PIPE LINERS FOR CORROSIVE HIGH-TEMPERATURE OIL AND GAS-PRODUCTION APPLICATIONS

Polyamide-11 has been used for more than 20 years as the chemical and pressure barrier in flexible pipes used in offshore oil and gas produc tion. Recently, polyamide-11 has been used to line and protect carbon steel (CS) pipelines carrying corrosive sour raw gas and condensates. The liner was inserted in the field using three well-known installatio n techniques. If is being used successfully at temperatures that are n ot possible with conventional polyethylene liners. Until now, at tempe ratures above similar to 45 degrees C, only corrosion inhibition progr ams have proven to be effective in controlling the internal corrosion rates of CS pipes carrying sour raw gas. There is a total of similar t o 10 km of polyamide-11 note installed in sir pipelines located in cen tral and northwestern Alberta, Canada and in central France, operating at temperatures up to similar to 80 degrees C. The installations and the properties of exposed and aged polyamide-11 liner are discussed. T he chemical resistance and mechanical properties of the polyamide-11 t hat make this application possible are discussed in detail.