Reel pipe coating and laying vessel and process
AssigneeSanta Fe International Corporation
InventorCarlos E. Recalde
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pipeline vessel for laying out and coating a pipeline from a storage reel onto the bottom of a body of water. The vessel equipment provides for both straightening and tensioning of the pipeline as well as coating with a wide range of concrete and/or polymer coats. Both extrusion type thermoplastic coatings and reacted in situ thermoset resins are employed. The process of laying a relatively inflexible pipeline from such a reel pipelaying vessel and coating the pipe as it is laid out is also provided.
Claims37
A reel pipelaying vessel having a rotatably mounted reel for storage and for continuously unspooling of a pipeline and containing thereon pipe conditioning means located downstream of the reel in the direction of unspooling;
- said pipe conditioning means being adapted for straightening and for providing tension for said pipeline;
- said vessel including weight coating means adapted for continuously applying at least one weight coating layer to said pipeline as said pipeline moves continuously through said coating means, said coating means being located downstream of said pipe conditioning means in the direction of unspooling.
A weight coating apparatus for use on a reel piepelaying vessel having pipe conditioning means, said weight coating apparatus including a coating station positioned adjacent a pipeline being continuously unspooled from said vessel, supporting means for said coating station operatively secured to said vessel to the aft of said conditioning means, and coating materials supply means connected to said coating station, said coating station including means for continuously applying at least one weight coating layer to said pipeline as said pipeline moves continuously through said coating station downstream of said conditioning means.
A process of laying a weighted pipeline from a reel piepelaying vessel with at least one relatively inflexible weight coating layer of cement, including the steps of:
- continuously unreeling and conditioning a pipeline;
- then continuously passing said pipeline through a weight coating station;
- supplying at least one coating material of cement in pumpable form to the weight coating station;
- hardening the coating material about the pipeline in order to form at least one relatively inflexible weight coating thereon prior to discharge of the coated pipeline from the vessel;
- and
- laying out the pipeline from said vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.