METHOD OF INSULATING A PIPELINE AND MATERIALS THEREFOR

• Main Authors: EADARA, RAJAN, TANDOH, REUBEN, JOSEFF, JORIBETH, JOSEFF, ARNOLD, CHALANA, GAURAV, JOSEFF, JEVEN, JACOBS, ROY
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French
• Published: 22.11.2007
• Subjects: BLASTING; ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVEFUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HEATING; JOINTS OR FITTINGS FOR PIPES; LIGHTING; MEANS FOR THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PIPES; SHAPING CLAY OR OTHER CERAMIC COMPOSITIONS, SLAG, OR MIXTURESCONTAINING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL, e.g. PLASTER; SUPPORTS FOR PIPES, CABLES OR PROTECTIVE TUBING; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL; TRANSPORTING; WEAPONS; WORKING CEMENT, CLAY, OR STONE

Thermal insulation is provided to a subsea pipeline by disposing a thermally insulating tape on the pipeline. The insulating tape has a layer of a syntactic foam composition disposed between layers of a thermoplastic polymer. The syntactic foam composition may be a curable composition, and this composition may be cured either before or after the tape is applied to the pipeline. Application of the tape may be made prior to the deployment of the pipeline in a subsea location or after the pipeline is disposed. The tape may be configured to include attachment features which aid in retaining the tape on the pipeline. Also disclosed are specific tape compositions for insulating subsea pipelines. La présente invention prévoit d'isoler thermiquement une canalisation sous-marine par la pose d'une bande thermo-isolante sur la canalisation. La bande isolante comporte une couche d'une composition de mousse syntactique insérée entre des couches d'un polymère thermoplastique. La composition de mousse syntactique peut être une composition polymérisable et cette composition peut être polymérisée soit avant soit après l'application de la bande sur la canalisation. L'application de la bande peut être antérieure au déploiement de la canalisation dans un emplacement sous-marin ou postérieure à ce déploiement. La bande peut être prévue pour inclure des accessoires de fixation qui aident à retenir la bande sur la canalisation. L'invention concerne également des compositions de bande spécifiques pour l'isolation de canalisations sous-marines.