DNV Supports Testing of Submerged CO2 Pipelines

Independent energy expert and assurance provider DNV is working with Wintershall Noordzee and the OTH Regensburg University of Applied Sciences to explore how existing natural gas pipelines in the southern North Sea can be used for future carbon dioxide transport. The work scope entails large-scale CO2 pipeline testing of running fracture in submerged condition, which is a world first for the energy industry, and a comparison with similar testing of the pipe in open air. The aim of the tests is to quantify the potential beneficial effect of the water surrounding the pipeline on the crack arrest behavior for a specific pipeline, and thus better define the model parameters used for different backfill types.Further, preliminary simulation results using numerical models suggest that running fracture in pipelines transporting dense phase CO2 may be easier arrested in submerged conditions vs in air. The project initiated by Wintershall Dea AG will also aim at experimentally validating this theory.The large-scale testing of the CO2 pipelines will take place at DNV’s Testing and Research Facility at Spadeadam in the UK. Wintershall Dea AG will provide the design of the fracture arrest test and test-set up, with guidance from OTH and DNV followed by interpretation of the results. There are currently plans for two large-scale tests to be carried out in different environments: in air and submerged in water (>5 m depth) and option for testing the pipeline buried in soil.The project will provide validation of the effect of having the pipeline submerged in water with respect to the capability to arrest a running ductile fracture. Beyond that, the project is expected to provide very valuable input to validation of numerical models for running ductile fracture.

DNV Supports Testing of Submerged CO2 Pipelines

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