Pipeline Integrity Restoration

Most of Saudi Aramco’s gas processing plants process both the associated gas received from oil wells and non-associated gas (Khuff gas) received from gas wells.  Both of these gas streams are crucial to meet the domestic demand.The feed gas received from the respective wells are transported to the gas processing plants through buried cross country pipelines made of carbon steel material. These pipelines are designed with an external coating and cathodic protection for external protection, and corrosion inhibitors are used for internal protection.
While ILI is used as the primary method of integrity management for the pipelines equipped with launchers and receivers, the recent advancements in the nondestructive examination (NDE) technology, and close interval CP surveys can be utilized for the evaluation of non-scrapbale pipelines. In addition, advanced NDE techniques can also be utilized to evaluate the condition of large network of interconnecting piping within various operating units.
This paper will focus on the advancements in the coating technology, coating application technology such as line travel application, and coatings performance evaluation by appropriate surveys to prioritize the pipeline integrity management program for safe and reliable operations.