IDEA #5QTKHS Flash-Butt Welding Technology For Condenced Gas Transportation And Storage

FLASH(cid:2)(cid:2)BUTT WELDING TECHNOLOGY FOR COMPRESSED GAS TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE APPLIED RESEARCH • MATERIALSAND PROCESS TECHNOLOGY Description The Coselle is a unique system, invented in Canada, for stor(cid:2) ing high(cid:2)pressure gas in a coil of small diameter pipe. Numerous Coselles are contained within the specially(cid:2) designed ship. This storage system has significant safety and cost advantages over conventional large diameter pressure cylinders. The complete Coselle delivery system consists of a ship combined with loading and offloading facilities. The gas is compressed at a loading terminal (onshore or offshore) and loaded into a CNG ship. The ship then travels to the offloading terminal (onshore or offshore) where the gas is decompressed and delivered to market. In a Coselle, typically, ten miles of small diameter, high(cid:2)strength X70 pipe is coiled into a reel(cid:2)like structure, called a carousel. This carousel provides support and protection for the transportation and stacking of Coselles. The size of a Coselle may range from 15 to 20 meters in diam(cid:2) eter and 2.5 to 4.5 meters in height, and it may weigh about 550 tones. An allowable working pressure of 220 Bar (3200 PSIG) is used for the coselle and the associated load/dis(cid:2) charge manifolds, piping, and valves. A single Coselle carries about 3.0 million standard cubic feet (mmscf) of natural gas, depending on Coselle dimensions, and gas temperature, pres(cid:2) sure and composition. One of the main problems is to manu(cid:2) facture coiled pipe structures using the most appropriate tech(cid:2) nology. The experience accumulated by the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute in the field of welding joints resulted in propositions to perform experimental evaluation of the effi(cid:2) ciency of Flash(cid:2)Butt Welding (FBW) applied to manufacturing coiled pipe structures (coselles). Flash butt welding (FBW) is the process where the parts to be welded are heated to required temperature by passing of elec(cid:2) tric current and pressed to each other to form a welded joint. FBW is applied for welding steel pipes, rails, and other rolled stocks, parts of light metal alloys, e.g. aluminium(cid:2)base and titanium(cid:2)base alloys Development of a new generation of the FBW technology and equipment for coselle manufacture is to address the following tasks: 1. raising efficiency of the process; 2. raising productivity and ensuring a specified level of mechanical properties of welded joints; 3. computerization of inspection and diagnostics. A set of arrangements, including preparation of samples for welding, setting up of equipment, adjustment of welding parameters, welding trials with registration of process param(cid:2) eters, removal of flash using different designs of flash removers, non(cid:2)destructive testing of welded joints, making of specimens, mechanical tests and metallography, are per(cid:2) formed to optimize parameters for welding of steel X70 plates. Innovative Aspect and Main Advantages The development of the advanced computerized welding machine and specific flash(cid:2)butt welding technologies are in process. When successfully tested, these solutions will allow strengthening mechanical properties of welded joints, in par(cid:2) ticular cyclic weld strength, to increase productivity of winding pipes, and to enhance safety and reliability of Coselle carries. Fig. 1 (cid:2) CNG carrier based on Coselle technology Fig.2 Modernized K584M machine during welding of pipes for Coselle manufacture Areas ooff Application For many world markets of energy transportation needing moderate volumes of gas over medium distances, or in instances where offshore gas is flared or reinjected. Stage ooff Development The experimental equipment prototype and several batches of welded pipes are available. Contact Details Prof. Valerij Kryvenko Phone: (380) 044 524(cid:2)7304; 044 220(cid:2)1570 Fax: (380) 044 227(cid:2)6329 E(cid:2)mail: elweld@viaduk.net E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute, Kyiv Address: 03680, Ukraine, Kyiv, 11, Bozhenko str. INNOVATIVETECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES FROM THE STCU 185