Development of innovative coating technology for pipeline operation crossing the permafrost terrain

The increasing energy development activities in the Arctic area impose serious challenges for maintenance of integrity of the oil/gas transmission pipelines. The optimization of selecting and evaluating coatings for feasible use in northern pipelines is of great importance with respect to the extreme environments to which the coated pipe may be subjected. In this work, various protective coatings for integrity maintenance of oil/gas pipelines were reviewed. In particular, the high performance composite coating (HPCC) that is specifically designed for the northern pipeline operation was introduced and its structure, processing, application and electrochemical properties were discussed. Techniques for coating performance evaluation, including cathodic disbondment test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, were analyzed based on the comparison of HPCC and fusion bonded epoxy. Finally, the implication of innovative coating technology in pipeline integrity management was discussed.