The leak in question occurred in the relatively high depth of 60m. The source of this crude oil leak was the outer corrosion of a section of the pipe that was under misalignment pressure for some time. Having an old and corroding pipeline meant the time windows for leak mitigation was short while at the same time the line’s total downtime needed to be kept at a minimum as well, avoiding revenue loss. To further add to the sensitivities of the project, the depth of the damage site required a simple installation process to aid the diving teams involved.
To satisfy all the requirements set out by the project’s particularities, Fixpipeline entered and won the tender with a custom variation of our globally recognized Super-Tight product. In addition to adding misalignment-proofing functionality to our design through the combination of the unibody design with MAF, our engineering team also included an innovative double sealing mechanism that allows a pre-pressurization testing of the installation, reducing error during the installation of end-connectors.
Since the misalignment flange was integrated into the connector body, the client could further reduce cost by using regular prefabricated weld neck flanged spools. In addition to 20 Degree misalignment tolerance, connectors have equal to one diameter EGA (18” End Gap Adjustment) to calibrate the connector by spool length.
During this turn-key repair project we not only provided the design and manufacturing of connectors with MAF capabilities - we also provided N2 packaging for corrosion-free storage, coupled with FAT testing, installation supervision, and complete tensioner tools for further simplifying the deep-sea installation process.
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