Strain-Based Pipeline Repair via Type B Sleeve

ABSTRACT

Production and delivery of hydrocarbons in remote locations of the world may involve traversing regions which could expose pipelines to geohazards. These geohazards may include fault crossings, landslides, liquefaction, ice gouging, and frost heave. ExxonMobil has developed a strain-based design (SBD) pipeline technology to design against these geohazards and to enable safe transportation of hydrocarbons across challenging terrain.

Integrity management of strain-based pipelines includes measures such as corrosion prevention, external damage prevention, ground movement monitoring, and geohazards mitigation. Despite preventive efforts, a pipeline may still become corroded or damaged. The damage may reduce the pipeline’s strain capacity and a repair method to restore the pipeline’s capacity will be required. This paper presents the qualification of the Type B split sleeve, a sealing repair methodology, for strain-based pipelines. The subjects addressed include selecting the Type B split sleeve as a repair candidate, finite element modeling of the repair, sleeve welding with in-service flow conditions, and full-scale proof testing of three repaired pipes.

Vyvial, B., Crapps, J.M., Berlin, R.A., Suarez, H.A., Pribytkov, P.A., Proegler, J., “Strain-Based Pipeline Repair via Type B Sleeve”, The 27th International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE-I-17-693), June 25-30,2017, San Francisco, California, USA.