Airborne Wins TCP Flowlines Wok in Africa

Airborne Oil & Gas B.V. said it has been awarded a contract from a supermajor through Oceaneering International to supply Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) flowlines for deployment in West Africa. 

The manufacturer will provide a 4-kilometer, 7.1 inch ID, 160 bar design pressure TCP Flowline for water injection replacing existing corroded flowlines in the field.

Martin van Onna, CCO at Airborne Oil & Gas, said, “This is an important milestone in our company’s history as we believe it to be the first TCP Flowline to be installed in West Africa, marking the breakthrough of TCP technology in the subsea market in this region.”

TCP is a non-metallic, composite pipe which delivers high levels of corrosion and fatigue resistance and therefore extended service life.

The total installed cost of TCP has proved to offer benefits to the operator’s pipeline replacement projects, particularly for water injection lines which often suffer from corrosion, Airborne said.

Paul McCafferty, vice president Europe & Africa at Airborne Oil & Gas, said, “The lightweight nature of TCP means that our client is able to install the flowlines from its existing field support vessel, without the need to bring in a dedicated construction vessel. This provides an estimated 40% reduction in the total cost of installation.

“Combined with the low operating costs associated with using the non-corrosive TCP Flowline, this demonstrates the significant potential of the use of TCP in Africa and other brownfield markets around the globe.”