Oct 19 2010
The global requirement for oil, gas and water is driving pipelines into more hostile situations. At the same time many pipes are reaching the end of their service life and need replacing, increasing global demand for long-lifespan products. This is placing greater demands on corrosion protection coatings and the pipe industry is responding.
AMI has developed an annual forum to debate the issues: Pipeline Coating 2011 this year covers market developments and innovations in technology and materials. There will also be special sessions on key areas such as deep sea pipes and internal pipe coatings.
The Pipeline Coating 2011 conference will take place from 7-9 February at the Renaissance Hotel in Vienna, Austria. The programme kicks off with a review of the markets from AMI Consultant Noru Tsalic. The Chinese perspective on pipe coating will be outlined by PetroChina and the Wasco Coatings Group from Malaysia will add to the Asian input.
There are rising demands for pipelines to secure the supply of gas to Europe and Denso has studied the requirements of the OPAL pipeline. As the Stegal pipeline is extended, Basell Polyolefine has had the opportunity to inspect an advanced 3-layer PE coating after 5 years of service. In the UK, Tata Steel has been looking at the performance of polypropylene wet insulation systems. Laboratories like Exova are reviewing specifications for cathodic disbondment in order to select appropriate test methods. Berry Plastics is looking at the safety performance of buried steel pipelines in high consequence areas.
Dielectric pipeline coatings are being studied by Canusa-CPS. There is increasing demand for higher performance FBE with better damage resistance: 3M has advanced damage resistant, flexible FBE coatings and Dow Coatings Materials has new toughening technology for FBE. In the United Arab Emirates, Jotun Powder Coatings has reviewed FBE technology to improve pipeline safety. There have been studies of self-healing coatings from companies such as Stopaq.
Petroleum Development Oman has examined a new specification for internal liquid coating systems for carbon steel and line pipes. Powder coatings are also used internally and this will be discussed by Valspar. Polyamides are increasingly being applied in performance pipelines: PA11 from Arkema has been applied by a new robot system in internal field joints. Pipe coatings are cutback for joining and Osborn International provides brush technology for this and for weld cleaning.
Subsea coatings take a hammering from factors such as salt water exposure, installation, pressure, low temperature and abrasion. Det Norske Veritas has issued new recommendations for submarine pipeline coatings. The leading pipe coater, Bredero Shaw, has studied the requirements for deep offshore insulation materials, while BASF Polyurethanes has developed long term prediction tests for the decomposition of PU insulation in deep sea.
Pipeline Coating 2011 brings together pipeline operators, pipe coaters, researchers and suppliers to the industry. It offers a meeting point to debate the current technical issues and market trends.