Tracerco, an oil and gas service company part of Johnson Matthey, has brought its technology to the Australasia region, permanently basing their equipment at their Western Australia facility in Perth.
OTC Spotlight on New Technology 2015 winner, Discovery, and its complimentary technology, Explorer, are now available in this region.
Discovery gives high resolution CT scan of subsea pipelines, distinguishing between wax, hydrate, asphaltene or scale deposition at density differences of 0.05g/cc. Explorer can fast screen pipelines (100m/hr) to locate restrictions. Together they provide operators with a package to plan remediation to bring a flowline back to full capacity.
Both devices work without the need to remove the pipe coating material. Once Explorer has located the area of the suspected blockage, Discovery can be deployed to characterize its precise nature.
Basing the equipment in Perth means the technology can be mobilized within a week, reacting quickly to customers’ needs in the region. This is vital for operators experiencing flow assurance issues, as restrictions can mean operators failing to meet daily production targets.
“Research from Infield Systems Limited shows there is 4213km of subsea pipeline in the Australia subsea region which, like all subsea pipelines, experience flow restrictions from time to time.” said Ken Pearson, managing director Australasia at Tracerco. “Operators who face flow challenges need to get their pipelines back to full operation quickly. The speed at which we can deploy, coupled with the fact that coatings do not need to be removed from the lines before inspection, saves time and costs whilst mitigating the risk of damage to the pipeline. Having the equipment based here means that we are mobilizing with minimum transportation costs.”
Both technologies can operate at depths of up to 3000m (10,000ft), and have the ability to screen a variety of different piping systems: standard rigid pipe (coated or uncoated), pipe-in-pipe, bundle systems and flexibles.
Explorer detects the location of deposit build-ups by measuring the density profile of the pipeline and then analyzing any detected anomalies. An abnormal density, in relation to the material flowing in the line, indicates a build-up of deposit. The tool provides a detailed profile showing mean densities of pipeline contents and amounts of deposit based on assumed densities. It has already been used on several subsea flowlines including a project in the North Sea, as well as a campaign in the Gulf of Mexico.
Discovery can also detect any integrity issues within a pipe including corrosion, wall thinning and pitting. It has won considerable acclaim and awards from the industry including the Subsea Energy Australia Awards 2015.
Image: Discovery/ Tracerco Facebook
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