I Pipeline Technology
Crondall Energy is at the forefront of developing new pipeline technology that will support oil and gas operators to extract remaining reserves effectively. We use an academic approach to continuously drive innovation and new product development for industry. Much of Crondall Energy's pipeline technology development is focused around pipeline buckling and we have developed methods of predicting and managing buckling to maintain production for the long term.
Key Technologies:
I PROBE
Crondall Energy has developed the PROBE computer program to perform a structural reliability analysis of a pipeline undergoing lateral buckling. The program simulates the buckle formation process, calculates the response of the buckles and develops stochastic information for use in the lateral buckling design process.
PROBE is the most sophisticated program available to the industry today for the probabilistic assessment of pipeline lateral buckling.
Our PROBE system was recently shortlisted in the Innovation & Technology category at the 2020 Subsea UK Awards. Learn more here.
I APT JIP
The Anchoring Pipeline Technology (APT) Joint Industry Project (JIP) successfully identified ways to safely reduce the high cost of pipeline anchoring. The APT JIP was supported by major operators and identified a new design philosophy based on the “wait and see” approach supported by two key technical innovations.
Pipeline walking, or movement of the pipeline along its length, has occurred on many pipelines laid on the seabed, particularly in deepwater environments. APT addressed this ‘pipeline walking’ challenge with better ways to monitor, anchor and control walking. The project undertook a far-reaching development of pipeline anchoring and monitoring systems which will significantly mitigate the risk and costs associated with ‘pipeline-walking’.
The collaboration brought together major global operators to explore alternative and less costly solutions and worked towards an established roadmap of design guidance on how to manage and mitigate the pipe-walking challenge. The JIP was instrumental in the development and testing of relevant technology including a novel low-capacity vertically embedded plate anchor and a walking monitoring sensor, with the first sensor already deployed offshore West Africa.
I 3D computational modelling of a subsea pipeline-soil interaction
Crondall Energy sponsored a PhD at Oxford University focused on the interface between academic research and industry practice. The objective of this research which is still ongoing was to develop an industry-leading 3D computational model of subsea pipeline-soil interaction, that is able to model the true 3D pipe-soil response over the length of a lateral buckle over numerous operating cycles. This model has been applied to the design of controlled lateral buckling and has already demonstrated a significant advantage when applied to the most challenging pipelines, demonstrating a reduced need for expensive controlled lateral buckling mitigation and reduced fatigue damage predictions.
Many HPHT pipeline projects face a significant challenge to predict the full cyclic pipe-soil interaction response in 3D, which is inadequately represented by current design tools. This project developed an industry-leading computational modelling technique to capture the true geotechnical response of the soil over many cycles of displacement.
This project has built on the success of the SAFEBUCK Joint Industry Project which was founded and run by David Bruton and Malcolm Carr from 2002 to 2011.
I BLUW JIN
Created by Crondall Energy, BLUW-JIN (Buckling, Lateral or Upheaval & Walking of Pipelines – a Joint Industry Network) is a forum for Oil & Gas Operator members to share and discuss their experiences and learn from other members about challenges in the field of pipeline buckling and walking, including design issues, operational challenges and how these challenges have been overcome.
