AURUM: Flexible composite production riser for deep water oil fields

• Unité de recherche: PCRD EU
• Numéro de projet: 99.0761
• Titre du projet anglais: AURUM: Flexible composite production riser for deep water oil fields

Mots-clé (Anglais)

Oil and gas; subsea; production riser; thermoplastic composites; carbon fiber;
Fossil Fuels; Resources of the Sea; Fisheries

Autre Numéro de projet (Anglais)

EU project number: ENK6-2000-00066

Programme de recherche (Anglais)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.4b.2 Economic and efficient energy for a competitive Europe

Description succincte (Anglais)

See abstract

Partenaires et organisations internationales (Anglais)

ABB Offshore Systems AS (NO), Norsk Hydro ASA (NO), FhG Institut für Prodktionstechnik (D), Acordis Fortafil Fibres Europe (D), Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe GmbH (D), COMAT Composite Materials GmbH (D)

Résumé des résultats (Abstract) (Anglais)

Due to the need to reduce reliance on foreign oil imports and improve trade balance, the EU is faced to challenges of developing new resources recently found in deepwater locations 500 to 3000 m below sea-level. The riser provides a conduit for the transport of hydrocarbons from the seabed to the topside structure. Replacing conventional risers with light-weight composite risers will have a cascading weight reduction effect on the entire facility. The project will develop and validate a prototype riser section including a life-time prediction tool. In order to reduce production costs new thermoplastic-carbon fibre composite materials will be developed.

Description of work:
To make the risers cost-competitive, new thermoplastic composite pre-preg tape materials will be developed. The thermoplastic winding techniques will be further developed to achieve the quality needed for oil risers. Processing parameters, lay-up, tape specifications will be optimised for riser performance, costs and manufacturing speed. The risers are critical components, hence a lifetime prediction tool will be developed.

Expected Results and Exploitation Plans:
The main objective is the development and validation of a prototype riser section.
The sections will be ca 2 meter long, have 200 mm internal diameter and will be validated for loads representative of 2000 meter water depth, 500 bar internal pressure and well fluid temperature of 160°C. Tests include for chemical environment, fatigue, bending and external and internal pressure.
If the project is successful the composite flexible risers will be turned into commercial large scale production. This alone will create a large market for the newly developed materials. The application of fibres and composites in critical structures like risers will open new markets for these products.

Références bases de données (Anglais)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 99.0761