Page 19 - ITATUBE Journal 1 2020

Technical Papers
Pipelines and environment protection
And there’s more in the pipeline: In January Gaz-System signed a contract with Europipe for the delivery of underwater pipes for the offshore segment of the Baltic Pipe Project. From October 2022, the scheduled pipeline should enable the import of more gas – up to 10 billion cubic metres – from the deposits on the Norwe- gian continental shelf to Poland.
“Europipe manufactures pipes with a nominal diameter of 900 mm, and a nominal length of 12.2 metres per section,” explain the project partners, Energinet and Gaz-System. The contract also includes pipes of the same diam- eter for the short, shore-based section from the gas main to the receiving terminal. It will also include all the protective coatings in the project, “that will protect the pipeline as well as minimise the effects on its surroundings and the environment.”
The steel wall thickness of the gas main will be between 20.6 mm and 23.8 mm. “The pipeline will be plated with a special 4.2 mm thick corrosion protection coating, which will protect the seabed during its operating life,” the project partners point out. The Baltic Sea pipeline will also be protected by a 60-110mm thick concrete coating.
Gas switch-over
Construction work on the 216-kilo- metre long remote gas pipe- line Zeelink has officially begun in April 2019. The project also include the construction of a new gas pipeline from the Belgian-Ger- man border to Legden bei Ahaus (Northwest Rhine Westphalia, NRW). The gas main should guar- antee the switch-over from L- to
H-gas, i.e. from natural gas with a low calorific content to natural gas with a higher calorific content for millions of household, commer- cial and industry clients in NRW among other places. Background: The share of L-gas is dropping due to declining outputs in the Neth- erlands. The project company is a joint venture between Open Grid Europe (75 per cent) and Thyssen- gas (25 per cent). The commis- sioning is planned for March 2021.
The project brings Mannesmann Großrohr an order that includes around 215 km of gas piping with a diameter of 1,016 mm (DN 1,000). The pipes, coated with polyethyl- ene,areabout18metreslongand weight up to 8 tonnes. The ca. 100,000tonnesofhotwidestripas a raw material for the spiral seam- weldedgasmaincomefromSalzgit- ter Flachstahl. The 543 arches for the gas main were produced in the Group’s own pipe-bending plant, where long seam-welded main pipelines from raw materials from Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech were processed.
Speedy order processing
And the industry continues to step on the gas: Schedules for the Eastern Mediterranean Pipe- line (EastMed) are taking shape. In January, Greece, Cyprus and Israel signed a deal to build the EastMed, that from 2025 should be carrying natural gas from the Leviathan field in the Mediterra- nean, via Cyprus and Crete to the Greek mainland. This, together with the Poseidon and IGB pipe- lines, that further transport natural gas on to Italy and other European regions. The plans show that the EastMed pipeline should be 1,900 km in length and have an annual capacity of 10 billion cubic metres. There are numerous
pipeline projects awaiting pipe suppliers. Investment is neces- sary for speedy order processing with the best possible quality. An example is Butting’s readiness. Up to now, the company has had a 12-metre hydro-forming press in which a corrosion-resistant Butting stainless steel pipe and a carbon-manganese steel pipe can be mechanically joined to form a BuBi® pipe. The company would like, in the long term, to double its monthly output of ca. 15 km of BuBi® pipe with average pipe dimensions. By building a new hall and making the accompanying adjustments to processes, produc- tion processes should be opti- mised and productivity increased.
In addition, working with a mechanical engineering company, a new 12-m hydro-forming press was planned and commissioned for production. Production of the first BuBi® pipes in the new pro- duction cycle should begin in the third quarter of 2020.
A win-win situation
Investment that pays off. As the increasing number of pipelines not only secures energy supply, but also provides for increased earn- ings at energy providers and pipe manufacturers, this is a win-win situation for all those involved. If the quality is right, nobody has to take a peek into the pipes...
Messe Düsseldorf GmbH
Stockumer Kirchstr. 61 40474 Düsseldorf Germany
Petra Hartmann-Bresgen M.A. Tel.: +49 211/4560-541
Fax: +49 211/4560-87 541
HartmannP@messe- duesseldorf.de www.messe-duesseldorf.com
ITAtube Journal No1/July 2020
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