Gas Technology Institute

Dresser, Inc.

Robin Neil Borland

Henry E Topf, Jr

Dennis R Jarnecke

Edward B Johnston

A process and apparatus for installing a valve in a pipeline while the pipeline is pressurized, and without leakage of pipeline media. A valve body is formed by attaching a sleeve with an annular space to a pipeline, filling the annular space with curable material, and then machining a cylindrical hole through the pipe, into which a valve is inserted.

Installation of a valve in a pipeline

A pipeline repair system includes a sleeve adapted to permanently enclose an outer surface of a longitudinal section of a pipeline having a defect. The sleeve includes two or more longitudinal segments of a cylinder joined at the longitudinal edges to form a sleeve with a first and second radial ends. The sleeve is sealed at the radial ends forming an enclosed annular space between the pipeline and the sleeve. An injection port assembly on the sleeve is adapted for temporary connection to an external source of pressurized material. The pressurized material may be a fluid, gas, or slurry. After filling the annulus with pressurized material, the port assembly is sealed. The permanent sleeve receives a majority of the tangential (hoop) stress load from the section of pipeline via the pressurized material in the annular space and may receive a portion of the longitudinal stress load from the section of pipeline. In another embodiment, the injection and evacuation ports assemblies are omitted from the sleeve and a tap assembly is disposed on the sleeve. The tap assembly is adapted to receive a tapping tool for piercing the section of pipeline encased in the sleeve and allowing pressurized material from inside the pipeline to fill the annular space inside the sleeve. The invention further encompasses a method of repairing a longitudinal section of a pipeline having a defect.

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Smethport, PA, United States of America

Robin Neil Borland