Over the last 40 years, flexible pipe technology has continuously evolved through incremental improvements to tackle ultra-deep-water challenges, highly dynamic riser applications and ever more challenging reservoir conditions.
During the last few years, flexible pipe has been exposed to increasingly challenging combined requirements, especially in Brazil pre-salt fields, where ultra-deep waters (2000m and beyond) are associated to severe operating and fluid conditions (higher pressure & temperature, high CO2 content with presence of H2S). As a result of these challenging operating conditions, a new failure mechanism affecting the steel load bearing layers– Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) – under high CO2 partial pressure has been encountered and is affecting the entire flexible pipe industry.

To tackle these challenges TechnipFMC launched the development of Hybrid Flexible Pipe (HFP), based on state-of-the-art composite material technology combining Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) and conventional flexible layers, aimed at addressing these demanding technical requirements as well as offering a cost-effective alternative not only to traditional flexible pipes but also to rigid pipeline solutions.

Based on the extensive testing achieved to date, TFMC has now confirmed that HFP is a definitive solution to address SCC and is the new pipe technology of choice for high CO2 pre-salt applications. Beyond the deep-water pre-salt development applications, HFP is also a robust solution for CO2 transportation able to withstand up to 100% CO2 conditions and can therefore be a key enabler for future carbon capture and storage offshore projects.