Design and Installation of Buried Heated Pipelines at the Capixaba North Terminal Offshore Brazil

The export pipelines of the Capixaba North Terminal (TNC) offshore Brazil will be operating with a great thermal stability potential due to the high temperatures that are necessary to assure an adequate flow. This paper focuses on the challenges for the design and installation group, due to the very strict maximum allowable imperfection (prop), in order to find a feasible solution for the installation process by a conventional lay barge. Also, the paper employs a finite element model and carries out a parametric study based on the soil coverage requirements and the maximum allowable imperfection originated from laying operations and pipeline burial process. The upheaval buckling will be studied in full detail in order to evaluate predefined curvatures, with the objective of finding the minimum cover height to limit the pipeline displacement and thus assuring its integrity. This work also aims to establish a numeric tool that will serve as basis for the upheaval buckling analysis in new pipeline design.