REINFORCEKiT® 4D SUBSEA, Internal corrosion defects – Middle-East
Subsea composite repair solution for pipe reinforcement
Overview
The goal of this repair, performed in September 2022 by 3X ENGINEERING (3X) local distributor under the supervision of 3X Subsea Specialist was to reinforce a 8 oil pipeline suffering from 3 internal corrosion defects at 15-meter depth. To restore pipe integrity and prevent further deterioration, it was decided to repair the defected area using 3X composite repair solution REINFORCEKIT 4D SUBSEA (R4D-S), specially designed for subsea environment.
Results
Hardness measurements were performed 3 days after job completion and concluded this successful subsea repair despite the constraints to work in subsea environment and the limited time to perform the repairs because of the depth.
 Defect type |
Internal corrosion defects |
Details |
8" pipe, straight line, oil, design pressure 56.9 bars, design temperature 65°C |
Location |
Middle-East |
3X Product type |
REINFORCEKiT® 4D SUBSEA |
SCOPE OF WORK
According to ASME PCC-2 standard and 3X calculations, it was decided to apply REINFORCEKIT® 4D SUBSEA (R4D-S) using R3X65S resin. Twenty-six layers of R4D-S have been determined to repair the pipe over 800mm. Preliminary operations were performed underwater before composite wrapping: pipeline excavation, defect localisation, concrete removing and surface preparation by gritblasting to get a good surface profile superior to 60µm. Composite wrapping was performed by divers previously trained and supervised by 3X Subsea Specialist who checked the product implementation remotely (from control room).
See below the main stages for composite repairs (same procedure for all defects):
- P3X30 subsea primer was applied on the defects to provide good adhesion between the pipe and composite plates.
- Composite plates recovered with F3XSB high performance subsea filler were positioned to cover 2 defects out of 3 and fastened with ratchet belt until curing was done (1 plate 130x130mm and another one 100x100mm; no plate was needed for defect No.3).
- P3X30 subsea primer was applied on the whole surface to be repaired to ensure perfect adherence with composite wrapping.
- Composite wrapping was then completed using Kevlar® tape impregnated with R3X65S subsea resin. The tape impregnation was performed using BOBIPREG (3X specific device allowing quick and regular impregnation resin/fiber) in a storage and preparation space and then transfered to divers for application underwater (26 layers were applied over 800mm length to cover and repair the 3 defects).
- Last layer of P3X30 subsea primer all over the repair and plastic grid were installed as protection. Id plate was finally installed for traceability.
