Month: March 2020

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Virtual Trainings and Cost Savings

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

During these uncertain times, it is crucial that the transportation networks that supply our critical industries (like the medical sector) with energy remain operational. This requires that repairs be made when necessary to our pipelines.

One of Pipe Spring LLC’s core values is creating products that install easily and eliminate human error during application. During the development process of our integrity enhancement products and repairs, every effort was made to reduce field variables. We have a product that is simple to install and can be repeated time and time again. The effort that was undertaken during development now allows us to easily transition to completely remote trainings during this COVID-19 pandemic. We are able to provide virtual support 24/7 to our customers and set up instruction for those who need to install Pipe Spring™ units that do not already have an installer, trainer, or subject matter expert manufacturer certification. For our United States clients, this will meet your OQ requirement when a manufacturer certification is needed. For our international clients, we can work with you to satisfy your training requirements as well. We are prepared to offer FREE VIRTUAL TRAINING to the industry to assist during these unprecedented times.

It is also important to note that an installation can be made easily with only two people. Under certain circumstances, a single individual could install a unit by him/herself if needed. Current recommendations to combat COVID-19 advise that people should be in groups of ten people or fewer. We are pleased to be able to meet this recommendation even in routine circumstances.

Additionally, our products are a fraction of the cost of other repair technologies on the market. In the coming months, as we recover from this pandemic, our products will remain the most economical option for our clients.

To set up a virtual training and discuss your repair needs during this difficult time contact us today! We are here to help our industry get through these tough times and make necessary repairs to our infrastructure while remaining as safe as possible.

Be well friends,

Molly Laughlin Doran, Owner

 

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FAQ Series: How Does Pipe Spring™ Compare to Composite Repairs and Welded Steel Sleeves?

Question: How does Pipe Spring™ compare to composite repairs?

Answer: Pipe Spring™ utilizes material, steel, to wrap around the pipe. Composites utilize material, thermoset resin reinforced by fibers, to wrap around the pipe. The reinforcement mechanisms and concepts are similar.

Composites are best thought of as thixotropic material. The resin and fibers can move and change over time. They are known to display a degradation in mechanical properties over time particularly when exposed to specific environmental conditions or to various chemicals. Composites can be designed to be very anisotropic and have very different strength in various directions. For pipeline applications, two broad categories of composites are common:

  • Pre-cured laminated composites applied in the field with adhesives systems
  • Wet applied systems that are comprised of a strength member (fibers) and a thermoset resin which is wet when applied.

A properly designed repair must be based on the degraded or long-term failure strength of the composite material. The degradation during service life of the effective modulus of elasticity of composite repairs remains an area of some controversy related to long term effectiveness.

Pipe Spring™ is not a composite repair. However, it is installed in a similar fashion to the pre-cured laminated composite systems. Recent advances in technology have enable a minimization of field variables and simplification of installation. Efforts have been made to make the installation system as quick, simple, and repeatable as possible.  This is intended to save operators time and money and result in excellent quality installations. Wet applied composites systems can require specific skills and experience for effective long term repairs. This can result in greater installation costs. The isotropic, homogeneous, and non-degrading material properties of steel result in thinner repairs. The axial strength provided can be calculated in addition to the traditional hoop stress models. The fracture toughness of the Pipe Spring™ steel sleeve is extraordinarily high due to the thin-layers and laminated design. This property is beneficial for mitigation of future potential mechanical damage.

Additionally, for Strained based concerns, Pipe Spring™ significant advantages:

  • Axial strength
  • Non-degradation of material properties during service life (strength and modulus)
  • Initial stress/strain response
  • Improved bulk effective modulus of elasticity.
  • Cyclical performance of adhesive system (10 million cycles)

Question: How does Pipe Spring™ compare to welded steel sleeves?

Answer: Pipe Spring™ is a modern version of a “Type A” sleeve with the welding eliminated and adhesive utilized to hold the sleeve together. “Type B” sleeves have circumferential fillet welds at the end of each sleeve to join the pipe body and sleeve as one welded unit. “Type B” sleeves are sometimes utilized when leaks are projected to become a threat. The fillet welds are intended to contain the potential leak.

Some operators decline to utilize “Type A” sleeves, as they provide no axial strength and they would not contain pressure in the event of a leak. Some operators decline to utilize “Type “B” sleeves due to concerns related to metallurgical effects of welding on vintage pipe often with thinned walls due to external and/or internal corrosion. There are also safety concerns related to burn thru via high temperature welding arcs.

Some operators prefer to avoid welding “on” or “to” the pipe at all based on safety concerns related the welding process near the product being transported within the pipe. Welded steel sleeves can also be quite thick and heavy and require significant material handling and welding time. They may also require delayed weld inspection. Welded steel sleeves can be expensive to install and difficult to achieve the necessary quality desired. Fit up issues related to ovality or the presence of longitudinal welds also create a list of specific concerns. The welds created to hold the welded steel sleeves together can ultimately be the limiting life factor related to cyclical performance.

Pipe Spring™ provides the known behavior and properties of steel while eliminating the need to weld.

 

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FAQ Series: How Does Pipe Spring™ Work? What Integrity Threats Does Pipe Spring™ Address?

Question: How does Pipe Spring™ work?

Answer: The laminated steel sleeve reinforces the existing pipe.

For metal loss defects: The thinned section of the existing pipe will tend to display strain and will begin to bulge and yield in the radial direction due to internal pressure. A threat to the pipeline integrity exists. With a properly installed Pipe Spring™ sleeve, the thinned ligament utilizes the high compressive strength filler material to transfer the load to the laminated steel sleeve. The steel sleeve then shares the stress with the pipe. Metal loss defects cannot bulge and yield. Metal loss defects are effectively mitigated.

For integrity enhancement applications: Wet uncured filler material is placed around any weld or protuberance from the pipe surface. The thin layer steel is wrapped around then pipe with the adhesive system applied between each layer. Out-of-round or ovality of the pipe is addressed by the conformity of the thin layer steel and the filler. The system quickly transfers load to the resultant steel sleeve. The engineering parameters of the steel sleeve augmentation can be calculated for hoop and axial strength. This can be added to the known minimum value of the pipe (perhaps recent known pressure if the grade of the pipe is unknown). The effective fracture toughness of the laminated steel sleeve is extremely high. The reduction in stress via the augmentation and the fracture toughness of the augmentation can be utilized for calculations related to fracture mechanics. The laminated steel sleeve augmentation provides excellent mitigation of potential future third-party mechanical damage.

Question: What integrity threats does Pipe Spring™ address?

Answer: Pipe Spring™ is a modern version of a “Type A” sleeve with the welding eliminated and adhesive utilized to hold the sleeve (coil) together. The list of integrity threats which are properly addressed by a “Type A” sleeve is also the appropriate list for Pipe Spring™. In addition, Pipe Spring™ is adhered to the pipe via a high strength adhesive. Effective axial strength can be calculated as the lesser of the adhesive bond strength to the pipe or the axial strength of the steel sleeve for the appropriate cross-sectional area. Pipe Spring provides axial strength to mitigate threats with an axial component.

 

 

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FAQ Series: What is Pipe Spring™? Why Use Pipe Spring ™?

Question: What is Pipe Spring™? 

Answer: Pipe Spring™ utilizes thin layer steel and a modern toughened adhesive system to create a laminated steel sleeve system. A two-component epoxy system is used as a filler material and to fill any area of metal loss or around any weld or other protuberance on the pipe. The resultant steel sleeve provides reinforcement to the pipe and effectively mitigates various integrity threats. It can be used as a repair system. It can also be utilized to augment existing pipe for purposes of:

  • Change in design factor
  • Class location change
  • Pressure increase
  • Providing additional known properties so that your pipe can become Traceable Verifiable and Complete (TVC) and can be properly documented

Question: Why use Pipe Spring technology?

Answer: The Pipe Spring™ system was conceived to minimize or eliminate several challenges with existing technology and to utilize several opportunities to make improvements to pipeline repairs and integrity efforts.

Existing repair options present challenges!

Issues with Welded Steel Sleeves:

Welded steel sleeves require welding. The safety of the repair could be maximized if welding near the fluids carried within pipelines could be eliminated. The preferred method’s design guidance of welding on pipe and pressure vessels as well as cyclically loaded structures) strives to eliminate all partial penetration welds, use fillet welds only for shear applications, avoid striking arcs on the body of the weldment, and using subsequent weld beads to refine grain size. Welded steel sleeves for pipeline repair applications tend to violate some of these traditional best practices. In addition, the fit up to pipe is not always perfect. The result is less then optimum performance.

Issues with Composite Repairs:

Composites repair options eliminate the welding issues but introduce another set of challenges. Composites repairs degrade over time. Both the strength and effective modulus of elasticity may degrade. Thicker repairs are required to handle the strength issue. The modulus issue is not often addressed. The architecture of specific composite repairs can result in the requirement to have fibers straighten prior to sharing the stress from the pipe. The initial stress/strain response can display a significant delay. Some systems can require significant skill and care during installation.

The advantages of Pipe Spring™:

  • Thin layer steel conforms to out-of-round conditions or ovality
  • Steel does not degrade over time and has isotropic properties
  • The Pipe Spring system can provide axial strength
  • Faster Initial stress/strain response
  • Improved effective modulus of elasticity
  • Pipe Spring allows for thinner repairs, easier installations, and less soil stress
  • Improved cyclical performance
  • Improved long term performance
  • Intrinsic mitigation of potential damage to repair (laminated design)
  • Ease of Installation
  • Strain dependent concern mitigation
  • ILI visible and the system is ILI inspectable (MFL)
  • No heavy equipment needed for installation
  • Not dependent on skilled welding ability or advanced installation techniques