The fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE) pipe was sourced from Jindal SAW in India before sections were sent to Fabricom in Belgium for bending.
It was then coated with Protal 7200 by VIP Peasaro Italy before being sea freighted to lay-down yards in Queensland.
Pipeline induction Heat UK (PIH) was sub-contracted by Saipem Australia to apply Protal 7200 on the field joints using custom automated equipment.
The PIH Auto-coat equipment was a new addition to the Australian pipeline construction industry as traditionally Australia has designed gas pipelines using smaller diameter pipe from 250-600 mm.
Initial works and procedure qualification testing commenced around the Arcadia Valley camp 150 km north of Roma, Queensland, with Denso Australia attending site to provide technical assistance and training of PIH applicators.
As work progressed, workers were moved regularly to camps at Moura, Biloela and Calliope as the inland pipeline was connected to Curtis island gas liquefaction plant at Gladstone.
Over 75 people were trained in the application of Protal 7200 from September 2012 until the mainline completion in mid-2014.
This involved coating over 23,000 field joints.
The automated girth weld application process involved heating the two parts of Protal 7200 with a specialised plural component pump unit which included heated line hoses, static mixers, whip hose and the spray tip being oscillated around the pipe in multiple passes.
All of this was controlled by computerised equipment allowing the operator to know immediately how much product was being used on each field joint.
If any issues were to occur with the equipment, the process had many quality control systems integrated into the system to provide ongoing data logging of location, materials used and application conditions.
This automation was supplemented by manually coated field joints, as well as repairs to the FBE mainline coating damaged in transit or by handling.
Winn & Coales International has been providing corrosion prevention solutions since 1929.
Winn & Coales’ early association with corrosion prevention was the manufacture, in the UK under license of Denso Tape, a flexible petrolatum tape.
It now provides a wide range of Denso corrosion prevention and sealing products to a multitude of industries.
The Winn & Coales’ Denso product range comprises liquid coatings and tapes for buried and exposed pipeline protection, marine pile rehabilitation systems, and chemical and abrasion resistant linings for full internal and external storage tank protection.
The company’s Protal liquid epoxy coatings have been used to protect major oil and gas pipelines for over 25 years.
The Protal coatings can be applied by brush or spray method and include fast cure, high-build epoxies for a variety of above and below ground corrosion prevention applications.
The coatings can easily be applied in high and low temperature environments and they are also great for protecting girth welds, tie-ins, cadwelds, fittings, fabrications, repairs to FBE and rehabilitation to existing pipelines.
For more information visit www.densoaustralia.com.au.
