In Service Welding and Hot Tapping and Plugging Enable Operational Safety of High Pressure Natural Gas Transmission Line River Crossings in Bolivia and Mexico

摘要

In 2007 and 2008 flooding of the Rio Grande River to the east of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia (Figure 1) undermined and endangered a 32 inch diameter gas transmission line, operating at 1,400 pounds per square inch (psi), which was providing an important part of the daily energy consumed in Brazil. In 2009 explosions attributed to subversive activity damaged a control valve station in Mexico. The station is used to isolate the river crossing of a 48 inch diameter 960 psi natural gas transmission line that supplies the country with natural gas from the country's southern gas fields. This paper will discuss how the operational safety of both river crossings was enabled without interruption of service by the use of in service welding and tapping and plugging techniques.