DIRAX Shrink Sleeves Use History

     I'm often asked about the reliability of our DIRAX product.  If you need a quick refresher on the DIRAX shrink sleeve; check out one of these entries:  here, here, or here.

     DIRAX has been used on pipe that will be involved in a road bore or directional drill for many years.  I've seen it used (and tested) on pipe ranging from 2" OD to 48" OD.  In addition, it has been used often as a field joint coating for non-road bore pipe when someone has a particularly harsh soil environment; or when an end user just doesn't want to take any chances and wants the best possible coating.  In cases like that, it is actually called ROCS (rather than DIRAX) and that can cause some confusion.

     In any case, looking at our last couple of years; I was curious how many DIRAX sleeves we've sold.  The answer actually surprised me.  In that period, we sold more than 75,000 DIRAX sleeves.  That is approximately 575 miles worth of pipe.  To put that into perspective; that would be:

A single road bore starting in Cincinnati, OH and ending in New York City, NY.

It would also be the length of a road bore starting in Rome and ending in Frankfurt!

     That would be one heck of a road bore!  Now, over the course of these years; with more than 75,000 DIRAX kits installed on more than 75,000 field joints; how many problems have there been? 

     I have been with Joint Specialists for 13 years.  I have been involved with the DIRAX product on a daily basis.  In 13 years:

- Number of DIRAX failures I am aware of:  ZERO

- Number of Corrosion problems underneath a DIRAX shrink sleeve I've heard about:  ZERO

- Number of DIRAX sleeves that were displaced during road bores:  ZERO

- Number of DIRAX sleeves that were displaced during a directional drill:  ZERO

     If you're keeping score at home; that is zero failures in more than 75,000 installs; spaced out over a 7 year period.  In case you're looking for a loophole; every single DIRAX sleeve that we sell is sold in a box with our company name and company telephone number on it.  If DIRAX sleeves were failing; we would be hearing about it.  The simple fact is; we have not heard a peep.

     The pipe beneath a road or a river is often the most sensitive part of a pipeline.  In many cases, that pipe will never been seen again.  Why aren't you choosing to install the only road bore product on the market with a perfect record??  Call us today and we'd be happy to set up a DIRAX demonstration.  Have an upcoming bore?  Let us come install a DIRAX sleeve on the front end of it; so you can see for yourself how well the DIRAX thrives.  Once you see it; you won't trust your pipe to anything else.

DIRAX Field joint Coatings

DIRAX Road Bore Coating

     Road bores and directional drilling applications put incredible stresses on pipeline coatings.  That is one reason that a main line abrasion resistant overcoat like Powercrete has been so popular over the years.  That is also one of the major reasons that dual layer FBE's and other ARO's have been developed, specified, sold and applied.  Product selection becomes a little bit more difficult when considering field joint coatings.  One of the main reasons this is the case is that field applications are dramatically different than coating plant (or lab) applications.  Crews aren't trained as well.  The environment isn't as controlled.  Nothing is stream lined in the field.  That is where the DIRAX product really shines.  Because of its simple installation, DIRAX installation is easy and consistent.  Two incredibly important features in a field applied coating.

     So, what are the steps of DIRAX installation in the field that make it so easily repeatable and consistent?  I'm glad you asked. 

1. Surface preparation; while important; is not as critical as it is in a factory setting.  The anchor patterns required for many two part epoxies and fusion bond epoxy are not major factors with DIRAX.  Like any coating, of course the substrate needs to be clean (the cleaner the better) but anchor pattern are not a requirement.  Surface prep to SA 2 1/2 (and even wire brush in some cases) is all that is required.
2. Epoxy thickness is fast and easy.  No more headaches trying to get a proper uniform epoxy thickness all the way around the pipe.  No more issues with an epoxy coating that is too thin on top and too thick on bottom with icicles and drips forming.  The DIRAX coating system utilizes our S1301M Epoxy as a bonding agent between the high shear adhesive of the DIRAX and the pipe surface (including factory applied coating).  The S1301M also acts as a coating enhancement; improving shear, peel, CD and other critical coating characteristics.  The S1301M is applied in a very thin layer; only microns thick and the coating integrity is not hinged upon a certain 30+ mil coating thickness in order to corrosion protect properly.  
3. No real skill required.  There is no requirement for skill by the installer.  Their skill is not going to determine coating thickness.  Installer skill is not going to impact holidays or fish eyes or icicles.  The installers simply wrap the DIRAX sleeve around the still wet S1301M epoxy -- the DIRAX sleeve itself is designed to shrink 25%; so there isn't even any skill in wrapping the sleeve.  Wrap it snug?  That's fine.  Wrap it with a 1/2 inch bag?  Fine.  1 inch bag?  Also probably fine (depending on your pipe size).  After that you're simply shrinking the sleeve in a circumferential pattern starting on one end and moving toward the other.  
4. Virtually no cure time.  No need wait multiple hours.  No risk of the crew pulling that pipe too soon (before the joint coating is cured) and ruining the coating.  No risk of someone bumping up against the pipe and creating holidays in the uncured epoxy.  The thinness of our epoxy, plus the heat of the steel preheat, plus the heat of the torch during the shrink process --- all leads to a fully cured coating system that is almost always ready to see stresses within just a few minutes after installation is concluded.  
5. Minimal installation time is also a big factor here.  Ignoring surface prep (which will vary based on how dirty your pipeline is) - you are looking at just a few minutes per field joint of coating time.  This saves you labor costs.  Preheating the steel to 140F is very quick (will vary based on pipe size).  Mixing and applying the epoxy is only a minute or so.  Wrapping and shrinking the DIRAX sleeve and the Leader Strip is also very fast (I've installed sleeves on a 36" pipeline in only three minutes before).  

Pipe Bundle 6-inch and 12-inch

Pipe Bumpers Made Easy

     Another job in the books and another pipe successfully protected during a bundled road bore project.  Here are a few photos.

Pipe bundled, bumpered and resting on skids to move it toward the bore hole. 

All of this rain we've had is making for some wet, messy job sites.

Good photo showing the space the bumpers create.  Bumpers are located 10-20 feet 'off screen' but are still working to hold the lines separated at this point.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor mud can prevent our BBS system from doing what it is designed to do.

      Our bumper system (BBS or BBS/CCS) has now been used successfully on numerous projects with nary a sniff of a failure or even sub-par performance.  Simple to install.  Easy to install.  Fast to install, there is no other system on the market as easy to use that can perform this well.

     Using a high durometer, specially formulated and fully evaluated proven bumper material.  This system simply works.  Our system for holding that bumper in place through out the boring process is also unmatched.  This multi layer system can be installed in three to four minutes (depending on pipe size) and can see pipe stresses as soon as it has cooled.  You have enough to worry about on this project - let us worry about preventing pipe collisions during the boring process. 

     Contact us for pricing and lead times - steve@jsicoatings.com 936/321-3333

Another Successful Bundled Road Bore Completed

Pipe Bore Bumpers (Doughnuts) - Another Success!

     Another bundled road bore where the pipelines have been successfully prevented from pipe against pipe damage during the boring process by our bumpers!  This line was in the Houston area and the bundle pulled was a 16 inch line, a 12 inch line and a 6 inch line.  With bumpers appropriately spaced and the bumper system properly installed (we always like to have an expert on site wherever possible to make sure everything is installed properly), another successful bore was completed. 

Fully installed BBS Bumper Bundle System on 12" Pipe

     This proven system is sold as a single line item part which includes:

- 2" wide by 1" tall specially formulated bumper material

- 17" wide sleeve proven to hold that bumper in place throughout the bore process

- 3" wide leader strip / wear cone for extra protection on the front end of the sleeve

- suitable mount of the two part S1301M bonding agent

     Each bumper is generally installed in 5 minutes or less.  It does not require any special training or tools (propane torch and silicone roller are about it).  This proven, field friendly solution has been used by major pipeline contractors and end users around the country.  Contact us for a quote or simply for a copy of the brochure affiliated with this BBS (or BBS/CCS) product line. 

World's Longest Directional Drill

Field Joint Coating for Long Directional Drill

*I have two sources for this article.  One is Stan Simpson who was involved in this project back in 1999 / 2000.  The second is an article written and published in Pipeline & Gas Journal in April 2000. 

 

     Though directional drilling applications have seemingly gotten more and more complicated as the recent decade or two have passed (including bundled directional drills with as many as four pipelines travelling through the whole at once) it is almost hard to believe that 14 years ago, BP and Mustang Engineering undertook a directional drilling project that was (to that point) unheard of:  a 5.4 mile long section of pipe directionally drilled underneath Lavaca Bay! 

 

     As if that wasn't enough of a head ache, they also had to deal with the fact that Lavaca Bay was a federal Environmental Protection Agency environmentally sensitive superfund site involving mercury containing sediments.  The longest directional drill?  Through a section of bay already being watched by the government?  There was going to be no room for error on the field joint coatings for this project...

     So what did they decide to use?  Yes: DIRAX.  The thickness, penetration resistance, peel, abrasion resistance, and shear of the DIRAX shrink sleeve system is simply unmatched in the industry.  Dirax utilizes a high shear, two part epoxy as the primary corrosion coating on the field joint.  A shrink sleeve is then installed on top of that epoxy and as the sleeve is installed, the epoxy and the adhesive of the sleeve become physically and chemically bonded. That Dirax sleeve isn't going anywhere - and with hundreds of thousands of field joints coated with Dirax and pulled through bore holes; we've yet to hear of a single case where the Dirax failed.  Not even one.

     Dirax did a fantastic job on this project and hundreds of other before and since.  If you don't have Dirax approved on your next project....why not?  Let's talk. 

Road Bore Field Joint Coating with Fastest Cure Time

Which road bore pipeline coating has the fastest cure time?

    When considering cure times, there are a number of factors (which are often uncontrollable) that affect cure times.  These include humidity levels, ambient temperatures, substrate temperature and design parameters of the curing material itself.  If you are in the field, or if you are writing a specification for a pipeline project - it won't take you long to realize that you cannot control any of those factors! 

     As a result, the only way you can influence installation and cure times is by focusing on what you can control:  product selection.  If you're selecting a curable material to coat the field joints (girth welds) on your pipeline which will be involved in a road bore or directional drill; I'm guessing you already understand that extreme conditions through which you are going to put that pipe.  I'm assuming you're also aware that once it enters the hole; the pipeline is never going to be seen again.  You're going to have one shot to get that pipe properly coated and that is it.  Add in the requirement that you need a fast curing material and you might have real problems on your hand.....or will you?

     Looking through published data of one of the leaders in the two part epoxy pipeline coating business, it is very easy to determine the manufacturer predicted cure times.  Of course, they vary based on the temperature of the substrate and (mostly) the temperature of the Earth at the time and place that coating is occurring.  It is my understanding that 'force curing' most stand alone two part epoxies is a bit sketchy.  But in any case, right here in the data of "one of the fastest curing epoxies" I can see that if the temperature outside if 60 degrees F; the epoxy will need 6-9 hours before it hits its reported Shore D value of 80-85. 

     If the outside temperature is 80F, you are looking at 3-4 hours before reaching Shore D hardness of 80-85.  If it is 90F outside, that number drops to 2-3 hours.  Still a long time if you're dealing with a road bore and a limited right of way for stringing up pipe.  Another interesting fact though:  at that 90F - the epoxy doesn't reach "tack free" until 30-40 minutes have passed.  That can mean 30-40 minutes of working, reworking and re-reworking the epoxy to minimize drips, icicles and coating inconsistencies.  Tough challenge.

     So, say you are a fan of many of the physical properties of two part epoxies.  You like good cathodic disbondment.  You like the improved abrasion resistance, shear, peel, etc.  But, you can't live with the cure times.  Well I have good news for you.  Our DIRAX product utilizes a two part epoxy as the primary corrosion coating of the system (use history).  Over that, the DIRAX system offers unparalleled protection for your field joint.  Even better though is the cure time.  Since the epoxy in this scenario is not a stand alone epoxy...the option to force cure it becomes technically sound.  Given that you're preheating the pipe surface to 140F -- and then the DIRAX is contracting at 260F -- there is plenty of heat getting into that epoxy so that this system is installed in 7 minutes or less (for typical pipe sizes) and completely cured and ready to pull within about 30 minutes (ready for pull as soon as installation is completed and cooled back to ambient temperatures which could include a quench of some kind).

     So - several hours and lots of labor....or thirty minutes and minimal labor.  I don't think its close -- especially when you're dealing with a right of way issue.
 

Pipeline Coating for a River Bore

River Bore Pipeline Coating

      In the pipeline world it is a fairly common occurrence that a pipeline be bored underneath a river; just like it is common for pipelines to in a directional bore under a road, a directional bore under a railroad, a directional bore under a lake, a directional bore under a bay or sometimes even a directional bore under land that could not be torn up due to right of way or environmentalist reasons.

 

     Isn't that a beautiful sight?  Boring a pipeline underneath a river like this is going to raise ALL KINDS of questions.  Some very fair.  Some not fair.  It will politics as usual, that you can be certain of.  One of the concerns with a directional drilling project is that once the pipeline goes down into the wet, black hole....no one is EVER going to see it again!  No one is going to be able to inspect the pipeline to be certain the pipeline coating you've selected is still in place and functioning properly.  In some cases it will even be difficult to be certain that your cathodic protection system is going to be able to properly protect your pipeline if there was any damage during the pull through.

 

     Beyond that, if there is some kind of pipeline catastrophe, where will all of the product from the pipeline go?  There will certainly be no way to repair a pipeline -- replacing the line will be the only option and that is incredibly expensive.  In light of all of that, obviously, the external pipeline coating selection for this section of the pipeline is incredibly important.

 

     For the main line coating, here in the USA it is generally accepted that the best coating option is going to be either a dual layer FBE (with the outer layer having more ARO qualities) or an FBE with a Powercrete type ARO (abrasion resistant overcoat) installed over the outside of it.  For the field joint coating, there are more schools of thought.

 

     Believe it or not, I live in The Woodlands, TX.  A wonderful community just north of Houston, TX.  It is a booming part of the state with people moving in by the droves.  Many large corporations are also in the middle of moving their bases of operations to this area.  Given all of that, you would think we might be on the cutting edge of technologies when it comes to the pipelines that are constructed in our neighborhoods.  You would be wrong!

 

     Just two years ago, I saw a bore underneath one of our largest creeks.  Right next to this creek where the bore took place sat a bridge that sees heavy traffic just about all day long.  Whoever owned/worked on that pipeline chose to put a cold applied tape on the field joints of the road bore section of the pipeline!  (Are you wondering what happens to cold applied tape during a road bore?  Read and find out).  This was a unique situation for us as we had a good contact with that very tape manufacturer.  He was horrified that his product was used on a road bore in a heavily populated area underneath a bridge and a creek.  Horrified.  So horrified in fact that he went in with us to visit with a couple of engineers and tell them that they had made (and had been making) a terrible mistake by using his product for that purpose.  Amazingly, they either didn't care -- or were uninterested in getting involved.  I drive over that bridge twice a day (once with my children in the car with me) and I am absolutely certain that those field joints are now bare.  I sure hope the CP system is working because that is all they've got. 

 

     Likewise, near my neighborhood there is a section of pipe that has been welded and coated and lying in the dirt next to the golf course for weeks!  It might even be months.  Just driving by there I can see that the cold applied tape is bubbling up in some spots; peeling back in some spots and getting disfigured already from the weight of the pipe.  I can see it going by at 40 miles per hour!  Why has the pipe been sitting so long?  Well it looks like they are waiting for the boring equipment to come out so they can pull it underneath a different creek! 

 

     There is always the option of bringing out flocking equipment and applying dual layer FBE in the field, but given the cost of the equipment that often doesn't make a lot of sense (since bores tend to be somewhat short in length).  Another option is to apply a two part epoxy like Powercrete or Protal.  Those are good options and they have been quite successful as long as the surface preparation is done properly, the crews are experienced and the job allows for a longer cure time. 

 

     In my world though, the absolute best solution for any critical service field joint (like underneath a river) is to use the DIRAX shrink sleeve system.  It has been proven again and again and again.  Cure times are down under thirty minutes.  Install times are down under 6 minutes (depending on pipe size).  Heck, it has even been used to hold bumpers in place during a bundled directional drill.  If this product can prevent pipes in a bundle from banging against each other while passing through a bore - and it doesn't move - and it doesn't disappear - and it isn't damaged - just imagine how much less taxing simply coating a field joint is!  Read about a recent BBS success here.

Directional Drilling and Road Bore of a Pipeline

Directional Drilling of a Pipeline

      Isn't it an amazing thing?  Drilling a hole through the ground that goes underneath a road...or a lake...or the ship channel...and then reaching through that hole and pulling a stinking PIPELINE through that hole.  WOW.  It is easy to wrap my brain around a cable being pulled like that....but a steel pipeline that might weight thousands of pounds per foot?? Incredible.

 

     If you've never had the opportunity to view a pipe pull in person; then today is your lucky day!  But wait...there's more.  Not only does this video show a pipe being pulled through a bore hole; this video shows FOUR (yes 4) pipelines being pulled through the bore hole at the same time!  In this specific case, there are two 16" lines and two smaller lines all bundled together.  This is a somewhat short bore coming in just over a quarter mile.

 

     As you might imagine, dragging four long, heavy, steel pipelines through the ground is likely to cause some damage.  Surely those pipelines will be banging into one another.  Surely there will be roots, rocks, clay and other possible obstacles down 8-10 feet beneath the surface.  In addition, the pipelines don't all lay next to one another like they do on a pipe truck...instead they are all free to go wherever they would like to go.  To paint the picture even further - we've got a 48" OD hole that has been drilled -- and 52" (outside diameter) combined inches of pipeline.  At least one of those pipelines is going to be surfing on the other three throughout the process!  Scary!

 

     This presents the other side of the problem:  how is a pipeline....that is literally RIDING ON TOP OF three other pipelines going to travel 1/4 mile without getting or causing damage??  FBE and ARO coatings like Powercrete are very reliable external pipeline coatings; but they are not really designed for pipe surfing by other pipes...

 

     In this particular case, the customer chose to use our BBS bumper system to protect the pipelines during the boring process (even the surfing pipeline).  Based on the BBS performance - they were THRILLED that they did.  But more on that later. 

 

     Now on to the show.  I hope I haven't built it up too much.  Before I'd ever seen a road bore, I expected some kind of speed to it like you might see when you pull the string from the top of a top.  I was wrong! 

 



Bumper Doughnut Sleeve for Bundled Directional Bore

    Question:  I have a bundled directional drill that includes a 6" pipe.  What can I use to hold a doughnut in place to prevent the pipes from bumping into and damaging one another?

     Answer:  When you're dealing with a 6" pipe; that presents a challenge.  In the world of heat shrink sleeves, the important dimensions are 6.625" (the OD of the pipe) and 8.625" (the OD of the substrate which is the 6" pipe plus two layers of 1" thick rubber.  Unfortunately, that 8.625" down to 6.625" would require just a bit more shrink ratio than the DIRAX is able to provide.  So in case like that, we must use a different product that is still fiber sheet reinforced; but is also a high expansion product. 

Bundle Bumper Sleeve for Smaller Diameter Pipe

     What you see here is our BBS/CCS for a 6" pipe.  The doughnut is 2" wide (along the pipe) and 1" tall (two 1" x 1" doughnuts pushed together).  An excellent product and those doughnuts are not going to be going anywhere!

Field Joint Coating for a 48" Pipe Road Bore

What do you do when you've got a 48" road bore and you 

are in charge of selecting the field joint coating material?  

     I recently had a call from a customer who had a real problem.  He was in charge of a directional drill involving a 48" OD pipe.  Due to some issues with the right of way; his staging area was very, very small.  He really only had enough room to weld and coat two joints of pipe at any given time.  As a result, they were going to be completing the bore in stages; pulling two joints of 48" pipe into the bore and then stopping while they welded and coated the next two joints.  After this; those two joints would go into the bore (4 total) then they would have to stop and weld/coat two more.

     This presents two major problems.  First; the starting and the stopping during the bore can put really extreme forces on the pipe; the factory applied coating and the field joint coating...especially with a 48" OD pipe!  A 48" OD pipe can weight anywhere between 190 and 250 pounds per FOOT.  That means that a 20 foot pipe joint weighs in at a whopping 3800-5000 pounds.  That is a heck of a burden for a field joint coating (or any coating) to bear! 

     The other problem is due to the minimal staging area; the contractor wasn't going to have time to wait for products to cure.  Imagine that they were using a liquid epoxy that required 16 hours to cure...they would only get two joints completed per day!! (possibly less if they ran into trouble with spray equipment / repairs / etc). 

DIRAX shrink sleeves - even a 48" OD pipe is no problem.

     Though these are pretty significant problems for most coatings; for the DIRAX it wasn't a problem at all.  DIRAX shrink sleeves have been used on 48" pipe in the past with no problems.  It is built exactly for those kinds of incredibly challenging applications.  Beyond that; though the DIRAX shrink sleeve system does utilize a liquid epoxy (S1301M) it doesn't have the same cure times that stand alone liquid epoxy pipeline coatings experience.  Thanks to the heat put into the pipe during the preheat and thanks to the heat put into the pipe during the sleeve installation; the epoxy has been largely cured by the time installation is completed.  No long wait times; no real problems...just one more seemingly complicated directionally drilling application that DIRAX heat shrink sleeve solves with no problem!

5 Signs You Might Need DIRAX

5 Signs That You Need DIRAX Shrink Sleeves

1. The pipe you're working with (or selling) is coated with Dual Layer FBE.  Dual Layer FBE is very often used on pipe that will be involved in a road bore or a directional drill.
2. The pipe you're working with or selling is coated with Powercrete or an ARO (abrasion resistant overcoat).  This will almost always mean that the pipe is going to be part of a road bore or directional drill.
3. You heard mention of "road bore", "directional drill", "directional crossing", "beach pull", "river crossing", "thrust bore" or "push bore".
4. You hear mention of "epoxy sleeves", "wear cone", "leader strip", "leading strip", "fiberglass sleeves" or "thrust bore kits".
5. You have an application where you know the pipeline coating will be required to withstand extreme forces, extreme soil stresses or significant abrasion and/or penetration forces.

Can I Use WPCT on a Road Bore?

Question:  Can I use WPCT on a Road Bore?

Answer:  NO!!! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

     WPCT is not designed to withstand the tremendous forces associated with a road bore.  I could not recommend that.  The plant would not stand behind that.  I think this would be a mistake.  

     WPCT is ~3 mm thick if the backing is fully recovered.  DIRAX (our product designed for road bores - read more here) would be more than 7.5 mm thick on the front end - AND has a fiber mesh woven into the backing to offer even greater protection.

     I am aware that the cost difference between DIRAX and WPCT is significant, but this cost must be viewed in line with the cost associated with corrosion problems; with a pipeline leak or with repair costs.  Please, do yourself, your company, your pipeline -- and the neighbors of the pipeline a favor and use DIRAX on your directional drilling field joint coatings.