Titanium Pull-In Tube: A Free SCC-CO2 Solution for Pre-Salt Fields

Abstract

Abstract Since the beginning of Campos Basin production in earlies 70s PETROBRAS has been prioritized flexible lines application in its offshore oil production projects. After the first fail involving flexible pipelines, related to the corrosion mechanism known as CO2 Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC–CO2)(1), PETROBRAS decided to intensify the use of rigid pipelines in the pre-salt fields with high CO2 partial pressure. This article aims to introduce the Titanium Pull-in Tube (TiPT), a new carbonate-rich acidic immune technology developed and patented by PETROBRAS to enable the rigid riser application in the first pre-salt oil production platforms, which designed initially to receive only flexible risers. The development of TiPT had been performed through a set of analysis encompassing: extreme load, wave fatigue load and pull–in loads. The results show the feasibility of the new interface for rigid risers. In addition to enabling rigid lines application, TiPT will provide savings and a better operational efficiency to the Pre-salt platforms.