Fluoramics’ rust-stopping product, HinderRUST R2.0, was recently awarded a critical role in stopping rust on the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project. The Trans Adriatic Pipeline will bring gas into Europe from new sources.
The steel used for the onshore and offshore pipeline project needed rust protection while waiting for installation. The ability to selectively remove the rust protection product without any residual contamination was critical to the product selection as the pipe termination ends need to be prepped and welded during installation. Fluoramics’ HinderRUST R2.0 is removable by high-pressure washing and meets all of the requested product specifications.
TAP is a pipeline in the Southern Gas Corridor that will bring gas from new sources in the Caspian region to Western and South Eastern Europe. The 871 km pipeline will connect to existing gas networks and start in Greece, cross Albania and the Adriatic Sea and come ashore in southern Italy, allowing gas to flow directly from the Caspian basin into European markets.
The offshore pipeline system across the Adriatic Sea consists of an approximately 105 km long offshore pipeline, with landfalls in both Albania and Italy.
The Italian pipeline landfall will be on the coast between San Foca and Torre Specchia Ruggeri in the municipality of Melendugno, while the Albanian landfall area is located northwest of Fier.
The starting point for the offshore TAP pipeline will be at the Albanian landfall and will increase as the pipe proceeds towards the Italian landfall. The TAP pipeline route will head in a southwesterly direction in the Adriatic Sea to Italy. The maximum water depth along the route is 820 m. The offshore pipeline is 105 km long, has a design pressure of 145 barg and has a constant internal diameter of 871 mm.
Before being chosen for corrosion control, HinderRUST underwent extensive testing to ensure the product could be easily removed from the pipe termination heads and that the application of the product did not compromise the field joint coating application, welding and non-destructive testing processes.
Product testing was performed in Ploiesti (Romania).
The first step of the test consisted of applying by brush HinderRUST R2.0 on six 36 in., 34 mm thick pieces of bare pipe and a slotted pipe where a coating of three layers of polyethylene (3LPE) was present. The application was undertaken on the cutback areas on the internal surface, external surface and on the square cut bevels of the pup pieces. On the slotted joint, the application was carried out on the area not covered by 3LPE coating and on 25 mm of the 3LPE coating. After the application, the test items were moved outside and left in a storage area for over 100 hrs.
The next step in the testing process was to remove the HinderRUST with high pressure hot water (60°C at 110 bar) and to verify the complete removal. After washing, all the pup test pieces were transported to a dark room for a UV lamp check on the cleaned surface. The UV lamp test results showed no residual HinderRUST on the washed areas.
The third stage was to apply a field joint coating to the prepared areas on the slotted pipe. Extensive tests were conducted after the field joint coating was applied to ensure that no anomalies were found that could be traced back to the application of HinderRUST. The pre-welding testing and processes included peel tests, beveling the pup pipes, checking lamination, and welding.
HinderRUST R2.0 proved to be an excellent rust-stopping product for the TAP project. Not only did it provide needed corrosion protection, the welding, non-destructive and field joint coatings testing showed no anomalies linked to HinderRUST.