Farraj Tashman, Mohamed Ali Jaber, Sultan Al Kendi
Papers # 2018 Las-Vegas
Analysis of subsea PE100 pipeline conveying oil produced water effluent with traces of hydrocarbons was done after 5 years of leak-tight continuous operation at boundary conditions showed that properties of PE100 pipes are intact when benchmarked with test results conducted on reference pipe sample kept for this purpose. This PE100 pipeline replaced an increasingly leaking carbon steel pipeline, hence mitigated an inevitable threat of continuous contamination of marine environment. This paper will exhibit some of these results.
After 5 years of continuous operation of 560mm diameter SDR 7.27 PE100 pipeline at 24 bar (350 psi) and 32° C (90° F) without any leakage, a pipe spool was sampled to assess and quantify degradation in properties of the PE100 material / pipe caused by the subsea environment on the outer surface as well as the re-injected water environment on the internal surface in order to estimate the remaining life of the pipeline. In addition, permeation of hydrocarbons across the pipe wall was evaluated. The results were benchmarked with similar assessment conducted on a reference pipe spool kept for this purpose. The design lifetime of the PE100 pipe was revised with boundary conditions [1] in light of the findings.
By continuous operation without leakage compared to the replaced carbon steel pipe, this PE100 pipeline system helped in protecting the marine environment from hydrocarbons contamination. This paper will discuss the different tests conducted as well as interpretation of the results.
