Insulated Pipe Joint With Bare Steel Gripping Ends
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for connecting steel pipelines in seawater environments often damage protective coatings due to the need for tools to grip the pipe ends, which are typically softer than the steel surface, leading to unreliable connections and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A method where pipe sections are initially coated with a protective layer on land, leaving bare steel surfaces at the ends for gripping, and a completion coating is applied after connection, using techniques like shrink wrap or overmolding to cover the joint while minimizing coating damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pipe ends are coated with protective coating, then corrosion resistance is improved, but tool gripping capability deteriorates because tools cannot achieve good grip on soft coating surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The pipe is designed with different surface properties at different locations: the majority of the pipe surface has protective coating for corrosion resistance, while the ends have bare steel surfaces for tool gripping. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing both coating protection and mechanical grip capability where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The pipe surface is segmented into two distinct zones: a coated zone for corrosion protection and an uncoated zone at the ends for tool engagement. This segmentation allows each zone to fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.
2Ease of operation
If tools grip coated pipe surfaces, then handling is facilitated, but coating damage occurs leading to increased costs and unreliable connections
Solution Approach 1:
By providing bare steel gripping surfaces at the pipe ends, the invention enables tools to grip without damaging the protective coating. The hard steel surface withstands tool forces while the coated portions remain intact for corrosion protection, ensuring both handling capability and connection reliability.
3Reliability
If complete coating is applied to pipe sections, then corrosion protection is maximized, but coating application cost and complexity increase during offshore operations
Solution Approach 1:
The majority of the pipe surface is pre-coated on land where coating application is most reliable and cost-effective. Only the ends are left uncoated to facilitate handling, minimizing the amount of coating work required during offshore operations while maintaining overall corrosion protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating is applied selectively to only the portions of the pipe that require corrosion protection, leaving the ends uncoated. This local application approach reduces coating material usage, application time, and cost while maintaining protection where it is most needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates reliable and cost-effective handling and connection of steel pipe sections by providing steel gripping surfaces and applying a minimal completion coating, reducing damage and operational costs while ensuring corrosion resistance and thermal insulation.
Implementation Method 1
a shrink wrap in the form of a polymer band that is wrapped around a pipe joint, with the shrink wrap heated to shrink it tightly around the joint
Implementation Method 2
A layer of insulation may be wrapped around the joint to provide good thermal insulation
Data Source
AI summary
A pipeline (20) that lies primarily in the sea and that is formed of multiple steel pipe sections connected in tandem at pipe joints, includes a protective coating around the pipe sections and around the pipe joints. Each pipe section is first covered, at an onshore facility, by an initial coating (30, 32) that extends along at least 80% of the pipe section length while leaving its ends uncovered, to leave gripping areas (40, 42) where the steel of the pipe is uncovered so the pipe can be clamped by tools such as those with steel jaws to position and slide it axially, or turn it, or prevent it from turning. After a pair of pipe sections are connected, a completion coating (50) is applied around the pipe joint to leave the pipeline with a coating around all of it.