
microns, which rises to 50 microns in production.
Application of a 50% volume solids coating will typically
result in a surface roughness of 5-10 microns; a 100%
volume solid coating may reduce this to 1-3 microns. He
presented data showing the impact of surface rough-
ness on maximum ow rate for a 145km long 24-inch
OD subsea gas export line (Figure 2).
Hempel R&D protective manager Ruben Palomo also
highlighted the benets of internal coating, claiming the
companys ow efciency coatings can improve ow in
gas applications by up to 15%. He said the companys
latest introduction in this sector is the HS Gas Pipe
Coating 87830/1, a two component epoxy polyamine
cured high solids system developed to meet industry
demands for reduced VOC release without compromis-
ing performance or adding unacceptable cost.
The 87830/1 coating provides more than 80% solids
and offers VOC levels of 130 g/l, less than half that of
current alternatives. The system is designed for
one-coat application at thicknesses of between 50 and
100 microns to pipes for dry sweet gas applications.
Palomo said the 87830/1 coating has already been used
successfully by Europipe and Mlheim Pipecoatings on
the 1,220km Nord Stream, 470km Opal and North-
South gas projects in Europe. It has also been used by
Bredero Shaw on the 945km QSN3 project across the
south east of Australia.
He said the 87830/1 coating provides most of the ben-
ets of a waterborne system without the additional
material and application cost, which has to date slowed
market penetration of waterborne ow coatings.
However, he said the company is working with a technol-
ogy partner on a new polyolen-based waterborne
coating system that it is hoped will help close this gap.
NOV Tuboscope manager of global line pipe product
lines Michael Adams highlighted gures collated by the
Energy and Utilities Board of Alberta, Canada, showing
that over the period from 1990 to 2005, internal
corrosion accounted for almost 60% of all pipeline
releases within its area.
Adams said that while internal polymer coatings are
not the only means of addressing internal corrosion in
ow and line pipes, they are highly effective in terms of
cost and performance. He presented a case study based
on an 8-inch ow line that was layed in 2003 with a
powder-applied thermally cured epoxy internal coating
and external FBE coating installed using a mechanical
interference pipe connection system and J-Lay
technique. The line pipe is transporting 40 million
standard cubic feet of gas each day, 4,000 barrels of oil
and 400 barrels of water and operates at 93C and
3,500psi with 3.6 mol% CO
2
.
Pascal Collett, marketing and business development
director at Axson Coatings (the name for BS Coatings
since last year), continued the examination of internal
coatings but looked at potable water applications, where
requirements are very different from oil and gas. He
focused specically on the use of epoxy and polyurethane
systems for rehabilitation of old or leaking systems,
citing data from the US showing that 700 new failures are
identied in the water distribution network every day.
Shawcor group leader coatings Catherine Lam
presented the companys High Performance Powder
Right:
Shawcors
plasma treated
HPPC pipes.
The blue
epoxy-bonda-
ble band is
clearly visible
Water
6%
Oil
22%
Gas
72%
!!
Figure 1: Global
Pipe Coating
market volume
shares by
application (2012)
Source: AMI Consulting
May 2013 | PIPELINE COATING 43
Pipeline coating 2013 | conference report
Coating (HPPC) polyolen pipe coating system, which
the company claims reduces weld tenting and voiding
and allows thinner polyolen layers to be used without
sacricing performance or durability.
Lam said while the conventional side extruded
application process for three-layer polyolen (3LPE)
pipe coatings is popular in all markets today except the
US, it can suffer from potential weaknesses in the area
above and alongside the longitudinal pipe weld. In
particular, high spots in the weld can result in consider-
able thinning of the polymer by the compression roller
during application. Lam said the company has meas-
ured thinning down to half the original application
thickness in some cases.
Voids can also be formed alongside the weld and the
hoop stresses set up by shrinkage of the polymer
topcoat during the water quenching process can
exacerbate this problem, extending any voiding between
the copolymer adhesive and topcoat, she said.
The HPPC system replaces the extruded top coat of
3-6mm thick polyolen with a powder coated layer of
polyolen around 500 microns thick. By applying the
topcoat in the powder form, it is possible to precisely
follow the contours of the pipe surface around the weld,
eliminating all tenting and voiding. The clearly dened
weld seam in the coating is evidence of this absence of
thinning, said Lam.
Lam said the HPPC line speed is comparable with
current 3LPO processing lines and can run at up to 5.4
metres per minute on a 36-inch diameter pipe. We are
trying to beat FBE but we are not there yet, she said.
Shawcor has also developed a new pipe end pre-
treatment system that is claimed to overcome the
challenges of obtaining good adhesion to the 3LPO
coating, allowing liquid-lled or heat shrinkable eld
joints to be used with the HPPC system. The process
involves plasma ame treatment of the polyolen surface
at the end of the pipe in the pipe coating plant, which is
followed by the application of a epoxy-bondable band.
Lam said the new technology provides pull-off
adhesion results of more than 14MPa after 60 days in
hot water at 85C and more than 2MPa after 50 thermal
cycles between -40C and room temperature. The rst
pipeline to use the technology will go into the ground
this year, she said.
Nicolaj Cherkasov, general director of Russias SRC
Poisk, presented a review of the Asmol petroleum-
derived mastic that has been widely used in Russian
pipeline protection. Unlike bitumen, Asmol contains
high molecular weight functional groups that are said to
improve adhesion to the metal substrate. While it is no
longer widely used in new pipelines, Cherkasov said it is
still used in repairs and at eld joints due to its good
performance and simplicity of application. There is no
need to heat the pipeline to get good adhesion, he said.
Stopaq Industries FAST director Laurent Grodziski
said the company would soon be offering its two-layer
viscoelastic pipe coating technology with the option of an
extruded polyethylene or polypropylene protective
coating.
Stopaqs FAST technology currently comprises
application of a viscoelastic polyisobtylene (PIB)
corrosion prevention layer followed by either a shrink-
able polyethylene tape (FAST PE) or a glass reinforced
epoxy or polyester (FAST GRE) where additional impact
or abrasion resistance is required. It is claimed to
provide particularly good resistance to cathodic
disbondment.
The company provides in-plant and mobile coating
plants for the FAST PE and FAST GRE systems and
Grodsiski said it had delivered three in the nal three
months of last year and had three more plant under
construction. At the end of last year it also carried out
tests at Industrie Polieco-MPB in Italy using the
companys polyolen extrusion technology with the
Stopaq visco-elastic base layer. It claims the FAST EPE
Left: Latest
addition to the
Stopaq FAST
system applies
an extruded
polyolen
protective coat,
seen here in
development at
Industrie
Polieco
Figure 2: Effect of surface roughness on maximum ow rate on a 145km
24-inch OD subsea gas export line Source: Jotun
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 44
conference report | Pipeline coating 2013
and FAST EPP systems achieve very good bonding and
will allow simple conversion of existing coating lines.
Intecsea materials engineer Irving Annan explained
that with some subsea offshore ineld owlines today
operating at 100C there is a requirement for thin
coatings that provide the required mechanical and
corrosion protection while also promoting effective heat
loss. If we can decrease the temperature of the
pipeline we can decrease the rate of corrosion, he said.
Annan said in a recent project undertaken by Intecsea
for an internally CRA-clad carbon steel ow line
operating at between -20 and +100C on the seabed at
13C, it was found that none of four FBE systems
considered could fully satisfy the design requirement of a
25 year lifetime. This was attributed to the reduced
adhesion performance associated with traditional
methods of raising Tg, an area he said needed to be
addressed with novel chemistries that stiffen the polymer
backbone rather than increasing crosslink density.
Petrobras mechanical engineer Andr Koebsch
explained how the company had developed a system of
colouring 3LPE pipes with spray applied micronized
pigmented polyethylene within its Brazilian coating
plants to simplify identication of pipes. During
construction, if we have a 100km pipeline we will have
at least 800 pipes in different thicknesses. It is difcult
to be sure we have the right pipe, he said.
Colouring the different pipes provides clear differentia-
tion but applying a pigment to the top surface of a 3LPO
pipe is not a simple task. The rst idea was to put a
stripe on the pipe but PE gives problems of adhesion so it
is easy to abrade the colour, he said. To overcome the
adhesion challenge and achieve full surface coverage for
easy identication, Petrobras developed a micronized
pigmented resin that is applied via spray nozzles
immediately after the polyolen extrusion stage. Koebsch
said the residual heat in the topcoat is sufcient to
achieve effective fusion of the pigment to the surface and
results in a minimum 95% coverage.
The system uses white, yellow, red and blue pigments
to identify the different pipe sizes, with the predominant
pipe size left untreated (black) to minimise pigment
consumption.However, Koebsch said with the additional
cost for colouring the pipes amounting to only around $1
per m
2
of pipe surface, it is not a costly technique.
Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung coating
specialist Dr Markus Betz detailed an investigation the
company undertook into unexpected cracking and
spalling of a PP top coat soon after low temperature
installation of a 3LPP during the winter of 2007/8. The
investigation revealed that current low temperature
impact testing was unable to simulate the damage, sug-
gesting that some failure was occurring either in
storage or during installation.
The company developed a new coating system for
pipes installed at low temperatures comprised of a
3LPE followed by an HDPE rough coat and PP protective
top coat (with the option of a PA top coat for very
demanding applications). Betz also detailed the
modied impact testing procedures the company
developed to assess the new coating system.
Richard Schertzer, market development specialist at
Madison Chemical, presented a eld joint application
case study of a 3LPE pipeline of 40 and 48-inch
diameter (maximum operating temperature 80C)
operated by Kuwaiti Oil Company. Surface preparation
included SSPC-SP10 blasting of the steel and a ame
treatment of the PE followed by a light SSPC-SP7 brush
blast prior to spray application of the 750-1,000 micron
protective coating. Cure to inspection time for the
system at 25C was between 10 and 12 minutes, he
said, enabling a daily production rate of 40-50 joints.
Click on the links for more information:
www.amiplastics.com
www.jotun.com
www.hempel.com
www.nov.com/tuboscope
www.shawcor.com
www.stopaq.com
www.intecsea.com
www.petrobras.com
www.salzgitter-mannesmann-forschung.de
www.madisonchemical.com
About the conference:
Pipeline Coating 2013 took place in Vienna, Austria, in
February. The full conference proceedings, including 20
papers, are available here bit.ly/16BQpV8 For more
information about the 2014 conference, click here
bit.ly/10AzslO
Above:
Petrobras is
using micro-
nized pigment-
ed PE to colour
code the
different pipe
sizes to avoid
mis-identica-
tion
The 3rd edition of AMI
Consultings study Steel
Pipe Coating the Global
Market is is now
complete and available for
immediate subscription.
This 234-page study
comprises a detailed
quantitative and qualitative
analysis of the world market for steel pipe coating. It
considers demand, supply, raw materials, etc, and
includes forecasts through to 2016.
These are very interesting times in energy and
energy-related industries. While oil remains important
in the global energy balance, markets are moving
increasingly towards gas not just in Europe and North
America, but in Asia as well. Natural gas is becoming
a hugely important resource, to be traded globally.
Pipelines are playing a crucial role in this
development. Pipelines are needed not just to
gather, transport and distribute the gas, but also to
connect LNG import and export terminals, which are
mushrooming around the globe. Pipeline-related
industries are, therefore, likely to beneft from this
process. Steel pipe coating is likely to be among the
top benefciaries: as new pipelines tend to operate
under harsher conditions in terms of temperature,
pressure and external environment, coating is
becoming more demanding, more sophisticated and
hence more valuable.
There are additional
drivers of growth
appearing on the
horizon: the scarcity of
potable water in many
regions of the globe will
increasingly have to be
tackled through either
desalination or long-
range water
transportation with pipelines playing an important
role in both; power-plant produced carbon dioxide
will increasingly be captured, transported through
pipelines and stored.
Changes are also taking place on the supply side of
the steel pipe coating market. The previous editions
of this report have correctly forecast a consolidation
trend. This trend which has meanwhile become
apparent to everybody is set to continue with new
twists and turns, as is the competitive battle
between the two major business models: integrated
pipe mills-coating yards versus independent coaters.
The 2013 edition of the report analyses all of these
trends and their likely trajectory into the future. The
234-page report contains 88 data tables, 8 charts
and 95 exhibits. Subscribers receive two printed
hardcopies of the report and a CD containing a read
only pdf version, as well as a set of spreadsheets
with the underlying data. To receive a detailed
proposal, contact Mr Noru Tsalic at nt@amiplastics.
com or +44 117 924 9442.
JUST PUBLISHED
Steel Pipe Coating
The Global Market
(Third Edition)
For more details about this report or to request a detailed proposal, contact:
Noru Tsalic, Senior vice president AMI Consulting.
Email: nt@amiplastics.com. Phone: +44 (0)117 924 9442
Mail: Applied Market Information, AMI House,
45-47 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3QP, United Kingdom AMI CONSULTING
STEEL PIPE COATING
THE GLOBAL MARKET
Third Edition
2013
STEEL PIPE COATING
THE GLOBAL MARKET
Third Edition
2013
STEEL PIPE COATING
THE GLOBAL MARKET
Third Edition
2013
www.amiplastics.com
PIPELINE COATING | May 2013 46
product update | Materials and equipment
Dhatec eases the load
HANDLING
IKV foams
with CO
2
FOAMS
PVDF proves its durability
Dow targets performance FBEs
OFFSHORE
COATINGS
System 88 from Dhatec is a fully-adjustable pipe transport
system designed to improve worker safety and minimise risk of
damage to the pipes or coatings during shipping.
The system, which comprises a series of zinc plated steel
proles and moulded polyethylene support blocks, can be
adjusted to safely support any pipe ranging from 8 to 80-inch
diameter (219-2,032mm) using locking pins.
According to Dhatec, System 88 can be used on trucks for
both road and rail movement and complies with Euronorm VDI
2700 requirements.
www.dhatec.nl
The Institute of Plastics
Processing (IKV) at Aachen
University in Germany,
together with the Skilled
Crafts unit at RWTH Aachen
University, is developing a
new foaming technology for
production of foamed
polyurethane using CO
2
as a
blowing agent.
The technique uses gas
counter-pressure in the
mould at above the vapour
pressure of the dissolved CO
2

to control the expansion of
the foaming mix.
Preliminary trials have
yielded exible foam parts
with a density of around
90 kg/m.
www.ikv-aachen.de
Russias Halopolymer says
shims manufactured using its
Fluoroplastics F-4 and F4-D
have passed American
Petroleum Institute 17J test
requirements for explosive
decompression resistance.
The tests, carried out by
MERL, showed that after 20
testing cycles involving
pressure loading to 1,000bar
at 130C followed by rapid
decompression (less than one
minute) the shims showed no
defects, bubbles or ruptures.
www.halopolymer.com
Clariant has introduced two
new light stabilisers for use
in waterborne coatings.
Hostavin 3330 diso.XP and
Hostavin 3070 disp.XP are
non-migrating high molecu-
lar weight HALS stabilisers
for use in clear and pigment-
ed systems. The 3030
dispersion is a triazine class
UV absorber formulated with
52% absorber content and is
claimed to provide high
thermal stability. The 3070
grade is intended for use with
the 3030 where enhanced
performance is required.
www.clariant.com
US-based Radiant Energy
Systems has developed an
infrared heater that com-
bines infrared with air
heating for use in dusty
industrial environments. The
SFA-Q Heater uses a
stamped foil element with a
front quartz plate, allowing
infrared energy to pass
through to the product while
isolating the heater from the
process and keeping it free of
contaminants.
www.radiantenergy.com
in brief
Solvay Specialty Polymers says its Solef 60512
PVDF can now boast 15 years of use in offshore
oil and gas riser and ow line applications.
No service failures have been reported since
Danish company NOV Flexibles rst introduced
the Solef resin in a exible offshore pipe for the
BANFF eld in the North Sea in 1998, it claims.
Solvay says more than 700km of exible
riser, umbilical and pipe liners have since been
produced using the Solef 60512 material, which
was specically developed for offshore
applications. The polymer offers good mechani-
cal performance, low permeability and good
chemical resistance, including excellent
resistance to sour gas.
www.solvayspecialtypolymers.com
The Oudra Solution Series
from Dow Coating Materials
are high performance epoxy
resins targeted at FBE coating
formulations for the new
generation of oil and gas
pipelines, which operate at
higher temperatures.
The range includes
OudraTherm HPC, which can
be used to formulate FBE
coatings with Tg values in
excess of 160C.
The product line also
includes OudraCool HPC resin,
which when formulated with
Dows OudraCure HPC 90
hardener can be applied at
temperatures as low as
170C. This minimises the
risk of compromising the
integrity of the steel pipe
alloy, says Dow.
www.dow.com/coating
Take out your own FREE subscriptions to any of the magazines.
Click on the logos below to simply register on-line.
Catch up on our recent
issues for FREE
Simply click on the cover to see the full magazine
Pipeline Coating May 2012
The second edition of AMIs
magazine for the steel pipe
coating industry, Pipeline
Coating, took a detailed look at
the installation of the Total
Laggan-Tormore and Nord
Stream pipelines. It also
reported from the industrys
annual Pipeline Coating
conference.
Click here to view
Pipe and Prole Mar/Apr
The March/April edition of Pipe
and Prole Extrusion looks at
the latest developments in
extrusion screw design,
techniques for joining plastics
pipes and new developments in
polyolens for pipe applications.
This issue also previews the
Chinaplas exhibition.
Click here to view
Film and Sheet May
The May edition of Film and
Sheet Extrusion looks at the
latest innovations in biaxially
oriented lm technology,
applications for polymer lms
in photovoltaics, and the latest
developments in high
performance lm printing
technology. Plus, a look at the
Chinaplas exhibition.
Click here to view
Pipeline Coating November
2012
The November 2012 edition of
Pipeline Coating looked at what
growing shale gas production
may mean for steel pipe coaters
and pipeline installers. It also
considered the use of 3LPE
coatings in water distribution,
cured-in-place lining of concrete
power station cooling pipes, and
discussed deepsea joint testing.
Click here to view
MAY2012
THE DRIVERS FORPIPELINE DEMAND
ACOUSTICMONITORINGTECHNIQUES
REVIEWINGPIPELINE COATING2012
ANIN-DEPTHLOOKAT NORDSTREAM
Injection World May
Injection Worlds May edition
is packed with information on
the latest automotive
applications, developments in
process cooling, plus the
latest in TPEs. It also has a
guide on design for
demoulding, and reports on
the highlights of Chinaplas.
Click here to view
Wind Turbine Blades 2013
The rst edition of Wind
Turbine Blade Manufacturing
magazine looks at trends in the
wind energy market, reviews
developments in reinforcing
bres and core materials, and
reports on the worlds longest
blade.
Click here to view
2013
BLADE REINFORCEMENT TRENDS
ANALYSINGCORE PROPERTIES
JEC2013 EXHIBITIONPREVIEW
WINDENERGY MARKET UPDATE
MERL OILFIELD ENGINEERING WITH POLYMERS
2012 - CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
PLASTIC PIPE SYSTEMS: FAILURE
INVESTIGATION AND DIAGNOSIS
RUBBER AS A CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL FOR
CORROSION PROTECTION: A COMPREHENSIVE
GUIDE FOR PROCESS EQUIPMENT DESIGNERS
THERMOSETS: STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES
AND APPLICATIONS
TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY OF PIPING:
INSTALLATION AND INSPECTION
2013, 20 papers and CD,
335.00 or 280.00 or $420.00
New. Market overviews,
technological advances, eld
joining and external and internal
coatings.
More info/Buy here
2010, by Nafaji,
86.00 or 72.00 or $112.00
Covers new pipe installations and
old pipe linings and replacements.
More info/Buy here
2012, by Guo,
165.00 or 135.00 or $215.00
New. Performance and uses of
materials including epoxies and
urethanes.
More info/Buy here
2010, by Chandrasekaran,
120.00 or 100.00 or $160.00
A unique practical guide to
application, performance and
durability.
More info/Buy here
2006, By Farshad,
115.00 or 95.00 or $150.00
Including blisters and
delamination, corrosion, abrasion,
fracture, buckling, dimensional and
colour changes.
More info/Buy here
2012, 21 papers and CD,
335.00 or 280.00 or $420.00
Market overview, materials
developments, temperature
extremes, polymer and pipe
performance and testing, ageing
and life prediction.
More info/Buy here
N
E
W
Visit www.pidbooks.com
for hundreds of recent titles, easy online ordering,
special offers and clearance bargains!
Order online or by telephone, fax or email. Contact Matt Wherlock,
Tel: +44 (0)117 924 9442 Fax: +44 (0)117 9892128 email: mjw@amiplastics.com
All prices are correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
Please check the Plastics Information Direct website for current prices and shipping charges.
PIPELINE COATING 2013 - CONFERENCE
PROCEEDINGS
N
E
W
Our selection of the latest titles and essential reference works for the pipeline coating industry
bookshelf
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Plastics Information
Direct Online
Bookshop
RECOMMENDED READING