Besides LPS’ unique solution, the other options for protecting the interior of the weld zone all have one or more of the following limitations:
- Frequent quality problems with high risk of corrosion-related failure
- Extreme disruption to pipeline construction methods and schedule
- Prohibitively high cost
The following information compares the LPS solution to existing common solutions:
LPS vs. Robot
The use of a robot to paint the joints after welding often causes months of delays, cost over-runs, and quality issues due to unpredictable environmental and weld conditions.
| Robot | LPS | |
 |  | |
Quality | Steel temperature, humidity, adhesion to pipe lining, and jagged weld surfaces all increase chances of lining failure at joints. Leaks often form after pipeline is in service. | LPS products are shop-coated which eliminates all problems commonly associated with field-applied lining/coating materials. |
Schedule Disruption & Cost | Robots sandblast, clean, paint, holiday-test, sometimes re-work lining AFTER welding and NDE are done. Robots consistently prove they cannot come close to keeping up with welding, adding tremendous delays and costs. | When the welding and NDE are done the joint is done. LPS products are installed BEFORE welding is performed, and installation rate is scaled to whatever the welding crew rate is. |
| Robot |
|
Quality |
| Steel temperature, humidity, adhesion to pipe lining, and jagged weld surfaces all increase chances of lining failure at joints. Leaks often form after pipeline is in service. |
Schedule Disruption & Cost |
| Robots sandblast, clean, paint, holiday-test, sometimes re-work lining AFTER welding and NDE are done. Robots consistently prove they cannot come close to keeping up with welding, adding tremendous delays and costs. |
| LPS |
|
Quality |
| LPS products are shop-coated which eliminates all problems commonly associated with field-applied lining/coating materials. |
Schedule Disruption & Cost |
| When the welding and NDE are done the joint is done. LPS products are installed BEFORE welding is performed, and installation rate is scaled to whatever the welding crew rate is. |
Mechanical Joints
Bolted mechanical joints are expensive, particularly for high pressure. They also have high leak potential and are generally not used for long distance pipelines.
Cost of 30” diameter flanges vs. LPSleeves & Joint Lock Rings
Bare Pipe
Many pipelines are constructed without an internal protective lining and utilize additional steel wall thickness to buy time against corrosion. Bare unlined pipelines still generally start leaking from corrosion within 10 – 20 years.
An internal pipe lining would be used if there was a good solution to protect the welded joints from corrosion. Now there is with LPS.
Cost of Bare Slurry Pipeline vs.
Lined Pipeline with LPS Joint Technology
