TPI July 2011

developments products &

Technology to revolutionise subsea blockages Paradigm Flow Solutions has launched patented technology to tackle the persistent industry challenge of restrictions and blockages in subsea pipelines, taking the treatment to the topside for the very first time. Paradigm also revealed at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston that it has just landed a $250,000 contract with a super-major to unblock a pipeline in the North Sea, and has secured more than $1mn of orders for its other technologies in the space of two months. up to 30 miles. The system is designed to be connected on the topside facilities of the host platform through either the pig launcher or the umbilical termination unit to clear the blockages. The Pipe-Pulse unit delivers high energy and volume pressure pulses into the pipeline or subsea umbilical, which are transmitted at the speed of sound to the blockage several miles away. and injects the manufactured pulse into the pipeline, and it is transmitted to the front face of the blockage. These controlled pulses allow energy to be transferred into the pipeline in a safe, manageable way, which is more effective than applying pressure alone.

During test phases the system successfully cleared a 4" multi-phase flowline for Shell UK that had been blocked with sand and wax for 11 years, and also removed a stuck pig in a deepwater 8" flowline for Petrobras Americas. The Pipe-Pulse system is also used to accurately detect the location of blockages and leaks in subsea infrastructure, without the need to deploy expensive vessels. The company, a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Paradigm Group, developed the Pipe-Pulse service in direct response to flow assurance and integrity issues being experienced by global operators. Paradigm Flow Solutions Ltd – UK info@paradigmflow.com www.paradigmflow.com

Operated by Paradigm Flow Solutions’ team of expert engineers, persistent blockages can be completely removed in a matter of days by sending high frequency low amplitude pressure pulses into the flowline, whilst controlling the length and pressure of the pulse. The system uses a complex series of control valves, contained within the main body of the Pipe-Pulse unit, that are automatically operated by the touch screen control panel. Proprietary algorithms determine the optimum wave structure for each pulse, of which there are potentially millions generated for each particular job. The Pipe-Pulse unit then physically creates

The company, headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, says that subsea blockages cost operators tens of millions of dollars each year, and before now could only be properly treated by very expensive methods such as deploying a coiled tubing system from a rig into the pipeline, or undertaking subsea interventions using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or saturation divers. Pipe-Pulse is a remote, non-intrusive method of locating and removing blockages in long distance pipework

Paradigm’s Pipe-Pulse unit

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Tube Products International July 2011

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