Pipeline Thermal Insulation for Malaysia’s Deepwater

Thermal insulations are widely used in oil and gas industries to reduce and minimize the heat loss. As the exploration of oil moving into deeper and further region where the temperature is low and pressure is high put new challenges on the insulation systems. There are active and passive insulation and the combination of both which have been used to solve the flow assurance issue of hydrates/wax formation. This paper will systematically categorize the available technology of the thermal insulation based on the criteria of each technology design, heating efficiency, operability and reparability. ANSYS Fluent is used to simulate the best two of active heating technology which are Electrically Trace Heated Pipe-in-Pipe (ETH-PiP) and Integrated Production Bundle (IPB) to find the best thermal insulation option for Malaysia’s deepwater condition. The comparison is made by the temperature drop of the production fluid in the pipeline for both thermal insulation technologies without input of heat from external source. Active power requirement by ETH PiP and IPB to maintain the temperature of the production fluid above 65˚C are also the criteria taken to determine the best insulation option in Malaysia’s deepwater condition. At the end of this project, ETH PiP is determine to be the better thermal insulation option for Malaysia’s deepwater condition.