I-Rod® Pipe Supports
Field Study of Nu-Bolts after 13 years in the field

An Introduction

The following images were recorded in 2002 during a routine topside inspection of an offshore structure that was installed in 1989. This was the first offshore structure where the I-Rod system was specified for new construction. The total added cost of this system was less than $10,000 USD. The following pages demonstrate the success of the system, which has subsequently been used on thousands of offshore structures.

Photos

Case 1: A Typical Nu-Bolt™ on a vertical section of a flow line.




Case 2: More Nu-Bolts.  No Crevice Corrosion has occurred




Case 3: This fuel gas line is always wet (the green coloration is mold),
beam paint system has failed, but no corrosion has occurred at the pipe support





Case 4: I-Rod used to dress beams, accommodating multiple pipes, no crevice corrosion





Case 5: More beam dressing on a typical pipe rack. This is 1 inch I-Rod





Case 6: Installed under pig launch / receive barrel, bolted to support beams





Case 7: Drip Point (Ell corrosion) – Crevice corrosion at support is less than on girth weld.
Without I-Rod, this would have been a failure point.





Case 8: I-Rod is particularly effective on small diameter screwed piping.
This piping has the highest $/sq. ft maintenance cost.




Case 9: More wet pipeline – largest diameter. The Nu-Bolt is providing reliable corrosion control.