Offshore staff
PARIS– Tecnitas, Bureau Veritas’ marine advisory division, has developed with Total a new simulation system for pipeline damage assessment.
The EMPREINTE software suite allows pipeline operators to determine safe operating pressures if a pipeline is damaged.
Offshore pipelines can suffer dents and gouges. These can be caused by external injuries; internal or external corrosion due to a corrosive effluent and failure of coating or cathodic protection; and weld defects and straining linked to ground movements.
EMPREINTE provides Level 3 assessments of the damage based on calculations such as finite element analysis, which although accurate can be time-consuming because of the detailed data required.
Tecnitas says its software – a pre- and post-processor to Abaqus finite element calculations – can perform reasonably conservative Level 3 assessments within 48 hours from defect discovery to assessment. This allows continued use of a pipeline that might otherwise need to be shut for repairs.
EMPREINTE uses the defect pipe profile to design back a virtual tool from which the damaging process is modeled. The burst strength of the damaged pipe is determined following an iterative process to match the measured and calculated profiles. This actual burst strength is used to derive a safe operating pressure.
10/15/2013
