Celanese In Deal For Deepwater Thermoplastic Composite Pipes

Celanese Corp. has devised an interesting multi-year strategic supply agreement with Airborne Oil & Gas B.V., the global leading supplier of spoolable thermoplastic composite pipe systems for deepwater offshore operations, for the development and supply of thermoplastic composite materials for these pipe systems.

 

Global composites business manager Michael Ruby says, “Our multi-year supply agreement demonstrates the Celanese commitment to meeting the needs of the oil and gas sector and supporting it future needs. It will ensure a supply of numerous, fully-qualified engineered materials that can meet the demand for oil and gas pipes.”

 

The company already plays an important role in helping to ensure efficient offshore operations via engineered materials used in thermoplastic composite pipe. A good example is the flexible pipeline system for Airborne that incorporates Celstran CFR-TP (continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite) technologies, which is suitable for use in flowlines, downlines, jumpers, intervention lines, risers and other offshore pipe systems.

 

The durable, spoolable, lightweight composite pipe systems designed and manufactured by Airborne, have high mechanical strength to withstand the extremely high pressures and tensile loads of deep-sea offshore operations, and combine and excellent chemical stability with very good resistance to fatigue, aging and permeation. The absence of corrosion reduces maintenance costs, and the smooth inner bore improves the pressure performance. These pipes are made in a fully-automated manufacturing process and can be made up to several kilometers of length in one product.

 

Celstran CFR-TP offers the widest range of matrix materials available in the composites industry, and numerous reinforcing fiber options. These composites can be tailored to meet specific dimensional and application requirements for robust, lightweight and corrosion-resistant parts that require: superior performance vs. metal and metal alloys; significant reduction in lifecycle costs compared to metal; outstanding mechanical properties—low weight with high rigidity and toughness; high impact and notched impact strength; very low creep and warpage; resistance to interlaminar crack propagation; and very good resistance to high temperatures.

 

Want to find or compare materials data for different resins, grades, or suppliers? Check out Plastic Technology’s Plaspec Global materials database.