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WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND

FITINGS

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


REVISION RECORD
Rev
. N
01

ON-HOLD POINTS
N

Reason for Revision

Revised
on Page

Issued for Review

Reason for On-Hold-Status

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS
N

Description

Date
30.06.2014

Page

Date

Page

Date

Contents
GENERAL DATA.......................................................................................................................................

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


1

PROCEDURE..............................................................................................................................

1.1

Welding methods.......................................................................................................................

1.1.1

Butt welding.................................................................................................................................

1.1.2

Electro fusion welding.................................................................................................................

1.1.3

Electro fusion connection fittings.................................................................................................

2. TESTING THE WELDING.....................................................................................................................

GENERAL DATA

Location: Gas Conditioning Facility Bulbuceni


Scope: Establishing the procedure for welding HDPE pipes and fittings.

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


Customer: S.C. OMV PETROM S.A.
Contractor: S.C. ARMAX GAZ.S.A.
1

PROCEDURE

1.1

Welding methods

1.1.1

Butt welding

This welding procedure can be done only with special equipment. The ends of the pipes or fittings
are fixed in the special mechanical adaptors of the welding equipment which has a special mechanical
or hydraulic unit that allows movement and maintaining pressure on the pipe ends. The energy
necessary for welding is transferred via a heating plate with controlled temperature. After removing
the plate, the elements to be welded are pressed against each other with a specific pressure without
any other added material. These steps are represented bellow in figure 1.

Welding preparation
Before beginning the weld the temperature of the heating element will be checked. This can
be done with the help of a surface temperature measuring device. In the case of automated butt
welding equipment, temperature control is done automatically and welding can be done only after the
required temperature is reached. To prevent cooling through the extremities of the pipes by the air
current, the ends will be shut. To obtain optimum welds, the heating element will be cleaned when
necessary with clean paper soaked with ethylic alcohol. The surface of the heating element must be
intact in the work area. The pipes will be aligned axially before fixing in the welding equipment. Easy
axial movement of the welded elements will be assured by using rollers or pendulum suspension. The
extremities of the pipes to be welded must correspond; ovals will be adjusted with appropriate
equipment. The surface to be welded will be milled before welding with clean equipment as to be
parallel after fixing. Deviations from parallel must not exceed the values presented in table 1.
Table 1: Maximum space width between milled surfaces
Pipe exterior diameter
Maximum space width
[mm]
[mm]
under 355
0, 5
400 - 630
1, 0
630-800
1, 3
800-1000
1, 5
over 1000
2, 0

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


Deviations from coaxiallity must not exceed 0,1 x wall thickness. Surfaces to be welded must not
be dirty nor touched by hand. Milled material from inside the pipe will be cleaned.
Welding execution
When butt welding the surfaces to be welded will be brought to weld temperature via
heating plate and are joined under pressure after it is removed. The temperature of the heating
element is 200-220 C. In case of thinner walls the higher temperature will be used and in case of
thicker walls the lower one. See figure 2.
Figure 2

Alignment
The surfaces to be welded are moved towards the heating element until they are joined parallel
and completely to it. This is can be seen in the welding seam. Alignment is complete when the height
of the welding seam is the same all around the pipe. Alignment is complete when the height of the
weld seam corresponds to the values in table 2
Table 2: Guide values for butt welding at 20C
Wal
Alignme
Heating
l
nt
Heating
thic
Minimum
time= 10 x
kne
seam
wall
ss
height (0,
thickness [s]
[mm]
15
N/mm 2)

Time for
removing
heating
plate [s]

Joinin
g
Time
for
creatin
g
joining
pressur
e [s]

Minim
um
coolin
g time
( 0,
15
0, 01
N/mm
2
)

4.
5
5-6
6-8
8 - 10
10 - 12
12 - 16
16 - 20
20 - 25

5.
5
5-6
6-8
8-11
11-14
14-19
19-25
25-35

6.
6
6-10
10-16
16-24
24-32
32-45
45-60
60-80

[mm]

1.
under 4, 5
4, 5 - 7
7 - 12
12 - 19
19 - 26
26 - 37
37 - 50
50 - 70

2.
0, 5
1, 0
1, 5
2, 0
2, 5
3, 0
3, 5
4, 0

3.
45
45 - 70
70 - 120
120 - 190
190 - 260
260 - 370
370 - 500
500 - 700

[min]

In this faze the surfaces to be welded are preheated at a constant pressure of 0,15 N/mm2.
Alignment pressure will be exerted during the entire alignment period.
Heating

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


In order to move to the heating phase, the surfaces must be touching the heat plate under reduced
pressure. For this the pressure will be reduced almost to 0 (max. 0,02 N/mm2). During the heating
phase, heat enters the surfaces and brings them to welding temperature. Heating times will be taken
from Table 2, column 3
Removing the heating plate
After heating, the heating plate must be removed without damaging the ends of the pipes. The
surfaces to be welded are then immediately joined. This phase must not take more time than that
indicated in Table 2, Column 4, in order to avoid the cooling of the surfaces to be joined and thus
producing a defective weld.
Joining
The surfaces to be welded must be joined slowly. The pressure needed for joining must applied
laniary as much as possible. The time necessary for increasing pressure to maximum is taken from
Table 2, Column 5. Specific joining pressure is 0,15 N/mm2. Joining pressure must be maintained
throughout the entire cooling period, (see Table 2, Column 6). Great mechanical load during removal
from the fixing equipment is allowed only after prolonged cooling.
After joining a visible double equal weld seal must be visible. The shape of the seam gives guiding
information about the uniformity of the welding. Possible different seam shape may be explained by
different flow behavior of the welded materials.
1.1.2

Electro fusion welding

With electro fusion welding the welding surfaces (pipe exterior and electro couple interior) are
heated to weld temperature via electric current passing through embedded wires, close to the interior
surfaces of the electro couple. By heating the pipe a dilatation of the material (precisely calculated)
takes place and produces the necessary pressure for welding. The parameters of the welding and the
current necessary for the electro couple are controlled and registered by the welding equipment. The
electro couple contains a bar code which contains the necessary information for welding. Guide
values of these parameters are found in the following table:
Exterior
diameter
[mm]

Welding time (sec) at an exterior temperature of:

0C
min
20
25
32
40
50
63
90
110
125
160
180

20C

30C

40C

min

max

min

max

min

max

min

17

26

17

26

17

26

17

26

10

17

26

17

26

17

26

17

26

10

17

35

17

33

17

31

17

26

10

17
37

28

49

26

45

25

44

23

42

15

41

67

39

65

38

62

36

60

15

29
51

71

113

66

106

62

100

58

94

20

42
69

125

193

117

181

110

171

103

160

20

168

254

159

240

150

227

141

215

30

75
120

206

311

194

295

184

280

175

266

30

264

401

250

381

238

363

227

346

30

134
206

298

455

283

433

270

412

257

394

30

17
26
17
26

max

10C

Minimum
cooling
time [min]

max

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


200
225

179
270

346

521

329

496

314

474

300

453

30

371

560

353

534

337

510

322

488

30

218
329
278
423
314
478
364
547
390
588

Welding preparation
The pipe must be clean in the welding area. After cutting to desired length the surface of the pipe
is scrapped on a length greater than that inserted into the electro couple. Thus, it can be seen after
the welding has ended that this operation has been executed.
The scrapped surface is degreased with a special napkin that contains isopropyl alcohol or similar.
The electro couple is removed from its bag, without touching the interior. The ends of the pipes must
be cut perpendicular with adequate equipment. The ovalnes of the pipe must not be greater than 1,5
% of the exterior diameter. If necessary adequate equipment must be used to bring them back to
round shape. The electro couple is inserted onto the pipe without excessive force and afterwards the
ends of the pipe are fixed in a specialized device so as not to move during welding. The electro
couple should be easy to insert. The contactors for linking to the welding device must be accessible.
The bar code is then read to give the device the necessary data about the electro couple.
Welding execution
The cables of the welding equipment are connected to the electro couple. The equipment is
operated according to manufacturer instructions. After welding and cooling time have passed, the
fixing device is opened. Some electro couples allow visual checking of the weld, melted polyethylene
is seen in specially designed areas or there are 1, 2 small indicators that rise to the surface of the
electro couple if the welding was successful.
1.1.3

Electro fusion connection fittings

These so called saddle fittings have a support surface for fusion, a branch with a threaded lid
(used for guiding the knife when making the hole in the pipe on which the fitting is mounted) and the
actual connecting branch. For electro fusions welding the following steps are taken:
Step 1: Marking the fusion surface of the pipe (main pipe) to which you are connecting
- dirt and impurities are cleaned with a clean cloth;
- without removing the fitting from its package, it is placed on the main pipe. The contour is marked
clearly and continuously around the connection fitting.

Step 2: Preparing the fusion surface of the pipe to which the connection is made
- a scrapper is used to take off a layer of 0,2-0,4 mm from the marked surface;
- all the polyethylene remains must be removed. The clean surface must not be touched.

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


Step 3: Checking the connection fitting
- the fitting is removed from the package without touching the contact surface;
- the correct size will be checked;
- the lid is removed and the checking of the cutting branch will be done.
Step 4: Getting the connection fitting in place
- the screw for fixing the device must be completely unscrewed;
- the connecting surface is checked again for impurities. No fusion surfaces are touched;
- the fitting is set into the device;
- the fitting is fixed onto the prepared surface of the pipe (main pipe);
- the tightening screw is turned until the correct pressure is indicated;
- the covers of the electric connectors are removed;
- during this step the connecting pipe will also be prepared according to earlier instructions for
welding pipes via electro fusion. The pipe is place in the connecting branch of the connection fitting.
Step 5 Electro fusion process
- cables are connected to the support terminals;
- the fusion time indicated on the sticker is checked and entered into the timer of the control unit;
- the start button is pushed;
- cables are removed carefully without moving the fitting;
- the cooling time on the sticker is respected.
Step 6: Final operations
- all tools are removed;
- joints are visually inspected, insuring that fusion indicators are not sticking out;
- the pipe on which the fitting was mounted is drilled and the cap on the cutting branch is closed
back.
2. TESTING THE WELDING

- the hydraulic test will be done on sections of maximum 500-1000 m, ensuring all fittings are in
place;
- all testing equipment will be checked before testing;
- each section tested will be closed-off at the ends and anchored so as to resist to the forces that
appear during testing;
- all joints will be cleaned to easily see any leaking;
- emptying all air in the pipe is important for the accuracy of the test and thus the filling of the pipes
must be done in a controlled way, eliminating the air while filling it and pressurizing it.
The following steps will be taken for testing:
- pumping equipment will be installed at the lowest end;
- evacuation valves and airing valves are mounted on the lowest respectively the highest end of the
pipe;
- the air vent are opened;

WELDING OF HDPE PIPES AND FITINGS


- at each manometer will sit an observer with a synchronized watch with those of the other
observers;
- the pipe is filled with water, the air vents are closed and the pumping is continued until desired
pressure is achieved;
- the testing pressure is maintained by additional pumping, for 30 minutes, to sustain the expansion
of the polyethylene pipe;
- the pressure must then be relieved by rapid evacuation of water from the pipe until the nominal
pressure is obtained at the control manometer;
- the visual testing of the pipe is performed to check for leaks;
- the manometer values are read and written down every:
- 0-10 minutes reading at every 2 minutes;
- 10-30 minutes reading at every 5 minutes;
- 30-90 minutes reading at every 10 minutes.
The pressure should increase due to the viscos elastic response of the material. The testing is
successful if after 90 minutes, the pressure drop is not lower than 10% of the testing pressure and no
leaks appeared. The results of the pressure test can be influenced by the air that wasnt completely
removed from the pipe or by air temperature variations. It is recommended that testing take place in
days without great variations in temperature. During cold periods (under 0 0 C), emptying the pipe is
done immediately after testing.
If the test is not satisfactory the deficiencies will be fixed and the test will be redone. The results are
recorded into a report that will be an integral part of the preliminary and definitive commissioning of
the pipe. After all work is done, a test on the entire length will be done, under operating conditions.
After a satisfactory test, the pipe section will not be subjected to any other welding operations or hot
and cold deformations.

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