Electrical heating system for a section of fluid transport pipe, section and pipe equipped with such an electrical heating system
AssigneeItp SA
InventorChristian Geertsen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to an electrical heating system for at least one section of a fluid transport pipe, the pipe comprising a casing in which the fluid to be transported flows, the heating system comprising electric wires arranged around the casing and intended to be powered, via connection elements, by an electrical power supply comprising several phases, system in which the electric wires are arranged in at least one set of several groups each comprising several electric wires, each of the groups in said set being intended to be supplied by a distinct phase, the electrical heating system comprising connecting units to perform an electrical connection and linking together the electric wires of each of said groups.
Claims24
A section of a fluid transport metal pipe comprising;
- a first casing in which the fluid to be transported flows, and
- a second casing arranged around and at a distance from said first casing and forming an annulus,
- wherein said section is equipped with a heating system comprising electric wires arranged around said first casing and intended to be powered, via connection elements, to connect two by two said electric wires of two sections joined together, said electric wires being powered by an electrical power supply comprising several phases, said electric wires being arranged in at least one set of several groups each comprising several of said electric wires, each of said groups in said set being intended to be supplied by a distinct phase, said electrical heating system comprising connecting units to perform an electrical connection and linking together said electric wires of each of said groups,
- wherein said electric heating wires, arranged on the first casing, are electrically insulated by an electrically insulating, thermally conducting sheath, and
- wherein said annulus houses said connection units and said set or said sets of said groups of said electric wires.
A fluid transport metal pipe comprising sections each equipped with electric heating wires linked together by connection elements at the junction between the sections, the connection elements arranged at one end of the said pipe being linked to saga power supply or to a neutral point of a final electric connector, wherein one or several sections are of a first type of section comprising a first casing in which the fluid to be transported flows and a heating system comprising said electric wires arranged around said first casing and intended to be powered via said connection elements connecting two by two said electric wires of two sections joined together, said electric wires being powered by said electrical power supply comprising several phases, said electric wires being arranged in at least one set of several groups each comprising several of said electric wires, each of said groups in said set being intended to be supplied by a distinct phase, said electrical heating system comprising connecting units to perform an electrical connection and linking together said electric wires of each of said groups.
A laying process for said hydrocarbon transport pipe comprising sections, said each section comprising an inner casing in which the fluid to be transported flows and an outer casing between which an annular space is formed in which an insulating material and electric wires are arranged around said inner casing that are intended to be supplied with electrical power via connection elements, by a main power supply comprising several phases, process wherein:
- said inner casing of an end section is welded to an inner ring of a reinforcing ring comprising an external ring integral with its inner ring,
- said connection elements of said electric wires are connected to said connection elements of the reinforcing ring according to at least one set of several groups of several electric wires, each of said groups in said set being intended to be powered by a distinct phase of said main power supply,
- said electric heating wires are temporarily powered by at least one add-on power supply comprising several phases each distinctly powering one of said electric wires in the same group,
- said outer casing of said pipe is joined to said external ring of said reinforcing ring by welding a tubular element formed by a sleeve or by two half-shells,
- said electric wires of each of the said groups are electrically connected together.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.