Meeting challenging requirements during pre-commissioning of a critical jet fuel pipeline

Halliburton Pipeline and Process Services successfully completed a pre-commissioning project in the Middle East on a 24-inch, 132-kilometer pipeline which transports Jet Fuel from a Refinery to an Airport. The work was considered to be of critical importance, due to the stringent acceptance criteria for Jet A1 Fuel at the Airport.

There were several significant challenges in the project including the following:

• The pipeline was constructed using internally uncoated steel pipe: the first such Jet A1 Fuel Service line in the region
• Onerous acceptance criteria: ASTM D5452/IT423 calls for ≤1.0 mg/lit of debris, JIG 1530 requires water content ≤0.1 ppm
• Any non-compliant fuel must be routed back to the refinery by road tankers
• Lack of water in the area determined that it had to be re-used and optimized
• Disposal constraints restricted the chemicals which could be used in the hydrotest water
• The political situation in the region led to delays in construction materials
• Project schedule was critical due the strategic importance of the project

Halliburton developed tailored engineered solutions to meet these challenges, working with the client as partners during the pre-engineering stages to determine the methodology and basis of construction.

Initial pigging and cleaning of the pipeline was performed in 5 sections: based on availability of water and storage/evaporation ponds. The pigging sequence was engineered to maximize debris removal and bring final debris amount to below 5 kg per section in order to meet the cleanliness acceptance criteria.

Approval was gained to use only a biocide treatment in the hydrotest fill water and to re-use it across the 5 Pipeline Sections. In order to prevent corrosion of the internal surface of the pipeline after hydrotesting, each section was dewatered and swabbed, vacuum dried and packed with Nitrogen in a short time frame.

The project was executed by experienced Halliburton engineers and crew whose detailed pre-engineering and preparations ensured flawless execution of the pre-commissioning services. Some of the key successes of the execution include:

• Initial cleaning runs of the 5 sections resulted in a debris level of less than 2 kg per 20 km section
• Filling operations were carried out with minimal air entrapment across all sections
• Hydrotesting required high resolution instrument accuracy, the pipeline operator and Halliburton worked together to establish a standard protocol
• Successfully re-used Hydrotesting water from section to section by analyzing water quality and re-dosing biocide based on results
• Drying acceptance criteria of -20ºC was achieved successfully for the full 132 km pipeline in 12 days using Vacuum Drying
• The final cleaning run recovered less than 450 gm of debris, the acceptance threshold was 36 kg
• Successfully completed final gauge pigging in a single run, only using back-pressure for the complicated terminal end construction pipework

The unique combination of engineering, collaboration with the customer, efficiency of operation and optimization of schedules resulted in a successfully pre-commissioned pipeline with a record low debris recovery, thus exceeding the customers’ expectations and successfully meeting their goals.