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GRE PIPELINE

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Get a copy of ISO 14692 - it has 4 parts.

GRE is essentially maintenance free, that's one of its advantages.

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I took over operations of several hundred miles of buried GRE pipe in 1994. I operated it until 2003. In 9 years I found that it is anything but maintenance free. It is true that there is no scheduled maintenance required. The problem is that it bruises very easily. While the ditch is open any rock falling from the spoil pile or the ditch wall will bruise the pipe. Unlike human bruises, the bruises in GRE do not heal. They don't get better. They get worse. A new bruise on a pipe will not impact the pressure containing ability at all in the near term. Over time the bruised fibers rub together with ground movement and create leaks. Lots of leaks. So many leaks that we ended up digging up large sections and replacing with RTP (reinforced thermoplastic pipe).

I can't say that I would ever recommend burying GRE pipe.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
 
Dave, I agree with you that GRE is not very suitable for many buried cross country pipeline applications , but would classify what you describe as repairs, of which there can be many and not maintenance but we're probably splitting hairs here. GRE is also quite susceptible to abrasion damage and give its high poissons ratio can move significantly at bends by pressure forces alone. If you have a stone there then it can wear through over time.

The issue is often one of ignorance of how to handle and lay this material compared to steel or flexibles.

It has its uses, but finding enough people experienced in its handling and construction can be a challenge.

Several hundred miles is some network of GRE though, where was that and what did it transport?

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
In 1988 the U.S. tax law changed and made Coalbed Methane a viable exploration target. When the first wells were developed in the San Juan Basin we had 8% CO2 and 1400 psig reservoir pressure (HDPE was out, luckily). The designers of the gathering system had 2 problems--they were terrified of CO2 corrosion and they didn't think that pigging 4 and 6-inch flow lines was viable. Their solution was fiberglass for those sizes and pigging for 8-inch and larger. It turns out that the produced water was fairly basic (7.5-8.3 pH) and there wasn't enough CO2 to make it acidic. CO2 corrosion in the steel pipe in these system is exceedingly rare. The lines started at wellsites and went to trunk lines. Generally there was a GRE line for gas and another for water in the same ditch.

Ironically, I later retrofit Argus Pigging Valves on most of the gas lines, so most of them got pigged and could have been steel, the accumulation of water in the lines had a negative impact on production even if it wasn't a corrosion concern.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
 
Makes sense - I looked at a similar thing in Oman where they love GRE and actually have enough companies experienced enough to make it viable (just). They justified GRE by not spending any money on corrosion inhibitors. They did go to 12" GRE headers though which had the impact of limited design pressure to 50 bar.

This was a few years ago and the RTP stuff wasn't available at that time for those sized lines. Not sure if the same input would yield the same result now.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
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