The market for plastic-lined pipe (PLP), used most conventionally offshore in water injection pipelines, could expand with the development of a new connector offered by the company which now holds the patent for installling plastic lining in pipelines.

Liner Bridge is a plastic connector that offers a number of advantages over the existing connectors offered by two of the main subsea SURF contractor, Technip and Subsea 7, according to Swagelining.

From the cost and technology perspective, it will be cheaper and quicker to manufacture these connectors and will allow lined pipe to be cut at any point for repair.

More significantly for the market, it will enable plastic-lined pipe to be installed by s-lay vessels expanding the number of pipelay contractors able to offer this technology and the size of the pipelines that can be plastic-lined. As all are currently reeled, the limit is 14-16in, while an s-lay water injection line could be as big as 24in.

The technology offered by Swagelining is not new in general pipelining - it was developed more than 20 years ago by the then British Gas for lining gas distribution pipelines and later adopted by water supply companies. According to Swagelining, it was first used offshore by BP at Foinaven.

BG’s intellectual property on the technique plus another for the associated WeldLink connector were later acquired by Subsea 7 who subsequently sold the technology - but not the connector - on to a team of former employees who formed Swagelining.

The main advantage of plastic lined pipe is cost. The alternative is a range of exotic metals that can either be solid pipe, clad or lined. The cost for the latter, depending on the alloy, could range from three to five times the cost of PLP.

Tech Briefs: NEL, based near Glasgow, has invested £0.5mn in an upgraded WET GAS TEST FACILITY. This is said to be the first independent commercial operation of its type in the UK for calibrating wet gas meters.

The facility will initially be able to handle flowrates of 2,000m3/hr and liquid volume fractions beyond 10%. There will be additional expansion for injecting water and oil to simulate field conditions.

Maritime Developments has received a patent for its 4-TRACK TENSIONER. It is a 50t caterpillar that can be used vertically as well as horizontally and has been incorporated into its new portable vertical lay system (VLS). MD has already delivered two of the 4-track systems to clients and is building a third for a rental unit.