conference report | Pipeline coating 2013 Right: Shawcor’s


plasma treated HPPC pipes. The blue


epoxy-bonda- ble band is


clearly visible


coatings can reduce friction at a carbon steel surface by 50% and can improve transmission effi ciency by 15-25%. “It has been estimated that a 1% increase in fl ow


effi ciency carries enough cost justifi cation,” he said. “There are many reasons for internal coating but the number one driver is cost.” Cowl said the key to achieving good fl 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 fl 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 benefi ts of internal coating, claiming the company’s fl ow effi ciency coatings can improve fl ow in gas applications by up to 15%. He said the company’s 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 Mülheim 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


Figure 1: Global Pipe Coating market – volume shares by application (2012)


Water 6%


Oil 22%


south east of Australia. He said the 87830/1 coating provides most of the ben- efi ts of a waterborne system without the additional material and application cost, which has to date slowed market penetration of waterborne fl ow coatings. However, he said the company is working with a technol- ogy partner on a new polyolefi n-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 fi 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 fl ow and line pipes, they are highly effective in terms of cost and performance. He presented a case study based on an 8-inch fl 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 93˚C and 3,500psi with 3.6 mol% CO2.


Gas 72%


Source: AMI Consulting 42 PIPELINE COATING | May 2013


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 specifi cally 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 identifi ed in the water distribution network every day. Shawcor group leader coatings Catherine Lam presented the company’s High Performance Powder


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