T

TOM O R ROW
A Technip Technology Publication - Issue 1 - August 2012

Anti H2S
ETH-PIP Technology
HVS Semi
Small Scale LNG

Tomorrow - August 2012

P.

6-7 Technips innovation heats up flowlines

Heating up flowlines

I would like to personally welcome you to the first issue of

Technips new technology magazine, aptly named Tomorrow.
This publication will focus on Technips differentiation in the
energy industry through innovative technology in all of our
business sectors. Each and every day, our teams play a part in
meeting tomorrows world energy challenge and are involved
in projects with a high level of technological input. Innovation is at the heart of all our activities and helps us meet our
clients needs effectively
and provide tailored, high
performance solutions.

EDITORIAL

P.

4-5

In the Subsea segment,

we are a vertically-integrated leader, committed to being at
the forefront of frontier developments. Our commitment
to technologies, combined with our leading-edge fleet and
international assets enables us to make Technip a global player
from deep to shore.

The Anti H2S

Our offshore activities include engineering, procurement,

construction and installation of fixed and floating platforms.
Technip has developed world-class standards and advanced
technologies to deliver fit-for-purpose solutions, designed to
overcome the challenges of shallow and ultra-deepwater as
well as harsh environments.

Limiting corrosion in flexibles

P.

P.

8-9

10-11

Small Scale LNG

A tailor made solution built

on experience

The story of CFD and HVS

You can find this issue at: http://www.

technip.com/en/media-center
Your comments are always welcome:
publicrelations@technip.com

Director of Publication: Christophe

Blorgeot
Chief Editor: Trina Oake
Associate Editors - August 2012 issue:
Andrea Gragnani, Brian Lynch, Brian Roberts, Jean-Pascal Biaggi, Jeroen Remery,
Mohamed Ould-Bamba, Philip Hagyard,
Robby OSullivan, Stephane His, Sylvain
Denniel
Photography: Technip image library
Design and production: Lydia Marchetti

assets, market positions,

and of course our
technology, we are well
positioned to take
Technip further.

While technological innovation is of utmost importance to

Technip, there is also a strong commitment to reaching the
highest standards of health, safety, environment (HSE) and
quality. We continue to challenge and improve our approach
to HSE management and look for innovative ways to improve
performance and set the benchmark for our industry.
In the markets where we operate, we are known for our
clients focus, our integrated and sustainable project approach, our technological expertise and our know-how in
project management. All of which are essential factors in our
strategy to strengthen our profitable and sustainable growth.
Thanks to our people, assets, and of course our technology,
we are well positioned in all areas to take Technip further.

HVS Semi

Tomorrow
A Technip
Technology Publication
Issue 1 August 2012

Thanks to our people,

Technips onshore activity covers the full range of onshore

installations required to meet the production, processing and
transportation needs of the oil and gas, petrochemical and
other industries, in particular renewable energies and mining
and metals.

I hope you enjoy this, and future issues, of Tomorrow.

The Group Communications Department would like to thank everyone

that has contributed to this issue.
Technip - 89 avenue de la Grande Arme - 75116 Paris - France

Thierry Pilenko
Chairman and CEO

This document is printed on Heaven 42

This document is the property of Technip and is not intended to be a binding

contractual document. Any information contained herein shall not result in any binding obligation on
the part of Technip, or any of its affiliates, and is provided for information purposes only.

Tomorrow - August 2012

4-

Corrosive gases present in the oil production flow have a significant impact
on the design and cost of a flexible pipe. Now, a new Technip technology
provides a step change in the management of the design and cost implications.
Additionally, it expands the domain of application of flexible pipe.

The Anti - H2S Layer

How Technip innovation limits
corrosion in flexibles.
Flexible pipes are extensively
used for oil and gas development and transport of the
production flow, which often
contain corrosive fluids in the
form of water (H2O), carbon
dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen
sulfide (H2S). Even if these fluids
are not in direct contact with
the annulus steel layers of the
pipe they will diffuse through

the pressure sheath, thereby

creating a corrosive environment for these carbon steel
layers. This necessitates the use
of pressure and tensile armour
wires made of sour service steel
grades, instead of sweet service steel grades. Sour service
steel grades are both lower in
strength and higher in cost than
the equivalent sweet service
material.
The new Technip patented
technology revolutionizes

flexible pipe annulus management through the introduction

of a new sheath, the so called
Anti-H S layer. This layer is a
leak-proof sheath made of a
composite material which is
placed between the pressure
sheath and the pressure vault.
The material is designed to
consume the H S by a chemical
reaction before it can permeate through to the carbon steel
pipe annulus. This technology,
developed by Technip and IFP
2

Energies Nouvelles, permits the

use of sweet steel grades, with
high mechanical properties, in
the annulus of flexible pipes,
even when the fluid contains H2S.

Positive
feedback
from our
clients
Chemical
reaction
principle

When applicable, these technological advances can result in

significant cost savings, potentially as much as 20%. This new
technology was presented at
the 2011 OTC(1) and the OMAE(2)
industry conferences and

generated considerable interest

and positive feedback from
attendees. It contributes to the
resolution of a growing concern
among oil and gas operators,
namely the increase of sour
fluids observed in subsea

reservoirs. Our clients show a

marked interest in this innovation.

The Anti-H2S material developed by Technip is called

PEZnO and is composed of a
thermoplastic matrix in polyethylene (PE) compounded with
zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron oxide
(Fe2O3). Zinc oxide is a

common and cheap material

often used in the cosmetics
industry. Both oxides will react
with H2S. The reaction with
ZnO will be responsible for
the efficiency of the system,
whereas Fe203, which gives

its initial purple color to the

material, will be used as a visual
tracer of the reaction with
H2S. The main, non-reversible,
reaction taking place in the
Anti-H2S material can be seen
in the illustration below.

Zn

(1) Offshore Technology Conference

(2) International Conference on Ocean,
Offshore and Artic Engineering

Zn

The main team involved in the

development of this new technology is the Product Engineering Division (PED) which is the
flexible pipe technology center
for the Group located
in Le Trait, France.

S
S

H
H

ZnO

H 2S

ZnS

H 2O

Stphane Jungers
Zinc Oxide and Hydrogen
Sulfide result in Zinc
Sulfide and Water

External sheath
Made of polymer to ensure tightness of theannulusregarding external environment.
The Armours
Made of one or two pairs of helicoidally spiraled steel wires and designed to ensure structural
strength.
Pressure vault
This layer sustains internal pressure thanks to a vault wire spiraled at short
pitch.

Anti-H2S sheath
Composite material: Polyethylene + ZnO (PEZnO). TheZinc Oxide will neutralize the H2S
during theentireservice life.
Pressure sheath
H2S permeates through this sheath. Itregulates the H2S
flowrate that arrives atthe second sheath.
Carcass
Made of stainless steel, indirect contact with thetransported fluid andsustaining
theexternalpressure.

The Anti-H S layer

principle
2

Thickness of the
Pressure sheath

PEZnS

Annulus(3)

PEZnO
C

B
A

The Anti-H2S layer is a continuous leak proof sheath placed

between the pressure sheath and the pressure vault. The metallic
oxide additives within the layer will chemically react with the H2S
entering the Anti H2S sheath after permeation through the pressure sheath. This reaction will act as a barrier to H2S during all the
service life of the flexible pipe.

Stphane Jungers

Thickness of
the Anti-H2S sheath

H2S
H2S

Stphane Jungers
For further information, please visit http://
www.technip.com/en/our-business/subsea/flexible-pipe or contact rosullivan@
technip.com

Step
Step
Step

: H2S transport through pressure sheath.

: H2S transport through PEZnS (Anti-H2S material already reacted).
C : H2S reaction with ZnO.
A
B

(3) The annulus is the space between pressure sheath and external
sheath. Itistypically made of the pressure vault and the armour wires

Tomorrow - August 2012

6-

The successful completion of the Islay project in the UK North Sea

is another key innovative milestone, marking Technip as a leader
in breakthrough technology.
In 2010, the group was awarded a 70 million contract by Total E&P
to deliver a full engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) project for the Islay gas field development.
This included the first
subsea implementation
of Technips pioneering
rigid, reelable, electrically trace heated
pipe-in-pipe (ETH-PIP).
Technip is breaking
uncharted ground with this new technology, which was developed to boost the thermal efficiency of subsea pipelines. It is set
to become a game-changer for remote subsea systems and challenging subsea field developments.

Heating up the flowlines

When R&D leads to

strategic differentiation
The concept of ETH-PIP
emerged in the Offshore Engineering Department (OED),
the Aberdeen based R&D
centre, in the late 90s and was
internally qualified for market
by 2003.
However, the first major breakthrough occurred in 2009, as a
result of a qualification program
partnership with Total, which
involved different centers of
expertise within the Technip
group (OED, TSIM, DUCO, and

Technip in the UK).

With untapped subsea reservoirs in sight, the industry has
recognized the real need to
increase the thermal efficiency
of pipelines to keep the oil
and gas flowing. This especially applies to remote fields,
in particular with heavier oils,
for which it is vital to keep the
fluid warm to minimize the risk
of hydrate or wax formation.
With ETH-PIP, Technip tackles
the flow assurance head-on.
Trace heating is the most

efficient means to inject calorific energy into the pipeline,

explains Sylvain Denniel,
Manager of OED. Because a
pipe-in-pipe is extremely well
insulated, the electrical power
requirement is much lower
than for other technologies,
such as direct electrical heating.
This translates in much smaller
topside power generator
footprint (CAPEX) and a much
lower heating bill in the long
run! (OPEX).

It can be implemented to both

flowlines resting on the seabed or
riser systems.
It can allow replacement of
conventional loops by single lines,
hence less flowlines and associated
risers.
Heating can be used for temperature maintainence during shut
down or fast temperature rising
following an extended cessation of
operations.

Heating also allows more reliable

hydrate risks management, in
particular at end of field life when
flowrates are dramatically reduced.
Heating can improve fluid viscosity and enhance recovery.

Innovation equals
world firsts
Boasting a 6 kilometer-long
pipe-in-pipe, Islay was judged
to be the perfect project size
to pilot this Technip pioneering technology.

For further information, please visit

http://www.technip.com/en/our-business/
subsea/rigid-pipe-technologies or contact
rosullivan@technip.com

Technips ETH-PIP
brings benefits
to operators:

Heating can complement

passive insulation to enable the
development of heavy oil fields
by keeping the fluid temperature
above the critical wax appearance
temperature.

ETH-PIP with cable helix (3D)

The first subsea implementation of this flow assurance enabler is

a key differentiator for Technip. It opens a wide range of field architecture perspectives that operators now wish to discuss further
with Technip says Jean Pascal Biaggi, VP Technip Subsea Innovation
Management (TSIM).

Termination assembly

Overall, the Islay project included a multitude of technical

challenges, from an inch perfect
seabed profile preparation, to a
reelable mid-line tee. However,
the most remarkable feature
remains to be the cable application machine (CAM), designed
and industrialized to spirally
wind four trace heating cables
and two optical fibre tubes
onto the flowline. Another
world first was the ETH-PIP End

Termination Assembly (ETA),

inclusive of fully welded double
barrier chambers terminated by
power and optical wet mateable connectors. Located in the
Evanton spoolbase (Scotland),
the CAM machine completed
the subsea fabrication of the
Islay pipelines in September
2011. Subsea installation was
undertaken in January 2012
from Technips pipelay vessel
Apache II, and subsequent precommissioning has confirmed
the thermal performance of
the system that was calculated
using Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD). Further commissioning campaigns will be

repeated in the future to monitor and confirm the integrity

and efficiency of the design.
Monitoring of temperature
profiles is made possible thanks
to the optical fibre monitoring
system, which is another world
first for a subsea pipe-in-pipe.
This landmark technology
should open up new opportunities for subsea and for
Technip across the world. The
Islay project team is proud to
have industrialized and installed
this enabling system adds Brian
Lynch, Aberdeen based project
manager.

Lower power consumption makes

the system particularly attractive to
long tie-backs. It also implies lower
power generator at the topside
and smaller power consumption.
Trace heating may replace
methanol chemical injection in the
long term, hence yielding further
operational savings, while being
a more environmentally friendly
system.
Optical fibre technology facilitates quasi real time temperature
monitoring and enables optimization of operations.
ETH-PIP can be usefully combined with the IPB system to provide
a continuous heated path from the
wellheads to the topsides.
Tomorrow - August 2012

8-

Several years ago, the offshore industry learned that Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs) were particularly sensitive to the motions of the
floating platform that supports them. When the support platform
has a very low-motion hull, such as a Spar, the excursions are relatively small. However this is not the case for semi-submersible
vessels. SCRs tend to experience
their highest fatigue damage at
their touchdown point, that is,
where the suspended SCR first
rests on the seabed. In some early semi-submersible projects with
SCRs, the fatigue damage at this location was so high that the
platform had to be periodically moved to deliberately distribute
the damage along the length of the SCR in order to meet the design life of the field. Clearly this was unsatisfactory and Technips
quest for a lower motion semi-submersible hull commenced.

HVS Semi

HVS Semi illustration

For further information, please visit

http://www.technip.com/en/ourbusiness/offshore/other-offshoreconcepts or contact baroberts@
technip.com

The story
of CFD and
the HVS

James (Jim) Ermon

VP HVS Semi, Offshore BU

The initial response to reduce

the motions of a semi-submersible was to increase its draft.
However, one effect of this is
that the longer columns become
prone to Vortex Induced Motion
(VIM). VIM is an issue with Spar
platforms due to their deep
draft, but it can be reduced by
fitting strakes which discourage
vortex shedding. Unfortunately,
it is impractical to fit strakes to a
semi-submersible vessel since a
large proportion of their column
height is in the splash zone where
wave action would damage the
strakes. As a result, a different
solution was needed.
It was at this point that Technip
decided that a better understanding of VIM was required
to determine ways of reducing
it. Fortunately, Technip had
developed an industry leading
capability in Computational Fluid
Dynamic (CFD) modeling and
was able not only to visualize
the vortices that are responsible
for VIM, but also to experiment
with different hull geometries to
see what increased, and reduced,
their occurrence. After much
study work and optimization,
this CFD work gave birth to the
Heave and VIM Suppressed (HVS)
semi. The HVS hull has a clever
combination of pontoon and
blister geometry that helps to
reduce vortex shedding, and also
tends to cancel out the effects
of those that do form.

Jim is confident that

Technip will get an
order for an HVS
soon and says,
The HVS is an elegant
solution to a difficult
problem. In essence,
the HVS is like a conventional semi, except
the lower hull has a
unique shape in the
form of sharp edged
blisters and narrow
pontoons. From the
tests we have run

in Gulf of Mexico
conditions, heave is
reduced by 35-50%
and VIM by 50% for
critical headings - this
causes a major reduction in SCR fatigue
damage. The HVS hull
design is also simplified by adopting the
Spars ballast system,
which eliminates
pump rooms at the
base of the columns
and results in a lower

Technip has verified the HVS

performance by model basin
tests, but its lower hull shape
could not have been conceived
and developed without CFD to
understand the science of VIM. It
would have been impractical and
too expensive to build and test
a random array of different scale
models in a wave tank.

So having developed the HVS

and confirmed its performance,
the next stage was for Technip
to bring it to market and at this
point, James (Jim) Ermon was
appointed commercial manager. Jim has already contacted
several interested clients, has
talked with fabricators to
gain their endorsement that

fabricating the HVS will be no

different from a conventional
semi-sub, and has presented
papers on the HVS at industry
conferences on behalf of
Technip (the most recent being
at MCEDD in Paris on 28th
March 2012).

cost hull and less risk

to the crew. All in all,
the HVS does not
represent a departure
from existing proven
technologies, it is a
clever way of packaging existing features.
It is a low risk, high
reward design that is
certainly generating
considerable interest
from the operators
with whom I have
been in contact.
So hopefully, Technip will be
able to report in future issues
of Tomorrow, some new
acronyms for the HVS: approval
to tender (ATT), approval to
commit (ATC) and approved for
construction (AFC) the list is
endless.

Tomorrow - August 2012

10 -

Market
drivers

In remote inland regions, small scale liquefied natural gas plants

offer the means to monetize natural gas that is in excess of
local requirements. These plants
are also a viable alternative to gas
transportation by using long pipelines to more than onelocation, and
can be used in low density population areas as well as in big cities.
Technips long standing experience of successfully developed
world scale LNG projects helps us to deliver small and mid-scale
LNG plant projects.

Small scale LNG

A tailor made solution built on experience

Small scale LNG is produced no
differently from large scale LNG.
The gas is conveyed via a
high-pressure gas pipeline from
the production field (or from
a regional pipeline network)
to the liquefaction plant. The
gas is then pre-treated to
remove components that are
either toxic (hydrogen sulfide,
mercaptans), corrosive (mercury), or could freeze at low
temperatures (carbon dioxide,
water, heavy hydrocarbon) and
possibly plug cryogenic equipment.
To be liquefied, the gas is
cooled to 162C in the refrigeration and liquefaction sections. This process reduces the
volume of the gas 600 times,
compared to 100-200 times for
compression/pipeline systems.
There are several liquefaction
technologies available for small
scale LNG capacities. Technip
offers Air Products nitrogen
cycle (N2), single mixed refrigerant (SMR) process and the
propane pre-cooled mixed
refrigerant (C3MR) process.

Storage and distribution of

small scale LNG by road trucks
is suited to deliveries of small
batches of LNG by land (as
opposed to massive ocean
going LNG carriers for international bulk trade).
In the regasification plant (or
satellite stations), the LNG is
stored in large vertical or horizontal cylinders. It is pumped
to high pressure and heated by
air to resume its gaseous state
before being introduced to the
local distribution network or
routed to an industrial consumer.
When LNG is to be used as
a transport fuel, it can be
transferred directly to the tank
of a heavy duty vehicle (truck,
locomotive, mining machinery) as a cryogenic liquid, or
regasified at high pressure and
transferred to personal vehicles
via a compressed natural gas
dispenser.

Ningxia Hanas is a prime

example of the application of
LNG to small scale distribution.
Technip recently started up
Hanas LNG, and although it is
classified as small-scale LNG,
it is the largest LNG plant in
China. This plant is a two-train
project (0.4 Mtpa(1) per train)
using Air Products single mixed
refrigerant (SMR) process. The
Hanas plant is electrically driven
and air-cooled and includes
several innovations:
Technips first LNG project
entirely managed from Asia
Pacific;

11

Heavy hydrocarbon removal

on adsorbent beds allowing
high pressure liquefaction;
and
An emulated operation
training simulator to prepare
for start-up well in advance.
The gas is liquefied in Yinchuan,
the capital of Ningxia province (center north of China),
then transported by trucks
to consumers, thousands of
kilometers away.
(1) Million metric tonnes per annum

Small scale LNG also allows the

reduction of associated gas flaring (150 billion cubic meters of
natural gas flared per year).
LNG as truck fuel is an attractive alternative for diesel and
more efficient than Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
This is due to a much shorter
loading time and favorable
engine performance, with fewer
emissions and much less noise.
This is important in the market
due to growing environmental
pressures, for example, the
new stringent environmental
requirements on emissions
of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and
sulphur oxide (SOx) for shipping
in regulated areas.
China is the leading market
today.
In recent years, the small
scale LNG business has been
developing in China, where
there is a demand in several
regions that have insufficient
pipeline construction projects
in the medium term. Numerous plants are in operation
and many more projects are
planned. Technip also sees
the potential in many other
countries such as India, Brazil,
Norway, USA, Canada and
Russia.

Small scale LNG plants can be

divided into two categories.

Definitions

The first category is low end

capacity or Mini LNG. This
category is used for peak
shaving, distribution of natural
gas to satellite stations by road
and truck refuelling. In this
case, the liquefaction process
uses a plate fin heat exchanger
(PFHE) in a cold box. The unit is
generally assembled on skids in
a fabrication shop.
The second category is high
end capacity or small to
medium scale LNG. This is
generally used for liquefaction
of gas from remote inland
fields. The liquefaction process
generally uses spiral wound
heat exchangers (SWHEs).
Many projects of this type are
underway in China.

The International Gas Union

has fixed the following
definitions:

> 6 Mtpa = Mega trains

3 5 Mtpa = Large trains
1 2 Mtpa = Medium trains
0.3 0.5 Mtpa = Small trains

Ningxia Hanas, 2011

Small scale, but largest LNG plant in China

+/- 0.1 Mtpa = Mini trains

Typical block diagram

of a small scale LNG plant

Delivery of the spiral wound

exchanger to site as multiple
independent exchangers in
order to overcome transport
constraints;
A hydrodynamic, variable
speed torque converter
between a fixed speed, electric motor and the mixed
refrigerant compressor to
avoid depressuring prior to
restart;

Discover a video of
the Hanas project in China
http://www.technip.com/
media-center/video

LNG
TRUCKS

For further information, please visit

http://www.technip.com/en/our-business/onshore/lng-gtl-gas-monetization
or contact phagyard@technip.com

Tomorrow - August 2012

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and our clients experience them

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