Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Flushing
Innovative method to clean umbilical’s, control and chemical injection lines to help maintain well integrity
Page last modified
April 11 2024
The challenge:
Hydrocarbon Production losses due to blocked or partially blocked Safety Valve Control Lines, Chemical Injection lines and subsea umbilical's.
Prior to installation lines are flushed or pigged and filled with appropriate NAS6 Cleanliness fluid. Extensive research by IKM Ocean Team & their clients identified that the fluid was indeed NAS6 but since only laminar flow could be achieved during traditional flushing the lines internals still have particles to @NAS12 and manufacturing substances all of which may contribute to the blockages encountered.
The proactive solution:
The Supercritical CO2 flushing system (SCCO2) is perfect for control lines and umbilical’s, because of the low-pressure drop over long distances, which can exceed 20 km, with a small inner diameter lower than ¼”. This means that turbulent flow can be maintained all the way thru, and a cleanliness of AS4059 Class 3 (NAS3) / ISO 4407 12/9 can be achieved during pre-installation flushing. SCCO2 technology may also be used for other flushing applications and maintaining well integrity.
Pros & Limitations
1
Higher cleanliness & greater operational reliability of the system
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Method friendly to the environment
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Simple, flexible and easy-to-operate equipment
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Operation can happen pre-installation on-shore, or as maintanence on exsisting systems on/offshore
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Difficult to convince operators to move away from conventional methods and choose SCCO2 operaion instead
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Require 10 bar air supply and 63 A powerplug
Specification
| Specification Title | Specification Description |
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Areas of Application
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Fluid/gas transferring systems which require a high standard of cleanliness to avoid downtime.
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Capabilities
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Flush systems to NAS 3 || Maintain turbulent flow for several kilometers even in small ID systems.
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Certifications / licences
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System is DNV approved and ATEX Zone 1 & 2.
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Compliance
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EC directive 2006/42/EC (Machinery directive) || EC directive 2014/34/EU (ATEX directive) || EC directive 2014/68/EU (PED directive) || EC directive 2014/30/EU (EMC directive) || NORSOK E-001 || NORSOK I-001 || NORSOK Z-015
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Reviews (4)
Technology Readiness Level
The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) indicates the maturity level of novel technologies. Learn more about the TRL scale used by us.
[9/9]
Development
Technology demonstration
Mature / Proven
Relative Business Impact
Solution Deployed By
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