“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”

1. Moving forward further in the next 20 years than in the past 20 years: the vanishing era of the 10 per cent change Andrew Palmer (National University of Singapore)

2. Niels Bohr • (1885 – 1962) • Nobel Prize • in Physics 1922 “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”

3. Lord Kelvin (1890) “I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning, or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of, so you will understand that I would not care to be a member of the Aeronautical Society”

4. VannevarBush (1945) “There has been a great deal said about a 3000-mile high angle rocket shot from one continent to another, carrying an atomic bomb… I say, technically, I don’t think anyone in the world knows how to do such a thing, and I feel confident that it will not be done for a very long time to come. ..I wish the American people would leave that out of their thinking”

5. go back almost 70 years…. requirement in 1944 supply gasoline to the army that will invade the continent of Europe (keeping in mind that the ports will have been destroyed) construct small-diameter pipelines from England to France (100 km) in one night (because of the possibility of attack from the air)

6. go back almost 70 years…. requirement in 1944 supply gasoline to the army that will invade the continent of Europe (keeping in mind that the ports will have been destroyed) construct small-diameter pipelines from England to France (110 km) in one night (because of the possibility of attack from the air) Anglo-Iranian ideas HAIS: pipe made of lead, like a submarine cable with no core, made on cable-making machinery HAMEL: steel pipe, wound onto floating reels

7. HAIS

8. HAMEL

9. HAMEL

11. we cannot lay 110 km of pipeline in one night now in 2012 (is that because we know so much more about it ?) “It was a fantastic concept, and in many ways it was a miracle it worked as well as it did – because we had chaps like me who really knew nothing about pipelines before we started’ (M. Lickens) that project ought to be an inspiration to us in marine pipelines (and in other technologies too) in the late 1970s maximum lay rates were about 4 km/day, though average rates were much lower in 2012 maximum lay rates are about 6 km/day, and average lay rates are much higher than they were

12. the conservatism and slow progress of the industry are deeply discouraging progress is horribly slow by comparison with other industries (computers, consumer electronics, medicine, surgery, defence) but there are understandable reasons for them: conservatism of operators wish to make ‘safe’ choices ability to pass costs on to someone else fear of being punished if something goes wrong fear of being the first to do anything high costs of innovation high costs of research and development and those reasons operate at all levels

13. a lot can be done: improved design methods better understanding more use of software alternative materials composites alternative welding systems eliminate manual and conventional automatic welding cheaper combinations of example: laying liquid-filleddesign and construction

14. improved design methods better understandingmore use of software all the calculations are straightforward, and can be carried out and documented by user-friendly programs programs incorporate necessary data (pipe specifications, coating data, corrosion data….) design process can be made automatic and immediate

15. many alternative welding techniques exist friction laser flash-butt homopolar friction stir but why do we have to weld the pipe anyway ? threaded connections (like drill-pipe) interference fit connectors

16. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) • metals are “stirred” by a rotating tool • metal is not melted, but rather softened, stirred, and forged together benefits: Elimination of solidification defects, low heat input, improved weld properties over arc welding, no filler material, and zero fumes

17. Flash Butt Welding PSU weld completed In 3 minutes pressure pipeline Widely used for boiler tubing, chains, rails Used in USSR in 1950’s for 30,000 km 114 to 1520 mm pipe Welding equipment fitted inside large-diameter pipes developed in USA by McDermott - presently decommissioned

18. Flash butt welding of railway track

19. flash butt welding (FBW)has failed to take off for pipelines in West (but widely used for rails and in manufacturing)“not invented here”“Russian connection”some concerns about need for heat treatmentbitter opposition of welders’ labour unionsa recent Russian book (‘Svarka truboprovodov’, Mustafin, F.M.) says that ‘..at the present time, [FBW] is not applied to pipeline construction’the reasons for that are not known

20. weldless options • Screwed connections • Interference fit connections • Memory metal • Fast • Single connection location • J-lay option • Non-weldable materials • Internally coated pipe

21. Interference Fit Connections Conventional 30o bevel ends CONNECTOR Hydraulic squeeze Internally coated/lined pipe Coating of epoxy lubricant and secondary seal Buffer ring to protect internal coating/lining from damage Serrated surface • Pipe is pressed into the connector and yields. • Connector wall thickness sufficient for connector • to remain in elastic region.

22. Screwed Connectors • Same technology as used for production (downhole) tubing using premium connectors • Installed from drilling rig • Suitable for non-weldable materials • Internally coated/lined materials • J-lay installation • Economic for small diameter pipes

23. cheaper combinations of design and construction must a pipeline laid in deepwater be designed to resist the external pressure? conventional practice is that the pipeline is air-filled during laying that drives up the wall thickness why not fill the pipe with water so that the internal pressure balances the external pressure? “because it is too heavy if it is liquid-filled”

24. support vessel J-lay barge air-filled flexible hose pig water-filled h start-up head

25. compare two design strategies for 3000 m depth • strategy 1: conventional, lay air-filled, design to resist external pressure • strategy 2: lay partly liquid-filled, design to resist operating pressure • (design intentionally limited to these two conditions) • DNV collapse formula

26. diameter 20 inch (508 mm) maximum operating pressure 30 MPa gauge (maximum external – minimum external) steel grade X70 (SMYS 485 MPa, SMTS 605 MPa, and obeying supplementary requirement U) out-of-roundness 0.01 (DNV definition) elastic modulus 210000 MPa Poisson’s ratio 0.3 steel density 7850 kg/m3 anti-corrosion coating 3 mm pp, density 1200 kg/m3 water density 1025 kg/m3

30. support vessel J-lay barge air-filled flexible hose pig water-filled h start-up head

31. ‘The driver for change is creative dissatisfaction with things as they are’ costs can be reduced and construction speeded up, without compromising safety and efficiency (and if necessary within the framework of existing codes) there is much more to be done!

32. Thank you for your attention