Deepwater activities are the future of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. Huge reserves have been located in the Gulf of Mexico as well as off the Coast of West Africa and Brazil. The development of floating production platforms and vessels offers challenges to the facilities engineer who must consider new materials to meet stringent topsides weight limitations. A critical technology for facilities piping in offshore platforms is joining technique. This paper discusses the development of a hybrid joining approach by using heat-activated coupling and adhesive bonding. The technique procedure is presented via specimen fabrication. A total of eleven coupled specimens are prepared and evaluated using standardized internal pressure tests. The feasibility of this new joining technique in offshore piping is discussed based on the internal pressure test results.

Preliminary study of a composite pipe Tee-joint using heat coupling technology was conducted in this paper. The cutting process of the pipes for the Tee-joint was developed. Because the cutting edges of the pipes were coarse, it is necessary to smooth them. Both epoxy resin and prepreg were applied to the joined areas of the pipes. Shrink tape was also applied to the outside of the prepreg to add pressure and compression force. An optimized cure cycle for the epoxy prepreg used as the bonding materials was determined from the thermal cure analysis. The cure process of the joined pipes by epoxy prepreg was conducted in a specially designed oven. The total cure time was about 138 minutes. Several factors, including the thickness and length of the prepreg applied and the adhesive applied to the joints, have been considered in designing Teejoints. The hydrostatic pressure test results showed that the thickness of the wrapped epoxy prepreg had a very important effect on the quality of the joined pipes in terms of pressure.

A fuzzy control (FLC) approach has been developed to control the curing process of a polymeric laminate used as the bonding material for the heat-activated coupling (HAC) of a fiberglass composite to Cu-Ni alloy pipe. Controlling the temperature of the curing environment is required in order to achieve uniform cure within the bonding prepreg. Without temperature control, the alloy side of the coupling is essentially a heat sink. Therefore, a controlled heat source on the alloy pipe is needed to compensate for the heat sink effect that tends to decrease curing temperatures within the laminate. The simulation results obtained show that the curing process of HAC of a composite-to-alloy pipe is significantly improved with required uniform cure characteristics being obtained through the thickness of the laminate.

The present paper describes the financial assurance system (bonding system), an incentive approach being adopted by several countries to guarantee or fund environmental obligations and ensure environmental performance. Environmental compliance involves meeting all end-of-leasing obligations, including closure and decommissioning operations. This paper also identifies the main forms of potential environmental damages resulting from upstream activities and their potential financial impact on the regulatory agency. It will be demonstrated how bonding instruments may help reduce such risks by: (1) providing financial incentive for environmental compliance; (2) safeguarding government and taxpayers by attaining reasonable protection from default at a minimum increase in project costs; and (3) protecting the environment from potential harm resulting from failure to carryout proper closure operations in a timely fashion. A model is proposed for a hypothetical scenario and an analysis is performed in order to identify potential financial impacts on oil projects.