DOC: I-GIO-005-005-101673-ET-PC-406

ANTICORROSIVE PROTECTION UNDERSEA SECTION

NEW STRAIT OF MAGELLAN PIPELINE CROSSING

REVISION: 1 DATE: 13/05/2008 Page 6 of 12

2.2.3

Interconnection Box

Facing each monolithic insulating joint a PAYRA CBP-2 type, a column with an interconnection box shall be installed along with the respective Zoloda WSS and WSS6 terminals. A low voltage spark gap shall be put to protect the insulating element of the monolithic joint. It shall be fixed through the support socket and the electrical connection shall be made through two, 16 mm2 cables of double insulation (through connecting with Zoloda WSS8 terminals). The connections on the pipeline shall be made through cadweld-type copper-aluminum exothermic welding and the coating shall be repaired with heat-shrinkable polyolefin patches. The spark gap has the following characteristics:

Nominal direct sparkover voltage: 230/ 500 V. Sparkover voltage tolerance: 20%. Sparkover shock voltage (1 KV/ms) <900 V. Spark gap nominal shock intensity (8/20 ms shockwave); 20 / 100 KA. Spark gap nominal alternating intensity (60 HZ, 1 ms); 40 A. Insulation resistance (100 Vcc.) : > 10 GOhm. Operating temperature: 125 C. Length: 72 mm; Width: 20 mm; Height: 40 mm.

Also, two 4 mm2 cable pairs shall be installed in Zoloda WSS6 terminals, welded to the pipeline through copper-aluminum exothermic welding, to take power from both sides of the monolithic insulating joint to check the insulation efficiency. Every 4 mm2 cable pair shall be connected to a common terminal. Electrical cables shall comply with IRAM 2214-A standard. The column box shall be installed 1.5 meters from the middle line of the monolithic joint so that the length of the cables connected to the spark gap is not that long to avoid a steep voltage drop in view of an eventual atmospheric discharge. The boxes and other surface facilities shall be painted in accordance with some of the standards described below: