DiamondWrap® HTA™ 12″ – 42″ Flare Line Repair in Bahrain

BAHRAIN

Pipe Details


  • Crude Oil Refinery
  • Pipe Diameter: 12”, 24”, 36”, 42”
  • Design Pressure: 50 psig
  • Design Temperature: 300°F
  • Internal Corrosion with 50% Wall Loss for long lengths of pipe
 
 

Summary


A refinery in Bahrain discovered internal thinning of up to 50% on five flare lines, varying in length and diameter. Unable to remove the pipe from service without significant cost detriment, cut out and replacement was not an option. Additionally, clamps would add too much weight and too much cost to the line for the lengths of pipe that were experiencing thinning. As a result, the refinery’s engineers turned to CSNRI for a proposed engineered composite repair.

CSNRI team of engineers designed repairs for each diameter and repair length according to ASME PCC-2 Article 4.1, and recommended a DiamondWrap® HTA™ repair solution to the refinery. Only 2 layers of DiamondWrap® were required to repair the internal thinning at the given pressures. Repairs were designed for tees, straight runs, elbows, and reducers. Many of these geometries would be prohibitive of using clamps.

A team of trained and certified installers installed 2 layers of carbon fiber over the specified repair area, according to the calculations prepared by CSNRI team of engineers. Here is a chart of the repair lengths that were achieved on each diameter of pipe within the system.

DiameterTotal Repair Length
12″ LPG350 ft
12″ 2 Poly300 ft
24″ GCU100 ft
36″ RHL20 ft
42″ FCCU125 ft

This refinery was able to stay in full operation throughout the repair with no need to shut down or reduce capacity. CSNRI successfully designed and implemented these repairs to get the customer through to their next turnaround to prevent an unscheduled outage due to the imminent leaks from the thinning flare line.