Airborne Oil & Gas is taking a staircase approach to introducing new thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) technology to the oil and gas industry, with TCP risers in its sights. Elaine Maslin reports.
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A 6in TCP flowline. Photos from Airborne Oil & Gas. |
For a long time, composites were seen as an exotic material that many in the risk-averse offshore oil and gas industry have toyed with, but few have ventured to deploy.
Not anymore. Dutch composite pipe specialist Airborne Oil & Gas has been paving the way for use of thermoplastic composite pipes (TCP) in the industry, introducing well intervention lines and downlines. Now the company is introducing the first qualified TCP flowline, which is due to be installed offshore Malaysia by Petronas.
It may have taken about 15 years’ research – initially into composite coiled tubing at the behest of Shell – and three years’ qualification with Petronas, but it’s a significant milestone for the firm and TCP, potentially helping to pave the way for TCP risers.
Development
Airborne Oil & Gas, formed out of Airborne Composites, first started exploring TCP for coiled tubing in 1999. A concept was developed by 2003, technology readiness achieved in 2005 and production technology to manufacture the pipe was developed by 2007. The fully bonded concept used a thermoplastic liner, surrounded by a carbon fiber or fiber glass in a TP matrix then coated in TP.
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A deepwater downline and reeler package for riserless light well intervention and pipeline pre-commissioning. |
However, by then, the application of composite coiled tubing was seen to be limited – for cost reasons, due to the high-temperature resistant polymers needed, and operational reasons – and from 2008, Airborne focused fully on where TCP was seen to have the greatest potential, in the subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) market as well as the subsea well intervention market.
TCP well intervention lines, using polyethylene or polyamides and fiber glass were introduced in 2010, followed by downlines in 2012, including a 5000psi internal pressure downline for pre-commissioning on the Guara & Lula field, which achieved a depth record of 2140m offshore Brazil.
TCP flowlines – pipes that are installed on the seabed for 20-30 years – were the next step. The benefits are attractive. Being non-metallic and spoolable makes TCP flowlines easier to install, both from a handling point of view but also, because they’re flexible, they have greater installation tolerances than steel, says Martin van Onna, Airborne Oil & Gas’ chief commercial officer.
Airborne manufactures up to 7in-internal diameter (ID) TCP flowlines, replacing 8in nominal steel pipe and conventional flexible pipe, in up to 3000m lengths per spool, allowing for reel lay installation.
“According to the latest estimate, we are looking at 1300km per year of flowlines, which could be achieved in TCP; that’s what the industry needs,” Van Onna says. “But, reaching a point at which the first operator was willing to try TCP flowlines took time and acceptance.
“In pre-commissioning and well intervention, the pipe stays on the reel and it is used for shorter period of time, so it is easier for the industry to adopt,” he says. “Flowlines are installed on the seabed with 20-30 years design life, carrying hydrocarbons, and therefore attract the highest level of qualification and technical record.”
Deployment
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Martin van Onna |
The contract with Petronas will see 550m of 6in-ID TCP flowline installed in 30m water depth between two platforms in the South China Sea offshore Malaysia. As well as being the first TCP flowline, the contract is significant because it is a warm climate where issues with microbiology induced corrosion, which can be particularly damaging for metallic pipes, Van Onna says – a further benefit of using TCP.
Early next year, Airborne will deliver a downline for well intervention offshore Nigeria for Shell – another first; these lines will deploy chemical stimulation fluids, including acids, for subsea wells.
Risers
A future use for TCP is risers. Airborne has been looking at TCP risers since 2008, when it was part of a joint industry project which proved the concept. Since then it has been working with individual operators.
TCP risers are still a few years away, Van Onna says. “The composite riser will come one day, but I think it will not be before 2020 before it will be deployed in deepwater,” he says. “The industry is so conservative. The offshore environment is risk averse, with good reason, which demands careful steps in building track record and confidence. Therefore, Airborne adopted the ‘staircase approach,’ using logical building blocks in downlines and flowlines to build track record, understanding and acceptance in the industry. “One day the industry will see the world’s first TCP riser, and we bet it will be Airborne’s,” he says. •
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