1327 blue stream

Blue Stream

COPblue 18-02-2004 15:53 Pagina 2

PROJECT CONCEPTION & IMPLEMENTATION 12

SCOPE OF WORK 15

LOGISTICS AND COMPLEXITY OF THE CONTRACT 19

ULTRA DEEP WATER SAIPEM TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 24

OPERATIONS 33

ROV AND SUBSEA OPERATIONS 37

Blue Stream

DEFINITIVO 18-02-2004 15:45 Pagina 1

Blue Stream


As the international gas sector expandsto ever deeper waters for productionand international export, Saipem hasbuilt on the success of the Hoover Dianaproject and reached a major milestonein its successful completion of the BlueStream project. Providing a conduit forexport of Russian gas direct to Turkey,execution of the Blue Stream project isviewed as a major political achievement,in addition to the well-documentedtechnological achievements emanatingfrom it. Using Saipem’s SSCV S7000, intandem with the DLV Castoro Otto,installation of twin 24-inch diameterpipelines crossing the Black Sea betweenRussia and Turkey at a water depth inexcess of 2150 metres is the mostsignificant and challenging deep waterpipeline project ever completed.

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Blue Stream


Award of the Blue Stream project toSaipem was preceded by more thanone year of intensive technicalfeasibility evaluation of the Client’sproposed scheme.Having confirmed that it was possiblefor a pipeline system to be installedacross the Black Sea, and havingdemonstrated to the Client Saipem’scapability for performing such a task,the basic and detail design phases of

the project were awarded to, andperformed by, Saipem within an EPCIenvironment. Performing the work in this mannerensures rigid control of all qualityaspects of the project, fromprocurement and production oflinepipe, through transportation,fabrication and installation to eventualcommissioning and handover to theClient.

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PROJECT CONCEPTION & IMPLEMENTATION


DZHUBGA

SAMSUN


Saipem was hired by BSPC (Blue StreamPipeline Company, a partnershipbetween Gazprom, the RussianNational Hydrocarbon Company, andSnam of the ENI Group) as GeneralContractor for the compressor facilitiesin Beregovaya, and for the Black Seacrossing. The offshore part of theproject was installed by Saipem, and theonshore compressor station was built byBouygues Offshore, now part of theSaipem group following its acquisitionin October 2002. Det Norske Veritas was the ProjectCertifying Party that reviewed andverified the Blue Stream PipelineProject for certification purposes. Saipem’s scope of work for the projectconsisted of the design, detailedengineering, management, procurement,construction, installation, testing,dewatering and drying of the following:• Russian Onshore Section: 2 no. 24”OD, 31.8mm thick pipelines betweenthe ESD Valves and the Russian LTE(ESD Valves excluded).• Submarine Pipelines: 2 no. 24” OD,

31.8mm thick pipelines between theRussian and Turkish LTE’s.• Turkish Onshore Section: 2 no. 24”OD, 31.8mm thick pipelines betweenthe Turkish LTE and the ESD Valve(ESD Valves excluded).The two pipelines were installedparallel to each other at a nominalseparation distance of between 5 and100 metres, except along the Russiancontinental slope where two differentroutes were selected. The two pipeline routes were termedRoute W2 (the westward route) andRoute E1 (the eastward route). Their lengths are about 389km and382km respectively.The lengths of the onshore pipelinesare about 1200m and 480m onshorefrom the Russian and Turkish landfallpoints respectively up to the ESDvalves.Installation of the two submarinepipeline sections involved shoreapproach works at the Russian andTurkish landfalls, and laying of thepipelines across the Black Sea.

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SCOPE OF WORK


The shore approach (or landfallpipeline installation) works werepreceded by pre-trenching activities.Pre-trenches were excavated betweenthe beach and approximately 10mwater depth on both the Russian andTurkish sides. Trenching work wascarried out using a combination ofonshore excavators and sea-goingdredging equipment. For shallowwater installation, standard pipe jointsof 12.2m length were used. Some ofthe pipe joints used for the shore pull(for the shore approach works) arealso weight coated with 45mm thickconcrete.The deep water sections, up to morethan 2150m WD, were installed usingthe J-lay method (S7000), whilst theshallow water sections, up to morethan 380m, were installed using theconventional S-lay method (CastoroOtto). The S7000 J-lay system utilises

pipe strings of 48.8m average length(called quadruple joints or quadjoints).Four no. 12.2m long standard pipejoints are welded together to form thequadjoint. Pipe carrier vesselstransported the quadjoints from theonshore base to the vessel. Thequadjoints were first stacked in acontainer near the quay. The containerwas then loaded aboard the vessel.

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In addition to the geotechnical,geomorphological and bathymetriccharacteristics of the regions to betraversed by the pipelines, i.e. ultra deepwater, H2S environment, steepness ofsubsea slopes and geohazard risks, themagnitude of the Blue Stream projectnecessitated procurement and fabricationof items from many countries worldwide.This raised many interface and logisticsissues.

Quadruple JointsA purpose-built Quadruple Joint (QJ)fabrication plant, occupying 90,000 sq.m,was constructed adjacent to IndustrialQuay, in the Commercial Port of Samsunin Turkey. Location of the plant close tothe Commercial Port and IndustrialQuay facilitated the logistics operationsthat the base provided for the receipt,

storage, transportation and loadout ofsingle joint linepipe, insulating joints,combi-joints, anodes, anchor flanges andQJ’s. Fabrication and loadout of 14,557quad joints was performed at the plant.As well as the 43,671 girth welds andassociated field joint coating, 8673anodes were installed.

Linepipe & Buckle Arrestor Supply andCoatingA major element of the project was theprocurement of linepipe and buckle

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LOGISTICS AND COMPLEXITY OF THE CONTRACT


arrestors associated transportation andcoating, involving sub-contractorsbased in Japan, UK and Malaysia. Due to the large quantity of SAWL I448 SF grade linepipe and bucklearrestors (more than 800km of 24”linepipe and 17km of 652mm OD x52.7mm WT buckle arrestors)required for the project, and in orderto ensure delivery of high qualityfinished articles within the criticalschedule deadlines, it was necessary toprocure linepipe from both Japan andthe UK. A Japanese Consortium ofNippon Steel Corporation, SumitomoMetal Industries, NKK and theKawasaki Steel Corporation supplied atotal of 690km of linepipe from Japan,whilst Corus UK supplied 89km of5km of concrete-coated linepipefrom UK.Buckle arrestor manufacture wasawarded to the Japanese Consortiumand Marubeni UK, both of whompassed the manufacture to theJapanese mills of NKK and OTK.Linepipe produced by the JapaneseConsortium was coated (bothinternally and externally) by BrederoPrice and PPSC Industries at Kuantanin Malaysia, and by Bredero Price atLeith in Scotland.Linepipe produced by Corus UK wascoated by BSR Pipeline Services inHartlepool, England, and at PriceCoaters Ltd of Leith in Scotland forconcrete coating.

Miscellaneous ItemsIn addition to linepipe and bucklearrestors, the following miscellaneousitems were also supplied from variouslocations:• 20 no. 7D Bends – mother pipe from

Germany, Belgium for bending, andUK for coating;

• 6 no. Insulating Joints – forging andmanufacture in Italy;

• 6 no. Anchor Flanges – forging andmanufacture in Italy;

• 10,438 no. Offshore Bracelet Anodes– 5,662 half shells from UK, 15,032half shells from Singapore;

• 71 no. overweight concrete mattresses– manufactured in UK;

• 2 no. HDPE pipeline crossing supports– raw materials from Finland, fabricationin UK;

• 20 no. cable crossing concrete mattresses– manufactured in UK.

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Testing & QualificationTesting of materials was performedboth in-situ and under simulatedlaboratory conditions. As an example,considerable laboratory tests wereperformed prior to selection of theanode material.Following completion of the design,and pr ior to commencement of

fabrication activities, an exhaustiveseries of Pre-Production Tests (PPT)and Procedure Qualification Tests(PQT) were performed, as necessary,to ensure that all the proceduresadopted guaranteed that the technicalrequirements defined during thedetailed design were maintained.

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Qualification TestsQualification tests were performed on thefollowing equipment, systems and vessels: • Welding and Automatic Ultrasonic

Testing (AUT)• Field Joint Coating (FJC) and Field

Coating Repair (FCR)• Quadjoint fabrication plant (Samsun

Base) • Anode Installation System• Post Trenching Machine• Wet Buckle Recovery System (WBRS)• J-lay vessel (S-7000) and associated

equipment• Stress monitoring equipment (DP Pipe)• Topas System• Micro Wave Buckle Detector (MWBD)• Emergency Recovery System (ERS)• Reverse Stinger (RS)• S-lay vessel (Castoro Otto) and

associated equipment

Welding and NDTWhen pipelaying in J-lay mode,quadjoints are welded into the pipelinein the J-lay tower. Saipem developed andtested, in-house, a new welding methodconsisting of a purpose-made weldingsystem comprising 3 no. Presto TwinTorch Welding Units mounted on apurpose made rotating platform(carousel). While the core elements ofthe welding system have been usedextensively in the past, (PRESTO isbased on the well known PASSO systemand both have been used on numerouspipelines in S-lay mode), the systemproposed for Blue Stream containedsome previously unused features.In accordance with DNV requirements,the new welding system had to bequalified prior to use. This was achievedby performing a number of sea trials.

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ULTRA DEEP WATER SAIPEM TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT


The sea trials were divided into twophases. In the first phase Saipem set upthe various S7000 systems andconducted in-house trials withstraightforward J-lay with tower angleset 7° from vertical. The second phasewas conducted in the presence of theClient, BSPC and DNV, the CertifyingAuthority. During the second phase, J-lay

was performed with tower angles set at20°, 10° and 7° from vertical. Both trialphases were concluded successfully.

Stress MonitoringSpecial equipment was specificallydeveloped by Saipem to ensure thatpipelaying was performed in compliancewith the requirements of the DNV

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design code, especially in terms of stressmonitoring. The J-lay system wasimplemented on the basis of theexperience gained on the Hoover Dianaproject in the Gulf of Mexico. Specialattention was paid to safety aspectsduring laying in terms of personnel andpipeline integrity. Consequently, anumber of HAZOP, FMEA and “What-if” analyses were performed.New equipment was designed andinstalled onboard S7000, such as areverse stinger and new rollers c/wload monitoring instrumentation.Stress monitoring was performed usingconventional methods such as toptension and touch down pointmonitoring. Additional equipment wasdeveloped to complement theseconventional methods, and wasqualified for future purposes via anumber of sea trials performed inNorway during 2000 - 2001.A microwave buckle detector wasdeveloped, built and installed on S7000to detect buckles during laying so as toavoid the use of a conventional cable-pulled buckle detector in such deepwater. An acoustic system was alsodeveloped and installed to monitor thepipeline catenary during laying.This complemented the purpose-developed stress monitoring softwarecapable of assimilating data fromseveral systems and presenting it ingraphical form on the vessel bridge.A remote controlled robot was also

designed and built for emergencyrecovery of any dropped object in thepipeline. The robot can be launched intothe pipeline from within the vessel J-laytower.

CoatingsA three layer polypropylene coatingconsisting of a first layer of fusionbonded epoxy, a second layer ofpolypropylene adhesive and an outerlayer of polypropylene was selected asanti-corrosion coating of the BlueStream pipelines. The selection was theresult of extensive testing performedduring the feasibility study in theaggressive environment of the Black Seacontaining H2S. The application technology was notsufficiently developed at the time, andthe existing international codes did notcompletely cover the Blue Streamrequirements. An extensive qualification program wastherefore undertaken involving severalpotential Subcontractors to qualifymaterials and application processes. Theprocesses had to be adapted to thefollowing operating scenarios:• field joint coating during laying in

deep waters performed by S7000,• field joint coating during laying in

shallow waters performed by CastoroOtto,

• field joint coating during fabricationof the quadruple joints performed atSamsun base,

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• field joint coating for the onshoresections of the pipelines in Russia andin Turkey.

The process for the field joint coatingactivities onboard S7000 and in Samsunwas based on the application of the outerlayer by means of polypropylene injectedin a mould closed around the field joint.The process for the field joint coatingonboard Castoro Otto was based on theapplication of a polypropylene film asouter layer. Both processes were fullycomputer-controlled. Great effort was spent to ensure qualityduring production since it was notpossible to perform destructive testsduring production. This was achieved byan extensive qualification program,where the number and ranges of theprocess parameters governing the fieldjoint coating quality were identified.During production, computer controlensured that the process parameters

were kept within range. A special plantwas installed for this purpose in Samsun,whilst dedicated machines were installedonboard the laying vessels. Field jointcoating for the onshore sections of thepipelines was based on the application ofpolypropylene heat shrinkable sleeves.

Wet Buckle Recovery System (WBRS)Although highly unlikely, Saipem hasdeveloped a diverless WBRS specifically as acontingency for deep water repair of a wetbuckle during J-lay operations. The WBRScomprises the following main components:• H-Frame,• Pipe Cutting Tool,• Lifting Clamps,• Pipeline Recovery Head Insertion

Tool (PRHIT),• Buoys and clump weights.The system has been tested andapproved, and is deployed from aDSV under ROV guidance.

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Installation operations commenced withtrench excavation at the Russian side(up to 10m water depth) followed bytrench excavation at the Turkish side(up to 10m water depth). The works were performed bySIDRA using a Cutter SuctionDredger, floating pipeline andoutlet spreader pontoon. CastoroOtto, without stinger, commencedshore pulling at the Russian side.Line W2 was pulled ashore first,followed by normal laying andabandonment at 22m water depth,then Line E1 was pulled ashorefollowed by normal laying andabandonment at 22m water depth.Both lines were pulled ashore via a 300tonne capacity return sheave installedon the beach. The stinger was then attached to

Castoro Otto, which recoveredand laid Line W2 up to 382m WD,then recovered Line E1 and laidup to 355m WD. Castoro Ottothen proceeded to the Turkishside, where a trench had beenprepared, and a linear winchinstalled on the beach for shorepulling of the pipelines fromCastoro Otto. Line E1 was pulledfirst followed by normal layingand abandonment in 12m waterdepth, then Line W2 was pulled,followed by normal laying andabandonment in 33m water depth.Castoro Otto then recovered andlaid Line E1 up to 33m WD anddemobilised from the field.S7000 was then mobilised to thefield via the Bosphorus Strait. The A-frames of the cranes on

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OPERATIONS


board had to be lowered duringpassage through the Strait toavoid contact with the variousbridges and high voltage cablestraversing the route.In addition to conventional pipelayingrequirements, detailed engineeringactivities identified specific requirementsconcerning certain aspects of pipelayingactivities along the route. These particular requirements were:• Limitations to applied tensions

during pipelay,• Restrictions to pipelay tolerances,• Touchdown point monitoring to

avoid boulders,• Assessment of free spans detected

during pipelay.Very specific procedures had to beproduced in order to overcome theseimposed conditions.S7000 commenced installation activitiesby recovering Line W2 abandoned in382m water depth on the Russianslope and laying towards Turkey. Line W2 was abandoned inapproximately 155m water depth onthe Turkish shelf.S7000 then returned to the Russianside, recovered line E1 abandoned in355m water depth on the Russianslope, and started deepwater layingtowards Turkey.During laying of Line E1 by S7000,Castoro Otto was re-mobilised onthe Turkish side, recovered Line W2abandoned by S7000 in approximately

155m water depth, and laid towardsthe Turkish shore up to 33.5m waterdepth, abandoning the pipeline inreadiness for the above water tie-in.Following completion of the abovewater tie-in of Line W2, CastoroOtto was again demobilised.Flooding, pigging and testing of LineW2 was then performed.Following completion of deep waterinstallation of Line E1 in the samemanner as Line W2, S7000 wasdemobilised.Castoro Otto was then re-mobilisedand completed laying of Line E1 inshallow water followed by the abovewater tie-in in the same manner asthat for Line W2. Flooding, pigging and testing of theLine E1 was then performed.Flooding and pigging was performedfrom the Russian side. In addition to the conventionalhydrotesting spread, a contingencyflooding and de-watering stationwas also set up to cover anycontingency situation arising duringinstallation activities.A number of surveys were performedby the Akademick Golitsyn surveyvessel prior to, during, and afterinstallation activities to assess seabedand pipeline conditions. The vessel was equipped with 1 no.Innovator ROV (3500m rating) andsurface and underwater positioningsystems.

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DP DSV Polar Prince, with twoInnovator work-class ROV’s onboard, was used for essentialintervention works, survey (whenrequired) and any required repairworks. Main works performed byPolar Prince on the Blue Streamproject were as follows:• ITUR West Crossing installation,• BSFOCS West Crossing installation,• BSFOCS East Crossing installation,• Installation of Topas Reflectors,• ITUR East Crossing installation,• Offshore verification operations for

Beluga trenching machine,• Free span intervention works W2

pipeline,

• Overweight mattresses installation,• S7000 J-lay Support E1 Critical lay

(Russian slope),• Provide support to S7000 as required

during deep water lay operations,• Above-water tie-in surveys.Post-trenching intervention works wereperformed using the Beluga post-laytrenching machine. This machine was specifically upgradedfor the Blue Stream project mainly tocope with the extreme water depths,steep subsea slopes and trench depths upto 5m.S7000 also has 2 no. dedicated InnovatorROV’s onboard enabling continuoustouchdown monitoring operations.

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ROV AND SUBSEA OPERATIONS


Saipem SpA - Via Martiri di Cefalonia, 67 - 20097 San Donato Milanese (MI) - Italy - Tel. +39 02 520.1 - Fax +39 02 520.44415www.saipem.eni.it

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1327 blue stream

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