The Integrity of Flexible Steel Line Pipe: A Case History

The oil and gas industry would continue to benefit from the successful application of innovative pipeline technologies. A comparison of the installed lengths of line pipe licensed by the Alberta Energy Regulatory (AER) in 2005 and 2012 indicates that composite pipeline systems have increased by 577%; a much higher increase than other types of licensed line pipe materials. The primary driver is to address corrosion that accounts for 68% of the AER-listed pipeline failures. Effective use of new flexible steel line pipe requires application within theoretically acceptable boundaries. A case history will be discussed to highlight some of the boundary conditions for flexible steel composite line pipe. Challenges to successfully use new innovative materials include industry’s ability to characterize the composition of the fluids transported by the pipeline, to characterize the composition of the fluids that permeate through the non-metallic components in some of the composite systems, and to construct systems without damage.