Oil and Gas

At Swagelining Limited, our vision of polymer lined pipelines working in support of the oil and gas industry is grounded in a commitment to provide a pipeline system which is capable of working at very high pressures with 100% availability during service life. Whether it’s a subsea water injection pipeline, riser or an onshore pipeline transporting refined or crude products, the absolute need for reliability in operations underpins everything we do. That means testing and proving anything that is new to the lining system for the service application fully before contemplating building it.

The liner system design process starts with an expert review of the chemical elements present in the transported product and the service conditions required to operate the pipeline system. This review drives the material selection process. When we have identified a suitable polymer liner material, it is possible to start designing the liner pipe. The liner needs to survive installation stresses and remain tight fitting during all stages of service life. It must have sufficient structural strength to resist vacuum collapse at the working temperature if the pipeline pressure is reduced for operational reasons. We also seek to minimise any reduction in pipeline bore size as this could impact the overall hydraulic efficiency of the pipeline system.

With pipelines operating for very long periods at high pressures, Swagelining Limited supports the view that welded connectors provide a lower risk to pipeline reliability than the use of flanges. The company uses proprietary welded connectors in its Integrated Lining System although flanged connectors are available if preferred for operational reasons and to terminate the lined pipeline.

When the cost of a pipeline failure in the oil and gas industry can be extreme in terms of environmental damage or revenue drop as a result of a fall in production, the emphasis is on providing certainty that the lining solution is up to the job. Swagelining Limited has extensive experience in liner system design and developing PQT plans for major oil and gas projects. In high pressure water injection applications, this experience is also supported by a detailed condition assessment on a Swagelined spool recovered from deepwater applications after 13 years in service thereby confirming the service life capability in the application.

For high temperature, sour hydrocarbon applications, Swagelining Limited is working to advance suitable polymer lining technology. This work in progress illustrates the company’s approach to the oil and gas industry with focused engineering and testing planned on all aspects of the lining system including materials and venting technology.