REINFORCEKiT® 4D SUBSEA, Subsea leaks – Middle-East
Subsea composite repair solution for pipe reinforcement
Overview
The objective of the repair, carried out in February 2024 by 3X ENGINEERING (3X) and its local distributor was to reinforce a 48" oil pipeline suffering from 6 subsea leaks situated accross 2 subsea hot tap clamps and 2 mechanical connectors. To restore subsea pipe integrity, it was decided to use 3X composite repair solution specifically dedicated for subsea environment REINFORCEKIT® 4D SUBSEA (R4D-S).
Results
Hardness measurements were performed after job completion and concluded the success of these subsea repairs. The design life of these six repairs is 2 years. This short-term goal, requested by the client, was aimed to withstand the duration of the flushing process without the need to support cyclic pressure.
 Defect type |
Subsea leaks |
Details |
48" crude oil pipeline, design pressure 13.8 bar, repair design T° 50°C |
Location |
Middle-East |
3X Product type |
REINFORCEKiT® 4D SUBSEA |
SCOPE OF WORK
According to data providing by the client and ISO 24.817 standard, it was decided to apply R4D-S using R3X65S resin. Sixteen layers of composite were determined to reinforce each defected area. Working at 30-meter depth needs special underwater equipments. Divers were previously trained by 3X supervisor to perfectly complete all the steps of the composite repair.
- The repair areas were delimited and the surface preparation was completed using gritblasting to get an optimal surface roughness and ensure a good bonding between the piping components and the composite repair.
- Specific subsea primer and filler were applied to fill the gap between the flange and the pipe and ensure well adhesion with the support. Composite plate covered with 3X subsea filler was applied on defected area when necessary before the next composite wrapping step.
- Composite wrapping (Kevlar® tape impregnated with R3X65S resin) was then completed to encapsulate the defected areas (using Kevlar® tape and subsea resin). Each repair length was about 600mm.
- Two tie wraps with ID tag (for traceability purpose) were applied at the end of the tape to finalize the repairs.
