Spoolable Composite Pipe

A VERSATILE & COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FOR A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS

By Sean Connors, Shawcor

For more than 20 years, spoolable composite pipes have been used in upstream oil and gas systems. Some industry experts estimate that up to 100,000 kilometers of spoolable composite pipes are currently installed around the world.

As market needs change, the many benefits of spoolable composite pipe – including environmental, safety and cost advantages – are increasingly recognized. This opens the door to using spoolable composite pipe in a variety of oil and gas applications.

Due to the excellent corrosion resistance of spoolable composite pipe, most installations to date have been in multiphase gathering systems, or in produced water transfer or disposal systems. However, it is also used for condensates, dry gas or refined fluids (such as diesel). Recently, a significant shift in the market is a need for larger pipes, operating at higher temperatures and pressures. Leading North American pipe manufacturers are working to deliver new technologies that address these operating conditions, including pipes in diameters up to six inches that operate at pressures up to 2,250 psi and temperature ratings up to 82°C.

No matter what the end use, premiere spoolable composite pipe products are designed and tested in accordance with API 15S. Often, they are available with an API monogram confirming that they have met the API test requirements.

Typically, spoolable composite pipe consists of three layers:

• an inner liner used for fluid containment

• a reinforcement layer (typically either synthetic or glass fiber, or steel wire or plating)

• an outer layer used to provide mechanical and UV protection to the reinforcement layer

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is commonly used as both the inner liner and outer jacket for spoolable composite pipe. A cost-effective material, HDPE performs well at most temperatures found in oil and gas production. It also has excellent chemical resistance, and depending on the type of reinforcement used, composite pipes can be used in applications with significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.

Most spoolable composite products have metallic fittings that either connect pipe segments or terminate the pipeline. Commonly, these fittings have corrosion-resistant coatings or are constructed of a corrosion-resistant alloy. Combined with the HDPE pipe liner, these fitting materials create an extremely corrosion resistant product.

The fittings can be installed with hydraulic compression, swaging or manually applied torque. Regulations require that connection installers are trained (or certified). Many manufacturers provide their own expert installers, and often train third-party contractors as well. A leading manufacturer of composite pipe takes project security and integrity to the next level with data-empowered digital technologies that allow customers to operate their assets at peak performance.

Temporary Surface Lines for Flowback or Well Testing

Another example of the ever-expanding use of spoolable composite pipe is using it to tie produced fluids into a central facility. This provides numerous economic and environmental benefits. The speed and ease of installation allows the pipe to be installed, and then respooled and installed repeatedly as temporary lines, which is ideal for flowback operations. This is an example of the sustainability benefits of spoolable pipe.

Spoolable composite pipe is also a good fit for unconnected new wells to store flowback and initial production fluids. Historically, these installations required temporary separators, flare stacks and storage tanks.

As an alternative, spoolable composite pipe provides a cost-effective solution for these fluids, including mitigating the loss of revenue from flaring.

Most importantly, it addresses the major environmental concerns involved in this application:

• reduced flaring emissions

• improved fluid containment

• reduced energy costs – with no need to transport fluids by truck

In contrast to traditional installations, spoolable pipe can be rapidly deployed on the surface. Depending on site conditions and pipe size, as many as three kilometers of pipe can be deployed in a day. This allows exploration of isolated wells to be tied into central facilities quickly and affordably.

Hydrogen Sulfide Scavenging Coil

Spoolable composite pipe also offers a unique opportunity to place a long length of pipe in a small footprint. In certain situations, it is appropriate to have gas flowing through the linepipe while still placed on a reel.

Practically, it is possible to have hundreds of meters of pipe operating in a footprint as small as a few square meters. An example of this application in West Texas in early 2022 utilized this treatment to sweeten the gas before it enters downstream processing equipment.

Gas Transmission Line Bypass

Canadian gas distribution companies are increasingly recognizing the benefit of spoolable composite pipe, particularly as high-pressure lines from a steel trunk line to smaller take-off points. These lines are permanent and are often installed with a plow, which allows a high rate of installation with minimal ground disturbance.

Gas distribution companies have also used temporary spoolable composites pipes to bypass sections of large-diameter steel trunk lines. This temporary bypass line allows the company to maintain gas supply while doing maintenance or repairs. The high-pressure ratings of 1,500+ psi can typically match the system design and allow the system pressure to be maintained during maintenance. After the work is completed, the pipe can be respooled and reused to reduce the cost of future projects.

Spoolable composite pipe continues to be a key product for oil and gas customers. However, as customers recognize its environmental, safety and cost benefits, the list of product applications transcends traditional uses and grows in the worldwide market.

Sean Connors is Senior Manager, Composite Systems, at Shawcor. Responsible for product management, Sean specializes in Shawcor’s FlexPipe and FlexCord products and is currently launching Shawcor’s new 6-inch diameter FlexPipe.