REPAIR seeks to develop the suite of technologies required to rehabilitate cast iron, wrought iron, and bare steel natural gas distribution pipes by developing technologies that will enable the automated construction of a new pipe inside the old pipe. In order for the program to be successful, the new pipe must meet utilities’ and regulatory agencies’ requirements, have a minimum life of 50 years, and have sufficient material properties to operate throughout its service life without reliance on the exterior pipe. Today, older gas distribution pipes are typically excavated and replaced at costs up to $10 million per mile.
REPAIR will advance the state of gas distribution pipelines by incorporating smart functionality into structural coating materials and developing new integrity/inspection tools. It will also create 3D maps that integrate natural gas pipe and adjacent underground infrastructure geospatial information with integrity, leak, and coating deposition data. The cost target is $500k to $1 million per mile, including gas service disruption costs.
Gas distribution pipes are regulated by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), as well as state regulatory agencies. Consequently the suite of technologies developed under REPAIR will ultimately need regulatory approval consistent with 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 192. In parallel with this FOA, ARPA-E will establish a Testing and Technical Specifications Panel (TTSP) to advise ARPA-E and facilitate regulatory approval for the technologies and cost recovery for the rehabilitation process. The TTSP will include PHMSA; state regulators and their association, the National Association of Pipeline State Regulators (NAPSR); representatives of ASTM International F17 committee; gas utilities; and ARPA-E.
The REPAIR program will require coordination among multiple stakeholders, and collaboration within research programs, to achieve commercial success. Figure 1 summarizes the REPAIR ecosystem, the FOA categories, and the path to market. It is intended to show the inter-relationships among the critical program contributors: The TTSP will provide inputs to ARPA-E regarding test methods and performance specifications that regulators and utilities will require REPAIR technologies to demonstrate. In Category 1 these requirements are reduced to specific tests and performance metrics for the “pipe in pipe”. Categories 2-4 address the individual system components: coating materials, coating deposition tools, and integrity/inspection tools. Category 5 is an integrated test of all of the components. Category 6 addresses mapping tools and software. The FOA breaks out requirements for each system component. However, it is essential that these components be integrated to create comprehensive service offerings. As shown in Figure 1, utilities typically execute turn-key contracts with service companies when rehabilitating pipelines. Consequently, Applicants for Categories 2-4 will need to describe their plans for integrating their products into comprehensive service offerings, through partnering or other commercialization plans.