DIRAX: The Ultimate Pipeline Coating for Road Bores and Directional Drilling Applications

 DIRAX: The Ultimate Pipeline Coating for Road Bores and Directional Drilling Applications

Introduction: In the realm of pipeline coatings, one product stands out as a true game-changer: DIRAX. This high-performance fiberglass reinforced sleeve has been specifically designed to provide exceptional corrosion protection for pipes used in directional drilling applications. With its unique three-layer construction and a host of advantageous features, DIRAX emerges as the unrivaled choice for road bores and directional drilling projects.

Advanced Construction and Design: The DIRAX system boasts a three-layer construction, each layer playing a crucial role in ensuring optimal performance and protection. The first layer consists of a solvent-free, two-component liquid epoxy, which forms strong mechanical and chemical bonds to the pipe surface. The second layer comprises a high shear strength copolymer adhesive, further enhancing the bonding capabilities. Finally, the third layer is a thick, fiberglass reinforced, radiation cross-linked polyethylene, providing the sleeve with exceptional durability.

Unmatched Features and Benefits:

1. High Resistance to Shear and Peel Forces: DIRAX exhibits outstanding toughness, making it highly resistant to shear and peel forces induced by soil and thermal movements. This feature ensures the integrity of the pipeline, even under challenging conditions.

2. Exceptional Abrasion and Wear Resistance: The durability of DIRAX is unparalleled, offering abrasion and wear resistance comparable to mill coatings. This ensures that the coating remains intact and undamaged, even during pull-through operations.

3. Monolithic Coating System: DIRAX provides a monolithic coating system, offering seamless protection for girth welds. By eliminating any weak points or vulnerabilities, the coating ensures long-lasting reliability and performance.

4. Enhanced Security with Wear Cone: To provide additional strength and security, DIRAX includes a wear cone that protects the leading edge of the sleeve against pull-through forces. This added layer of protection increases the overall reliability of the pipeline.

5. Fast and Convenient Application: Installing DIRAX is a swift and efficient process. The sleeve is applied directly over wet epoxy, eliminating the need for curing or waiting times. This results in a faster application that saves valuable time without compromising on the quality of the coating.

6. Superior Barrier Protection: DIRAX offers superior cathodic disbondment and hot water immersion resistance, acting as an optimal barrier against corrosion. With DIRAX, pipeline operators can rest assured that their infrastructure is safeguarded against the damaging effects of moisture and corrosion.

7. Pre-Attached Closure Patch: For added convenience, DIRAX comes with a pre-attached closure patch. This feature streamlines the application process, making it fast and easy for pipeline installers.

8. Low Preheat Requirements: DIRAX's low preheat requirements make the installation process faster and more efficient. By minimizing preheating time, pipeline projects can be completed in a shorter duration, leading to significant time and cost savings.

Conclusion: When it comes to road bores and directional drilling applications, DIRAX emerges as the unparalleled choice for pipeline coating. Its unique construction, including a three-layer system and reinforced fiberglass sleeve, ensures high performance, exceptional corrosion protection, and durability. With its host of beneficial features, including resistance to shear and peel forces, wear resistance, fast application, and superior barrier protection, DIRAX stands out as the very best coating available on the market today. When reliability, efficiency, and long-term protection are paramount, DIRAX is the ultimate solution for pipeline projects.

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.