Challenge
A major operator in Brazil required a non-intrusive method of assessing the integrity of flexible pipe annuli across its offshore production fleet. Certain flexible pipe designs were susceptible to deterioration of their steel layers due to the combined effects of carbon dioxide corrosion and mechanical stress.
Understanding whether the pipe annulus had flooded was therefore critical to assessing potential degradation and informing ongoing integrity management, while avoiding intrusive inspection methods and unnecessary disruption to offshore operations.
Solution
THREE60 Subsea deployed its FlexScan service, incorporating the Neptune ultrasonic inspection technology, to assess the condition of flexible pipe systems offshore Brazil. The non-intrusive inspection approach enabled the team to determine annulus condition and identify whether flooding had occurred without requiring disruption to the pipe system.
Deployment was supported by experienced Brazilian offshore personnel, combining THREE60’s specialist flexible pipe integrity expertise and inspection technology with local execution capability. The approach enabled multiple pipe sections across the operator’s FPSO fleet to be efficiently screened as part of a wider integrity campaign.
Result
Twenty-four flexible pipe sections across eight FPSOs were successfully inspected during the first two months of the programme. The campaign established whether individual pipe annuli were flooded and generated condition data to support the operator’s ongoing assessment of potential steel-layer degradation.
The programme provided an efficient, non-intrusive approach to gathering critical flexible pipe integrity data across a large offshore asset portfolio, supporting risk-based inspection and future integrity management decisions.
