Pipeline
Construction Welding: one of the leading causes of pipeline failure
The applicable regulations addressing welding are in Subpart E of Part
192 for gas pipelines and Subpart D of Part 195 for hazardous liquid pipelines.
Additional discussion on welding can be found at the Stakeholders Communications web site. Some
specific concerns identified related to welding applications during
construction are provided below:
- Improperly qualified procedures or the use of wrong procedures. All welding procedures must be qualified and welding must be controlled to strict specifications. As part of the quality-assurance process, each welder must pass qualification tests to work on a particular pipeline job, and each weld procedure must be approved for use on that job in accordance with welding standards.
- PHMSA inspection has found that some constructors do not have welding procedures on site or are not following procedures.
- Part of the welding process is pre-heating of the pipe joint prior to beginning welding. Welders have not always ensured that the pre-heating requirements, established and documented in qualified welding procedures, are maintained. Improper pre-heating can lead to weld cracking after the completion of successful nondestructive testing of the weld. Refer to Hydrogen Assisted Cracking (HAC) for additional discussion.
PHMSA
issued advisory bulletin ADB-10-03 to notify owners and
operators of recently constructed large diameter natural gas pipeline and
hazardous liquid pipeline systems of the potential for girth weld failures due
to welding quality issues. Misalignment during welding of large diameter line
pipe may cause in-service leaks and ruptures at pressures well below 72 percent
specified minimum yield strength (SMYS). PHMSA has found pipe segments with:
- Line pipe weld misalignment,
- Improper bevel and wall thickness transitions,
- Out of roundness due to cut induction bends, and
- Other improper welding practices.
PHMSA
and independent experts' inspection has seen the following types of concerns when inspecting new
pipeline construction:
Mechanized Welding
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Manual Welding
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