Pipeline Repair Sleeve

INDUSTRY SECTOR

• Energy

• Petrochemical

SERVICE LINES

• Pipeline Integrity Management

• Pipeline and Mechanical Engineering

• Project Management

LOCATION
Taranaki, New Zealand

PROJECT SUMMARY
An in-service pipeline developed a leak and was temporarily taken out of service and leak point located and excavated by the operator. Five-D were engaged to design repair of the hole and check if the surrounding area was close to leaking.

The Five-D team completed on-site measurements, engineering design repair and project management of the repair and reinstatement in a compressed timeframe that allowed a quick return to service.

SCOPE
Five-D’s integrity and project team completed the following:

• Creaform Handyscan 3D scan of the hole and surrounding area

• Fitness for service assessments to confirm if surrounding corrosion required repair

• Engineering design for hole repair plug

• Engineering design for permanent repair sleeve (type-B) to encase the hole and surrounding corrosion

• Finite Element Analysis (FEA) assessing the sleeve’s capability to resist differing thermal growth and stresses between carrier pipeline and repair sleeve

• Project management – coordination of materials, contractors and excavation

CHALLENGES
Designing a repair sleeve to withstand a temperature difference between the pipeline and repair sleeve.

Limited materials available to develop a solution due to timeframe.

This was a critical piece of infrastructure required for client operation.

OUTCOME
Five-D were able to provide an engineering design solution and implemented the repair within a 10 day timeline providing a code compliant repair that safely returned the pipeline to service.