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16-12-10 KIvI lecture

How to live with Flexible Pipe, happily ever after?

J. M. M. (Hans) Out

12/22/2010

File Title

Copyright: Shell Exploration & Production Ltd.

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KIvI Flexible pipe

content

Introduction
What is flexible pipe?
Design specification Polymers End-fitting

Shells research efforts Design analysis Failure mechanisms Integrity management current issues

Operation Pluto (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean)

In January 1945, 305 tonnes of fuel was pumped to the Allied forces in France per day. This increased tenfold to 3,048 tonnes per day in March, and eventually to 4,000 tons (almost 1,000,000 Imperial gallons) per day. In total, over 781 000 m (equal to a cube with 92 meter long sides) of gasolinehad been pumped to by VE day, providing a critical supply of fuel until a more permanent arrangement was made, although the pipeline remained in operation for some time after. No report of loss of containment or mechanical failure. Not

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torque balanced

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Flexible pipe
Flexible means:
Capacity to highly bend, to MBR Low bending stiffness
MBR determined by: strain of polymer sheaths (3.57.7 %) not any interlocking Bending Stiffness governed by: stiffness of polymer sheaths but friction... Axial / radial stiffness and strength governed by steel reinforcing

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Flexible pipe

smoothbore: topsides use, water injection Interlocking carcass

internal pressure sheath Interlocking pressure armour

or double C, or T/ clip (supplementary pressure armour)

tensile armours

external sheath

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Flexible pipe

annulus
polymer sheaths pressure tight but permeable

7-8 % empty space

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Flexible riser design parameters

Internal Diameter Internal pressure Blow down rate Waterdepth (850 m), floater (semi+mooring), environment
External pressure

Fluid composition (CO2, H2S...), production chemicals

Temperature (max, min)

Flow assurance, insulation

Static or dynamic Installation method

Design life
Sand max flow velocity

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Flexible pipe

Standards

Recommended Practice for Flexible Pipe, ANSI/API Recommended Practice 17B, 4th Ed., July 2008
Specification for Unbonded Flexible Pipe ANSI/API Spec. 17J 3rd Ed., July 2008
Specification for bonded flexible pipe 17K

API TR 17TR2 The Ageing of PA-11 in Flexible Pipes

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Flexible pipe polymer materials

cost: $(PVDF)= 10 x $(XLPE)

Most common material for dynamic flexible oil & gas riser Ageing, chemical compatibility (API 17TR2)

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Flexible pipe end-fitting (1)

End-fitting functions: Assume roles of the stack of flexible pipe components: seal strength Vent gasses from the annulus Most proprietary flexible pipe component vent port

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Flexible pipe end-fitting (2)

annulus venting tube (3 x)

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KIvI Flexible pipe

content

Introduction
What is flexible pipe?
Design specification Polymers End-fitting

Shells research efforts Design analysis Failure mechanisms Integrity management current issues

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Shells research efforts

testing

Endurance testing rotative bending 1980 2000-ish

Severe
all circumference speed

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Shells research efforts

testing (2)

Endurance testing riser top section 1989 2000-ish (sold to NKT) JIPs Realistic top section In plane bending Tension Bend stiffener Purpose Qualification

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Shells research efforts

analysis

Service life analysis model based on: dynamic analysis, yielding global forces and curvature changes
Option of incorporating hysteretic behaviour

Mature (programs, contractors)...

Cross-sectional analysis model (, , , from p, N, Mt, Mb)

Including bending

Endurance life dominated by wear failure mode now obsolete Small scale wear experiments Calibration from full scale tests

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KIvI Flexible pipe

content

Introduction
What is flexible pipe?
Design specification Polymers End-fitting

Shells research efforts Design analysis Failure mechanisms Integrity management current issues

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Flexible pipe analysis (2)

Burst test:

Example of torque balance

Influence of whether ends are free to rotate or fixed

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Flexible pipe analysis

Example of bending analysis (1)

Difficult, not possible exactly

Need: Calculation of slip of wires (essential property!) Curvature changes of wires fatigue

Friction!

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Flexible pipe analysis

Example of bending analysis (2)

Slip vs. lay angle (normalised against: curvature lay radius squared )

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Flexible riser analysis

Fatigue analysis (1)

Pipe stiffer than assumed Damage mostly during slip sections

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Flexible riser analysis

Fatigue analysis (2)

Corrosion-fatigue
Fitness for purpose assessment

No-slip limit

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KIvI Flexible pipe

content

Introduction
What is flexible pipe?
Design specification Polymers End-fitting

Shells research efforts Design analysis Failure mechanisms Integrity management current issues

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Shells flexible pipe application history

Shell operate over 400 km of flexible pipe riser: static or dynamic flowline subsea jumper topside jumper Internal Diameter <2, 18.7> Pressure < 570 bar

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Shell Flexible Pipe application history (2)

loss of containment

05 Water injection line failed at pressure test - overbending 05 blocked annulus vent system plus cracked pressure sheath 05 slow leak f/ inside end-fitting 95, 00, 05 high external pressure J-tube, no venting, smoothbore WI, collapse of internal sheath 04 leaking external sheath, corrosion near waterline 05 bird caging caused by external sheath damage 99 PVDF slipping out of end-fitting

Inside J-tube

99 leak inside end-fitting

95 local bending 94 3 x PVDF slipping out of end-fitting 93 leak in end-fitting, no annulus venting

subsea

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Shell Flexible application history (2)

No loss of containment
09 external sheath damage

08 leaking external sheath, corrosion near waterline, low fatigue lives

07 operation above materials temperature spec.

04 upheaval buckling 04 sour service susceptibility 04 carcass/ Coflon sacrificial layer failure 99 advanced degradation operation above materials temp. spec. late 90s flooded annulus, corrosion of armouring, preventative change-out; failed two-layer bend stiffeners (6 replaced) 90s external sheath damage during installation, increasing H2S, low fatigue life changed out proactively 2008

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Failure mechanisms

High Risk (1)

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Failure mechanisms

High Risk (2)

or flaw from embrittlement (ageing)

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Failure mechanisms

High Risk (3)

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Flexible riser Failure statistics

Historical failure rate of flexible risers has been high
MCS Flexible Riser Incident Database 2007 Total Damage & Failure

Failure means.? Consequence?

25 (35)% attributed to external sheath damage 35 (22)% to internal sheath polymer issues (PVDF and PA-11) - now better understood / dealt with in current design codes

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Failure mechanisms

End-fitting vent tubes (1)

Annulus venting tubes not functional
flattened, blocked

causing puncture of external sheath

Shell:

5 instances that led to dramatic failure

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Flexible riser Failure histories

End-fitting (2)

vent tube blocked and flattened

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Flexible riser Failure histories

End-fitting (3)

Leak across main seal manifesting itself externally like so:

Tear in external sheath

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Flexible riser Failure histories

End-fitting (4)

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Flexible riser Failure histories

External sheath

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Flexible riser Failure histories

Collapse carcass (1)

Collapse from excessive radial compression

Fatigue/ Collapse from excessive radial compression

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Flexible riser Failure histories

Collapse carcass (2)

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Flexible riser Failure histories

Internal pressure sheath

Cracking (PVDF) failures

PVDF: Extrusion fault, high pressure cycling

Ageing of pressure sheath (PA11) loss of ductility, cracking no failures but expensive proactive replacements

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Flexible riser Failure histories

Tensile armours (1)

Corrosion (free, sweet, sour)

Static riser in J-tube annulus venting system blocked external sheath breached annulus flooded free corrosion

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Flexible riser Failure histories

Tensile armours (2)

No registered failures

Corrosion-fatigue (water, O2, CO2)

For all practical purposes: is it real?

S-N curves
generated under high Volume to Surface area conditions. Annulus presents the opposite saturation with corrosion product.

Several cases preventative replacement

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KIvI Flexible pipe

content

Introduction
What is flexible pipe?
Design specification Polymers End-fitting

Shells research efforts Design analysis Failure mechanisms Integrity management current issues

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Flexible riser Integrity management (1)

Design
- Material selection to be based on reasonable worst case conditions (p, T, fluids) - Develop S-N curve for corrosion-fatigue for particular application - Inhibiting the annulus with a specific corrosion inhibitor in the factory

QA/ QC
Rigorous attention to extrusion of pressure sheath and end-fitting construction

Installation
prevent damage (outer sheath, over-bending), or at least detect, then repair

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Flexible riser Integrity management (2)

Service Integrity of the external sheath is one key to degradation in service
corrosion-fatigue, metal loss corrosion

Integrity of the pressure sheath the other

Material selection vs bore conditions, end-fitting, QAQC Fatigue will not be any issue in practice, unless the annulus is filled with seawater as a result of a puncture of the external sheath corrosion-fatigue

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Flexible riser Integrity management (3)

Task GVI of external surface ..
top angle, bend stiffener ...

Reason basic integrity (gross damage, sheath)

design verification, LTE

ageing internal sheath (operation within/ outwith spec., chem composition, LTE) Corrosion-fatigue, metal loss corrosion

operations parameters (p, T, chemical, sand)

annulus integrity .. annulus gas flow and composition analysis internal sheath ageing

external sheath, permeation characteristics, corrosion activity

design verification, LTE suspected damage ( bend restrictor area)

integrity tensile armour layers

Annulus venting system SCE

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Flexible riser Integrity management (4)

Inhibiting the annulus with a corrosion inhibitor in the factory
At Foinaven/ Schiehalion, BP have flushed the annulus with TROS 528 RMS 920 Mono-Ethylene Glycol RMS 126 (75.8 %), Methanol RMS 127 (24%), Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate RMS 351 (0.075%) baking soda, neutraliser Troskil 1 MS 061 (0.1%) corrosion inhibitor TROS Seadye (0.025%) - dye for detection of a leak subsea. Environmentally acceptable and compatible with the PVDF/ XLPE pressure sheath Density as per seawater Issue at installation: limit hydrostatic pressure

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Monitoring flexible riser (1)

Record the annulus pressure build-up
Function of production parameters To be recorded Analyse trend
Leak internal sheath Ageing internal sheath Puncture external sheath

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Monitoring flexible riser (2)

Analysing the annulus gasses
Detect harmful gasses CO2 H2S and those that indicate active corrosion:
H2

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Monitoring flexible riser (3)

Detection of defects (metal loss, fractures) in armouring package

Innospections SLOFEC

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Monitoring flexible riser (4)

Detection of defects (metal loss, fractures) - top section underneath bend restrictor 2-Tier approach: Acoustic Emission to detect fractures occurring MAPS-FR to remotely detect fractures (changes in stress will be felt a few pitchlength away) stress measurement magnetostriction effect

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Monitoring flexible riser (5)

Fibre-optics
Monitoring of Strain global deformation Temperature location of any liquid level

Level of annulus flooding

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KIvI Flexible pipe

content

Introduction
What is flexible pipe?
Design specification Polymers End-fitting

Shells involvement Design analysis Failure mechanisms Integrity management current issues

Flexible pipe

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Current issues

Erosion
Produced gas

CO2 injection
Supercritical CO2 - polymers

Dynamic Interference analysis Deep water? Jumpers

Flexible pipe

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Current issues (2)

h2 h1

If hydrostatic pressure (h2) + strength sheath < hp (h1) breach of sheath

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Flexible pipe

Concluding remarks
Knowledge of flexible pipe reduces risk inherent in system, Specification (polymers), LTE, fitness for purpose Integrity management essential Starts rigorous with QAQC Annulus venting system to be designated as SCE Simple measures suffice during operation Detailed inspection needed in case of doubt - under development Resolve corrosion fatigue, real or phantom?