Nearly all gas distribution pipe currently being installed is PE (Polyethylene). Natural gas distribution companies have approximately 480,000 km of PE gas mains installed in the United States (approximately 40 % of total capacity). Each year, about 75,000 third-party damage incidents occur to these mains. Excavating the holes for stopping flow is expensive. Considering the 75,000 damage incidents per year, the savings in excavatation could add up to approximately 60 million dollar per year. This paper describes a method for casting a non-leaking sleeve of PE around the butted ends of PE pipes while the joint is leaking air at pressures up to 388 kPa. The step of casting the sleeve was the critical unknown step in a repair sequence that might be used to repair leaking natural gas pipes. Equipment, parameters, heating profiles, and the effects of mud and water on joint strengths are described. (To be continued)
Cast-in-place (CIP) for joining and repairing live, polyethylene, gas lines - I. basic process description
Vorortgießen für die Verbindung und Instandsetzung von in Betrieb stehenden Polyethylengasleitungen - I. Beschreibung des Grundverfahrens
2002
10 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 17 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
METHODS OF JOINING AND REPAIRING COMPOSITE COMPONENTS
Europäisches Patentamt | 2020
|Methods of joining and repairing composite components
Europäisches Patentamt | 2023
|Methods of joining and repairing composite components
Europäisches Patentamt | 2021
|