GO GREEN - Subsea Insulation made easy

Formation of hydrates and wax deposits in hydrocarbon subsea production systems are a well known problem. These unwanted components causes production loss, equipment damage and unfortunately serious personnel injuries. These problems are costing our industry millions of dollars each year. Hydrates in subsea production systems are caused when hydrocarbons and water are held under high pressures and low temperatures. Gas hydrates (hydrates) are crystalline solids that are formed at these conditions. These ice-like solids can build up over time to create a hydrate blockage in flowlines, branches and components such as chokes and Xmas trees. Hydrates can occur in both oil and gas flowlines. Wax is a typically long linear n-paraffin chains within the produced oil. At temperatures below the Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT) or cloud point, the n-paraffin components begin to crystallize into solid wax particles. They may adhere to each other in this state. Deposition of n-paraffin typically occurs when the wax-containing oil comes in contact with any surface that has a temperature below the WAT and provides a heat sink. The build up of paraffin deposits decreases the pipeline cross-sectional area. First Crude Oil has together with our partner Marine Biotechnology Products developed a subsea installable solutions for these problems. The system can easily be installed to all ROV accessible subsea components such as manifold headers, branch lines, clamp connectors, choke modules and Xmas tree parts. Its simply attached to any subsea structure by using purpose built subsea insulation bags. Then the subsea insulation bag is filled with SEPORID insulation gel. SEPORID is an environmental friendly insulator composed by green materials such as algae and modified polysaccarids. When installed onto an un-insulated subsea structure it will act as a heat bank and insulator. SEPORID can be installed at all depths ranging from shallow water to below 6000 meters. The insulation system can be fitted with an optional heating system, which can be used for controlled hydrate and wax formation removal. Our unique subsea insulation system can also be installed onshore prior to installation subsea and filled subsea for better tie in and installation flexibility. The advantage of our system compared to traditional insulation is reduced installation time and less cost, typical cost and time saving are in the range of 40%.