10
World Pipelines
/
MARCH 2016
Technology for below sea level operations
ABB has announced it will provide the technology that will help
three vessels safely carry out construction and maintenance tasks
up to 5 km underwater. The vessels will be equipped with ABB’s
OCTOPUS software, which uses sensors and the Internet of
Things, Services and People (IoTSP) to interpret weather
conditions. This enables the crew to make informed decisions
during sensitive operations. The ships are to be manufactured for
Ultra Deep Solutions at CSIC Huangpu Wuchang Shipbuilding
Company Ltd and China Merchants Heavy Industry.
The largest vessel’s apparatus will include two remotely
operated underwater vessels (ROVs) that will dive up to 3000 m
and a 400 t crane that can drop 5200 m. It will measure 142 m in
length. The vessels also will feature ABB generators, motors, drives
and switchboards.
The OCTOPUS suite of products provides onboard decision
support and operational advice during weather-sensitive offshore
operations by monitoring and forecasting vessel motions.
Juha Koskela, Managing Director of ABB’s Marine and Ports
business, said: “The broad scope of supply we have on these vessels
is a demonstration of the wide range of solutions we have to offer
the maritime sector. These vessels will benefit from some of the
most established software and hardware technologies in the
shipping industry.”
Jithu Sukumaran Nair, General Manager of Shipbuilding at
Ultradeep Solutions said: “We are proud to be the first offshore
vessel operator in the world to install the OCTOPUS weather
monitoring system on board high tech dive vessels.”
Emerson helps expand Mexico’s infrastructure
Mexico’s Pemex and France’s ENGIE have selected Process
Management to help upgrade and expand Mexico’s gas pipeline
infrastructure.
The US$8.9 million automation project is part of Mexico’s energy
reform initiative. As existing natural gas availability is expected to fall
short of demand from a growing population and industrialisation, the
country is increasing capacity for importing low-cost natural gas from
the US. Pemex estimates demand for natural gas will grow 3.6% per
year from 2012 - 2028, with total imports increasing to 3 billion ft
3
/d.
Emerson will automate the southern portion of the Los Ramones
Phase II pipeline. When completed, the 291 km Los Ramones II Sur
pipeline will have the capacity to deliver 1.4 billion ft
3
/d of natural gas.
The US$2.3 billion Los Ramones pipeline system project
demonstrates a significant investment to ensure access to lower-cost
energy, a crucial component for petrochemical production and
broader manufacturing growth. The pipeline will extend from the Texas
(USA) border to Central Mexico, with capacity to transport up to
2.1 billion ft
3
/d of natural gas to Mexico, supplying a fifth of the
country’s total natural gas demand.
“Our project specialists will help Pemex and ENGIE bring the
pipeline into service quickly and safely so that Mexico’s homes and
businesses get the energy they need,” said Leo Rodriguez, President of
Emerson Process Management – Latin America. “In our past projects
with Pemex, we’ve helped ensure safe operations, reduce measurement
uncertainty, and maintain uninterrupted process flow.”
Volvo pipelayers used in Argentinian pipeline project
Santa Fe-based contractor, Milicic S.A. is undetaking a US$20 million
project, replacing a 66 km section of pipeline in central Argentina.
The pipeline stretches between the cities of Villa Mercedes in the
Province of San Luis and runs northeast to Río Cuarto; the second most
important city in the Province of Córdoba. Using a 12 in. pipe, this
refined product pipeline will carry mixed ducts that will be used to
transport different types of gas and oil. The trench will also serve as a
conduit for utilities, such as fibre optic cables and other power lines.
This 66 km section forms part of a 1200 km pipeline, which
traverses most of the country – from Luján de Cuyo (Mendoza) in the
west to San Lorenzo (Santa Fe) to the east, about 20 km to the north of
Rosario on the Rio Paraná. Pipeline owner, Yacimientos Petrolíferos
Fiscales (YPF S.A.), operates a network of multiple pipelines for the
transportation of refined products with a total length of 1801 km.
This renewal project began in October 2015 and is scheduled for
completion in June 2016. The decision to purchase Volvo pipelayers
was made last year when the company purchased three PL3005Ds. The
PL3005D’s were delivered in September last year.
There are approximately 50 Volvo machines, excluding welding
units, and 180 people engaged on the site working 10 hrs/d. Thanks to
their exclusive features, the PL3005Ds have plenty of opportunities to
show their versatility. One unit is used for unloading pipes, while
another is working with the welding crew and on tie-ins, and the third
machine is engaged in lowering-in operations, alongside a Russian
sideboom.
Project Manager, Marcelo Arias stated: “Compared to the
sideboom, the rotating pipelayer is much more versatile and able to
jump into different job applications in the field.”
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Balltec provides subsea plug launcher to Statoil
Balltec Engineered Solutions has successfully completed work
using its subsea smart plug launcher. The flangeless subsea plug
launcher technology played a critical role in Statoil’s ambitious
infrastructure upgrade methodology for the Åsgard Millom
pipeline.
The plug launcher was built on technology used in Balltec’s
recently developed flangeless subsea pig launcher; a subsea tool
used to deploy a pig into a pipeline without the need for a bolted
flange connection or diver intervention. The existing technology
was significantly re-designed to accommodate a larger smart plug
of 4.5 m in length with a mass of 1500 kg. The plug launcher
gripping mechanism was built to withstand pressure of up to
120 bar from within the pipeline.
Jon Jackson, Balltec Engineering Manager said: “This is a unique
piece of subsea equipment. The subsea plug launcher is flangeless
and allows the insertion of plugs without any existing infrastructure
by gripping and sealing the end of a cut pipe. The plug can be
launched via a simple hydraulic system and operated with
minimum ROV intervention. This allowed our client to have no
production loss during tie-in.”
Gunnar Paulson, Senior Technical Advisor at Statoil said: “The
[launcher] was used for launching a smart plug into a producing
20 in. pipeline at the Åsgard field in Norway. The objective was to
isolate the gas producing part of the pipeline from the water filled
section at the end, facilitating installation of a pipeline end module
while the main part of the pipeline was in normal production.”
