Within the Appomattox project, Shell received a unique insulation for the deep-water pipe. Royal Dutch Appomattox Shell chose Californian company Materia as a supplier of innovative insulation for its deep-water pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. This pipeline will serve the operational platforms at the Appomattox field.
The isolation Appomattox Shell project is currently unique and has no analogs. Unlike other samples of polymer insulation, it is able to provide an effective thermal barrier between the pipeline itself and super cooled seawater at great depth.
The thermo-set structured hydrocarbon polymer, of which the Materia product consists, maintains its integrity and does not allow surface compression of insulation to happen on depths up to 3.3 thousand meters. This advanced technology is quite applicable not only for offshore pipelines but also for any ground or underground ones.
The safety and performance requirements specified by Shell were very stringent. They managed to comply with all the conditions of partners while creating a product, the production and installation of which are not excessively complex.
Features in a crisis
It should be noted that the specialized USA 2017 Shell, even in the conditions of the price crisis, continues the development of the Appomattox field, although this is a very expensive process. For example, at the end of last summer, Shell Offshore signed a contract with COSCO Shipping Company Ltd for a unique technological operation. The ship owner undertakes to deliver the body of the Appomattox drilling platform from South Korea to Ingleside (Texas).
Representatives of COSCO told that the platform body weighing 41.2 thousand metric tons would be transported on a supergiant specialized vessel Guang Hua Kou. This ship is now being completed at the COMEC shipyard in Guangzhou (China) and will be launched in late 2016. The total carrying capacity of the newest ship will be 98 thousand tons.
The complex, which four-column case will be delivered to Ingleside, will consist of a base platform and an underwater system of cluster drilling in six directions. The task of the platform will be to drill 15 production wells and five water injection wells.