Advantages of steel sleeves over composite materials for pipeline repair

BY BILL BRUCE, DIRECTOR OF WELDING & MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY AND BILL AMEND, PRINCIPAL ENGINEER IN THE WELDING & MATERIALS TECHNOL Pipelines International June 2011

External corrosion is a major concern for pipeline operators. When areas of corrosion or other damage on operating pipelines are identified, there are significant economic and environmental incentives for performing repair without removing the pipeline from service. There are a variety of repair strategies available to pipeline operators for a given repair situation. This article discusses the use

of non-metallic composite materials and full-encirclement steel sleeves.

While the use of non-metallic composite materials to repair damage has increased in recent years, the most predominant method of reinforcing damage in cross-country pipelines is to install a full-encirclement steel sleeve. The use of steel sleeves has some advantages over the use of composite materials for many applications, in terms of both performance and cost.

The early days of full-encirclement steel sleeves The use of full encirclement steel sleeves for pipeline repair was developed during work lead by Kiefner at Battelle in the early 1970s. Prior to this, repair by cutting out and replacing the damaged segment was common. There are two basic types of full-encirclement steel sleeve (see Figure 1). Type A sleeves encircle the pipeline and provide structural reinforcement of the defective area. To do this, they do not require sleeve-end fillet welds. Type B sleeves also encircle the pipeline and provide structural reinforcement, but since the ends are fillet welded to the pipeline, they can also contain pressure in the event that the defect is leaking or will eventually leak in subsequent service. According to Fawley and Stephens et al. the use of fibre-reinforced composite materials for pipeline repairs was developed during work at Southwest Research Institute and Battelle in the late 1980s. There are two basic types of composite repair systems; pre-formed (composite sleeves) (see Figure 2) and wet lay-up (composite wraps).
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The use of wet lay-up systems for pipeline repair began in the early 1990s. These wet lay-up systems use either a resin-impregnated cloth that is activated by water in the field or a cloth that is saturated with epoxy resin in the field (see Figure 3). Principal of operation The early work by Battelle showed that steel sleeves are effective because they restrain bulging, or accumulation of strain, in the defective area while absorbing only 15 to 20 per cent of the hoop stress in the carrier pipe. Steel sleeves are effective because the stiffness (elastic modulus) of the sleeve material is equivalent to that of the line pipe steel. The mechanism by which composite materials reinforce areas of damage on operating pipelines is much more complex. While the strength of composite materials is similar to that of line pipe steel, the elastic modulus is significantly lower. For a composite material to prevent a defect from rupturing, the defect must typically plastically deform in the process of the load being transferred to the composite. Brittle pipe material or seams may only be able to tolerate a very small amount of plastic strain before a defect in the pipe or seam grows and fails. For both steel sleeves and composite repairs, a high-compressive strength filler material is used to fill defect areas so that load is effectively transferred to the repair material. With very few exceptions, the applicability of Type A sleeves and composite repairs are similar. The two exceptions are repair of arc burns, where Type A sleeves can be used without complete removal of metallurgically altered material whereas composite repairs cannot, and repair of hydrogen-induced cracking (HIC) and blistering, where Type A sleeves can be used and composite repairs cannot. Both of these exceptions are the result of composite materials having an elastic modulus that is significantly lower than that of steel. As a result of the lower elastic modulus and the susceptibility of these defects to grow

upon the application of comparatively small amounts of strain, the composite repairs allow these defects to strain sufficiently to cause them to fail or grow by fatigue. On the other hand, Type B sleeves can be used to repair a wide variety of defects for which composite repairs cannot. Type A sleeves, Type B sleeves and composite repairs are all acceptable for relatively shallow to moderately deep external corrosion (less than 80 per cent deep). Very deep external corrosion (80 per cent deep or greater) should be repaired only using methods that are appropriate for leaks (i.e. Type B sleeves). Advantages and disadvantages One of the claimed advantages of composite repairs over steel sleeves is that their installation requires no welding to an in-service pipeline. It is clear from the discussion above that the installation of Type A sleeves, which can serve the same purpose as composite repairs, also requires no welding to an in-service pipeline. Welds that do not contact the carrier pipe are not considered to be in-service welds according to Appendix B of API 1104, even though longitudinal seam welds are made while the pipeline is in-service. Another claimed advantage of composite repairs is that their installation is simpler than steel sleeves. While this may be the case for Type B sleeves where welding to an in-service pipeline using specially qualified welding procedures and specially qualified welders is required, this is certainly not the case for Type A sleeves. Type A sleeves require no inservice welding, can have fillet-welded overlapping side strips (see Figure 4), and are very simple to fabricate and install. They can be supplied with the side strips fillet welded to the bottom half of the sleeve so that the only welds required in the field are the fillet welds on the top of the side strips. These welds can be readily made by welders without special training or qualification. The raw materials required to make Type A

sleeves are significantly less expensive than composite materials. Type A sleeves can be fabricated in the field by simply splitting a length of pipe of equal, diameter, wall thickness and grade as the line-pipe material. Unlike composite materials, steel sleeves have no finite shelf life. Also, the stiffness and long-term performance of Type A sleeves are equivalent to that of line-pipe steel. While the long-term performance of steel is well established, the long term performance of composite materials on buried pipelines beyond about 20 to 25years has not yet been demonstrated. The significantly reduced stiffness of composite materials compared to steel makes the use of composite repairs questionable for application to pipelines that experience cyclic pressure fluctuations. Cyclic strains in the defect area may cause the defect to grow and eventually fail in subsequent service. Both Type A sleeves and composite sleeves rely upon the use of an effective sealer to keep potentially corrosive fluids (e.g. groundwater) from entering the crevice area between the carrier pipe and the repair. Corrosion under Type A sleeves can be prevented by using either an elastomeric sealant or a hardenable sealant. While Type B sleeves do have to be fillet welded to the pipeline (see Figure5), they can be used where composite repairs cannot, such as for repair of defects that are 80 per cent deep or greater, circumferentiallyoriented defects, leaking defects or for defects that will eventually leak (e.g. internal corrosion), and cracks. The raw materials required to make Type B sleeves are significantly less expensive than composite materials and the stiffness and long-term performance of Type B sleeves are equivalent to that of line-pipe steel. When considering the cost of various repair options, both material cost and cost of installation need to be considered. Mobilisation cost and the application cost of steel sleeves may be highly variable, depending upon availability and labour rates for welding personnel. While the mobilisation

cost for composite repair installation may be less in some cases, the materials are more expensive. Composite sleeves or wet layup composite repair kits are typically designed for a standard, fixed length. If the length of the area requiring repair is longer than that which can be repaired by a single composite sleeve, the use of steel sleeves may be significantly less expensive than composite repairs. Welding onto an in-service pipeline A burnthrough, or blowout as it is sometimes referred, will occur when welding onto a pressurised pipe if the unmelted area beneath the weld pool has insufficient strength to contain the internal pressure of the pipe (see Figure 6). A burnthrough typically results in a small pinhole in the bottom of what was the weld pool. The risk of burnthrough will increase as the pipe wall thickness decreases and the weld penetration increases. Welds made onto in-service pipelines tend to cool at an accelerated rate as the result of the ability of the flowing contents to remove heat from the pipe wall. Accelerated cooling rates promote the formation of hard weld microstructures that are susceptible to hydrogen cracking (see Figure 7). Hydrogen cracking requires that three primary, independent conditions be satisfied simultaneously: hydrogen must be present in the weld, there must be a susceptible weld microstructure, and tensile stresses must be acting on the weld. Simple guidance has been developed and is available elsewhere for preventing both burnthrough and hydrogen cracking when welding onto an in-service pipeline. The use of full-encirclement steel sleeves for pipeline repair is a relatively mature technology. As a result, relatively little is written about the use of steel sleeves compared to the use of composites where new products are continually introduced.

The applicability of Type A sleeves is nearly identical to that for composite repairs and their installation involves no welding to an inservice pipeline. Type B sleeves can be used where composite repairs cannot, such as for repair of defects that are 80 per cent deep or greater, circumferentially-oriented defects, leaking defects or for defects that will eventually leak (e.g. internal corrosion), and cracks. For both types of full-encirclement steel sleeve, the raw materials are relatively inexpensive and the stiffness and long-term performance is equivalent to that of line pipe steel. The installation of Type B sleeves does involve the need to weld to an inservice pipeline. Adherence to the simple guidance summarised here will avoid the potential concerns associated with welding to an in-service pipeline. This article is an abridged version of a paper presented at the Evaluation, Rehabilitation & Repair of Pipelines Conference and Exhibition, held in Berlin, from 2021 October 2010 and organised by Tiratsoo Technical, a division of Great Southern Press, and Clarion Technical Conferences. Figures Figure 1: Type A and Type B sleeves. Figure 2: Installation of pre-formed composite sleeve. Figure 3: Installation of wet lay-up composite wrap. Figure 4: Type A encirclement repair sleeve with fillet-welded overlapping side strips. Figure 5: Installation of Type B full-encirclement repair sleeve. Figure 6: Typical burnthrough on 0.125 inch thick pipe. Figure 7: Typical hydrogen crack at toe of fillet weld of full-encirclement sleeve.