Finding new cost-saving, quicker subsea solutions for deepwater projects are part of the quest for most oil and gas companies.

Those behind the Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) movement believe they have just that. Offering an alternative to traditional flexibles and steel, TCP has been billed as a cost-effective, lightweight and spoolable pipe that does not corrode like steel and is suitable for HP/HT conditions and corrosive fluids.

Pilot projects already have targeted the use of TCP as flowlines in shallow water following decades of the industry’s use of composites such as for onshore production piping. But prospects for composite use in the subsea arena for not only flowlines but also risers, expansion spools as well as commissioning and other types of lines have opened windows of opportunity for manufacturers, suppliers and operators alike.

Airborne Oil & Gas, a provider of TCP in the subsea sector, is going deeper to prove the effectiveness of this upcoming generation of subsea pipelines. The Netherlands-based company has kicked off a project to qualify the TCP deepwater jumper for Total.

“The downturn has led to a relentless focus on reducing cost and a realization that radical cost savings require new solutions. The TCP provides the solution to create such cost savings,” Airborne Oil & Gas Chief Commercial Officer Martin van Onna told SEN. “The TCP jumper is an excellent example of this. We estimate that the cost saving on an as-installed basis is a dramatic 50% compared to conventional solutions. We see the demand not only in deep water, also shallow water, where the low cost of installation is attractive too.”

Qualification Effort

As part of the nine-month project, Airborne Oil & Gas will manufacture and test full-scale 6-in. prototypes for the deepwater jumper spool application. The TCP jumper will be used to connect flowlines to subsea wells.

As part of the project with Total, Airborne Oil & Gas will work to qualify the TCP jumper in accordance to standards established by DNV GL. The project includes extensive testing on material coupons in combination with full-scale pipe testing. These include burst testing (internal pressure), collapse testing (external pressure), tensile testing and fatigue testing, van Onna said.

If all goes as planned, by summer next year the TCP jumper could be considered for use at any field that Total wishes to develop, he added.

Airborne Oil & Gas and Total have worked together in the development of TCP since 2009 when the Cost Effective Thermoplastic Composite Riser JIP began.

“The possibility with TCP to handle large deflections, the ability to cut-to-length and terminate the pipe at location and the subsequent installation with small vessels, make a compelling business case for TCP jumpers,” Frédéric Garnaud, R&D deep offshore program manager for Total, said in a statement. “We estimate we can achieve considerable cost savings by using TCP jumpers.”

Airborne Oil & Gas anticipates delivering qualification in this project to DNV GL standard RP-F119 in second-quarter 2017.

Making The Case

Rigid steel spools are typically used for jumper spool applications today; however, they are large and difficult to install, van Onna explained.

“The TCP jumper allows large deflections and is more flexible, allowing fast and easy installation,” he said.

Another advantage when compared to traditional carbon steel is the rigid TCP spools’ ability to be fabricated locally and cut to size offshore quickly.

“Fabrication is always in the critical path, with the installation vessels and crew waiting for the spool to arrive. The TCP jumper, being more flexible and allowing large deflections, can be cut to length and terminated offshore in a few hours,” van Onna said. “The cost savings therefore are proven both on fabrication cost as well as transportation and installation—a true radical cost different.”

TCP also appears to win points when put next to conventional flexibles. The TCP is

  • Cost-effective per meter;
  • Lighter and can be terminated anywhere within a few hours; and
  • Has simpler, smaller end fittings, he added.

“A detailed cost analysis, based on actual specifications for a West Africa deepwater project, results in a cost reduction of 60% compared to rigid steel jumpers and 30% lower cost for TCP compared with unbonded flexible jumpers,” Airborne Oil & Gas said. “The case study considered installation of five well jumpers. The cost saving compared to steel is in excess of $1 million for each jumper.”

Broadening Horizons

The technology has game-changing potential for the offshore and subsea offshore tubular sector.

“Recently a high-pressure TCP jumper spool has been installed by another operator, so we really see this as evidence that the market adoption of TCP technology is accelerating,” van Onna said.

In that project, a small bore, high-pressure spool was installed in the North Sea, marking the first TCP in a subsea permanent installation worldwide. In addition, the company has had 65 TCP deployments in intervention applications, with water depths as deep as 2,140 m (7,021 ft).

He called the TCP jumper a “relevant step on [Airborne Oil & Gas’] staircase approach toward deepwater risers.”

But the company is not alone.

Rival Magma Global signed an agreement with BP and Subsea 7 in 2015 to qualify its carbon fiber m-pipe, which also is high strength, lightweight, corrosion-resistant and fully bonded.

As previously reported by SEN, the 30-month Magma qualification program targets 6-in. to 12-in. pipes for risers and jumper systems for deepwater environments and includes laminate testing, single-load tests (tensile, burst, collapse, bending, torsion, compression and impact) and combined-load tests (axial bending, collapse bending, pressure bending and axial pressure bending). The qualification program also is expected to deliver inspection techniques to verify the long-term integrity of the systems.

—Velda Addison

Offshore