Conducrete

Conducrete Applications

 

Overview:

• Improve personnel safety
• Reduce injury liability risk
• Improve financial bottom line
• Lower total cost of ownership
• Lower deployment costs & NPV
• Lower operation & maintenance costs
• Reduce pipeline corrosion caused by induced AC current flows
• Reduce pipeline damage due to lightning strikes
• Dissipate large surge currents
• Environmentally neutral solution
• Electrode lifetime 2 to 3 years times typical

 

Risks & vulnerabilities:
Increasingly, land management regulatory bodies are requiring the development of utility and transportation corridors shared by a number of corridor services. Unfortunately, there can be serious consequences when services do not interact well together, especially where electrical transmission lines are co-located with metal infrastructure like pipelines. The interaction with potent electromagnetic fields can lead to:

• Substantially increased risk for personnel injury due to electrical shock or electrocution, driving up liability risk and insurance costs.
• Accelerated corrosion processes on the pipeline due to high induced voltages on the pipeline produced by co-located electrical transmission tower.
• Increased risk of catastrophic explosion or fire due to lightning strikes on the pipeline or nearby corridor infrastructure.
• Additional installation and operating cost overheads for protective AC mitigation systems, negatively impacting financial bottom lines.

 

The solution:
An innovative, engineered AC mitigation pipeline protection system from FM Sudafix Group that provides superlative performance and extremely low maintenance. A system designed to effectively manage high levels of induced AC current, that provides more protection over a longer life than current solutions, and that can be efficiently installed quickly and easily. Its unique characteristics include:

• Large diameter electrodes are formed from copper cores embedded in a solid Conducrete® surround that reduces corrosion and extends longevity.
• Large electrode surface areas that quickly dissipate high levels of induced energy, whether from electrical transmission lines or from lightning strikes.
• Energy is dissipated in the soil electronically, substantially extending electrode longevity without reducing operational electrical performance.
• Electrodes are environmentally neutral, with very low corrosion rates and virtually no gas or particle dispersion into the surrounding soil.
• Fast, efficient, continuous installation process ensures a correctly formed electrode with the copper core centred in the protective Conducrete®.
• Engineered using advanced computer modelling tools.
• Offered with complete installation and project management services (subject to additional charges).

 

The technology:
Innovative AC mitigation systems technology from FM Sudafix Group uses specially formulated materials to build electrodes with unique characteristics:

• Engineered and constructed using Conducrete®, a hygroscopic material that "sets up" to form solid, robust electrodes resistance to damage.
• Electrodes feature large surface areas that minimize surface energy density and efficiently transfer energy into the soil electronically.
• Electrodes are water permeable, significantly reducing deterioration and corrosion of the copper core.
• Electrodes maintain their excellent electrical performance characteristics over extended lifetimes that are 2 to 3 greater than typical AC mitigation solutions.
• Electrodes are pH neutral and chemically stable for very low environmental impact.
• Systems are engineered to meet or exceed NEC and CEC requirements.

 

The financial benefits:
Realize the lower total cost of ownership and NPV that improve bottom-line financial results with cumulative savings from:

• Improved personnel safety and lower injury liability risks
• Reduced risk and potential liability costs of a catastrophic pipeline failure due to lightning or fault current.
• Prolonged pipeline and infrastructure service life by reducing the destructive effects of corrosion due to induced AC currents.
• Lower maintenance, operational and replacement costs due to extended longevity of AC mitigation electrodes.
• Lower AC mitigation system material and deployment costs.

 

The technical benefits:

• Excellent electrical performance with low impedance, high capacitance electrodes that feature large surface areas and cross-sections.
• Large surface area allows energy to be safely dissipated into the soil more rapidly and with less electrode damage.
• Large cross-section efficiently dissipates high surge currents.
• Robust electrode design resists damage from heavy service vehicles on the right-of-way.
• The electrode design permits fewer or shorter electrode runs compared to traditional Zinc Ribbon or Aluminium Anode string systems.
• FM Sudafix Group AC Mitigation Systems provide extended longevity of 2 to 3 times that of traditional systems.
• Designed for fast, efficient continuous installation process.

 

Conducrete® Corrosion Protection
A key feature of Conducrete® is its effective corrosion protection for encased metallic components. Durability and longevity are key features to incorporate and address in any system design for a permanent facility.

 

Conducrete® Applications
To give an example of a Conducrete® solution that no other material could create with comparable success we present examples of Conducrete® horizontal and vertical electrodes. The design solution can be modified, but to apply it as described in the subsequent slides may result in an over-specified system. Indeed the environment of another project is likely to present a completely different profile of risk, challenges and other integrated issues.
If you wish to discuss the nature of a different project to establish the most effective utilization of Conducrete® in an earthing/grounding solution, please contact FM Sudafix.

 

Installation instructions
Conducrete® is easy to install in either horizontal or vertical applications. Conducrete® can be installed dry or as a water based slurry and pumped into the trench or hole.

 

Horizontal installations

1. Dig trench to designed depth, width and length. Smooth out bottom of trench. Typically the trench is 0.5m wide and 0.6m deep. The length of the trench is determined by the soil resistivity at the site and the required system R value.
2. Lay copper wire (or approved alternative; contact for verification) in centre of trench.
3. Pour dry Conducrete® over wire. Cover the wire to 4cm depth with Conducrete®. One (no.) 25kg bag of Conducrete® covers 3.5-5.0m of trench.
4. Ensure the wire is completely immersed in Conducrete®.
5. Carefully hand shovel 10cm of loose native backfill over the Conducrete®.
6. Backfill remainder of trench using native excavated material.

 

Recommended number of 25kg bags/m of trench using various trench dimensions

 

Conducrete® Maximum Thickness:	0.25m	0.4m	0.5m	0.6m
0.04m	0.20	0.32	0.40	0.48
0.05m	0.25	0.40	0.50	0.60
0.1m	0.50	0.80	1.00	1.20
0.15m	0.75	1.20	1.50	1.80
0.2m	1.00	1.60	2.00	2.40

 

One (no.) 25kg bag = 0.025m³
Sample calculation: trench 0.5m wide, 0.04m thickness, length of 10m; how many 25kg bags required? = 0.40 x 10 = 4 (no.) bags.

 

Vertical Installations

1. Drill hole to desired depth and diameter as determined by soil resistivity at the site and the required R value. The type of drill rig used is dependent on soil conditions.
2. Place conductor in middle of drilled hole.
4. Mix Conducrete® in a slurry (16 litres water/1 (no.) 25kg bag of Conducrete®) and pump down hole from bottom to displace any mud or water as the hole fills. For shallow holes (3m) it may be possible to use the material dry.

Recommended number of 25kg bags/m of length using various diameters

 

Hole diameter cm:	No. of 25kg bags/m
5cm	0.1
10cm	0.4
15cm	1.0
20cm	1.8
25cm	2.8
30cm	4.0

 

One (no.) 25kg bag = 0.025m³
Sample calculation: 15cm diameter hole, 10m deep; how many 25kg bags required? = 1.0 x 10 = 10 (no.) bags.