Protecting pipelines from damage during HDD

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) is now an established oil and gas construction technology method due to the minimised impact on the surface environment. However whilst disruption to the environment is minimised by employing this technology the demands made upon the pipeline coating itself are extreme and the damage risk is considerably elevated.

David Anderson is the Sales and Marketing Manager at Universal Corrosion Coatings (UCC), an Australian company that provides solutions to corrosion and material degradation issues in water, and oil and gas pipelines, marine, and civil infrastructure sectors. He said that asset owners and contractors need to be aware of the exact conditions their pipeline will be installed in and understand the challenges involved.

“Associations such the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association (APGA) frequently emphasise that when designing a pipeline, engineers have to consider all aspects of its operation, including how to mitigate corrosion and degradation,” Mr Anderson said.

“Now, with the increase in HDD installations this introduces abrasion and gouging forces way above and beyond the capabilities of conventional anti corrosion coatings.”

There is now a twofold consideration when designing a coating for a HDD service;

Selecting a proven anti corrosion coating usually provided by Fusion Bond Epoxy, #-Layer PE Coating or High Build Epoxy Coating.
Selecting an Abrasion Resistant Overcoat (ARO) to withstand the rigours of the HDD install.
Experience makes the selection of a proven anti-corrosion coating relatively straightforward. However, the selection of a durable abrasion resistant overcoat is somewhat more taxing because of lack of awareness.

Canusa’s Scar-Guard is a high tensile woven fiberglass cloth, factory pre-impregnated with Urethane Resin that can be readily factory or field applied to protect pipeline coatings against aggressive HDD environments.

Canusa’s Scar-Guard is proven to protect anti-corrosion coatings such as FBE, 3LPE, HBE Heat Shrink Sleeve against abrasion, gouge and puncture.

Scar-Guard is cold-applied with a spiral wrapping application and is moisture-cured. The curing commences during the application process and within minutes a rock hard outer layer forms over the anti corrosion coating.

No special tooling is required and temperature extremes do not affect the speed of application.

“HDD Technology provides immense benefits over traditional trench installation and when combined with Canusa Scarguard Abrasion Resistant Overcoat, Pipeline Coating Integrity is assured,” Mr Anderson said.