Trelleborg to Provide Subsea Insulation for Statoil’s Asgard Project

Trelleborg Offshore & Construction has been awarded a contract to provide Aker Solutions with high performance subsea insulation.

The insulation is for use on the Asgard Subsea Compression Project for Statoil – the world’s first ever subsea gas compression facility.

Trelleborg’s innovative Vikotherm II insulation material will be used on 600 meters of piping, forming part of the Åsgard subsea compression system located on the Halten Bank in the Norwegian Sea, about 200 km from mid-Norway.

Optimum performance and reliability

Hans Leo Hals, Managing Director of Trelleborg Offshore & Construction facility in Norway, commented: “This project represents a quantum leap in seabed technology and is an important step towards realizing the field operator’s ambition to develop a complete subsea production site. As such, guaranteeing optimum performance and complete reliability at every turn is of paramount importance. The formation of hydrate plugs and wax build up is a real risk during operation shut downs, high performance subsea thermal insulation is required to ensure optimal flow assurance.”

Trelleborg’s popular Vikotherm subsea thermal insulation material, which has been successfully installed throughout the subsea oil and gas industry for over twenty years, has recently been enhanced to offer improved elasticity, as well as better process and manufacturing flexibility as the system can be applied on site, anywhere around the world. Vikotherm II was successfully launched into the market in 2012.

Varying geometries

The proven solution will be applied on 600m of piping, each varying in size from two to six inches / 50 to 300 millimeters. The pipelines will also include varying geometries – valves, transmitters and flanges – varying surfaces – super duplex, stainless steel and epoxy – and also varying applications – factory and site application.

Vikotherm II subsea insulation is a practically incompressible, seawater and impact resistant solution which not only has excellent thermal insulation properties, but maximum corrosion protection too, guaranteeing optimal flow assurance. Furthermore, it is designed to last the life of a subsea project, is maintenance-free and will never normally require replacement.

World’s first

Åsgard, which is a central hub on the Halten Bank and a significant oil and gas producer in the Norwegian Sea, is the first field in the world to start using seabed gas compression. The decision to adopt this new technology on the Åsgard field is expected to maintain production and an increased recovery equivalent to approximately 278 million in barrels of oil.

A concept suitable for most large subsea gas fields, subsea compression systems provide improved energy efficiency and safety, and lower investment and operating costs when compared with using traditional platforms. When gas is produced, the pressure in the reservoir decreases and the well flow may need boosting in the form of compression. In many instances, subsea compression technology is necessary to create enough pressure for the hydrocarbons to travel up the pipelines to the receiving terminal.

Aker Solutions

Aker Solutions’ scope of work for the subsea compression system includes a subsea compressor manifold station (SCMS), subsea compressor station (SCST) template structure, three identical compressor trains, all electrical control systems, high-voltage electrical power distribution system, topside equipment, and tooling, transport, and installation equipment.

Trelleborg’s production of the insulation began in May, with final delivery expected in Q1 2014.

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Press Release, June 21, 2013