TCPL installation proves commercial use of X-100 pipe

Feb. 3, 2003
TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., by virtue of a test conducted fourth quarter of last year, has confirmed the constructability of the latest development in higher strength, thinner wall line pipe.

TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., by virtue of a test conducted fourth quarter of last year, has confirmed the constructability of the latest development in higher strength, thinner wall line pipe.

In October 2002 and as part of its 64-km Westpath expansion, TransCanada welded into place and successfully hydrotested 1 km of 48-in. X-100 linepipe.

Last month, company officials met with representatives of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board to make their final report on the X-100 project to the provincial regulatory body, according to Alan Glover, TCPL project manager in charge of the test installation.

In addition, Glover told Oil & Gas Journal, X-100 is now listed in the Canadian Standards Association CSA Z245 Code as a technically acceptable material for line pipe.

Crews along TransCanada PipeLine's Westpath expansion in late 2002 lower into place a section of X-100 pipe as part of the company's evaluation of the linepipe's constructability. The pipe grade is part of an industry move toward higher strength, thinner wall line pipe to reduce project and operating costs. Photograph courtesy of TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., Calgary.
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The line pipe is now among the tools available for any project, economics permitting," he said.

Installation

TransCanada's goal was to confirm the welding and bending characteristics of the material. Glover said the project employed mechanized welding and subjected the 1-km section to bends up to 8° (sidebend) in laying the fusion-bonded- epoxy coated pipe.

The 48 in., 0.558-in. WT pipe was supplied by NKK Corp.

Such high strength, low-alloy pipe as X-100 is among the new technologies on which industry has pinned its hopes of reducing project costs and improving efficiency and safety.

Before the project kicked off last year, Glover explained the X-100's characteristics included fine grain size for improved yield strength and toughness; low carbon and carbon equivalent for toughness and weldability; chemical control, including micro-alloying with niobium, vanadium, titanium, and aluminum; and process control and controlled rolling (OGJ Online, Sept. 9, 2002; OGJ, Nov. 26, 2001, p. 60).

This TCPL installation was the first commercial application of X-100 line pipe, following tests of the high-grade pipe that concluded almost 3 years ago and indicated the pipe's potential for reducing costs associated with "high-pressure gas transportation in remote environments where societal and environmental risks are low."

Those findings were reported in 1999 by the UK's BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd., BG Technology, and Shell Global Solutions (OGJ, Mar. 15, 1999, p. 54).