With the increasing interest in pipeline integrity and ensuring that there are no leaks throughout service life, Jee was asked to carry out a study to determine the preferred method of validating water injection lines operated from an FPSO. Internal inspection using an intelligent pig was not a practical option because of the absence of suitable pigging facilities.
The study considered two alternative options:
Hydrotesting
Direct assessment
Hydrotesting requires that the pipeline is subjected to an internal hydrostatic test pressure above the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) for a few hours, whilst the direct assessment method is based on an understanding of the likely corrosion conditions within the pipeline supported by wall thickness measurements carried out at specific locations to verify the theoretical model.
Both options were considered in detail, taking account of the client in-house technical standard requirements and known conditions of the pipelines.
The benefit to the client was a firm recommendation of the preferred validation method for the particular pipelines in question and a set of guidelines which could be applied to subsea water injection pipelines in general.
Engineers wanted ..... If you are an experienced engineer looking for a change or if you have recently graduated and want to join our well-respected consultancy team then please visit our Careers section
