PAINT SQUARE WEBINAR

FIELD INSPECTION AND

REPAIR OF
TRANSMISSION PIPELINE
COATINGS
E. BUD SENKOWSKI, P.E.
SENIOR CONSULTANT
KTA-TATOR, INC.
1

WEBINAR CONTENT
Purpose of pipeline coatings
Performance expectations of pipeline coatings
Federal/state requirements for corrosion protection
Purpose of field inspection
Field inspection techniques
Field installation and repair of pipeline coatings
Protection of girth welds
Repair of coating damage prior to burial
Field rehabilitation of pipeline coating systems and joints
2

WHY DO WE NEED
PIPELINE COATINGS?
Corrosion is the greatest danger
to buried steel pipelines.
Uncontrolled corrosion of the
pipe wall leads to leaks, service
interruptions, and even explosions.
Pipeline owners/operators place
their highest priorities on
coating
systems to prevent
corrosion.
Pipeline coatings are applied to
both pipe runs and girth
welds.

A STACK OF COATED PIPE

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
OF PIPELINE COATINGS

Long-term protection of the

pipeline steel surfaces from
corrosion.
Compatibility with cathodic
protection.
INSTALLING A COATED
PIPELINE IN THE TRENCH

FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

CORROSION PROTECTION OF BURIED
PIPELINES
All interstate pipelines shall be installed with an
exterior coating system.
Additionally, all interstate coated pipelines shall be
protected by a cathodic protection system
providing:
A minimum pipe-to-soil potential of - 850 mV
Or, a minimum polarization shift of 100 mV.
Many states have similar requirements for
intrastate pipelines.

PURPOSES OF
FIELD COATING INSPECTION
Verify that the coating application meets the
specification requirements for:
Surface cleanliness
Surface profile
Allowable ambient conditions
Dry film thickness (DFT)
Absence of coating holidays (pinholes)
Adhesion to steel substrate
Degree of cure
6

MATERIALS USED IN
PIPELINE COATING SYSTEMS

JOINT COATING AND REPAIR

MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR FIELD USE

WHY DO PIPELINES HAVE JOINTS?

Pipelines have joints

because they are
fabricated from 40
and 80 coated pipe
sections.
High pressure pipelines
require a girth weld at
each field joint.
SETTING A PIPE SECTION IN THE
TRENCH BEFORE WELDING

WHY MUST JOINTS BE COATED?

Each girth weld must be
coated because the welds
are made on areas that are
bare steel.
The bare area at the end of
each pipe section is called the
cut back area. It can be up to
12 wide.
All girth welds must be
coated before the line is buried.

WELDING A PIPE JOINT. NOTE THE

CUT-BACK AREA BETWEEN THE WELD
AND THE YELLOW COATING.

10

COATING COMPATIBITY ISSUES WITH

JOINT AND REPAIR MATERIALS
Coatings selected for a
girth applications must be
compatible with the coating
applied to the main pipeline.
In addition to chemical
compatibility, the girth weld
coating must form a tight seal
prevent water infiltration.

to

If a generically similar coating

is not available, there are other
joint and repair materials that
will perform.

LINE-TRAVELLING UNIT FOR APPLYING

LIQUID EPOXY TO GIRTH WELDS ON AN
FBE COATED PIPELINE

11

NEW CONSTRUCTION OR
MAINTENANCE WORK?
New construction utilizes
automatic line travelling
equipment to blast and coat
and cure girth welds.
Replacement and recoating
of single sections and their
girth welds requires materials
that cure under field
conditions.
Cold and wet conditions
require special material
formulations.

A LIQUID EPOXY APPLICATION TO

THE MAINTENANCE
REPLACEMENT OF A PIPE
SECTION
12

WHAT IS MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX?

Microcrystalline wax is a solid
by-product of petroleum that
melts at 160-175F.
When coating girth welds, the
wax is heated in a pot to 270350F and applied by the
granny rag method to reach
40-60 mils. It can also be applied
by brush to small areas.
The wax develops excellent
adhesion to cleaned steel and
exhibits good flexibility.

APPLYING MICROCRYSTALLINE
WAX TO A GIRTH WELD USING A
GRANNY RAG

13

WHAT ARE COLD-APPLIED TAPES?

Coldapplied tapes are prefabricated materials
made from a polymer backing attached to an
adhesive film. Some may also use a liquid primer.
Petroleum wax
Polyethylene (PE)
PE/PP blends

14

WHAT IS PETROLEUM WAX TAPE?

Petroleum wax is a by-product of
crude oil that is mixed with mineral
fillers, plasticizers, and corrosion
inhibitors.
The wax is applied to a polyester
mesh and used as a tape product over
pipeline and girth weld surfaces.
An additional wax-based filler with
glass micro beads is used to smooth
out irregular shapes prior to coating.
The tape can be applied over tight
rust. It contains no toxic materials and
can be placed in service immediately
after application.

PETROLEUM WAX TAPE

15

WHAT IS POLYETHYLENE (PE) TAPE?

Polyethylene (PE) tape is a coldapplied joint covering that has an
elastomeric or butyl rubberbased adhesive.
Tapes use a high-density
version (HDPE)for better
resistance to mechanical damage.
HDPE tapes are compatible with
most pipeline coatings in current
use.

HDPE TAPE WRAPPED OVER A TEE

IN AN FBE COATED PIPELINE

16

WHAT IS A MULTI-POLYMER ALLOY

(MPA) TAPE?
Multi-polymer alloys (MPA)
are proprietary blends of
polymers like polyethylene (PE)
and polypropylene (PP)
They are applied cold with a
pressure-sensitive adhesive.
MPA tapes have temperature
resistance to 250F.

HIGH TEMPERATURE TAPE

APPLICATION

17

WHAT ARE HEAT-SHRINK PRODUCTS?

Heat-shrink products are made

from specially-processed PE or
PP that will shrink when heated.
The reverse side of the sleeve is
coated with an adhesive.
The adhesive layer becomes
molten when heated and upon
cooling completes the seal to
the pipe surface.

APPLYING A HEAT-SHRINK SLEEVE

18

WHAT KINDS OF HEAT-SHRINK

PRODUCTS ARE AVAILABLE?
Heat shrink products include
tube sleeves, wrap-around
sleeves and tape.
Shrink ratios are in the 2:1 and
3:1 with minimal change in the
linear direction along the pipe.
Some wrap-around sleeves
have metal closure strips that
hold them together during
application.

COMPLETED HEAT-SHRINK SLEEVE

OVER A GIRTH WELD

19

WHERE CAN HEAT SHRINK

PRODUCTS BE USED?
Heat shrink products are
available for pipe diameters
in the range of 2 to 60.
They can be used with
virtually all of the pipeline
coatings in current use.
Depending upon the sleeve
material and adhesive they can
be used on pipelines operating
to 230F.

CONTINUOUS HEAT-SHRINK SLEEVES

APPLIED OVER A SECTION OF
DAMAGED ASPHALT PIPELINE
COATING
20

WHAT IS LIQUID EPOXY?

Epoxy is a two-part liquid
coating made by mixing a
resin with a hardener.
After mixing and curing,
a hard, tough, chemicallyresistant coating is formed.
Epoxy has excellent
resistance to water
penetration and cathodic
disbondment damage.

APPLYING LIQUID EPOXY TO A GIRTH

WELD

21

HOW IS LIQUID EPOXY

USED FOR JOINTS?
Epoxy is made to work in
many field conditions. It is
applied at 10-20 mils DFT using
brush, roller, or spray.
Surface preparation requires
a surface cleaned to an SSPCSP10, Near-White condition.
Air and surface temperature
should be at least Is 50F.

CURED LIQUID EPOXY COATING ON A

GIRTH WELD

Lower temperature versions

are available.
22

COATING IN COLD WEATHER

Conventional epoxy
formulations will not cure
in cold weather.
Supplemental heat must
be used to heat the pipe
and cure the resin.
However, low
temperature epoxies are
available that can be
applied and cured over a
4F to 32F temperature
range.

APPLYING LIQUID EPOXY IN COLD

WEATHER

23

HOW IS FUSION-BONDED EPOXY (FBE)

USED AS A JOINT COATING?
FBE is used the same way
that the material is applied
at the mill, except that the
process is done in the field.
The weld area is cleaned to
SSPC-SP10, Near-White
Metal condition, heated by
induction, and the FBE
applied by electrostatic spray.
A LINE-TRAVELLING FBE SPRAY UNIT
FOR GIRTH WELD COATING

Heat completes the cure.

24

HOW ARE FBE JOINTS APPLIED

UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS?
Girth weld completion must
go on regardless of weather
conditions.
When FBE is applied to
welds it may be necessary
to erect environmentally
controlled structures along the
right-of-way.
Welding and coating takes
place within the structures.

HEATED SHELTERS FOR GIRTH WELD

WORK IN COLD WEATHER

25

WHY DO WE REPAIR
SMALL COATING DEFECTS?
Small coating defects can
occur at any time on mill
coated pipe from the point of
manufacture to final burial in
the trench.
Electrical testing (jeeping)
can also reveal holidays that
require repair.
Any unrepaired defect can
become a point of corrosion
on the coated pipe.

MAGNIFIED VIEW OF IMPACT DAMAGE

ON AN FBE COATING

26

REPAIRING PIPELINE COATINGS WITH

POLYMER-BASED TAPES

Defects or damage in many

pipeline coatings can be
repaired with cold-applied
polymer-based tapes.
The tapes may utilize PVC,
HDPE, HDPP, or MPA polymers.
The areas to be repaired can
be prepared by wire brush.
A primer may be necessary to
optimize the adhesive bond of
the tape.

HAND-WRAPPING PE TAPE

27

REPAIRING PIPELINE COATINGS WITH

HEAT-SHRINK SLEEVES
A variety of coated pipelines,
including FBE and composite,
3-layer HDPE And HDPP, can be
repaired using heat-shrink
sleeves or tape.
Areas to be repaired can be
cleaned by power-driven wire
brush.
The interior sleeve or tape
surfaces will have a modified
butyl rubber adhesive that will
complete the adhesive bond.

APPLYING HEAT-SHRINK TAPE AT A

GIRTH WELD REPAIR

28

PRECAUTIONS WHEN USING HEATSHRINK PRODUCTS

The applications of heat shrink sleeves and tapes
must be closely monitored to ensure that both the
preheating of the steel surface and heat applied to
achieve the shrinking of the material is adequate to
maximize the adhesive bond.
If the temperatures are below levels specified by
the manufacturer, an insufficient bond will form
and lead to failure by water penetration. Pull-off
peel tests provide a means to evaluate the adhesive
bond of heat-shrink products in the field.
29

MAKING REPAIRS TO LIQUID-APPLIED

EPOXY AND POLYURETHANE
Pipelines originally coated
with liquid epoxy or
polyurethane coatings can be
repaired by reapplying the same materials.
Exposed metal should be
cleaned to a near-white
condition.
Weather conditions at the time
of repair may require the use of
low temperature tolerant
formulations.

LIQUID EPOXY APPLICATION TO A

PIPELINE AREA

30

MAKING REPAIRS TO FUSION-BONDED

EPOXY WITH LIQUID/PASTE EPOXY
Small areas of damage in an
FBE coating can be repaired
with a fast-curing, 100% solids,
2-component chemically-cured
epoxy paste supplied in a dualcomponent dispenser.
Once dispensed, the epoxy
paste is mixed with a spatula
and applied to complete the
repair.
Epoxy products develop a
strong adhesive bond to FBE.

A HAND-HELD GUN FOR

DISPENSING A 2-COMPONENT
EPOXY REPAIR PASTE

31

REPAIRS WITH PLURAL COMPONENT

HIGH SOLIDS SPRAY (HSS) UNITS
Field repairs can also be made by
spraying plural component epoxy
with a high solids spray (HSS) unit.
HSS units are scaled-down,
disposable spray units that use
compressed air at 40-50 psi to mix
and spray the contents (40-1000 mL)
of a dual (resin/hardener) cartridge
pack.
For best results, the cartridges
should be heated to approximately
120-130F before use.

HSS DISPOSABLE SPRAY UNIT

32

FIELD REPAIRS TO 3-LAYER

COMPOSITE COATINGS
Composite, 3-layer
polypropylene (3LPP) and
polyethylene (3LPE) coatings can
be repaired using hot
microcrystalline wax, cold
applied tape, and heat-shrink
products.
HDPP heat-shrink products
match the thermal and
mechanical resistance of the
original 3LPP composite
coating.

TESTING A HDPP HEAT-SHRINK

SLEEVE APPLIED OVER A 3LPP
COATING

33

JOINT COATING AND REPAIR

MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR FIELD USE

34

QUESTIONS?

QUESTIONS?
35