Solutions for the Gas and Oil Industries
QED's new and innovative products address problems of corrosion to the external surfaces of pipelines CUI.
VPI 1020 - Advanced Anti-Corrosion Pipeline Patches
QED’s anti-corrosion patches are pre-impregnated with QED’s Margel™ corrosion inhibitor. Patches are applied directly to steel pipes and pipelines to provide total protection from corrosion for a period of 10-15 years. The patches are over-wrapped with insulation (where appropriate) and a final layer of tape.
The patches are suitable for application on exposed steel pipes of all sizes being equally effective on both new and heavily corroded steel. In comparison to other anti-corrosion treatments the steel surface of the pipe to be protected requires no preparation; the only requirement is the patch is placed on the steel surface to be protected.
The Margel™ corrosion inhibitor is proven in practice and provides a highly effective corrosion resistance layer on steel by coating with a mono-molecular chemical layer which inhibits corrosion. The outer cores of the tape will seal the vapour given off by the Margel corrosion inhibitor, containing it within the tape ensuring that it protects the steel of the pipe.
The patch and tape system are engineered to withstand continuous temperatures of up to 149ºC.
The supplied tape is coated with a special acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive system which combines superior quick stick at normal temperatures and also at extreme low temperatures. The serviceable life of the tape is expected to be in excess of 15 years. The special laminated construction of the tape makes it highly puncture and tear resistant as well as flame retardant.
Applications: The tape used to wrap the pipe is proven in the petrochemical and cryogenic industries as a vapour barrier closure system. With the Margel™ migrating corrosion inhibitor the combined product is extremely effective in combating Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI).
Key Points
The product can be applied to either new pipes or heavily corroded pipes (as long as they retain some structural strength)
Eliminates costly and time consuming surface preparation of pipes
Apply directly to corroded steel, QED can guarantee that the pipe will not corrode from the outside any more than it has already for another 10-15 years.
UNIQUE anti-corrosion product, eliminates CUI !
Technical Data
Patches are supplied in boxes of 100, each patch contains sufficient Margel™ corrosion inhibitor to protect 0.5 square metres of surface area of a pipe. Therefore each box treats 50 square meters of surface area.
It is important for the effectiveness of the Margel™ vapour corrosion inhibitor that the patches are overwrapped with a high quality vapour barrier tape.
Example; on a 300mm diameter pipe, patches would be placed every 0.5 metres along the length to achieve the required coverage. Therefore for every 50 metres of 300mm pipe, 100 patches would be required.
Background
ExxonMobil Summary
Affects carbon steel and SS in the operating range -4C to +150C
Wet insulation is at the root cause
Highly unpredictable and difficult to detect
One of the TOP causes of equipment leaks
Maintenance costs are SIGNIFICANT
Pipes corrode to unusable state as fast as 5 years
CUI accounts for 40-60% of pipe maintenance costs
Traditionally solutions for protecting pipelines involve coating pipelines with multi-part bitumous or butyl rubber based solutions either in a hot-melt multi-part form or a multi-part primer system.
These are sold as "anti-corrosion" solutions and yet they are flawed in several ways. Whilst they do provide a barrier against external moisture, they fail to address both existing corrosion and can also lock in moisture which will accelerate corrosion. This locked-in moisture can be extremely damaging and will be exaggerated by changes in the oil temperature and climatic conditions i.e. hot days and cold nights, which causes condensation to form, evaporate and reform in an endless cycle.
The product can be supplied in varying widths and lengths dependant on the problem being addressed, the tapes can also be specified with different properties to suit different exposures i.e. insulating properties and/or reflective coatings for extreme temperatures. Where there are extreme temperatures or in conditions where condensation is a problem, a semi-breathable outer membrane can be specified.
The product is designed to be applied either by hand wrapping or using standard pipeline wrapping equipment which can be supplied if required.
Existing Solutions Don't Combat Already Corroding Steel
The picture below shows a butyl rubber pipe wrap being applied directly over rusted steel. Our product is aimed at being applied prior to this cover being installed. In the situation below there is nothing protecting the steel from continuing to corrode!