Subsea Flexible Pipe System
NOV Flexibles delivers flexible pipe systems to the offshore oil and gas industry as well as the chemical & water industry worldwide. A professional and competent supplier of highly engineered flexible pipe systems, we provide a complete solution to our clients including oil companies and the contracting industry.
As part of National Oilwell Varco’s Subsea Production Systems (SPS), Flexibles is uniquely placed to work directly with oil companies, subsea contractors, engineering houses, and industry suppliers to provide the highest level of added value to the overall project. This philosophy ensures that the optimum configuration in any given project will always be available to the client
PRODUCT RANGE
FLEXIBLE PIPE : Our unbonded flexible pipe structure consists of carefully preformed and helically wound metallic strips and armour wires combined with concentric layers of polymer, textile, fabric tape and friction-reducing materials. The fundamental design basis for a Flexibles structure is the API 17J specification and the associated Recommended Practice API 17B, which outline the standard industry requirements for design, material selection, manufacture, testing, marking and packaging of the flexible pipe. For every specific application, we will also incorporate and address the client’s project specification to ensure full compliance and optimum operational performance.
In designing and optimizing an unbonded flexible pipe structure designation of adequate materials, the correct balancing of pipe structural elements, geometry and interaction between layers must be considered. We ensure the long-term durability of a Flexibles pipe through a combination of only using symmetrical pressure armour profiles – which contain an absolute minimum of residual stresses after having been applied onto the flexible pipe structure – and a careful preforming of the double-layer cross-wound tensile armour comprised of multiple rectangular steel wires
ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT : An optimal flexible pipe system is one where flexible pipes and accessories are designed as a whole. Only through correct configuration is it possible for a system to meet all design specifications throughout the duration of its design life. At Flexibles, we take full system responsibility and leverage our knowledge of all pipe characteristics and our exhaustive approach to system analysis to provide the required elements for an optimal configuration.
A flexible pipe system uses a range of accessories, from large and complex subsea structures (e.g. Mid-Water Arch systems, Pipeline End Manifolds – PLEMs – and anchors) to smaller devices including pull-heads, A&R wires and I/J tube seals. We have the engineering capability and capacity to design, specify, procure, manage and incorporate the entire suite of required accessories into the desired flexible pipe solution
END-FITTINGS : The end-fitting constitutes the transition between the flexible pipe system and interfacing topside/subsea facilities, including FPSOs/FPUs, platforms, wellheads, subsea installations, etc. A wide variety of independent tests as witnessed by recognized third parties have documented that our proprietary and patented end-fitting design ensures an unparalleled robustness in anchoring each armouring layer and an unsurpassed sealing capacity for the polymer sheath layers of the flexible pipe structure.
Each layer of the Flexibles pipe is mechanically terminated within the end-fitting in a way that maintains the fluid-tight seals under the specified design and operational conditions. The end-fitting design is based on a unique and patented wire termination methodology, whereupon the entire end-fitting void is filled with high-performance epoxy to provide additional anchoring of all pipe layers and end-fitting components within the end-fitting.
Just as the individual end-fittings are designed to match specific requirements, a number of flange connectors are provided to ensure the correct interface, all manufactured to standards specified by clients, e.g. API 6A, ASME B16.5, Grayloc-type, compact flanges, etc.
Advantages of Flexibles’ end-fittings:
- Anchoring of tensile armour wires by welding or epoxy anchoring
- Seal to polymeric pressure sheath using PTFE gasket rings
- Axial fixation of carcass
- Axial fixation of polymeric pressure sheath
- Mechanical anchoring of armour wires
- Mechanical fixation of outersheath
- Analytical and finite element analysis verified by tests
- Temperature/pressure test of gasket system
