Mobile automated in-field pipe

About

Pipelines are an essential enabling technology for the introduction of a hydrogen grid to enable industry to switch to hydrogen supply from fossil fuels with CO2 sequestration. Existing technology has a high carbon footprint, is labour intensive and has not changed radically for 80years. It requires manual welding of 12m pipe segments – a costly approach fraught with quality control and safety issues that will slow down the net zero transition. This new mobile automated pipeline technology (MASiP) creates a flexible high pressure pipe structure that comprises a polymer liner pipe reinforced by layers of high strength steel strip with a patented formed interlock and spirally wound. The pipe composition includes optical fibre cable next to the interlock in a patented configuration as a distributed built-in sensor. There are then outer layers of corrosion resistant layers and scuff resistant environmental protection layer also wound in the field. This provides digital real time integrity monitoring allowing every section of a pipeline to be monitored in real time for its health condition for the life of the asset. This new approach offers to greatly reduce the time and cost of installation, the risk factors of introducing hydrogen and will enhance the introduction of a hydrogen grid for industrial fuel supply. A wide range of tests have been completed at independent laboratories and in the field with our own demonstration site in N Yorkshire. In addition to the material problems identified in the challenge, this technology addresses the significant market problem of severe skilled labour shortage currently seen in pipeline projects using conventional steel pipeline technology at the same time as speeding up installation and reducing logistical challenges