Flexlife Leads on Groundbreaking Joint Industry Partnership

Flexible pipe specialist Flexlife has announced the start of a Joint Industry Partnership (JIP) to carry out ground-breaking research that could help extend the future lifespan of critical equipment in the production process.

The JIP is set to involve several of the biggest names in the industry and will gather flexible pipes previously used in the oil & gas production process in the North Sea

It is believed to be one of the most practical ever undertaken by the Subsea sector and will provide a comparison between the original design requirements and capabilities and the actual design and service life capacity of 23-year-old unbonded flexible risers. The results should help operators avoid costly changing out of risers earlier than required.

In addition, the JIP will be used as a means of validating a number of innovative NDT (Non Destructive Testing) Techniques, cross-referencing the data gleaned with the empirical material characteristics from the subsequent pipe dissection. Technologies under consideration include Flexlife's UT (Ultrasound), Eddy Current and Radiography.

Flexlife will work initially alongside Chevron, the Health & Safety Executive, Maersk Oil North Sea, Premier Oil and Technip. Discussions are ongoing with a number of additional organisations who are interested in participating in the JIP.

They and any additional partner organisations will be given access to the unique data and peer-assessed report which will inform pipe integrity and methodology and potential life extension of legacy risers going forward.

Craig Keyworth, project manager from Flexlife said: "The JIP is a unique and unprecedented opportunity to test and deconstruct end of service risers in a controlled environment. In the past, data was based upon predicting likely outcomes but there were never enough older risers to examine to base conclusions on fact and the result was a conservative approach to design, service life and end of life decision making.

"The research is groundbreaking in respect of offering tangible data and performance criteria of both the riser as an asset and the individual layer which it comprises.

"If the outcome of this project proves that we are capable of extending the service life of these risers, there will be a multitude of benefits to the industry, specifically economical and environmental.  We look forward to working with a number of key players on such a significant project for the industry."

The first batch of risers to be tested came from the Balmoral Floating Production Vessel (FPV), in production at block 16/21 of the UKCS since November 1986.

Ten sections (120m) in total from two risers - an 8in Oil Export and a 4in Gas Lift - were collected for the study which will focus on:

Pipe performance

Endfitting performance

Layer/component performance

The criteria for assessing these three main areas is covered by the API 17J/ISO13628-2 combined standard January 1, 2009. As part of the study, flexlife is also assessing sections of a "control pipe'', which is of the same design and has never been used.

Glyn Pritchard, Balmoral Area Projects Manager for Premier Oil, said: "With the Balmoral platform operating some of the oldest flexible risers in the North Sea, if not the world, Premier Oil is happy to make available the samples of our recovered risers for the benefit of industry by enabling it to build a comprehensive picture of actual riser condition after years in service.''