INDUSTRY
(Thermo) Plastic Fantastic
THE ADVANTAGES OF NON-METALLIC PIPE – AND WHERE IT COULD GO NEXT By: Igor Azevedo, Global Sales Director, Onshore Flexible Pipes, Baker Hughes
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here are 4,023,360 kilometers laid in the United States. Nearly 25,000 kilometers are planned in the Middle East. The world’s longest stretches for around 10,000 kilometers over China and Central Asia. We’re talking about pipelines, and in total, there are enough to wrap around the equator more than eight times. Beneath our feet and over our heads, oil, natural gas, biofuels, water, hydrogen – and occasionally, even beer – is transported from production to consumption through the world’s pipelines. Ring of steel Much of that pipe is made of steel, with polyethylene accounting for some shorter distances and low-pressure environments. And there are good reasons for sticking with steel in many cases: it is, after all, excellent at resisting both high temperatures and high pressures. But, steel also comes with some major associated risks. It is costly to produce, transport and install. It’s unwieldy and inflexible. And it is exceptionally energy/carbon intensive at almost every stage, from the mining of iron ore and manufacture of billets and plates to pipeline construction and operational maintenance and on to end-of-life recycling and replacement. What’s more, it corrodes, and it erodes. Not immediately, but over time, and often in unexpected or unseen spots. Maintaining safety and pipe integrity is, therefore, an arduous and never-ending undertaking. Despite these problems, steel has been the default option available for most applications through habit as well as established supply chains and industry practice. Operators have tolerated lengthy install times and the risks of on-site hot-work because the only available alternative pipeline material, plastics, have not had the pressure capacity to be a viable replacement — until now. We have relied on steel pipelines for so long that it can be hard to imagine a feasible alternative. But there are options for energy and industrial operations which may offer real, tangible benefits. A new era The current financial, operational and political environment have made new alternatives even more important. In short, the industry is being required to cut costs and to rapidly decarbonize. Dependence on steel when it is not necessary hinders both goals. So, what is the new alternative? Research into novel material sciences has moved out of the lab and into the field on the back of Baker Hughes’ commitment to revolutionize composite engineered materials for their next generation of products. The result is Baker Hughes’ reinforced, thermoplastic pipe – which is already being widely (and economically) deployed in key areas and showing a great deal of promise for even wider usage. The pipe is a composite of selected non-metallic materials, which
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SHALE MAGAZINE MAY/JUNE 2021
We’re talking about pipelines, and in total, there are enough to wrap around the equator more than eight times are designed to give it strength and durability to withstand much higher temperatures and pressures than traditional polyethylene pipe over a full life-cycle, typically 20 years, but the product can be designed to operate up to 50 years of duty. That means it can be used to optimize the backbone of many flowline and pipeline networks. For example, certain designs of non-metallic pipe can now deliver fluid pressures up to 2,250 PSI and temperatures up to 180°F. These are available in 8” diameter, which means they are fit for higher-pressure, longer-distance transport and post-processing flowline duties. When deployed instead of steel, this technology can cut installation time in half and reduce the installed cost of the pipeline by more than 20% and can materially impact the total CAPEX and OPEX over the asset lifetime as well as slash the asset carbon/energy footprint. Cutting costs Several factors contribute towards these reduced costs. The first is that reinforced thermoplastic is much lighter and more flexible than steel, with individual pipeline sections available in much longer lengths on a reel. Critically, because it is spoolable, this instantly makes it easier and cheaper to transport and install: no more welding together 40ft. steel
