Summary

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate estimates that of the total undiscovered petroleum resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, almost 65 % is in the Barents Sea. For future developments in the Barents Sea, tie-back lengths of 100 km are expected. Long pipelines used in the offshore oil and gas industry to simplify and make new developments more flexible or to tie in less profitable wells to existing infrastructure are called tie-backs. According to OG21, Norway’s oil and gas technology strategy, enabling of long tie-backs is a prioritized technology need. With 100 km long tie-backs it will be challenging to maintain the fluid temperature along the length of the pipeline above the critical temperatures for hydrate formation and wax precipitation - phenomena that can completely block a pipeline. In the Barents Sea this is extra challenging due to the low well stream temperatures. Therefore, this project target to develop the first intelligent wet thermal insulation system with integrated heating and sensors for tie-backs up to 100 km in length. Project partners Shawcor Norway AS (owner) and Norner Research AS will develop the new solutions in the project Intelligent Heated Wet Insulation for Pipelines (iHWI), solving major and critical obstacles/technological challenges for utilisation of the petroleum resources in the Barents Sea with robust tools to handle short notice flow shut-downs, minimum environmental impact, electrical zero CO2 emission heating, combined with low operational costs. The iHWI solutions will autonomously heat the pipe when and where the temperature is reduced, and enable monitoring of temperature, flow and pipeline state continuously along the pipeline. To meet the project objectives the partners must overcome several R&D challenges including new material solutions for heating, insulation and bonding, furthermore new design concepts for line pipes and field joints must be developed.

Norner contribution

R&D-partner for material development, develop test methods, testing and qualification.

Project title: iHWI - Intelligent Heated Wet Insulation for pipelines

- Project Duration: 2020–2023

- Project owner: Shawcor Norway AS

- Programme:  Petromaks2 (The Research Council of Norway)

Project partners:

- Shawcor Norway AS

- Norner Research AS

Norner project responsible: Espen Ommundsen