1. The Brazilian Pipeline Community II
Brazil oil & ga
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Supplement to
Brazil oil & gas

3. The Brazilian Pipeline Community II
Contents
INTRODUCTION
Brazil: An Innovator in the Global Pipeline Community
4
João Carlos de Luca
President, IBP TRaNsPeTRO´s gas PIPelINe NeTwORk
By Marcelo Renno, Natural Gas Director of Transpetro
5
The Brazilian Institute of Petroleum and
Gas (IBP) with the support of its Pipe-
line Commission has been working to
FRee sTaNDINg HYBRID RIseR FOR 1800 M waTeR DePTH
By Francisco E. Roveri, Petrobras Research & Development Center -
8
develop Brazil’s pipeline industry by CENPES and Paulo Ricardo F. Pessoa, Petrobras Subsea Engineering
helping companies in this sector oper- Services - E&P - SERV and Francisco Henrique, Petrobras
ate in a profitable, efficient, ethical and
socially responsible way.
In this context, the Commission pro-
IMPROvINg PIPelINe PeRFORMaNCe
The PRODUT program helps Petrobras improve operational reliability,
18
motes the exchange of ideas and ex- increase capacity, and maintain environmental safety.
By Ney Passos, Petrobras Brasil S.A., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
23
perience amongst professionals in this
industry and is active in the areas of
norms standardization, promoting in- CTDUT - a PaRTNeR IN R&D PROjeCTs
ternational trade missions and in the By Stella Faria Nunes - CTDUT, Project Manager and Raimar Van den
organization of courses and events. Bylaardt, President CTDUT
28
Among the latter we can highlight the
Rio Pipeline Conference and Exhibi- CTDUT – a sHaReD sOlUTION FOR THe DevelOPMeNT OF
tion as a world class forum to debate PIPelINe TeCHNOlOgY
the major issues facing the international By Arthur J. F. Braga – CTDUT, Executive Manager and Sergio Damasceno
pipeline industry. Soares – PETROBRAS/CENPES, Engineer, MSC
sUPPORTINg aCaDeMIC DevelOPMeNT
With its Award for Pipeline Technology, Petrobras rewards new talent,
31
and develops institutional marketing.
By Wajid Rasheed
sOCIal ageNDa - sHaReD ResPONsIBIlITY BRINgs BeNeFITs
Petrobras has a long and healthy tradition of social responsibility that
32
stretches back to the company’s birth in the 1950s.
Wajid Rasheed By Wajid Rasheed
CEO & Founder, EPRasheed
editors Publisher
Marcelo Renno, Francisco E. Roveri, Francisco Wajid Rasheed
Brazil has the potential to export world Henrique, Andre Raposo, Paulo Ricardo F. Pessoa, wajid.rasheed@eprasheed.com
class technology and services. For this Ney Passos, Stella Faria Nunes, Raimar Van den
to happen, an export culture needs Bylaardt, Arthur J. F. Braga and Sergio Damasceno
Soares
Managing editor
to be cultivated. Part of this culture is Majid Rasheed
majid.rasheed@eprasheed.com
a single source of technical material
that focuses on Brazil while including
the wider international observers. This
supplement ‘The Brazilian Pipeline
Brazil oil & gas
EPRASHEED
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Community’ is a channel for companies,
both oil and service to share expertise Brazil oil & gas
with the wider export market.
Norway oil & gas

4. 4 The Brazilian Pipeline Community
INTRODUCTION
Brazil:
an Innovator in the global Pipeline Community
By Wajid Rasheed
This Pipeline technology field report corporate head office, asset teams, Innovations also extend to programs
highlights a truly fascinating and vi- and its technology research center. that work with and give back to
sionary array of oil and gas pipeline- Using an interdisciplinary approach, the community. In fact, Petrobras
related technologies. Fascinating not teams have developed innovative has for decades recognized the
only because of the diversity of the methods for several pipeline-related need for environmental and social
technology, but also due to the com- operations challenges. These include responsibility. Since its origins in the
plex nature of each technological de- flow assurance and maintenance 1950s, the company has worked to
velopment program. methods that effectively combat and foster interaction and participation
remediate blockage in deepwater of local communities. It has provided
Visionary because even though pipelines and new riser design. forums which allow affected
operators “own” field problems, it Environmental responsibility also communities to present their ideas
is only through visionary minds means looking for new ways to regarding responsible hydrocarbon
and longterm partnerships that prevent and detect pipeline leaks. production and transportation.
these problems can be solved. Here, new techniques provide yet
Consequently, select R&D more opportunity for innovation. And, with its Award for Pipeline
partnerships between CTDUT, Technology, Petrobras supports
service companies and Petrobras Petrobras’ innovations also extend academic achievement in a way that
mean the oil and gas industry can to its PRODUT program, which rewards new talent and provides
continue to progress. works to develop new systems and institutional marketing, while
technologies that improve opera- helping to create a new generation
This progress has been achieved by tional reliability, increase capacity, of innovative minds that will benefit
key relationships between Petrobras’ and maintain environmental safety. society as a whole.

5. The Brazilian Pipeline Community 5
Transpetro’s gas
pipeline network
Marcelo Renno, Natural Gas Director of Transpetro
Introduction 114 million m3. To complement the
The consumption of natural gas domestic gas supply, Petrobras will
has been increasing very rapidly also import Liquefied Natural Gas
over the years. Globally, natural gas (LNG).
currently supplies around 25% of
energy demand worldwide and it is In order to cope with this growth,
expected to grow 50% in the next 20 Petrobras has been investing
years. heavily in new gas pipelines and
installations for the processing of
In Brazil, natural gas has been in gas and condensates. Consequently,
use since the 1960´s when the first the gas pipeline network operated by
gas pipeline was built, connecting Transpetro will expand from current Northern and Septentrional-
the States of Bahia and Sergipe. 4,000 km to around 8,000 km in Northeast Network (States of
Natural gas exploration continued 2011. Amazonas, Ceará, Rio Grande do
and new reserves were discovered,
Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco and part
leading to the expansion of the Cabiúnas, the largest natural of Alagoas), Meridional-Northeast
pipeline network. However, the gas processing center in Brazil, and Espírito Santo Network (States
largest growth in demand took place responsible for the outflow of all the of Sergipe, Bahia, part of Alagoas and
during the current decade, with the natural gas produced at the Campos Espírito Santo), and Southeast and
completion of the Bolívia-Brazil gas Basin, will also be expanded: the Southern Network (States of Rio de
pipeline – Gasbol – and the resulting second Natural Gas Condensate Janeiro, Minas Gerais and São Paulo).
increase in gas availability. Processing Unit (UPCGN II) is Each network is administered by a
under construction and will be regional management office, which
The use of natural gas is likely to operational in 2007, doubling the is responsible for the maintenance of
increase even further, with its share capacity of liquid gas processing. the facilities and execution of local
in the Brazilian energy matrix With the implantation of the operations.
growing from the current 9.3% to third Liquid Gas Recovery Unit
12% in the year 2010. (URL III) and the third Natural To optimize pipeline capacity, natu-
Gas Condensate Processing Plant ral gas has to be compressed along
Transpetro, a wholly owned subsidi-
(UPCGN III), Cabiúnas will reach the way. Therefore, ten compression
ary of Petrobras, responsible for its
a processing capacity of 20 million stations are distributed in the North-
transportation activities, transports
75% of all the natural gas currently m3 per day. east and Southeast regions of Brazil
consumed in Brazil. In 2006, the and three more are about to begin
average transported was 34 million The gas Pipeline Network operations.
m3 per day for a consumption of 46 Operated by Transpetro –
million m3. In 2012, when demand Today Natural gas is supplied to the local
should grow to an estimated 134 mil- Due to the long distances involved, distribution companies (LDC)
lion m3 per day, the transportation Transpetro’s gas pipeline network through city gates where it is
average by Transpetro should reach had to be divided into three regions: treated, filtered and measured. There

6. The Brazilian Pipeline Community Natural gas
are nearly one hundred city gates increasing the domestic natural gas The Gasene will be completed by
distributed in the Northeast and supply by developing large projects 2009. This pipeline will be formed
Southeast regions of Brazil. in Santos (São Paulo State), Espírito by three stretches: from Cabiúnas
Santo and Campos Basins. To (Rio de Janeiro State) to Vitória
Demand vs. supply transport this additional volume, (Espírito Santo State), from Vitória
In addition to domestic production the company is expanding the to Cacimbas (Espírito Santo State),
Petrobras imports natural gas gas pipeline network. As a result, and from Cacimbas to Catu (Bahia
from Bolivia to meet the growing the network under Transpetro’s State), totaling nearly 1,000 km.
demand. The gas comes from responsibility will nearly triple. The first and second stretches will
Bolivia through the Gasbol pipeline, be operational in 2007 and the third
operated and maintained in Brazil The first tranche of the gas pipeline stretch should begin to operate in
by TBG – Transportadora Brasileira Campinas-Rio is already in 2009.
do Gasoduto Bolívia-Brasil. operation. Adding up to almost
500 km when the second tranche is The expansion projects also include
In 2006, Petrobras imported an completed, this pipeline will greatly the construction of the Urucu-Coari-
average of 24.7 million m3 per day enhance transportation flexibility in Manaus gas pipeline in the Amazon
— an increase of 9% in relation to the Southeast, allowing the domestic region. When it is completed,
the volume in 2005. production of Santos Basin and Transpetro’s pipeline network will
the imported gas from Bolívia to stretch to the northern region of
As shown in the chart below, be supplied to East and Northeast Brazil, once beyond reach.
investments to increase domestic Brazil.
Although the State of Minas Gerais
supply, imports of LNG and gas from Another strategic gas pipeline under is supplied through the Gasbel
Bolivia will almost triple natural gas construction is the Northeast- pipeline (from Duque de Caxias
supply in the next five years. Southwest Interconnection Gas Refinery in Rio de Janeiro), the
Pipeline - Gasene. Through this demand for natural gas has exceeded
The expansion interconnection, gas supplies can current capacity. The Gasbel II
As part of its effort to deal with the be moved from one Region to the pipeline, under construction, will
impressive growth of natural gas other as need arises, increasing the complement the supply to that
demand, Petrobras is significantly reliability of the Petrobras System. region.
Natural gas Market Demand and supply

7. Natural gas The Brazilian Pipeline Community
The gas pipeline network expansion Plangás liquefied Natural gas
program is shown on the map According to its strategy of The introduction of LNG in the
below. Brazilian energy scenario will
developing and consolidating the
market, Petrobras is making large constitute a new challenge as large
Natural gas Processing additional volumes are processed
Transpetro also operates the largest investments through the Plan to
and moved and new technologies
natural gas processing plant in Brazil advance the production of Natural
mastered. Transpetro and Petrobras
- Cabiúnas Terminal - located in Gas, known in Brazil as Plangás. The are actively seeking expertise in this
Macaé, State of Rio de Janeiro. supply of domestic gas to Southeast area.
This unit processes almost all the Brazil will be increased in two
gas produced in the Campos Basin, stages —first, by 2008, from the Regarding LNG, units for reception,
which is the largest oil and gas current 15.8 million m3 per day to storage and regasification will
production basin in Brazil. 40 million m3 per day; second, by be installed by 2008 in floating
2010, output will reach 55 million terminals at Pecém in Ceará, and
The Cabiúnas Terminal has the m3 per day. Baía de Guanabara in Rio de Janeiro,
capacity to process nearly 15 with the capacity to provide a further
million m3/day of natural gas. The 20 million m³ per day to the market.
Cabiúnas Terminal is a key unit
main products that come from the The choice of regasification unit type
to Plangás. Its installations will be was based in the shorter lead time
unit today are liquefied petroleum
expanded with the construction of required, given the need to assure a
gas (LPG) and natural gas liquids
new units for natural gas treatment, timely and flexible supply of natural
(NGL).
liquid recover, and natural gas gas to Brazil and in particular, to its
The Terminal has five processing condensate processing. The project gas-fired thermo-electrical power
plants – natural gas (UPGN), will increase the current processing plants.
refrigeration of natural gas (URGN), capacity from 15 million of m3 per
natural gas condensates (UPCGN), day to 20 million m3 by 2009. In Conclusion
addition, LPG production will grow Although natural gas has been used
and two for the recovery of liquids
from 500 to 1,000 tons per day in in Brazil since the 1960s, with the
(URLs). A second UPCGN will
development and production of
enter in service by 2007. 2011.
reserves in Bahia, it only became
significant by 2000 when a gas
pipeline connecting Brazil to Bolívia
began to operate.
Given its increasing availability and
environmental friendliness, natural
gas demand has grown impressively
over the last few years. To meet
this rising demand, Petrobras has
been investing heavily to improve
and expand the natural gas supply
network.
The expansion of the gas pipeline
network and the largest processing
plant will be critical to ensure that
the domestic natural gas supply
in Brazil will meet the growth in
demand.
Petrobras will also enter in the LNG
market as an importer. This, in
addition to gas from Bolívia, will
complement the domestic supply in
attending a demand that will reach
134 million of m3 per day in 2012.

8. 8 The Brazilian Pipeline Community
Free standing Hybri
water Depth
Francisco E. Roveri, Petrobras Research Development Center - CENPES, Paulo Ricardo F. Pessoa, Petrobras Subsea Engineering Services
- EP - SERV and Francisco Henrique, Petrobras
The oil exportation of the P52 semi-submersible plat-
form, located in the Roncador field in 1800 meters water
depth is designed to utilize an 18 inch OD FSHR (Free
Standing Hybrid Riser). This alternative was developed
through a FEED (Front End Engineering Design) con-
tracted to 2H Offshore, according to technical specifi-
cations and functional requirements provided by Petro-
bras. Flow assurance studies require 50 mm thermal
insulation material for the vertical portion of the riser.
The high expected production rates the vertical portion of the FSHR sys- to the FPU, whereas at GC29 the
of the P52 platform require an 18 tem and its vessel interface loads are vertical portion of the riser was in-
inches oil export pipeline. The in- small when compared with SCRs or stalled by the FPU and was located
strumented pigging requirements flexible pipe solutions. Therefore it is underneath the derrick.
dictate the export riser to have the an attractive alternative solution for
same diameter. This large bore speci- this kind of application. There are Petrobras has been studying the hy-
fication combined with the deep wa- further cost savings associated with brid riser concept for some years.
ter site put this application outside this concept due to the added advan- Five years ago this alternative was
the present feasibility range of solu- tage of having the riser in place prior considered for conceptual stud-
tions such as flexile pipes and steel to the installation of the FPU. ies at Albacora Leste field, in 1290
catenary risers (SCRs). Both these meters water depth, for the P50 tur-
solutions present high top tension The hybrid riser concept, which ret moored FPSO. Two alternatives
loads for installation and operation. combines rigid (steel) pipes with were considered for comparison: a
flexible pipes has been utilized by Steel Lazy Wave Riser (SLWR) and
The lateral buckling failure mode in
the offshore industry since the 80’s. one concept combining rigid and
flexible pipes and the fatigue damage
The Riser Tower first installed by flexible pipes.
in the touch down zone (TDZ) of
Placid Oil [1] at Gulf of Mexico in
SCRs are further design limitations
Green Canyon 29 was refurbished In 2003 Petrobras contracted the
currently only solved by the use of and re¬utilized by Enserch. More re- conceptual study development of
heavier pipes which further compro- cently, the concept underwent some the Riser Tower solution for the star-
mise hangoff loads in a negative de- changes for application at Girassol board side 8 inches production lines
sign spiral. field [2] in Angola, where three tow- of the P52 semi-submersible plat-
ers were installed by TFE. Other ref- form.
The FSHR system has a reduced dy- erence papers are [3], [4] and [5].
namic response, as a result of signifi- Two towers were considered, each
cant motion decoupling between the The Riser Towers at Girassol field are one comprising seven production
Floating Production Unit (FPU) and positioned with an offset with regard lines and one spare line.

9. The Brazilian Pipeline Community
id Riser for 1800m
Two years ago Petrobras contracted 2H to provide the feasibility studies
of an export oil FSHR to be utilized at P40. Due to changes in field
development planning, the study was further developed for the P51 and
P52 semi-submersible platforms.
Five water and gas injection the zone of influence of wave and be kept always in tension in order to
monobore FSHRs (10 to 12 inches) high current. A gooseneck assem- keep the FSHR stable for all the load
have recently been installed in West bly is located on top of the buoy- cases.
Africa offshore Angola, at Kizomba ancy can. A flexible jumper links the
field in about 1200 meters water gooseneck to the FPU and signifi- The riser pipe passes through a in-
depth. The design of these risers cantly decouples the vertical part of ner 36 inches OD stem within the
has some key differences to the con- the FSHR from the vessel motions. buoyancy can, and is guided within
cept presented in this paper, each of the stem by centralizers. Where the
which offers different design and op- The foundation may typically be off- riser pipe is subject to high bending
erational advantages. set from the FPU by more than 200 loads such as the keel ball centralizer
meters, depending on the optimiza- on the buoyancy can, taper joints are
Two years ago Petrobras contracted tion study, which takes into consid- used to reduce the stress in the riser
2H to provide the feasibility studies eration the following parameters: (a) pipe. The buoyancy can is secured to
of an export oil FSHR to be utilized flexible jumper length, (b) riser base the riser pipe at the top of the can by
at P40. Due to changes in field de- offset, (c) buoyancy can depth, (d) means of a bolted connection.
velopment planning, the study was net upthrust provided by the buoy-
further developed for the P51 and At the top of the free-standing riser
ancy can and (e) the azimuth of the
P52 semi¬submersible platforms. is the gooseneck assembly. This as-
FSHR system.
sembly consists primarily of the
system Description The FSHR goes from the #1 hangoff gooseneck and an ROV actuated hy-
The FSHR design may have a number draulic connector which allows the
slot at P52 to the Pipeline End Ter-
of variants. The one described below gooseneck and flexible jumper to be
mination (PLET) located near the
is the base case considered for P52 installed separately from the vertical
riser base. The lower end of the verti-
oil export riser to be installed from section of the riser. The gooseneck
a MODU due to the availability of cal part interfaces with a stress joint.
assembly also includes a cross-brace
such vessels already under contract Below the stress joint there is the
tied to a support spool in order to
at Campos Basin. The required de- offtake spool, which connects to the
provide support against the load-
sign life is 25 years. foundation by means of a hydraulic ing applied to the gooseneck from
connector. A rigid base jumper con- the flexible jumper. Attached to the
The FSHR consists of a single near nects the mandrels located at the gooseneck is the flexible jumper. The
vertical steel pipe connected to a offtake spool and PLET, providing flexible jumper connects the free-
foundation system at the mud line the link between the FSHR and the standing section of the riser system
region. The riser is tensioned by pipeline. The foundation pile will be to the vessel, and includes bend stiff-
means of a buoyancy can, which is drilled and grouted. eners to ensure that the range of ro-
mechanically connected to the top tations experienced at the end con-
of the vertical pipe. The riser pipe The tension is given by the upthrust nections do not damage the jumper
passes through the central stem of provided by the nitrogen filled due to low radius of curvature. The
the buoyancy can, which is located buoyancy can located on top of the flexible jumper has enough compli-
below the sea level, therefore beyond vertical pipe. The vertical pipe shall ance such that the vessel motions

10. 10 The Brazilian Pipeline Community Free standing Riser
and offsets are substantially decou- the flexible jumper during installa- The vertical part of the FSHR is an
pled from the vertical portion of the tion as the procedure is similar to assembly of standard joints and spe-
FSHR system, and consequently the that of a shallow water flexible riser cial joints, such as the stress joints at
wave-induced dynamic response of with the first end at the top of the the bottom and top interfaces. The
the free standing riser is low. buoyancy can. This design also fa- main characteristics of the standard
cilitates and minimizes the time for joints are presented at table 2 below.
Differences from existing design
flexible jumper retrieval in case
The position of the gooseneck in
of damage, in service, to any of
relation to the buoyancy can is the
its components such as stiffener,
main difference between the West
end-fittings or pipe outer sheath.
African and P52 FSHR designs. In
On the other hand, it is necessary
the earlier design, the gooseneck is
to have a continual vertical riser
positioned below the buoyancy can
string right through the centre
and the vertical riser is tensioned
of the buoyancy can to provide
by the can via a flexible linkage or
Table 2 - Characteristics of the standard joint
chain. a connection hub for the flexible
jumper at the top. This arrangement The main characteristics of the
This arrangement simplifies the introduces interfaces between the flexible jumper are presented in
interface between the buoyancy can riser string and buoyancy can which table 3.
and vertical riser, and allows pre- have to be carefully analyzed and
assembly of the flexible jumper to engineered. In addition, installation Components of the lower
the gooseneck before deployment analysis has also to be conducted to Riser assembly
of the vertical riser. However, in the assess the loads on the riser string The lower part of the FSHR is lo-
event of flexible jumper replacement during deployment through the cated above the foundation and
or repair, an elaborate jumper buoyancy can. consists of three components: the
disconnection system needs to be offtake spool, the lower taper joint
employed below the buoyancy can. Other differences are the founda- and the lower adapter joint. The as-
tion type (suction piles x drilled and sembly interfaces with the seabed
Positioning the gooseneck at the top grouted pile) and bottom interface foundation at the bottom and the
of the buoyancy can allows for inde- (flexjoint x tapered stress joint). lower cross-over.
pendent installation of vertical riser
and flexible jumper. A flexible pipe Characteristics of Offtake spool
installation vessel can install the flex- Components The offtake spool is a cylindrical
ible jumper at a time of convenience. The main characteristics of the component approximately 1.80m
This minimizes the risk of damage to FSHR system are presented in table tall and 1.04m external, cast from
1 below. 50ksi steel. The spool contains a flow
path that travels through the top of
the spool and exits from the side via
Table 1 - FSHR main characteristics

11. Free standing Riser The Brazilian Pipeline Community 11
collar which is used during trans- taper joint, buoyancy can adapter
portation and installation. joint and buoyancy can upper taper
joint. This region is subjected to high
Its function is to provide an in- bending moments due to the inter-
terface and stiffness transition action of the riser with the buoyancy
between the lower taper joint can, and thus a stiffened length is re-
and the standard riser line pipe quired to control the stresses during
joints. Its length is such that it extreme and fatigue loads.
facilitates pre-assembly of the
components to the buoyancy can Upper Adaptor Joint
for transportation offshore. Weld The upper adapter joint is as the tran-
on compact flanges connections are sition between the standard riser line
Table 3 - Characteristics of flexible jumper
utilized at both extremities. pipe and the thickened pipe used in
the taper joint assembly. It consists
an offtake. The offtake, formed as an Riser line pipe of two joints of pipe fabricated from
induction bend that exists from the A special joint called a lower cross- a 65ksi grade steel.
side of the spool, presents an upward over joint is located just above the
facing mandrel for connection of lower adapter joint and forms the Upper Adaptor Extension Joint
the rigid base jumper. A weld on the connection between the lower riser The upper adapter extension joint
compact flange connects the offtake assembly and the standard riser line is a 10.5m long forged component
to the side of the spool. pipe joints. with an integral compact flange at
the upper end, and a weld on com-
The offtake spool has a studded bot- Lower cross-over joint pact flange at the lower end. The
tom for interface with the base con- The lower cross-over joint consists joint is located between the upper
nector and a studded top for inter- of 12.2m joint of standard riser adapter joint and the buoyancy can
face with the lower taper joint. pipe with 15.9mm wall thickness. lower taper joint, which is a critical
At the lower end there is a weld on location for both extreme stress and
Lower taper joint the profile. At the upper end of the fatigue loading. It is fabricated from
The lower taper joint is a forged joint is a handling collar with a weld 80ksi yield strength material.
component fabricated from 80ksi profile above it to enable the joint to
yield strength material. This is a high be welded to the standard riser line Buoyancy Can Lower Taper Joint
specification component designed to pipe. The buoyancy can lower taper joint is
control the bending at the base of a forged component fabricated from
the riser. Standard joints a material with 80ksi yield strength.
The riser line pipe consists of ap- The joint is 10.8m in length and
It is a 10.4m long component with proximately 58 double riser joints of includes a double taper profile and
a linearly decreasing wall thickness 18inch outer diameter and 15.9mm a shoulder for the keel ball located
and its profile is optimized to with- wall thickness. It is specified as 65 at the centre of the joint. The taper
stand both extreme loads and long ksi grade steel. Each double joint profiles are both linear. At the centre
term fatigue loading. The upper end has a handling collar welded at the of the joint is the keel ball. The keel
is connected to the lower end of the top of the joint to allow it to be han- ball interfaces with the buoyancy can
lower adapter joint via a weld on dled using standard or adapted cas- central stem to provide centralization
compact flange connection. ing handling tools. The double joint of the riser as it enters the bottom
length including the handling collar of the buoyancy can stem. The keel
Lower Adaptor Joint is 25.9m. ball consists of a solid ring, which is
The lower adapter joint is a 28.5m located on the buoyancy can lower
long section with 31.8mm wall Bouyancy can taper joint assem- taper joint above the shoulder.
thickness. The pipe is fabricated bly
from a 65 ksi grade material, from At the top of the riser line pipe string Buoyancy Can Adapter Joint
two standard pipe sections welded is the buoyancy can taper joint as- The buoyancy can adapter joint is lo-
together and a shorter pipe sec- sembly. The assembly consists of the cated within the buoyancy can, and
tion to achieve the required length. upper adapter joint, upper adapter connects the buoyancy can lower ta-
Welded to the top is a seafastening extension joint, buoyancy can lower per joint to the buoyancy can upper

12. 12 The Brazilian Pipeline Community Free standing Riser
The lower part of the FSHR is located above the
foundation and consists of three components: the offtake
spool, the lower taper joint and the lower adapter joint.
The assembly interfaces with the seabed foundation at
the bottom and the lower cross-over.
taper joint. The adapter joint con- Load Monitoring Spool sure slightly above the external pres-
sists of two sections of special riser The load monitoring spool (LMS) sure of water. This approach resulted
line pipe with 19” outer diameter consists of a 1.1m long joint, with in the thickness of the buoyancy can
and 31.8mm wall thickness, manu- 38inch OD and 1inch wall thick- to be 5/8inch.
factured from a 65 ksi grade steel. Its ness, fabricated from 65ksi grade
length is 23.58m. Both ends of the line pipe. It has flange connections Running along the longitudinal axis
joint are fitted with weld-on compact at both ends. The spool is located be- is a 36inch outer diameter central
flange connections, which also act as tween the buoyancy can top and the stem, with a 1inch wall thickness,
the location point for centralisers for buoyancy can upper taper joint. Its through which the riser string
controlling the curvature of the riser passes.
function is to transfer the upthrust
within the extension of the buoyan-
generated by the buoyancy can into
cy can. There are thus four contact At the bottom of the buoyancy can,
the riser string.
points between the riser string with a 2.25m long keel extension is fitted
the buoyancy can stem: one at the which consists of a continuation of
top, two intermediate and one at the The spool will be fitted with load the 36” stem pipe. The keel ball on
keel ball. The last three provide only measuring sensors in order to moni- the buoyancy can lower taper joint
horizontal restraint whereas the first tor the integrity of the riser system. reacts against the keel extension,
cause the riser and buoyancy can to The monitored forces will be trans- which is fitted with an oil impreg-
have the same linear and angular dis- mitted to the production platform. nated bronze liner to reduce wear.
placements in the three directions. The buoyancy can is connected to
The upthrust is transmitted by the the riser via a load shoulder located
Buoyancy Can Upper Taper Joint buoyancy can to the load monitoring at the buoyancy can upper taper
The buoyancy can upper taper joint spool base. The spool is compressed joint, to which the load monitoring
is a forged component located at the and transmits the load to a shoulder spool is attached. The bottom of the
top of the riser string, between the located at top of the buoyancy can load monitoring spool is positively
buoyancy can adapter joint and the upper taper joint. The load is then connect to the top of the buoyancy
gooseneck. The joint is fabricated transmitted to the riser string, which can by bolts.
from 80ksi yield strength steel and will be in tension, providing then
its length is 7.7m. At the top of the stability to the system. The buoyancy can is de-watered by
tapered section of the joint is a load means of ports located on the side of
shoulder with a flange profile, to each compartment. Each compart-
Buoyancy Can Assembly
which the load monitoring spool is ment features an inlet and an outlet
The vertical section of the riser sys-
bolted. The load monitoring spool port. During de-watering nitrogen is
in turn connects the load shoulder tem is tensioned utilizing a nitrogen injected into the can at pressure and
on the top of the buoyancy can. This filled buoyancy can. The can is a the buoyancy can compartment is
provides the connection between the cylindrical design, 36.5m in length slightly overpressurized with regard
buoyancy can and the riser string. and 5.5m in diameter, fabricated to the water pressure outside.
from 50ksi yield material. It contains
At the top of the buoyancy can up- 16 compartments, each of 2.14m in The buoyancy can design is such
per taper joint is a 16-3/4” 10ksi height, separated by bulkheads. The that at least one of the 16 compart-
connector mandrel, to which the buoyancy can is designed to be pres- ment is maintained permanently
gooseneck connector is attached. sure balanced, with the internal pres- water filled as a contingency. Should

13. Free standing Riser The Brazilian Pipeline Community 13
one compartment fail in service, a
contingency compartment can be
The base case installation procedure is defined
de-watered in order to keep the op- such that the FSHR can be installed using
erational tension in the riser string.
the P23 MODU. The procedure requires the
The difference between the internal buoyancy can to be transported to the work
and external pressures corresponds
to the length of each compartment. site separately from the riser, then positioned
Gooseneck assembly
beneath the drilling rig.
The components located at the up-
per part of the system are described FSHR end and the production plat- connected to the foundation. Some
hereinafter. form end of the jumper. steps of the installation procedure is
shown hereinafter.
Hydraulic Connector Flexible Jumper
A 16-3/4inch-10ksi hydraulic con- The flexible jumper is a 16inch in- Firstly some components of the low-
ternal diameter, 425 meters long er part (hydraulic connector, offtake
nector is utilized to attach the goose-
and rated for 3000 psi design pres- spool, lower taper joint and lower
neck to the riser string. The con-
sure and 90ºC design temperature. adaptor joint) are assembled to the
nector is hydraulically locked, and
buoyancy can.
actuated via an ROV stab. The role of
the connector is to allow the flexible End Terminations
Buoyancy can lifting onto barge
jumper to be retrieved during service At both ends of the flexible jump- The buoyancy can is lifted from the
should the jumper be required to be er are end termination assemblies yard by a crane and positioned onto
fixed or replaced. as specified by the flexible jumper the barge. After that a seafastening is
manufacturer. At both ends of the provided in order to resist the barge
Gooseneck jumper the termination is required motions during transportation to
At the top of the system is the goose- to interface with a compact flange site.
neck, which provides the change connection.
from the vertical section to the flex- Transportation of the buoyancy
ible jumper to the production plat- Bend Stiffeners can
form. The gooseneck is a curved Bend stiffeners are located at both The buoyancy can and the pre-in-
pipe, formed using induction bend- ends of the flexible jumper. Each stalled lower riser assembly within
ing with a 3D minimum bend radi- stiffener is designed to meet the pre- the buoyancy can stem are trans-
us. The lower end of the gooseneck dicted range of jumper rotations at ported to the site of deployment.
is attached to the gooseneck support the both the gooseneck attachment
spool, which in turn is connected to Transfer of the buoyancy can to
and at the production platform con-
the water
the API flange on the connector. nection. The bend stiffeners are de-
At the proximities of the produc-
signed and manufactured according tion platform, the buoyancy can and
Gooseneck support to the details specified by the flexible lower riser assembly are transferred
The gooseneck is braced by a struc- jumper manufacturer. from the transportation barge to the
tural beam which connects between water, by a controlled flooding of
the upper end of the gooseneck and Installation the barge and sliding the buoyancy
the gooseneck support spool at the The base case installation procedure can. At this state, a wire rope con-
lower end of the gooseneck. The is defined such that the FSHR can be nects the top of buoyancy can to the
support brace and support spool installed using the P23 MODU. The derrick of the MODU.
provide a load path for the loading procedure requires the buoyancy can
applied to the riser from the flexible to be transported to the work site Transfer of the buoyancy can to
jumper, and prevent overstressing of separately from the riser, then posi- the MODU
the gooseneck. tioned beneath the drilling rig. The After separation of the transporta-
riser is installed by continually join- tion barge, the uprighting of the
Flexible Jumper Assembly ing and running the riser through buoyancy can is initiated, by means
The flexible jumper assembly consists the buoyancy can. Once fully assem- of a controlled flooding of some
of the flexible jumper, end termina- bled, the entire riser is then lowered compartments. At this stage the
tions and bend stiffeners at both the to the seabed using drill collars and buoyancy can has 4 compartments

14. 14 The Brazilian Pipeline Community Free standing Riser
nitrogen filled, thus having overall remaining four chains with longer between the load monitoring spool
negative buoyancy. The keel haul- chains using the full stroke range of (attached to the upper taper joint),
ing process is then initiated, and the the tensioners. Extension chains are and the buoyancy can is made up,
weight of the buoyancy can is trans- then added to the 4 tensioners with and thus a fixed connection between
ferred gradually to the derrick of the shorter chains such that all eight the riser and the buoyancy can is
MODU. tensioners are used. The buoyancy made.
can upper end is connected by hori-
Buoyancy can beneath the MODU zontal wire ropes to pulleys located Lowering of the riser string and
At the end of the keel hauling proc- in strong points at the pontoon level
buoyancy can
ess, the buoyancy can will be beneath and to winches at the deck, such as
The lateral restraint wire ropes are
the MODU derrick, still supported to control the horizontal motions of
by the wire rope connected to the the can. removed and the buoyancy can is
platform. released from the drilling riser ten-
The remaining standard riser joints sioning system. The riser string and
Buoyancy can supported by ten- are welded at the drill floor and run buoyancy can assembly is then low-
sioners through the buoyancy can. The riser ered by using drill collars.
After that the buoyancy can is lifted is allowed to water fill during de-
until its upper end is approximately ployment. Riser string close to stab-in
0.5m below the Lower Deck of the During the lowering process, nitro-
MODU and its weight is transferred Lowering of the Buoyancy Can gen is pumped under pressure into
from the keel hauling wire rope to the top 4 compartments of the buoy-
Upper Taper Joint to the top of
the MODU drilling riser tensioning ancy can via a temporary manifold
the buoyancy can
system. system to prevent them from filling
Once all standard riser joints are
welded together, the upper riser with water. Prior to landing, a fur-
Lowering of riser joints
joints consisting of the upper adapt- ther 2 compartments are de¬watered
The procedure for deploying the ris-
er joints is shown hereinafter. er joint, the upper adapter extension to reduce the net weight of the riser
joint, the buoyancy can lower taper system to allow it to be landed using
Lower Cross Over connection joint, the buoyancy can adapter joint the motion compensator.
The Lower Cross Over Joint is the and the buoyancy can upper taper
first connection to be made to the joint are run. These joints are made- Riser landed on the foundation
pre-installed components of the up using flange connections. A riser pile and locked down
FSHR system within the stem of the running string is then attached to The bottom of the riser is landed on
buoyancy can. After the connection the connector mandrel profile at the the foundation pile, the orientation
is made, the seafastening collar at the top of the buoyancy can upper taper is set by a helix to ensure that the
top of the buoyancy can is removed. joint, and the riser string is lowered lower offtake is in correct alignment
through the drill floor and lowered with the PLET, and the FSHR is
Lowering of the Lower Cross Over
to the top of the buoyancy can. locked down using an ROV.
Joint and first Standard joint
After the first connection aforemen-
tioned is made, the Lower Cross Lifting of the buoyancy can and After lock down of the hydraulic
Over and the first Standard joints riser string connector, it is necessary to tension
are deployed, such as the lower ex- Both the buoyancy can and the riser the string by means of the drill col-
tremity of the string is approximate- string are then raised together to the lar, with two objectives: to test the
ly 40 meters below the buoyancy can level of the moonpool, where the hydraulic connector and to provide
lower end. riser string is landed on the top of stability to the system, before initi-
the buoyancy can with a small land- ating de-watering of the buoyancy
Lowering of the buoyancy can ing weight. The flange connection can.
for deployment of the remaining
joints
The buoyancy can is then lowered
until its upper end is placed at the
The remaining standard riser joints are
pontoon deck level. The buoyancy welded at the drill floor and run through
can is lowered by supporting the
can on four padeyes on short chains, the buoyancy can. The riser is allowed to
then transferring the load to the
water fill during deployment.

15. Free standing Riser The Brazilian Pipeline Community 15
The design of an FSHR typically involves Riser Response and Design
Drivers
an upfront global analysis of the system Extreme Storm
to optimize the riser configuration. As the riser and buoyancy can are
located away from the wave zone
Parameters to be varied are offset from the and surface current region, the di-
production platform, depth of buoyancy rect wave loading on the system is
low. The flexible jumper connecting
can, flexible jumper length and net the vertical section of the riser to the
upthrust provided by the buoyancy can. production platform significantly
decouples the riser motions from
the vessel excursions and first order
De-watering of the buoyancy can Design approach motions.
After lock down of the hydraulic The design of an FSHR typically The riser response is driven largely
connector, the stability of the system involves an upfront global analysis by current and vessel offset, which
is partly due to the tension applied of the system to optimize the riser causes an increase in loading in the
by the drill collar string. The ROV configuration. Parameters to be gooseneck and also at the riser low-
starts the de-watering process of varied are offset from the produc- er end. However this can be solved
the buoyancy can compartments by tion platform, depth of buoyancy by local strengthening of the com-
means of injecting nitrogen. As long can, flexible jumper length and net ponents. Another critical region is
upthrust provided by the buoyancy where the riser exits the base of the
as the de-watering proceeds, the ten-
can. Clearance maybe an issue and buoyancy can and a taper joint is
sion applied by the MODU is de-
interference with adjacent risers or required to withstand the interface
creased, such as to keep the resulting mooring lines drives the choice of
tension approximately constant. At loads.
the system layout. Following the se-
the end of the process, the tension lection of the system configuration,
provided by the buoyancy can allows At both ends of the flexible jumper,
global storm and fatigue analyses are
the riser to free-stand and the drill conducted to define the functional bend stiffeners are necessary to keep
collar string is disconnected from loadings on the critical riser compo- the curvatures in the flexible pipe
nents as well as Stress Concentration within plots of typical bending mo-
the top of the buoyancy can.
Factors (SCFs) requirements. ment distribution along the riser
After conclusion of this process the
length under extreme storm shows
flexible jumper is installed. The in-
The FSHR comprises special com- two peaks, one at the riser base and
stallation of the vertical section of
ponents, such as taper joints, goose- the other at the interface with the
the FSHR may take place before ar-
neck, offtake spool and rigid base base of the buoyancy can.
rival of the production platform.
jumper, for which detailing will be
required. In addition, the riser string Along the majority of the riser
Connection of the gooseneck to components shall be able to with- string, the relationship between
the mandrel at riser top stand both the installation and in- the combined Von Mises stress and
The gooseneck attached to the flex- place loads. the material yield strength shows a
ible jumper end at the buoyancy can gradual linear increase towards the
side is deployed by a Laying Support The FSHR benefits from the fact top of the riser, which is mainly due
Vessel (LSV) and connected to the that the overall system design is ro- to axial tension and hoop stress in
mandrel of the Buoyancy Can Up- bust and relatively insensitive to a the pipe. At both ends of the riser
per Taper Joint. An ROV actuates a number of parameters. Therefore, however bending loads are present
hydraulic connector. a relatively conservative design ap- in the system, but are faced using
proach may be adopted for the up-
special components such as taper
front global riser design, with allow-
LSV installing the flexible jumper joints, which control the curvature
ances for parameter sensitivities and
The gooseneck and flexible jumper and stresses. Due to this, the stress
design changes during design com-
are first attached to the riser using pletion. ratios at the top assembly are lower
the LSV, and the flexible jumper than at the riser line pipe, in spite of
then un-reeled and pulled-in to the The system is designed and analyzed higher effective tension and bending
slot on the P52 platform. in accordance to API RP 2RD. moments near the buoyancy can.

16. 1 The Brazilian Pipeline Community Free standing Riser
Along the vertical section of the
FSHR, the stresses are practically
static, barely affected by quasi-static A typical plot of the wave fatigue life along the
loads (vessel static offsets and cur- riser length shows that the damage is very low,
rent) or dynamic loads (direct wave
load and first and second order mo- however hot spots do occur at certain critical
tions). The design of deeper compo- locations.
nents, such as the lower taper joint,
is driven by quasi¬static loads. The
upper riser component designs are
dictated by both quasi-static and dy- It is necessary to design the compo- Shear7, the damage is being assessed
namic loads. nents at the locations of peak fatigue by the utilization of the Compu-
damage such that they are capable tational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
wave fatigue of withstanding the predicted stress methodology. Petrobras contracted
The long term dynamic wave load- cycling. Generally, locally thickened the University of São Paulo to per-
ing on the system is very low. The components can be designed, or re- form such studies. In this method,
majority of the riser dynamic mo- fined, to give adequate fatigue per- a finite element structural model
tion is associated with the second formance. The use of strakes is not based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam
order drift motions of the vessel, necessary. theory is employed to calculate the
which gradually alter the configura- dynamic response of the cylinder. A
tion of the flexible jumper and con- Installation and In-Place general equation of motion is solved
sequently the loading on the vertical Fatigue of the FsHR system through a numerical integration
section of the FSHR. The fatigue damage the system may scheme in the time domain. Firstly,
undergo during installation shall be a static solution is found for the riser.
A typical plot of the wave fatigue limited such as to leave most of the Then, in the dynamic analysis, the
life along the riser length shows that allowable damage to be spent when stiffness matrix obtained from the
the damage is very low, however hot the riser is in-place. The installation static analysis is used as an average
analysis, mainly for the situation approximation. A lumped approach
spots do occur at certain critical loca-
when the buoyancy can is at the is employed. A mass lumped matrix
tions. These locations are at the low-
moonpool region of the MODU, is constructed and the damping ma-
er taper joint, and at the bottom of
will assess the riser damage due to trix is evaluated in a global manner.
the buoyancy can. Some precautions
the MODU first order motions and
have to be taken in order to achieve
from VIV. The method utilized is the Discrete
the required damage limit at these
Vortex Method (DVM), which is a
locations, by sometimes refining the Considering a safety factor of 10, the Lagrangian numerical scheme tech-
locally thickened joint designs. It is required system fatigue life is 250 nique for simulating two-dimen-
necessary that welds are either avoid- years, which is fulfilled for the in- sional, incompressible and viscous
ed or high quality welds are utilized, place condition. The in-place analy- fluid flow. The method employs the
and that stress concentration factors ses have assessed the damage due to stream function-based boundary
are minimized in these regions. first and second order motions and integral method and incorporates
due to VIV. The acceptance criterion the growing core size or core spread
vortex Induced vibrations establishes that the three sources of method in order to model the dif-
(vIv) damage be added and that the result- fusion of vorticity. In the DVM the
The VIV response of an FSHR gener- ing fatigue life be above 250 years. body is discretized in Nw panels, and
ates fatigue damage that is low along Most of the damage is due to VIV, Nw discrete vortices with circulation
the majority of the riser length, but followed by first order motions. The are created from a certain distance of
high at the two ends of the verti- damage due to second order motions the body, one for each panel. These
cal section of the system. The criti- is negligible. vortices are convected and their
cal region for VIV damage tends to velocities are assessed through the
occur in the riser string just below assessment of vIv Damage by sum of the free stream velocity and
the buoyancy can interface. Shear7 CFD the induced velocity from the other
was utilized for assessment of fatigue In addition to the assessment of fa- vortices. The induced velocities are
damage due to VIV. tigue damage due to VIV by using calculated through the Biot-Savart

17. Free standing Riser The Brazilian Pipeline Community 1
law. Forces on the body are calcu- Two riser lengths were considered: It can be said that the FSHR concept
lated integrating the pressures and initial and total length. For the last, extends the reach of deep water riser
viscous stresses. Viscous stresses are it was necessary to truncate the riser feasibility as it avoids the main tech-
evaluated from the velocities in the string. nical problems faced by the other so-
near-wall region, and the pressure lutions, and arguably, it may be the
distribution is calculated relating the only proven riser concept feasible for
vorticity flux on the wall to the gen- Conclusions deep water large bore applications.
eration of circulation. In the FSHR design concept, the
location of the buoyancy can below References
Model Test high current and wave zone, and the 1. Fisher, E. A., Berner, P.C., 1988,
The installation phase is a critical use of the flexible jumper to signifi- “Non-Integral Production Riser for
issue for the design of the FSHR, cantly decouple vessel motions from the Green Canyon Block 29 De-
mainly due to utilization of a the vertical riser greatly reduces the velopment”, Offshore Technology
MODU for deployment. The op- system dynamic response, resulting Conference, paper 5846, Houston
erating window is narrowed due to in a robust riser design particularly – USA
buoyancy can motions at the moon- suited to deep water applications.
pool region, caused by the action of 2. Rouillon, Jacky, 2002, “Girassol
current and waves, and the result- The design is relatively insensitive to -The Umbilicals and Flowlines -
ing riser forces at the interfaces with severe environmental loading and Presentation and Challenges”, paper
both the buoyancy can bottom and non-heave optimized host vessels 14171, Houston - USA
rotary table. when compared to SCRs and flex-
ible risers. The robustness allows the 3. Déserts, des L., 2000, “Hybrid
Results from numerical analysis as- riser to be conservatively analysed, Riser for Deepwater Offshore Af-
sessment show that the allowable sea and allowances for design changes rica”, Offshore Technology Confer-
states for some stages of the deploy- and uncertainties to be included up- ence, paper 11875, Houston – USA
ment are significantly milder when front in the design process, thus giv-
compared to the weather window ing greater confidence in the overall 4. Hatton, S., Lim, F., 1999, “Third
of previous deployments of subsea system design. Generation Hybrid Risers”, World
hardware, such as manifolds, already Wide Deepwater Technologies, Lon-
performed by Petrobras utilizing For engineering, procurement and don – UK
MODU. construction (EPC) contractors not
having a suitable vessel, or unable to 5. S. Hatton, J. McGrail and D. Wal-
Modeling the entire FSHR system mobilize their vessels to install the ters, 2002, “Recent Developments
in 1800 m water depth would re- FSHR, the ability to use a MODU in Free Standing Riser Technology”,
quire a very small scale (approxi- as the installation vessel could prove 3rd Workshop on Subsea Pipelines,
mately 1:180) and some important to be an attractive alternative. Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
effects could be not well represented.
Therefore it was decided to test the
system behavior only during instal-
lation. A model test at the scale of
1:28.7 representing the buoyancy The installation phase is a critical issue for the
can, MODU and riser string was
constructed and tested at Marintek. design of the FSHR, mainly due to utilization
The objective was to corroborate the of a MODU for deployment. The operating
results of numerical calculations.
window is narrowed due to buoyancy can
Three phases were simulated: (a)
buoyancy can free floating, (b) keel
motions at the moonpool region, caused by the
hauling of the buoyancy can and action of current and waves, and the resulting
(c) buoyancy can at the moonpool
region, suspended either by wire riser forces at the interfaces with both the
rope at the derrick or by the drilling buoyancy can bottom and rotary table.
riser tensioning system, and the ris-
er string passing through the stem.

18. 18 The Brazilian Pipeline Community
Improving pipelin
The PRODUT program helps Petrobras improve operational reli
Ney Passos, Petrobras Brasil S.A., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Most of Brazil’s 15,000-km oil and • Increase the operational capacity of and other areas of the company that
gas pipeline network is more than 20 existing pipelines; promote greater cooperation in the
years old. Consequently, this gener- • Minimize the risk of leaks; permit technological area;
ates all manner of complex mainte- better utilization through novel re- • Include the participation of exter-
nance and renewal issues. pair techniques; nal institutions, such as universities,
• Reduce the impact of leaks on the engineering companies, manufactur-
Adding to the complexity is the fact ers, service companies and operators,
that the network is growing in size. environment. PRODUT is divided
into many areas, which enables a seeking to increase the availability of
By 2007, the network is forecast to human and financial resources.
reach over 25,000 km. But as the broad array of technologies to be
network grows and modernizes, the developed and delivered. Under the
PRODUT umbrella, all of these In order to properly define the na-
system’s operational reliability stan- ture and types of projects that will
dards must be maintained. projects follow the same philosophy
as other technological programs co- be researched, Petrobras has formed
ordinated by CENPES. This ensures the CTO-Operational Technologi-
For these reasons, in 1998, Petrobras cal Committee. This committee
established a pipeline technological that an interdiscisplinary approach is
maintained, and that different tech- meets annually, and counts on the
program, called PRODUT. The pro- participation of the wider techni-
gram helps the company meet these nology managers within CENPES
and Petrobras provide technical in- cal community, the management of
complex demands and deliver tech- CENPES, and other Petrobras areas
nology firsts. put and feedback. The
goal of the program is
Coordinated by Petrobras’ Re- to make available and
search and Development Centre develop technology for
(CENPES), the program operates the pipeline system, in
in an interdisciplinary way which order to increase reli-
brings together Transpetro (Distri- ability and useful life,
bution) and Petrobras Production. as well as reducing
The program has already helped re- costs and the risks in-
duce the risk of leakage and subse- volved.
quent harm to the environment. It The performance of
has also reduced operational costs PRODUT is deter-
and repair times. mined by the follow-
ing guidelines:
The strategic objectives of the pro-
gram are to: • Select projects whose
products have a wide
• Improve operational reliability of application, and a bet-
pipelines; ter technical-economic
• Increase the lifespan of the existing return;
pipeline network and future con- • Form teams of tech-
struction; nicians from CENPES

19. The Brazilian Pipeline Community 1
ne performance
iability, increase capacity, and maintain environmental safety.
such as exploration and production, the corrosive properties of the trans- Pipeline rehabilitation
downstream, transportation, engi- ported products and oil and the Here the focus has been to establish
neering, and bunkering. Such a de- development of methodologies for integrity evaluation criteria that span
gree of collaboration within Petro- evaluation of corrosion inhibitors. the lifespan of the pipeline network.
bras’ strategic, technical, economic, This leads to a better understanding Within this project, hydrostatic test
safety and environmental factors and control of the corrosive process. methodologies, certification criteria
permits continual improvements as Methodologies for monitoring and and commonly available repair
well as the definition and prioritiza- control of internal corrosion of nat- techniques are all being re-evaluated.
tion of projects that meet operation- ural gas pipelines were also defined Petrobras is benefiting through
al and business needs. and optimized. higher pipeline utilization factors,
more flexible and economic repair
Petrobras has invested around (U.S.) leak detection systems techniques, reduced maintenance
$2 million in PRODUT annu- By making these types of systems costs and enhanced safety.
ally for carrying out RD projects.
available, Petrobras’ procedures for
About 30% of the projects are also In connection with the repair of in-
leak detection are becoming more
financed by FINEP (Financiadora service pipelines we can mention
efficient by helping to quantify and
de Estudos e Projetos - Studies and welding of in-service pipelines, and
pinpoint oil, gas or other derivative
Projects Financing Agency), through the use of composite materials. In the
leaks in pipelines. Overall, this im-
the CTPETRO (Fundo Setorial do case of the latter, a national company
Petróleo e Gás Natural - National proves profitability by reducing the
was qualified to carry out this type
Plan for Science and Technology loss of hydrocarbon products and
of procedure, which has already
for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector) any subsequent impact thereof on
executed various work on Petrobras
program. Since the introduction of the environment. Leak detection
pipelines. This technology seeks to
PRODUT, 50 research and develop- technology, to be used in short oil allow the permanent rehabilitation
ment projects have been completed, and products pipelines, was defined, of pipelines with external corrosion
and 39 other projects are in progress. with the objective of minimizing and temporary rehabilitation of
Some of these are listed below. product losses with a consequent pipelines with internal corrosion. It is
reduction in environmental impact valid to emphasize that the execution
Corrosion management and in direct, indirect and intangible of repairs of in-service pipelines is a
This project seeks to develop and costs. technique of great interest, since it
supply prevention, monitoring and avoids shutting down operations,
automation technology to control A flow and leak detection simulation with a substantial increase in the
internal and external pipeline corro- system, for multipurpose pipelines, utilization factor of pipelines, and is
sion. This will provide concrete ben- was developed in-house, which is essential in the case of gas pipelines.
efits by preventing corrosion related currently in the test phase. It is im-
failures, increasing operational reli- portant to add that the effort that Pigging technology
ability standards, reducing environ- Petrobras has been making towards Although many types of pigs are
mental damage and expanding the increasing the reliability of its pipe- available commercially, they are not
lifespan of the pipeline network. In lines, with the implementation of necessarily adapted to the needs of
reference to corrosion management the Pipeline Integrity Guarantee Petrobras. This project has listed
projects, there is the evaluation of Plan, has produced excellent results. the operational needs of Petrobras´

20. 20 The Brazilian Pipeline Community Improving Pipeline Performance
pipeline system, and is developing Risk management and tion from the results obtained from
and testing various pig technologies reliability various PRODUT projects. It is also
to assess their suitability. Clearly, The focus of this project is to devel- valid to emphasize the great partici-
this will enable Petrobras to improve op better pipeline risk and reliabil- pation of the various segments and
internal pipeline inspections, reduce ity analyses, which will help reduce business units involved, directly or
the risks of leakage, and damage to costs by optimizing periodic inspec- indirectly, with pipeline activities.
workers or the environment. tions and maintenance. Addition-
ally, as risks are reduced, there will The basic objectives of the standard
Additionally, the operating life of be a reduction of tangible and intan- are the following:
the network should be extended as gible costs. Parametric studies were
maintenance issues such as corrosion • Establish the criteria for classifying
carried out to evaluate the sensitivity
or wear and tear are better managed. pipelines, based on the possible con-
of heated pipelines with initial zig-
Geometric and magnetic instru- sequences arising from their failure;
zag geometry to variations in the hy-
mented pig technologies were devel- potheses adopted in their project. • Prioritize monitoring, control and
oped as tools for the internal inspec- intervention actions, setting the nec-
tion of pipelines, with the objective These studies, allied to the scale essary actions for detecting, moni-
of assuring their integrity; as well as model tests carried out, allowed the toring and controlling internal cor-
reduce risks, avoid emergency inter- commencement of the new PE-3 rosion, external corrosion, stresses
ruptions, and reduce operational fuel oil pipeline project, from RE- caused by ground movements and
costs. DUC to the Ilha d’Água Terminal. third-party action;
This effort included technology of
The most important result has been a safety and reliability standard that • Define the evaluation procedures
the acquisition and consolidation is substantially superior to previous and acceptance criteria for the vari-
of technology by Petrobras, which projects, minimizing the risk of ac- ous types of discontinuity as well as
makes available services with instru- cidents. An improvement to the in- hydrostatic test and contingency re-
mented pigs, with the ISO 9002 spection plan for flexible lines and pair procedures.
certification guarantee. A national umbilicals was prepared, using risk-
company was licensed to operate based inspection techniques. By corporate instruction, this stan-
with magnetic pigs for defect analy- dard is now followed in the practices
sis and geometric pigs - the first in A database was developed for the used on all of the company’s pipe-
Latin America. It has already in- relevant physical and operational lines.
spected more than 10,000 km of characteristics, from a managerial
pipelines in Brazil and abroad. The point of view, of all of the company’s Pipeline material technology
main advantages, compared to the pipelines. This filled an existing gap, Members of this project are work-
hiring of international companies, ing to improve existing pipeline
allowing the data to be available to
concerns the economic aspects, in materials and coating technologies,
users, at high speed and reliably.
addition to the significant reduction again, adapting them to the needs of
in response time and shorter pipe- Petrobras. Benefits will include cost
Another important fact was the cre-
line shutdown. reduction and an increase in the reli-
ation by the Petrobras Board of Di-
ability and life of pipelines through
rectors of the Special Work Group
a deeper understanding of materials
Pipeline operation and for the Petrobras Pipelines Integrity
and coating performance.
automation Emergency Program, with represen-
This project is developing advanced tatives from nine areas of the compa- In partnership with industry, steel
operational, automation and sched- ny. Its objective is to prepare a work with high mechanical resistance and
uling techniques for pipelines. Ben- plan, defining and executing actions strength was developed for use in
efits include an increase in efficiency to study and evaluate the integrity large pipelines, in order to increase
and operational safety; reduction in of Petrobras pipelines. One of the operational safety and decrease in-
the number of interfaces in multi- highlighted points from the results vestments in new enterprises. Mod-
purpose pipelines; improvement in obtained was the preparation of els for the simulation of pipeline
the quality of products transported; the Pipeline Integrity Management structural behavior were developed
and a reduction in the cost of de- Standard, which consolidated all the with various types of commonly
murrage for shipping, excess stock available technology in the company found defects, allowing the evalua-
and reprocessing losses. and abroad, with a decisive contribu- tion of their resistance as well as the