Testing, use substantiate m-pipe subsea use

Magma Global (Thornton Cleveleys, UK) reported on Jan. 25 that its m-pipe, based on high-performance VICTREX PEEK thermoplastic composites, has recently achieved the world’s first qualification for a subsea pipe product under DNVGL-RP-F119 for Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP). Global quality assurance and risk management company DNV GL defined its F119 recommended practice (RP) for use with pipelines in offshore oil and gas (O&G) operations.

Magma m-pipe is a high-performance carbon fiber and VICTREX PEEK thermoplastic composite pipe manufactured using a fully automated robotic 3D laser print process. Magma says engineering excellence and detailed structural design result in a high-specification pipe that has been shown to reduce risks and costs for risers, jumpers, flowlines and downlines in a range of subsea project applications. These properties, says Magma, means m-pipe can be used at depths down to 3.4 km and withstand pressures of up to 103 MPa (15 ksi).

Following an extensive and challenging testing program, the product qualification covers m-pipe for dynamic surface to seabed applications. Magma says that successful certification with DNV GL’s third-party verification highlights the durability of m-pipe and its constituent materials. There is a growing interest in thermoplastic composites for subsea applications, due to their corrosion resistance and ability to handle sour service and many of the aggressive chemicals used in the oil and gas industry. Recent deployments for m-pipe include a 2.5-km flowline development by Tullow Oil in West Africa.

"F119 is the most comprehensive procedure that exists today for determining the long-term reliability and safety of a TCP for O&G," explains Dr. David Charlesworth, head of engineering at Magma Global. Dr. Geoff Small, energy market technology manager at Victrex, says,"Victrex and Magma have always worked side-by-side on m-pipe, with Victrex contributing its decades of accumulated know-how, and that's the way we rose to the F119 challenge. Magma's m-pipe is not simply an innovative high-performance corrosion-free pipe that the O&G industry urgently needs, but it's now emerged as the first F119-certified TCP, and that means it's a proven solution in subsea pipelines."

F119 comprises more than 50 standardized test methods, which together subject a TCP to a rigorous investigation, throughout the design process, to ascertain failure modes, critical properties and the limits of its constituent materials. Each stage of the formation of the TCP is tested independently, from the properties of its components to full TCP construction, to ascertain the link between materials data and overall TCP design.