Photo: MikeMareen / Getty Images
In June, after years of controversy and cost increases, officials announced that the Mountain Valley Pipeline entered service after meeting all applicable legal and regulatory requirements and receiving all remaining approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“This is an important and long-awaited day for our nation and the millions of Americans who now have greater access to an abundant supply of domestic natural gas for use as an affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy resource,” said Diana Charletta, president and chief executive officer of Equitrans Midstream Corp., the MVP operator.
“Natural gas is an essential fuel for modern life, and, as a critical infrastructure project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline will play an integral role in achieving a lower-carbon future while helping to ensure America’s energy and economic security for decades to come.”
The MVP runs approximately 303 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia, cutting through the Jefferson National Forest, and is expected to provide natural gas for the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the U.S. The 42-inch diameter underground pipeline is designed to carry up to 2 Bcf of natural gas per day from the Marcellus and Utica shale production regions to these markets.
First announced in 2014 and approved in 2017, the MVP project had been delayed over the years by opposition, lawsuits and violations on construction sites over environmental regulations. One recent example came in September 2022, when concerns were raised by residents and experts regarding the coatings, corrosion and the safety of pipe sections intended for the long-delayed MVP project that had been stored above ground for years.
Then, in July of 2023, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court ordered construction to halt again on the project, as it reviewed recent challenges to the project posed by environmental groups. However, by August, the U.S. Supreme Court began paving the way for construction to resume, and in October, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced that it had reached a consent agreement with Equitrans Midstream for inspections meant to validate the MVP’s integrity.
At that time, the PHSMA stated that its inspectors were focusing on corrosion control and coating remediation for pipeline segments that had been exposed to the elements and ultraviolet radiation in recent years. Major safety highlights of the consent agreement reportedly included:
Additionally, the agreement authorized Pittsburgh-based coatings consultancy firm KTA-Tator, Inc., to serve as the independent, third-party party pipeline coating experts. Throughout the project’s final construction phases, KTA reportedly conducted a comprehensive field audit of MVP’s pipeline coating activities, including the deployment of multiple inspectors to observe coating assessment and remediation and the performance of adhesion testing at each spread.
The pipeline was constructed and is owned by Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC—a joint venture between EQT Midstream Partners LP, NextEra US Gas Assets LLC, Con Edison Transmission Inc., WGL Midstream and RGC Midstream LLC. Now complete, the pipeline will be operated by EQT Midstream Partners.
Photo: claffra / Getty Images
In the spring, the Association for Materials Protection and Performance published a guideline for pipeline safety that aligns with new regulations from by the U.S Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
AMPP’s “Guide 21569-2024, Guidance on Implementing Corrosion Control Methodologies to Align with New PHMSA Regulatory Procedures,” was developed by Standards Committee SC 15—Pipelines and Tanks to strengthen the safety of onshore gas transmission pipelines.
To respond to the PHMSA’s revised Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations, AMPP’s new guide reportedly offers a detailed map for pipeline operators to begin using corrosion control requirements for onshore gas transmission as required in Part 2 of the PHMSA Gas Mega Rule.
The PHMSA revisions cover several improved safety measures, such as improved repair criteria, integrity management, cathodic protection and management of change, all reportedly meant to reduce risks from pipeline corrosion and ensure compliance with current safety standards.
“I’m very proud to have served as Document Project Manager for this development team comprised of an incredible group of industry pipeline subject matter experts across the country,” said Kimberly-Joy Harris, a retiree from Enbridge Pipelines with more than 30 years leading pipeline integrity and corrosion programs and the recently elected Chair of the AMPP Board of Directors.
“Our main goal was to assist U.S. natural gas pipeline companies with a guidance document that aligns with the new PHMSA Regulatory Mega Rule requirements related to integrity management, repair criteria, cathodic protection, and management of change, all to prevent and reduce failures.
In addition, this document will be very useful globally to assist pipeline companies with improving their integrity programs and reducing failures.”
AMPP stated at the time that Guide 21569-2024 will help U.S. gas transmission pipeline operators, while also providing insights for international counterparts that want to improve their corrosion control measures. According to AMPP, this guide came from the industry’s need for a stronger approach to align with the new corrosion control, operations, maintenance and integrity management PHMSA regulations that went into effect for transmission pipelines placed into service after Feb. 24, 2024.
The guide reportedly provides practical strategies for utilizing these requirements and leverages established practices to protect pipeline assets.
Harris also added that the project committee members and AMPP staff were able to successfully collaborate and complete the project in “record time,” less than one year from initiation to publication.
An underground oil pipeline at a refinery in Spain was suffering from severe corrosion. If left unchecked, the pipeline, at more than 2,860 feet (872 meters) in length, would have incurred severe metal loss. As a result, disastrous consequences, both financially and also from an environmental perspective, would have ensued.
A prompt repair was required for the carbon steel pipeline, 22 inches (55.9 centimeters) in diameter, in order to mitigate any further corrosion damage being incurred.
A potential solution would have been to completely replace the pipeline. However, considering its mammoth length, this process would have required considerable financial expenditure and, furthermore, would incur a hefty carbon footprint.
For every ton of steel that is produced, 1.85 tons of CO2—nearly double the amount—is released back into the atmosphere. In addition to this, the process of removing and disposing of the damaged pipeline further ratchets up the carbon footprint of this process.
As well as the environmental impact of replacing the corroded pipeline, this process would also require a considerable period of downtime which would lead to further profit-loss. The combination of these factors, costly in both a financial and environmental sense, led the Customer to seek out an alternative solution to replacing the steel pipeline.
The facility owner decided to repair and protect the pipeline with a combination of polymeric technology in order to bypass the drawbacks associated with replacing the pipeline. A two-part epoxy paste was specified to fill in any gaps in the weld seams to ensure the pipeline had a smooth profile. For heavily corroded areas, plate bonding was required using steel plates which were 19.9 inches by 23.6 inches (50 centimeters by 60 centimeters) in size, with a thickness of 5 mm (0.2 inches). These were bonded into place using an epoxy structural adhesive. To reinforce the pipeline, a composite wrap was specified. Finally, an immersion-grade anti-corrosion coating was chosen to provide long-term corrosion protection.
Fig. 1: A composite wrap was applied to protect a severely corroded 42-inch diameter pipeline from further deterioration. PhotoS: Courtesy of Belzona
Fig. 2: Plate bonding and epoxy paste were used to repair severely corroded areas before the application of the polymeric wrap material.
Fig. 3: After application of the composite wrap, a submersion-grade epoxy coating was applied to the pipeline exterior.
The pipeline operator was able to successfully bypass the drawbacks associated with complete pipeline replacement by instead opting to repair and protect the pipeline with a combination of polymeric technology. As well as making huge financial savings, this solution enabled the owner to also minimize its environmental impact as well.
As the oil and gas industry continues to decarbonize, this latter point is particularly paramount. Polymeric technology is an extremely viable way in which oil and gas asset managers can make great strides in mitigating the carbon footprint of their facilities. An increased uptake in the use of cold-applied repair composites and protective coatings would help to accelerate the decarbonization of this industry.
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