On a 5 km greenfield pipeline at Sipitang, Sabah, a piping contractor prepared around 400 weld joints in the open air with the Bristle Blaster® Electric Double. No containment hub, no heat in the steel, and a set-up that needs little more than a generator.
Field joints are where a pipeline's coating system is weakest. Every girth weld has to be cleaned and profiled on site, in the open, before the joint coating goes on. On a greenfield line that means hundreds of joints, each one a small surface preparation job in its own right.
MontiPower Malaysia supported a piping main contractor on a new pipeline at Sipitang, in Sabah (East Malaysia).
The project
| Location | Sipitang, Sabah, Malaysia |
| Asset | Greenfield pipeline, about 5 km |
| Scope | About 400 weld seam (field) joints |
| Conditions | Open-air application |
| Tool | Bristle Blaster® Electric Double |
Why the Bristle Blaster® fitted the job
- No containment hub. Abrasive blasting in the open needs a containment hub around each joint to keep grit out of the environment. The Bristle Blaster® uses no loose abrasive, so there is nothing to contain.
- Lower regulatory risk. Without blast media there is no spent grit to manage, which reduces environmental and regulatory risk on site.
- No heat in the steel. The process does not heat the surface, so the joint coating can be applied immediately after preparation.
- Simple set-up. A generator is enough to run the tool: no compressor, blast pot or abrasive logistics along the right of way.
The double-belt version covers a wider path in each pass, which suits the repetitive geometry of girth welds. For the method in detail, see surface preparation for oil & gas pipelines.
Why it matters
Field joints decide how long a pipeline's coating protects it. We believe in prevention rather than cure: a well-prepared joint keeps corrosion out for the life of the line, instead of becoming the first repair. On this project that also meant closing the cycle on site: no spent grit to collect and dispose of along 5 km of right of way (Planet), no blast hub to build around each joint and no grit in the air for the crew (People), and a portable tool that brings blast-comparable preparation to a remote site with only a generator (Power).
Preparing pipeline field joints? Tell us the pipe size, coating system and site conditions, and we will set up a demonstration.
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