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Operation track record and repair of direct electrical heating system

Abstract

Direct electrical heating is a flow assurance method for subsea flowlines.
This article considers direct electrically heated flowlines that were
installed at an offshore facility in 2004. In 2022, one of the piggyback
cables was successfully repaired. The root cause for failure was dielectric
breakdown of the transition joint between the feeder cable and the
piggyback cable because of high accidental axial compression forces.
The accumulated operation time from 2004 to 2022 was 450 days.
Fingerprints from commissioning were essential in fault location, and the
fault was pin pointed with an accuracy of a few meters. Investigations of
the XLPE insulation material showed that the cable was in a generally
good condition.
KEY WORDS: Direct electrical heating; flow assurance; repair; fault
location; operation record; prolonged lifetime
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Category

Academic chapter

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Energy Research / Elkraftteknologi
  • Nexans Norway AS
  • Equinor

Year

2024

Publisher

International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers

Book

Proceedings of the Thirty-fourth (2024) International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference - ISOPE 2024

ISBN

9781880653784

Page(s)

1506 - 1511

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository