Dutch spoolable thermoplastic composite pipe systems firm Airborne Oil & Gas and Dallas-based Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, have signed a strategic supply agreement for the development and supply of composite materials for deepwater pipe systems.
The multi-year alliance will look to improve materials, systems and solutions to meet oil and gas industry requirements for harsh deepwater operations by joining Airborne's expertise in offshore thermoplastic composite pipe systems and Celanese's production expertise in high-performance thermoplastic composites.
Celanese recently produced a flexible pipeline system from Airborne that incorporates Celstran CFR-TP (continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic) composite technologies, suitable for use in flowlines, downlines, jumpers, intervention lines, risers, and other offshore pipe systems.
The durable, spoolable, lightweight, composite pipe systems, designed and manufactured by Airborne, have high mechanical strength to withstand the extremely high pressures and tensile loads of deep-sea offshore operations, and combine an excellent chemical stability with very good resistance to fatigue, aging and permeation.
They reduce operational costs, due to faster and easier deployment and absence of corrosion, and the smooth, inner bore improves the pressure performance.
These pipes are made in a fully automated manufacturing process and can be made up to several kilometers of length in one product.