Evaluation of the Suitability of X100 Steel Pipes for High Pressure Gas Transportation Pipelines by Full Scale Tests

In order to increase the knowledge necessary for the utilisation of grade X100 steel pipes, and to consolidate preliminary indications regarding the safe level of toughness required to control the ductile fracture propagation event within X100 gas pipeline, an ECSC-Demonstration Project, (DemoPipe), partially sponsored by EPRG, has been performed (2001–2004) using TMCP X100 pipes with a diameter of 36”. The project examines the problems of building a new high grade steel on-shore gas pipeline, with special emphasis given to the issues of the field welding technologies and selection of consumables, girth weld defect tolerance, field cold bending, and the fracture propagation behaviour in a high-pressure natural gas pipeline. In order to achieve these stated aims, a dedicated programme of laboratory and full scale tests was included in the project. This paper presents a summary of some of the results obtained, together with a discussion regarding their applicability to future X100 pipelines.Copyright © 2004 by ASME