Handling the big projects with ease

Todd Razor, Vacuworx, US, tells the story of how Dun Transportation uses vacuum lifting technology to increase mobility on major infrastructure projects.

Figure 1. Vacuworx lifters aid in offloading, loading and stockpiling the 24 m (80 ft) QRLs.

Anew material handling case out of the Permian Basin, USA, reflects how pipe logistics and transportation companies such as Dun Transportation & Stringing, Inc. are doubling down on vacuum lifting technology to increase mobility on major infrastructure projects.

The pipe handling trades in recent decades have been coming around to ‘new’ equipment and improved methods that require fewer manual inputs than traditional rigging systems, bolstering opportunities to create safer and more efficient worksites. In some cases, pipe handlers have turned more readily to vacuum lifting amid regulatory concerns and general duties associated with keeping worksites free from potential hazards that could cause death or serious physical harm during activities such as the loading and offloading processes.

Project owners, pipeline installers and equipment manufacturers each have an interest in ensuring the ways in which oil and gas pipe is handled are all extremely safe, very efficient, and in line with appropriate procedures and regulations. They are also tasked with mitigating the possibility for abrasion marks or impact damage to the delicate epoxy coatings commonly used in the manufacture of steel gas pipe.

In recent years, there have been reports of certain requests for proposals with even more specific calls – as they pertain to methods of handling pipe that are preferred, or are no longer acceptable, as a result of concerns surrounding safety or physical damage to the materials being lifted.

While vacuum lifting is far from a new method of material handling for Dun Transportation, the company has been reflecting on how that technology was put into play near the start of the Permian Highway Pipeline (PHP), as well as the potential positive outcomes associated with infrastructures that could help with building a cleaner energy future.

Logistics end The PHP, with connections to the US Gulf Coast and Mexico markets, went into full commercial in-service operation in January 2021. The 1066 mm (42 in.) diameter pipeline – delivering natural gas to the Katy, Texas area from Waha – has been fully subscribed under various contracts. The PHP spans 684 km (425 miles), constructed with the intention of delivering responsibly sourced natural gas to critical areas. The project, providing approximately 2.1 billion ft3/d of incremental natural gas capacity, has been acknowledged among conduits that are helping reduce Permian Basin natural gas flaring.

Dun Transportation is no stranger to lifting, transporting and staging heavy-duty lengths of coated and non-coated pipes with dozens of energy companies, pipe manufacturers and pipeline contracting companies listed among its customer base. Over the course of a 111 year history, the

family-owned, Sherman, Texas-based outfit has seen a lot of pipe and a lot of progress in the midstream segment of the oil and gas industry, and has so far counted more than 160 000 km (100 000 miles) of such line handled.

The co-ordination, delivery and storage of more than 30 000 pipe joints, all 24 m (80 ft) QRLs with varying wall thicknesses, is a significant undertaking requiring extreme care to protect both people and property. For its part, Dun Transportation procured four rail spurs, where delivery of PHP stockpiles were accepted from pipe maker Welspun – out of its large OD manufacturing facility in Little Rock, Arkansas – and five laydown yards to store and otherwise stage the coated circular steel prior to the construction phase.

Mike Nunnenkamp, Vice President and COO of Dun Transportation, covered off on some variables that were considered in relation to keeping people safe and product from being marred or damaged as the pipe lengths were conveyed in proximity to the pipeline’s proposed route. Mobility factor In 1999, Dun Transportation made a decision to turn away from cranes and hoisting mechanisms and opted toward vacuum lifting equipment, specifically Vacuworx lifting systems, as its primary method of lifting and handling oil and gas pipe. Nunnenkamp shared his take on vacuum lifting during the lifting and handling processes, as opposed to the use of cranes and spreader bars, and what Dun Transportation has come to view as a long-term alternative to more labourintensive techniques typically involving hooks, cables and slings.

He made clear that the path of least resistance is generally preferred in the pipe logistics lines-of-work, due in many respects to the sheer quantity and dimensions of pipe lengths to be handled, and the scope of any given project.

“The pipeline originated in West Texas and finalised toward the Gulf Coast,” Nunnenkamp said. “Throughout the handling and logistics process, which includes offloading rail cars, loading onto trucks and stockpiling into laydown areas, with [vacuum lifting], there are immediately two guys not required to hook on each end of the pipe.”

Vacuworx lifting systems are made up of primary components that include a vacuum pump – driven by a self-contained engine or hydraulically powered by the carrier equipment. A vacuum reservoir and valve provide vacuum in the event of a power failure. Vacuum pad assemblies on RC Series lifters can be changed out on the fly to accommodate pipes starting at 102 mm (4 in.) in diameter and up with no limitations on maximum size. The systems, designed to be compatible with a variety of host machines, are commonly used in conjunction with high-capacity excavators in the pipe-handling fields. Figure 2. Pipe arrives at one of four rail spurs procured by Dun for the PHP. When activated, the system pulls a vacuum between the pad and pipe joint, creating a positive seal. Once the necessary suction is created, the pad seal holds until an operator activates the release. Audible alerts warn of any critical loss in vacuum pressure. Dun Transportation prefers running its vacuum lifting equipment with high-capacity, track-type excavators, such as a Caterpillar 349 or a Caterpillar 374. The lifting units are equipped with remote operation and can be rotated 360˚, providing for precise placement of materials and allowing pipe to be stacked without the use of timbers for cribbing or spacers. The pad material causes no abrasion, mitigating some potential for physical damage while limiting human contact with the pipe. On its PHP route, Dun Transportation handled approximately 30 340 pipe joints, weighing between 10 t (20 000 lb) to 15 t (30 000 lb) each. “There are quite a lot of logistics with different wall thicknesses going to different areas and everything may not be right where you are,” Nunnenkamp said. “Being able to easily move [the machines] around makes that more palatable. “The biggest difference with cranes is that they require quite a bit of time to disassemble, to demobilise,” he stated. “Now we just pull a pin and go. On a project like this, we have two crews at all times and normally have a third crew going. We had about nine or 10 [Vacuworx] lifters out on this particular job. It’s more economical. It makes movement from point A to point B a lot easier.” Close encounters Nunnenkamp, considering Dun Transportation’s earliest encounters with Vacuworx, recalls how seeing a vacuum lifting system up close, and using it for the first time, helped solidify a relationship that’s held on steady for over 20 years. “We had always used cranes,” he said. “We were one of the first ones to test the [Vacuworx] units. We thought, ‘There was no way this thing can pull pipe up in the air.’ “Vacuworx brought a machine down for us to test and try,” Nunnenkamp recalled. “We thought it was outstanding that this little unit could hold [the pipe]. It was truly convincing, using it and seeing it. From a safety aspect, there is no crane, no guys on each end hooking the pipe. It has always been safe and reliable.”

The relationship between Vacuworx and Dun Transportation runs deep – and the latter still possesses the former’s first actual production model of an RC Series lifter, stamped with the serial number ‘001’. Today, Dun Transportation owns more than 50 RC Series units with lifting capacities on its units running up to the 25 t (55 000 lb) range.

Nunnenkamp was quick to link safety and future sustainability into his comments related to Dun Transportation, now onto its fourth generation of pipe handlers, and the industries served. “This was some of the heaviest pipe we have ever had to handle,” he said. “That project lasted more than one year from start to finish, getting everything on the ground, with no lost-time injuries.

“On the other side of that,” he continued, “the Vacuworx system in general can be used both at offloading sites and out on right-of-way. It doesn’t require a different machine, a different pipelayer. It is flexible in its use and can be put in more places during [various phases] of a project.” Critical infrastructure Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline (KMTP), EagleClaw Midstream and Altus Midstream each hold an approximate 26.7% ownership interest in the US$2 billion PHP with an affiliate of an anchor shipper holding a 20% interest. The project was built and is operated by KMTP.

Cutting greenhouse emissions is a major play for a company such as Kinder Morgan, which has remained committed to

implementing methane reduction strategies to avoid emissions that would have otherwise occurred during operations as part of its natural gas pipelines segment. In 2016, the company set a goal of achieving an intensity target of 0.31% of methane emissions per unit of throughput by 2025. That stated target has been surpassed annually for Kinder Morgan’s natural gas transmission and storage assets since 2017, and in 2020 it achieved a methane emission intensity rate of 0.04% for those operations. Nunnenkamp concluded his comments by framing together thoughts on the progression of technologies used to handle Figure 3. Dun handled more than 30 000 pipe joints weighing up to 15 t (30 000 lb) each. pipe and construct pipelines with a forwardthinking viewpoint regarding the roles such infrastructures are playing from both an environmental and business perspective. “I think natural gas is very critical as we transition to a cleaner energy future,” he said. “Natural gas will be a key transition piece that is critical to our country, not just economically or for energy independence, but for the cleaner energy future we all desire. “We need more supply out there and infrastructures like this are critical. Our country has always been a world leader in pioneering new ways to meet our country’s needs. I don’t envision why using energy pipelines, as part of our cleaner energy future, would be any different. We can and are Figure 4. The PHP was Kinder Morgan’s second major project out doing it more efficiently, making sure they are installed in as of the Permian arena. environmentally sensitive ways possible.” He continued: “It’s about being very efficient, the most economical, having an outstanding safety record. The people we hire, who come to work for us, are an extension of our family. We treat them as such and care about their safety and livelihood just as much as ours. These are some of the things that make us unique; good to work with. Our response time has to be quick to accommodate customers in that regard.” The US Energy Information Administration reported in December 2021 that, with two new Louisiana LNG export capacity additions expected to go operational by the end of 2022, US LNG export capacity at that time will become the largest in the world. Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline’s approximately US$145 million Acadiana expansion project, set to provide 945 000 Dth/d of capacity to serve Train 6 at Cheniere Energy Partners’ Sabine Pass natural gas liquefaction terminal in Cameron Parish, had been slated to be placed in commercial service as early as 1Q22. The PHP was Kinder Morgan’s second major project out of the Permian arena following completion of the Gulf Coast Express (GCX), an approximately 500 mile pipeline system. Also fully subscribed as part of long-term, binding agreements, the GCX transports about 2 billion ft3/d of natural gas to the Agua Dulce, Texas area from the Permian Basin. Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline LLC (KMTP) owns a 34% interest in the GCX and operates the pipeline. Equity holders include Altus Midstream, DCP Midstream and an affiliate of Targa Resources. The Permian Basin is the second-biggest natural gas producing region in the US.