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Oil, Gas, Petrochemical Industry News
News Release from: Arc Energy Resources | Subject: weld overlay cladding
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 03 March 2005
Cladding for pipeline pig launcher
project
Pipeline Engineering turned to weld overlay cladding specialist Arc Energy Resources to meet the exacting specification for corrosion resistant coatings for pipeline pig launcher vessels
When Pipeline Engineering won an order for pig launcher vessels for a major Middle East pipeline project, the company turned to weld overlay cladding specialist Arc Energy Resources to meet the exacting specification for corrosion resistant coatings to all wetted surfaces North Yorkshire based Pipeline Engineering is a global supplier of pigging, isolation and joint testing systems to major oil, gas and petrochemical companies, pipeline and refinery operators and contractors
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 25 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The company was recently awarded a contract by an Iranian EPC Contractor to supply three sets of pig launch vessels together with electrically controlled sphere launching flaps and a control panel, for gas pipelines on the South Pars Gas Development Field.
The pigs, which operate inside the pipeline to clear debris, batch and clear residual product, are introduced into the pipeline using these specially designed launching and receiving vessels.
Because the hydrocarbon gas is classified as a sour service, which is particularly corrosive and could cause cracking and other problems in carbon steel components, the specification called for all wetted surfaces such as the vessel, flanges, access closures etc, to be clad with 3mm of Inconel 625 to increase the life expectancy of the sphere launchers.
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Commenting on the choice of contractor for the cladding, Pipeline Engineering project manager Kevin Wilson says: "As cost and a tight delivery schedule were important elements of the contract, we called in weld overlay cladding specialists Arc Energy Resources who had worked with us on previous phases of the South Pars project.
They calculated that there would not be sufficient time to source clad plate, and that the traditional overlay processes for vessels of this diameter would be too slow and costly." It was therefore decided that, although it is normally used for large flat surfaces or much larger internal diameters (these vessels were only a little over 800mm I/D), the electroslag strip cladding process was the obvious choice for the project, due to its high deposition rate and potential to achieve the contract specification requirements with a single layer.
To minimise shrinkage and distortion during production Arc Energy conducted tests using 30mm strip rather than one of the larger sizes.
To increase speed it was also decided to deposit longitudinally rather than circumferentially, which is more common.
This also added a practical advantage for feeding consumables.
Limited access meant that proprietary equipment could not be used in the standard format, so the process development team at Arc Energy successfully produced a novel flux and strip delivery technique linked to the existing control system, which allowed the bulky 'reservoirs' of product to be mounted outside the vessel.
To optimise the deposition rate, heat input and product integrity, extensive production trials were carried out using a range of parameters.
When Arc Energy staff were satisfied that they had achieved reliable, repeatable results, they carried out the formal procedure, qualification and testing under the watchful eye of an internationally recognised inspection authority.
As all the tests, including the all-important chemical analysis, proved to be well within the requirements of the contract specification Pipeline Engineering received approval from its customer to begin production.
The contract was subsequently fulfilled within budget and on time.
Explaining the need for the development work involved, Arc Energy sales manager Alan Brown says it is not unusual for special techniques to be developed, tested and approved for a project and adds that the flux and strip delivery technique has subsequently been used on two further projects that were equally successful and completed to the customer's satisfaction.
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