ICGB: challenge accepted

Kotryna Žukauskaitė, Qapqa, Lithuania, details the collaboration involved in the challenging construction of the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB).

The Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria gas pipeline (ICGB) is a 182 km long strategic pipeline project that will run from Komotini, Northeastern Greece, to Stara Zagora in Bulgaria. Interconnector project’s main contractor is the Greek company AVAX.

ICGB is planned to be linked with the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) route, offering Bulgaria and the wider Southeast European region access to Caspian gas as well as LNG. The project is a key part of the strategy for greater integration of gas markets, which includes interconnection projects from Bulgaria – Greece, Bulgaria – Romania, Bulgaria – Serbia, and Romania – Hungary.

Cooperation between DS-1 and Qapqa DS-1 is a company specialising in all type of welding work for the international scope. Three years ago this fast-growing company had their first interconnector project, the so-called Baltic-connector, bridging from Estonia to Finland. The DS-1 team was responsible for

Figure 1. Automatic welding continues during Bulgarian winter.Photo taken by Qapqa technician Ferdinando Carnovale. Kardzali, Bulgaria.

automatic welding of onshore sections of pipeline as well as the construction of a complete cathodic protection system.

A year later, they began working on the second interconnecting unit at the Gas Interconnection PolandLithuania (GIPL) project. Complete construction of a cathodic protection system for the pipeline as well as part of complete pipeline works was executed there.

Such pace brought the company to a new level of distinguished expediency that built up their goals in the European market. Now the highest expectations are pointed towards Poland, where the company recently added local welding certificates and can perform full gas pipeline construction.

For more than 25 years Qapqa has operated around the world. The family-owned company has rapidly developed itself, currently operating in more than 80 countries, as a trusted partner to pipeline contractors. It develops and manufactures automatic pipe welding equipment for both pipeline construction and fabrication applications. The PWT Auto XCS welding system allows contractors around the world to work independently, generating high quality welds with excellent productivity and in the most challenging circumstances.

The challenge The ICGB pipeline is a demanding project, taking place in an environment where technical performance needed to be maintained in the face of challenging conditions. Carrying out operations in the steepest parts of the range, hybrid welding was being done in trenches.

While the land itself was a true challenge, from flooding flatlands to a chain of scarps, the climate also added extra pressure. The extreme weather conditions, with temperatures from 45˚C to -20˚C, were followed by rain, flooding and snow, changing weekly. A team of multifunctional welding professionals had to face the most difficult changes.

Surely, one of the crucial hardships at the start and during the project was the COVID-19 pandemic, which came with the consequence of international quarantine rules and the apprehension of a new reality. The progress of the ICGB project was at risk as many workers needing to regularly enter and exit Bulgaria were forced to quarantine, each time, for days. Unity in different departments and fields of knowledge had to be inspired and taken care of every single day due to the disruption and uncertainty. Constant testing and extra precautions had resulted in a minimum infection rate in the DS-1 team. As well, teams’ responsibility and deliberation resulted in 0 incidents for 3840 hours spent on the construction site. Managing the crew and equipment during these changes, and in these challenging situations, brought the

DS-1 team to a new level. Constant qualification lifting and training paid off over and above while experiencing it all in real life. Successful management of such events was also a consequence of a long-lasting theoretical preparation that began in early 2020, back at the HQ of DS-1. Planning and simulations led to a solid technical foundation of the musthave tech solutions. “We are glad to be the ones who took care of the

Bulgarian section, with top notch partner MAATS, who really went the extra mile and gave us all the support possible. As well our goal of efficiency could not be reached without the expertise of our partner – Qapqa,” said Tomas Jankauskas, International Project Manager at

DS-1. For fully automatic welding, DS-1 teamed up with

Qapqa in the Netherlands as they provide technological automatic welding solutions and support on pipeline projects. The PWT Auto XCS was used for maximum efficiency that reached around 1000 welds a month. Manual and hybrid welding were used in most difficult parts of the terrain having it done in trenches. In total DS-1 had 10 teams at once applying different welding types. All the missing engineering machinery was promptly provided by partner MAATS.

The team A team of qualified experts, still continuing work with ICGB, are focused on finishing the last welding works. Even

Figure 2. Start-up of new pipeline section at ICGB. Photo taken by automatic welding supervisor Lukas Sabaliauskas. Kirkovo, Bulgaria.

Figure 3. Early morning PWT Auto XCS automatic welding spread in action. Photo made by automatic welding supervisor Lukas Sabaliauskas. Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

though the project was extreme and difficult at many levels, they have managed to fulfil the goals in a timely manner.

“Teams have spent around a year already producing a historical construction to our company that meets the highest international quality requirements in a harsh environment. We are proud to have spent a considerable amount of time preparing and rethinking the possible challenges, as it made us stronger as a team and ready for the construction works at the Bulgarian side. Sure, our ‘legions of legends’, as we called them, were under hard conditions, but every question and challenge was solved in minutes due to advanced technical preparation and great partners. And surely, working in such picturesque surrounding makes every rest minute fulfilled with the great beauty of a sublime landscape – one that challenges and nurtures us,” added Jankauskas.

Technical details The automatic welding equipment used on the ICGB pipeline project is the Qapqa PWT Auto XCS welding system. ) Root-pass was welded by using the advanced root-pass welding process, fully automatic without the use of copper backing shoes. Copper backing for root-pass welding was prohibited on this project as it is on most gas pipeline construction projects in Europe.

) Fill and cap passes were welded by the advanced welding pulse process, using an extreme high pulse which increases the deposition rate in combination with a 1.2 mm solid welding wire. Even though a high pulse process is used, the heat input remains low.

The above-mentioned welding processes are used on a closed butt joint, J-bevel pipe-end preparation with only a 5˚ bevel angle, which makes the total time loop per joint extremely fast and efficient.

The choice for this new advanced welding technology was to reduce the quantity of machinery and manpower significantly, compared to manual welding or compared to semi-automatic root-pass welding process in combination with mechanised flux cored arc welding process for the fill and cap passes.

“Our next level automatic welding solution provides a technological step forward for many pipeline contractors around the world. The excellent cooperation between both companies formed the basis of successful completion of the automatic welding works of this challenging pipeline project,” said Ralph Wijnholds, CEO at Qapqa.

Conclusion As the highest expectations are being delivered and the construction is at its final stage, sub-contractor DS-1 can put a tick in their bucket list and keep on working in these challenging times. The Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria pipeline has been a great experience and international trust builder that also allowed an innovative and fast-growing company to continue its tech evolution, and focus on advanced solutions in other Europe-based gas piping projects.