Development of Optimized Welding Solutions for X100 Linepipe Steel

Project Categories

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• Onshore Transmission Pipeline
• Pipeline Design/Construction
• Weld/Fabrication Defects
• Pipeline Materials

Main Objective

The overall objective is to gain fundamental understanding of factors affecting weld properties and utilizing that understanding to guide the selection of welding processes and the development and qualification of welding procedures for the production of high quality welds in high strength X100 line pipe. Weld quality will be considered in the context of productivity and other practical constraints.

Public Abstract

To meet the increasing demand for energy in North America, oil and gas reserves in more remote and challenging regions are being developed where large volumes of natural gas will be transported by new long distance, high pressure transmission pipelines. Advanced pipeline designs utilizing high strength line pipe is a key element in meeting these increasing energy demands. A significant amount of laboratory research has been conducted on the development of X100 line pipe and associated welding technology; including, a few recent demonstration projects of limited size and scope. Accordingly, there are few welding process options proven for X100 and the knowledge resides within a small number of companies.
The objectives of the proposed work are to establish the range of viable welding options for X100 line pipe, define essential variables to provide for welding process control that ensures reliable and consistent mechanical performance, validate the new essential variables methodology for relevant field welding conditions, and verify weldment performance through a combination of small and large scale tests. Full implementation will be achieved through changes to applicable codes and standards. See also Project No 225 for the other project in this Consolidated Program.