Assure Natural Gas and Oil Pipeline Reliability by Cost-Effective, High-Performance Thermoplastic Liners

70839 Leaks in natural gas and oil pipelines are among the most severe problems faced by the energy industry and among the most difficult to fix. Additionally, the environmental effects of the continued deterioration of pipelines can be quite drastic and costly. To protect the environmental and public safety, the leaks have to be repaired as soon as possible. This project will develop a series of cost-effective, high-performance thermoplastic liners that can be used to improve natural gas and oil pipeline reliability and integrity; lower installation, operating, and maintenance costs; and enhance environmental and public safety. In Phase I, various low cost engineering thermoplastics will be modified into high performance liner materials. The materials will be targeted to meet the demands for particular pipeline applications such as liner collapse resistance, hydrocarbon gas and fluid permeation rates, pressure and temperature ratings, liner flexibility, and environmental stress-cracking resistance. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: Existing liner materials on the market are either too expensive or ineffective to meet the energy industry¿s growing demands for cost-effective leak repair alternatives. The thermoplastic liner materials should cut costs without sacrificing performance. The total demand for these low-cost but high performance thermoplastic liners should exceed 800 million pounds or 2 billion dollars in the next decade.