Modyfikacja znormalizowanej metody prowadzenia prób ciśnieniowych celem jej wykorzystania do badania szczelności gazociągów z poliamidu PA 12

Before being put into operation, gas pipelines are subjected to leakage and strength pressure testing. In the case of plastic gas pipelines, a combined leakage and strength test is performed at a pressure of 1.5 ´ MOP. In Poland, in accordance with the applicable regulations, the plastic material from which gas pipelines can now be built is polyethylene. In other countries gas pipelines are also built of another material, which is PA12 polyamide. Piping systems made of this material are used to transmit gas at a pressure of 1.6 MPa. Both polyethylene and polyamide gas pipelines, after loading them with internal pressure, will undergo deformation with time, which is called the material creep phenomenon. As a result, in pressure leakage tests of gas pipelines made of thermoplastics, such as polyethylene and polyamide, it is necessary to take this phenomenon into account. Due to the different properties of polyethylene and polyamide, the amount of deformation per unit time will be different, and therefore the test procedures that are used for polyethylene gas pipelines cannot be directly used for testing polyamide gas pipelines. An example of such a procedure is the one described in point A.27 of PN-EN 805: 2002. It is mainly used for leakage testing of polyethylene water pipelines and its application for leakage testing of PA12 polyamide gas pipelines with a MOP of 1.6 MPa requires changes in the test conditions. The article presents the concept of modifying the parameters of the hydrostatic method, taking into account the different properties of PA12 pipes compared to polyethylene pipes. Particular attention was paid to the higher value of Young's modulus and the related ring stiffness of PA12 polyamide pipes compared to polyethylene pipes. In order to obtain the appropriate deformation of the pipe resulting from the material creep, the time of holding the sample under pressure was experimentally extended before starting the actual test. After establishing the required test conditions for the sealed system, tests with simulated leaks were carried out. The obtained results of tests on airtight samples and with simulated leakage confirmed the possibility of using the modified method to test the tightness of PA 12 polyamide gas pipelines with a MOP of 1.6 MPa.