Strohm has completed a joint industry programme (JIP) with Petrobras and Shell for its Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) flowline technology. The project, comprising of a full-scale qualification and extensive offshore field trial, is the world’s most advanced initiative to bring TCP flowlines offshore under actual field conditions, and it has the potential to revolutionise the deepwater market in Brazil and beyond with a corrosion-free flowline solution that has a 30-year design life.
The region’s prolific pre-salt provinces have some of the most productive wells in the world. However, the high CO2 concentrations in these fields have been reported to lead to premature failure of conventional flexible pipes. These failures are caused by stress corrosion cracking, an aggressive form of corrosion caused by the presence of CO2; avoiding such failures requires operators to replace the conventional flexible flowlines regularly, in turn leading to deferred production.
The JIP programme delivers the first fully qualified flowline designed to meet the most onerous conditions of the Brazilian pre-salt, including operation in environments with a high CO2 content, for a service life of 30 years. Building on Strohm's systematic qualification methodology, the programme included system-representative testing that validated the interaction between the pipe, end-fitting and sealing interfaces under realistic operating conditions, ensuring a robust and predictable performance throughout the entire system lifecycle.
Martin van Onna, Strohm’s CEO commented: 'The project has great strategic relevance for the subsea sector in Brazil and beyond, as it decisively solves one of the major pipeline integrity challenges identified in recent years: the risk of stress-corrosion cracking in environments with a high CO2 concentration. By using non-metallic TCP, corrosion is simply eliminated, strengthening system integrity and operational reliability in challenging subsea environments.'
'Strohm’s TCP flowline is designed to be installed by today’s installation vessels without the need to change anything. The installation procedures do not require material changes and the pipeline’s behaviour both on the vessel and subsea during installation is fully predictable and in line with industry practice. Strohm’s TCP can be considered as a suitable replacement for flexible lines currently vulnerable to corrosion and we are ramping up production capacity to meet the expected demand.'
Under the JIP, DNV qualified a 6-inch carbon fibre-PA12 TCP for alternating injection of water and gas (WAG) service for enhanced oil recovery, in accordance with DNV-ST-F119. Explain
The qualification programme accounted for more than 50,000 testing hours, the equivalent of six calendar years, covering materials, sealing testing, and full-scale testing. The extensive full-scale testing campaign itself comprised more than 40 individual tests conducted across seven laboratories and certified testing houses across Europe and Brazil. The programme, which has now been completed, complements the previous material testing that was executed by our supplier Evonik.
Ramón Rojas, JIP programme manager at Strohm said: 'The development is based on a fully integrated methodology that combines engineering design, material selection, structural analysis and full-scale validation. This approach ensures that predicted and actual performance are aligned, providing a high level of confidence in the system’s behaviour under demanding operational conditions and guaranteeing reliability throughout its 30-year service life.'
Philippe Noury, technical lead for the DNV verification, added: 'This qualification provides the independent technical basis for moving into the planned pilot. It also gives the industry a practical example of how non-metallic flowlines can be assessed under DNV-ST-F119 for demanding, high-CO2 deepwater service.'
Following the DNV qualification, offshore field trials were successfully completed with a TCP flowline in July 2026, including deep immersion performance (DIP) tests, as well as subsea vertical connection tests. These offshore tests are important to validate the pipe’s robustness and confirm its reliable performance during offshore handling, installation and subsea system connection.
The completion of the full-scale qualification and the offshore field trial were the final steps prior to Petrobras installing and operating a pilot flowline in a Brazilian pre-salt field, which is planned for early 2027. Strohm’s TCP technology has a superior fatigue performance and is lightweight compared to steel, allowing it to be installed using vessels of convenience.
Source: Strohm
