Florence Cochard and Marco Bou Khalil, EUPEC Pipecoatings France, describe the development and applications of a 5-layer polypropylene foam coating system for thermal insulation. Over the past 15 years, direct insulation of the pipeline has become the most utilised solution for flow assurance, as it overcomes the risks in the transportation of multiphase mixes of oil and gas, and sometimes water. In flowlines, one can face flow difficulties, phases separation, temperature drop, formation of hydrates, wax and possible plugs, drops in fluid viscosity and potential pipeline shutdown as a result.
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