Summary
In deepwater, corrosion protection of flowlines is becoming a major issue as
fluid (production or injection) aggressiveness, temperature, and pressure
increase. Conventional corrosion allowance of carbon steel flowlines leads to
excessive procurement costs, installation weight, and welding thickness,
resulting in noneconomical solutions. Clad flowlines present excellent
corrosion protection, but the implementation of this technology results in
quite expensive solutions with additional NDT difficulties during
installation.
An interesting alternative to achieve an acceptable corrosion protection in
most conditions is the use of plastic liners. However, plastic lining has been
mostly limited up to now to reel lay. Transposing this technology to J-lay
results in a complex quad joint design, inducing more welding and NDT
difficulties at every offshore joint. Therefore, the use of this attractive
technology in J-lay implies the development of a specific field joint
design.
SAIPEM has developed and patented an innovative and cost effective
field-joint system (the Inconel Field Joint). This system maintains the
corrosion barrier across girth weld locations along the flowline. This
technology has minimal impact on the offshore laying rate because of performing
standard steel to steel welds. It is associated with an integrated lining
solution including all piping accessories by rotolining.
This paper presents the main characteristics of the IFJ system for a typical
deepwater water injection application, and discusses the results of the
extensive qualification program carried out over the last 2 years, including
swage lining, machining, sleeve insertion, leak test, and welding tests.
© 2009. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
2 February 2007
- Meeting paper published:
30 April 2007
- Revised manuscript received:
1 December 2008
- Manuscript approved:
3 January 2009
- Published online:
1 June 2009
- Version of record:
1 June 2009
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