Construction News

Fri March 29 2024

Related Information

Ramboll invents ‘cheese wire’ method for burying Arctic pipelines

13 Feb 15 Engineers from Ramboll have developed a ‘cheese wire’ installation process for the deep burial of Arctic pipelines to protect them from icebergs.

Subsea pipelines are of paramount importance in the Arctic region to move hydrocarbons across vast distances and the pipelines are usually trenched in the seabed to protect them against scouring caused by icebergs. There is a high risk of severe damage to the pipeline if it is not buried deeply enough, sometimes beyond 10m.

Pipeline engineers Francesca Del Din and Farzin Hafezparast from Ramboll Oil & Gas have introduced the design for the new ‘cheese wire’ process as an alternative to trenching. They will be presenting the process and its benefits at the Offshore Pipeline Technology conference in Amsterdam this month.

“In short, the slicing action of the wire into the seabed bears resemblance to the mechanism used to slice cheese,” said Del Din. The study targets the Canadian Grand Banks region, which is synonymous with iceberg activity, she added.

“The concept ensures a feasible, efficient installation procedure with low financial consequences and minimal environmental impact compared to traditional pipeline installation method,” said Hafezparast. “This innovative solution is a step forward in developing previously unfeasible oil fields in the harsh Arctic environments.”

Using the patent-pending process to achieve deep burial of a steel wire, the pipeline can be dragged through the seabed using similar technology to horizontal directional drilling. This allows the pipeline route to bypass the most dangerous iceberg corridors so that hydrocarbons can be transported safely to onshore processing facilities.

Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk

MPU
MPU

Click here to view latest construction news »