VES - 5145

CORROSION PROTECTION COATINGS

FOR
BURIED IN-PLANT PIPING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE

1.0

SCOPE

2.0

APPLICABLE CODES, STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS

3.0

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

4.0

POLYETHYLENE TAPE WRAP SYSTEM

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7

5
5
6
7
7
8
9

General
Materials
Equipment
Surface Preparation
Priming
Installation
Repair

5.0

INSPECTION AND TESTING

6.0

PIPE IDENTIFICATION AND MARKING

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1.0

SCOPE
This Specification defines the minimum requirements for field applied anti-corrosion coatings for
buried steel and cast iron pipe for in-plant piping systems. This specification shall be applicable for
all buried in-plant ferrous piping systems except for the following:
a)

Nominal pipe diameters larger than 10", or

b)

Pipe with 10" or smaller nominal pipe diameter, which is buried for a length in excess of 100
meters.

In either of these two cases, the corrosion protection coatings shall comply with the requirements of
Company specifications VES-5141 and VES-5142.

2.0

APPLICABLE CODES, STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS

The latest edition of the following codes, standards, specifications and technical publications shall
form a part of this Specification, except as modified herein:
AWWA - American Water Works Association
AWWA C-209 Cold - Applied Tape Coatings for Special Sections, Connections, and Fittings for
Steel Water Pipelines.
Company Specifications
VES - 5141

Machine Applied Anti-Corrosion Coatings for Buried Pipe.

VES - 5142

Hand Applied Anti-Corrosion Coatings for Buried Pipe.

VES - 5810

Storage, Handling and Transportation of Steel Pipe.

NACE - National Association of Corrosion Engineers

NACE-RP-02-74

High Voltage Electrical Inspection of Pipeline Coatings Prior to Installation.

NACE-TM-01-70

Visual Standard for Surfaces of New Steel Airblast Cleaned with Sand
Abrasive.

NACE-TM-01-74

Laboratory Methods for the Evaluation of Protective Coatings Used as

Lining Materials in Immersion Service.

NACE-TM-01-75

Visual Standards for Surfaces of New Steel Centrifugally Blast Cleaned with
Steel Grit and Shot.

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SSPC - Steel Structures Painting Council

SSPC-SP1
SSPC-SP2
SSPC-SP3
SSPC-SP6

Solvent Cleaning
Hand Tool Cleaning
Power Tool Cleaning
Commercial Blast

SIS - Swedish Standards Institute

SIS 05 59 00

3.0

Pictorial Surface Preparation Standard for Painting Steel Surface.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
3.1 Throughout this Specification, the following definitions are applicable:
a)

Company - VICO INDONESIA, a Division of Virginia Indonesia Company LLC.

b)

Contractor - The contractor and all of his subcontractors, if any, which are responsible
for shop or yard application of anti-corrosion coatings to steel and cast iron pipe.

c)

Responsible Government Authorities - All national, regional, local and municipal

organizations with jurisdiction over matters applicable to buried, in-plant piping systems.

3.2 All coating materials and application operations shall be in accordance with the requirements
of the responsible Government authorities, BP Migas and others with jurisdiction over buried,
in-plant piping systems. Company will not accept ignorance of these requirements as cause
for delay or as basis for a claim against Company.
3.3 Contractor shall furnish all materials, labor and equipment required for application of anticorrosion coatings to steel and cast iron pipe, unless specifically stated otherwise by
Company in writing.
3.4 All surface preparation and coating operations shall be done in accordance with the written
instructions of the coating manufacturer.
3.5 Contractor shall when requested by Company and at no cost to Company, secure the
services of the coating manufacturer's representative to approve the surface preparation
and application of all coating materials.
3.6 All surface preparation and coating operations shall be performed by and under the
supervision of personnel skilled in the application of the anti-corrosion materials specified.
Contractor shall provide all the skilled personnel required for execution of this work.
3.7 Contractor shall be responsible for handling, transportation and storage of the pipe in
accordance with Company Specification VES-5810.

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4.0

POLYETHYLENE TAPE WRAP SYSTEM

4.1

General
a)

All tape and primer materials shall be kept out of direct sunlight during transportation
and storage. Tape and primer materials shall be stored in a clean, cool and dry
warehouse until required. Only sufficient quantities for one days work shall be
removed from the warehouse.

b)

The Polyethylene Tape Wrap System shall consist of primer applied to bare steel or
cast iron, one or more layers of polyethylene inner wrap tape and one layer of
polyethylene outer wrap coating.

c)

Company has approved two Polyethylene Tape Wrap Systems as defined in the
following:

d)

i)

Standard System - This system consists of primer, a single layer of inner wrap
tape and a single layer of outer wrap tape.

ii)

Double Wrap System - This system consists of primer, two layers of inner wrap
tape and a single layer of outer wrap tape.

The following table defines the minimum coating system requirements for various
underground piping systems:

SERVICE
All cast iron piping, all sizes
All carbon steel piping, all sizes,
up to 10" maximum

4.2

STANDARD
SYSTEM

DOUBLE WRAP
SYSTEM

Required

----

----

Required

Material
a)

The primer shall be certified to be in accordance with the requirements of the tape
manufacturer. The following products have been approved by Company for use on
in-plant piping system:

APPLICATION
METHOD

SERVICE

b)

ACCEPTABLE PRODUCTS
POLYKEN

All services except where

non-flammable primers are
required

Hand Brush or
Spray

927

All carbon steel piping, all

sizes, up to 10" maximum

Hand Brush

929

The inner wrap tape shall be polyethylene tape backed with a butyl based adhesive.
The following products have been approved by Company for both the Standard and
the Double Wrap Tape coating systems:

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SERVICE

APPLICATION
METHOD

Pipe 3" nominal diameter and

smaller

Tapester-54
(See Note 1)

960-13

Pipe 4" nominal diameter up

to and including 10"

Tapester-212
(See Note 1)

980-15

Fittings, ells, tees, valves, etc.

Hand

930-25

Fill voids around fittings, ells,

valves, etc.

Hand

931

Patch, repair damaged tape

coatings

Hand

934

Tapester-54 or
212

955-15

Outer wrap tape

Note 1

ACCEPTABLE PRODUCTS
POLYKEN

Tapester is a tape wrapping machine manufactured by Midwestern

Manufacturing Company. This machine or a Company approved equal
must be used for application of the tape where indicated.

Other products of the same manufacturer and products of other manufacturer's may
be acceptable but must be approved in writing by Company after completion of a
technical evaluation of the proposed product.
4.3

Equipment
a)

All tools and equipment for preparation and application of the tape shall be supplied
by Contractor, shall be of good quality, shall be maintained in good operating
condition and shall be suitable for use to apply materials required by this
Specification.

b)

When particular equipment is recommended by the tape manufacturer, that equipment

shall be used. All equipment shall be subject to approval of Company.

c)

All cleaning, priming and coating machines shall be equipped with rubber wheels or
hard fiber overlayed wheels to prevent marking or denting the pipe.

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4.4

4.5

Surface Preparation
a)

All surfaces shall be cleaned of all visible oil, grease and other detrimental materials
by steam and solvent cleaning in accordance with SSPC-SP-1. The surface shall be
dry to the touch before any additional surface preparation is performed.

b)

As a minimum requirement, ALL the exterior surface of the pipe shall be abrasive
blasted in accordance with the requirements of SSPC-SP-6 (NACE No.3). All blasting
shall be performed by experienced operators using silica or flint based sand with grit
size 16-30. Soft sand shall not be used. Care shall be taken to protect pipe ends and
bevels during abrasive blasting operations.

c)

The abrasive blast material shall be free of impurities, water and oil. All abrasives
shall be removed by brush-off blast or vacuum type cleaner prior to applying coatings.

d)

The compressed air for blasting shall be free of water and oil. Separators and traps
shall be provided at the compressor and blasting station. Separators and traps shall
be checked daily for effective moisture removal during coating operations.

e)

Blast cleaning operations shall not be conducted on surfaces that are less than 5 oF
above dewpoint or when the relative humidity is greater than 85%. Blast cleaning
under these conditions may be performed but the pipe shall be warmed to a
temperature (not to exceed 125oF) at least 5oF above the dewpoint prior to initiating
the blasting operation.

f)

Where abrasive blasting is not possible, all bare steel surfaces shall be power tool
cleaned in accordance with SSPC-SP-3. Prior to initiating any surface preparation
other the abrasive blasting, Contractor shall obtain written authorization from
Company.

g)

Hand tool cleaning is only permitted in tightly spaced areas where it is not possible to
operate power tools. Company shall witness all hand tool cleaning. Hand tool
cleaning shall be done in accordance with SSPC-SP-2.

h)

In no case shall more surface area be prepared in one day than can be satisfactorily
coated in the same day. All prepared surface shall be coated prior to sundown on the
same day it was cleaned. If any flash rusting occurs, the affected surface must be
prepared again in accordance with this Specification.

i)

Contractor shall obtain written permission from Company prior to surface preparation
inside oil and gas processing facilities because of the hazards associated with
sparking caused by surface preparation operations.

Priming
a)

Prior to any primer application, the pipe shall be cleaned to remove any wetness or
other contamination.

b)

Primer shall be kept at a warehouse and only the daily requirements shall be brought
to the job site. Only the amount of primer required for immediate use shall be emptied
from the drums into open containers. After obtaining the quantity required, bungs
shall be immediately replaced in the drums to prevent the loss of solvents by
evaporation. Care shall be taken that the contents of the drum have been properly
agitated to ensure that there has been no separation of solids from solvents prior to
filling the open containers.

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4.6

c)

Primer which has become contaminated with foreign matter or has thickened because
of evaporation of solvents shall not be used.

d)

The primer shall be thoroughly agitated in its container before application to the pipe.

e)

Primer shall be either brush or spray applied to the cleaned pipe surface. A uniform,
thin film of primer is required over all exposed pipe surfaces. Minimum coverage shall
be as recommended by manufacturer or as recommended in this Specification, which
ever is greater. The primed surface must be kept free of dust, dirt, rust and other
foreign substances.

f)

Primer must be tacky at the time the primary tape coating is applied.

Installation
a)

Both the inner and outer tape shall be applied with proper mechanical equipment,
approved in writing by Company and by the tape coating manufacturer. The tension
of the tape shall be controlled by the machine operator within the limits specified by
the tape manufacturer. No wrinkling will be permitted.

b)

Polyethylene tapes shall be machine applied to straight runs of pipe. Hand application
is permitted only for ells, fittings, tees, valves, etc. where machine wrapping is not
possible.

c)

The inner wrap tape shall be spirally wrapped over the primed pipe surface. The tape
shall be wrapped to provide a minimum overlap of 30 mm. Sufficient tension shall be
applied to ensure that the tape conforms to the surface of the pipe with no gaps or
wrinkles.

d)

If a Double Wrap System is specified, a second layer of inner wrap tape shall be
applied to provide a minimum overlap of 30 mm. The seam for this second layer of
tape shall overlap the seam of the first layer of inner wrap tape by a distance equal to
the width of the inner tape.

e)

The outer wrap tape shall be spirally wrapped over the inner wrap tape to provide a
minimum overlap of 30 mm. The seam for the outer wrap tape shall overlap the
exposed seam of the inner wrap by a distance of the width of the inner wrap tape for a
Standard system. For a Double Wrap system, the seam of the outer wrap shall
overlap the seam of the inner wrap tape by a distance equal to of the width of the
inner wrap tape.

f)

The end of each new roll of either inner or outer wrap tape shall overlap the end of
the preceding roll by a minimum of 300 mm. The splice shall be applied in such a
manner to provide a wrinkle free splice. The spiral angle for each new roll of tape
shall parallel the spiral angle of the previous roll.

g)

After tape wrapping operations have been completed, the tape coating shall be cut
back with a cutting device, guided from the end of the pipe, to produce a straight,
uniform cutback at a distance of 225 mm from the end of the pipe, if a field weld is
required on the pipe end.

h)

The outer wrap tape shall be completely bonded with the inner wrap.

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4.7

5.0

Repairs
a)

If the outer wrap is damaged and a holiday is not detected in the damaged area, the
outer wrap shall be removed from the damaged area taking care not to damage the
inner wrap. Before the outer wrap is replaced, the exposed inner wrap shall be
inspected with a holiday detector to determine if it has been damaged during removal
of the outer wrap. If no holidays are detected, the outer wrap shall be replaced in
accordance with the manufacturer's instructions to provide a minimum overlap of
75 mm of original, sound coating. If a holiday is detected in the inner wrap, the
coating shall be repaired in accordance with Section 4.7.(b) of this Specification.

b)

If the outer and inner wrap are damaged or a holiday is detected, the damaged area
shall be repaired by removing the damaged coating, cleaning the exposed steel,
repriming and reapplying inner and outer wrap tape in accordance with the
manufacturer's repair instructions.

c)

Contractor shall repair all holidays and damaged coating at no expense to Company.

INSPECTION AND TESTING

5.1

All records of inspection and testing of material received by Contractor and all
manufacturer's material certificates shall be submitted to Company.

5.2

All stages of the work shall be subject to full time inspection by Company. Such inspection
shall not relieve the Contractor of his responsibility to provide materials, workmanship and
inspection in accordance with this Specification.

5.3

For quality control of the coating and wrapping of the pipe, Contractor shall employ
qualified inspectors. The qualification of the inspectors shall be verified and approved by
Company before the work begins. Final acceptance of all coating and wrapping work shall
be determined by Company.

5.4

Pipe which has been cleaned and primed, or cleaned, primed, coated and wrapped without
having been inspected and approved by the Company, shall be rejected. Company shall
inspect the prepared surface prior to any application of primer or other coating materials.
The prepared surface will be inspected by comparing the actual clean surface with the
photographs in SIS-05-59-00. Any surface, in the opinion of Company, which is not
satisfactory shall be further cleaned at no expense to Company.

5.5

Contractor shall furnish high voltage electronic holiday detectors of a type acceptable to
Company and shall test all coating immediately after application. The holiday detector
shall be a low impedance, high voltage holiday detector such as Spy Model S-120 or
equivalent. Testing for coating flaws shall be in accordance with NACE Standard RP-0274. The minimum detector voltage shall be 12,500 volts for that determined by the
formula, whichever is greater:
V = 7850 (t)?
Where "t" is the specified minimum coating thickness expressed in mm.

5.6

The crest voltage of the holiday detector shall be set as high as practicable and operating
voltage shall be set in accordance with AWWA C-203, Section 2.13.12.4. Contractor shall
provide necessary devices for calibrating the holiday detector.

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6.0

5.7

All coated pipe under test shall be positively grounded by a means satisfactory to
Company. The detector electrode shall be periodically cleaned to continuously provide full
contact with the surface of the coating. The approved electronic holiday detector shall be
passed over the coated pipe as coating progresses.

5.8

Any defective part of the coating shall be clearly marked by Contractor immediately after it
is detected.

5.9

All pin holes, voids, holidays, air bubbles, cracks and other breaks shall be carefully
marked. Repairs may be made immediately following the coating and wrapping operation
or may be deferred, but in any case, shall be repaired and reinspected prior to back filling
of the trench. The following shall be classed as defects which Contractor shall repair:
a)

All holidays detected by the high voltage electronic holiday detector.

b)

Cuts or abrasions visible at the surface of the coating which penetrate the outer wrap.

c)

Cracks, pinholes, voids, air bubbles or wrinkles.

PIPE IDENTIFICATION AND MARKING

6.1

Contractor shall mark onto each length of pipe the nominal pipe size, material, grade and
the wall thickness. This marking shall be made in waterproof paint, not closer than 1 meter
from the end of the pipe and shall be in letters at least 40 mm high.

6.2

Contractor shall also mark each length of pipe with the identification of the coating
material. Contractor shall label each length with either STANDARD or DOUBLE WRAP as
applicable.

6.3

If the final coating on the pipe is black, then white letters shall be used. Conversely, if the
final coating is white, black letters shall be used.

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