CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/546021
55 CompositesWorld.com NEWS N E W S N S N E W S E N W S W the same location. And in 2014, following the success of the frst IFL installations, APS installed its liners in four additional PETRONAS Cargali 152.5-mm gas pipelines, totaling some 4 km in length, in the West Lutong feld, about 50 km ofshore and north of the city of Miri, in Sarawak, Malaysia. Te result? Walter says, "PETRONAS now estimates the service life of these lines to have been extended by at least 30 years." Further, PETRONAS Carigali says IFL has saved the company as much as 50% of the capital costs of a replacement pipeline. Commercial solution for ofshore pipe Walters says that IFL is market-ready and APS is able to service all the major oil companies that have expressed interest in the IFL subsea pipeline rehabilitation system. Since the successful Samarang installations, Walters has approached major ofshore oil and gas operators in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America and West Africa. "Te response to the enormous potential of this subsea tech- nology has been overwhelming," he says, emphasizing, "For the frst time in the history of ofshore pipeline operations, there is now a viable alternative to pipeline replacement. And not only a technology advance, but an alternative, whereby major antici- pated cost savings — compared to new pipe laydown — is the main driving factor." Rehabilitation and repair by lining rather than replacing dete- riorating pipelines on land using cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) has proven to be a remarkable time- and cost-saving idea that has captured about half of the sewer line rehabilitation in the US — including sewer lines in onshore oil felds and petrochem- ical manufacturing plants — and also has been formulated for drinking water. Further, it is on a growth curve in Europe, for gas and pressurized water distribution, foul outfow and sewage line systems (see "Learn More," p. 54). Since its inception, CIPP in a variety of forms has created a substantial market for composite materials in the rehabilitation and repair rather than replacement of underground pipelines. Although IFL by APS is a distant cousin to CIPP, technologically, it is the frst commercial composite liner for pipeline operators in the ofshore market. IFL looks like an idea with equally great potential to create a similar rehab/repair market for undersea pipelines. Subsea Pipe Liner Donna Dawson is CW's (mostly) retired senior writer emertius, now residing and occasionally writing in Lindsay, CA, US, in the foothills of the Sierras. donna@compositesworld.com