The Zhundong coal-to-natural gas pipeline branch project, the largest such project for transporting coal-derived natural gas in our country, completed 100 kilometers of welding work 60 days ahead of schedule

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The welding of 100 kilometers of pipeline for China’s largest coal-to-natural gas transmission project was completed 60 days ahead of schedule. On September 28, good news came from the site of the Zhundong coal-to-natural gas pipeline branch project operated by Pipeline Network Group Western Pipeline Co., Ltd.: the welding work on the two branch pipelines of China’s largest coal-to-natural gas transmission system had reached 100 kilometers, completing ahead of the original schedule by 60 days. The Zhundong coal-to-natural gas pipeline project is a key project in the autonomous region; the planned total length of the pipeline is 780 kilometers, with construction to take place in three phases. The first phase includes one main line and two branch lines; there are 6 stations and 9 isolation valve rooms along the entire route, with a designed annual gas transmission capacity of 6 billion cubic meters. Phase 1 consists of the Jiji Lake–Liaodun main line, the Jiangjunmiao–Jiji Lake branch line, and the Xiheshan–Jiji Lake branch line. On March 19 of this year, the construction of the branch line for Phase 1 began first, while the construction of the main line started officially on September 9. This summer, the construction site of the branch line saw temperatures exceed 45°C on multiple occasions, posing a severe challenge to outdoor welding operations. To accelerate the construction progress, a staggered construction schedule of \"working at both ends and taking a break in the middle\" was adopted on site to effectively avoid the high temperatures during midday. The Zhundong coal-to-natural gas pipeline project was the first in the country to adopt the fully automatic internal welding technology for pipes with a diameter of 610 millimeters. Faced with the newly introduced welding equipment being used for the first time, the project management team started from scratch and actively tackled various technical challenges such as equipment calibration and process adaptation, ensuring that the first-pass success rate for welding remained above 99.2%. As of September 28, more than six months since the commencement of the construction of the two branch lines, a total of 112.141 kilometers of surveying and marking work has been completed, 109.521 kilometers of line scanning, 112.645 kilometers of pipeline transportation, and 101.626 kilometers of pipeline installation. A total of 7,924 welds have been completed, bringing the total length constructed to over 100.077 kilometers. Once completed, the Zhundong coal-to-natural gas pipeline project will be interconnected with the West-East Gas Transmission pipeline system, thereby enhancing China’s capacity to ensure a stable supply of natural gas resources.