Gas Pipeline System Construction Project at Black Sea Depths of up to 2140 m

摘要

The amount of offshore pipeline construction work in Russia, in the Black, Baltic, Barents, Kara and Okhotsk seas, will reach over 6,000 km, according to the predictions available. On Rg.1 -The Plan of transmission of pipelines through the Black Sea, on fig.2 -The structure of transmission of pipelines through the Black Sea. Each of the above-mentioned projects has its own specific features. There are currently various options of the gas pipeline system construction from Russia to Turkey. One of the options is to lay the gas pipeline on the Black Sea bottom. The gas pipeline route crosses the Black Sea at depths reaching 2140 m. This option is characterized by the following specific features: large sea depth; complicated shore configuration, subject to seismic and landslide processes; a large amount of hydrogen sulfide (H_2S) in water starting with a depth of 200 m and many others. The main problem of laying pipeline in deep sea water is to avoid pipe buckling due to bending under external pressure and its propaga-tion along the pipeline at great distances. The paper is focussed on the problems of determining the required wall thickness of the offshore pipeline. It provides some data related to the design of pipelines and their stability under combined external pressure and bending in accordance with the methods described in the draft Russian standard for design and construction of offshore pipeline systems.