Techniques for coating pipes
AssigneeAcergy France SAS
InventorPhilippe Hoffmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus are for coating a field joint of a pipeline. The method includes positioning a mold tool around the field joint to define a mold cavity, positioning an insert to lie within the mold cavity, and injecting plastics material into the mold cavity to embed the insert in the plastics material. The apparatus has a mold tool positionable around the field joint to define a mold cavity, and an insert positionable within the mold cavity to be embedded in plastics material injected into the mold cavity. Use of an insert in this way reduces the volume of the molten thermoplastics material required to coat the field joint, thereby increasing the interface area of the melt relative to its volume, to the benefit of cooling time.
Claims17
A method of coating a field joint of a pipeline, comprising:
- positioning a mold tool around the field joint to define a mold cavity;
- positioning an insert to lie within the mold cavity;
- and
- injecting molten plastics material into the mold cavity to embed the insert in the plastics material;
- wherein the insert comprises a body and at least one passage extending through the body, the plastics material flows through the passage in the body of the insert as the mold cavity fills,
- wherein the insert is of a different material to the plastics material injected into the mold cavity, and the material of the insert is relatively insulative in comparison with the plastics material injected into the mold cavity.
An apparatus for coating a field joint of a pipeline, comprising a mold tool positionable around the field joint to define a mold cavity, an insert positionable within the mold cavity to be embedded in plastics material injected into the mold cavity, the insert comprising a body and at least one passage that extends through the body of the insert through which passage molten plastics material can flow, the insert is of a different material to the plastics material injected into the mold cavity, and the material of the insert is relatively insulative in comparison with the plastics material injected into the mold cavity.
A pipeline production facility comprising:
- an apparatus for coating a field joint of a pipeline, comprising a mold tool positionable around the field joint to define a mold cavity, and an insert positionable within the mold cavity to be embedded in plastics material injected into the mold cavity, the insert comprising a body and at least one passage that extends through the body of the insert through which passage molten plastics material can flow, the insert is of a different material to the plastics material injected into the mold cavity, and the material of the insert is relatively insulative in comparison with the plastics material injected into the mold cavity;
- and
- wherein the insert is positioned on a field joint at an upstream station and the mold tool is positioned around a field joint at a downstream station with respect to a direction of movement of a pipeline being produced by the facility.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.