Statoil is to replace 40 separate fire protection systems on its three platforms, Statfjord A, B and C, over a period of 2-3 years. The order is valued at approx. NOK40 million. The titanium pipes to be used in the new systems will be supplied by the Swedish company Permascand. Statoil has recently carried out tests on the materials used in fire protection equipment. They were subjected to a 'jet fire', with temperatures well in excess of 1,000°C. The titanium pipes do not appear to have suffered any adverse effects.

Titanium pipes have been used in the Norwegian oil fields since 1995 because of the material's corrosion resistance and durability at high temperatures, even during explosive fires. On earlier platforms, which were built at the beginning of the 1980s, other materials were usually used, e.g. carbon steel and copper nickel - materials which, in the long term, have difficulty in resisting corrosion resulting from the use of sea water in the sprinkler systems.
Resistant to heat and salt water
"This can lead to reduced reliability and fairly high maintenance costs," says Stein Madland, the CEO of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) in Trondheim, one of the companies now working on replacing the pipes in the 'deluge system' damaged by corrosion.
"If companies had used titanium pipes during the initial installation, the systems would not need replacing now," says Steinar Lied of Statoil in a statement.
Several competitors have claimed that titanium pipes would not stand up to the fierce temperatures that can develop during a 'blow out' or an explosive fire on board an oil platform.
Titanium has, however, been used in the fire protection systems on board several platforms other than those belonging to Statoil since 1995.
Once Statoil decided to replace the 40 deluge systems on the three platforms operating in the Statfjord field, it chose to test those materials currently available. They were subjected to a 'jet' - a naked flame reaching temperatures in excess of 1,000°C - while water was pumped through the pipes. At the conclusion of the two-hour test, the titanium pipes appeared not to have been affected in any way. The material also demonstrated great resistance to shock waves.

Small dimensions
"Titanium pipes are also used to advantage when circumstances require pipes to be of small dimensions or to be bent," explains Lied.
The deluge system functions in such a way that all nozzles over the entire area are opened, releasing the water from the sprinkler systems, even if the area where the fire starts is quite small.
"The idea is that you don't just tackle the fire at the place where it broke out; you also need to quickly cool the area around the fire to prevent it from taking hold and spreading," says Madland of FPE.
The three platforms in the Statfjord field began operating in 1978, 1981 and 1984, and are the oldest Statoil production platforms still in operation.
It is not only the offshore industry that is taking a greater interest in switching to titanium pipes, despite their relatively high cost. The advantages of their long service life and the reduced maintenance requirements counterbalance the initial costs.
"There are examples of titanium pipes being using in heat exchangers that are still in operation 40 years later, without any sign of corrosion," insists Thor Jörgensen of Permascand in Norway.

Facts:
Titanium is a metallic element belonging to group 4 a in the periodic table and was discovered by Englishman William Gregor in 1791. It occurs naturally in the minerals rutile and ilmenite. Titanium has a resistance in the same class as high-grade steel, but has a specific weight which is more than half that of steel. It has a greater corrosion resistance than stainless steel and its resistance to high temperatures is significantly greater than that of aluminium.
Permascand is a Swedish company, which, among other things, specialises in manufacturing titanium products for use in industries where the emphasis is on corrosion resistance, durability and low weight.

Picture captions:
1. Statoil is replacing fire protection systems on its three platforms in the Statfjord field.

2. Titanium pipes have been subjected to vigorous testing, including a 'jet fire', in which the temperatures exceed 1,000°C. Having passed both heat and corrosion tests, the pipes will now be used in the deluge systems.

For more information, please contact:
Thor Jörgensen
Tel.: +47 67 90 59 50, or e-mail: thor.jorgensen@akzo.no

Hugh Saville
Tel.: +44 20 8894 1777, or e-mail: hsaville@mibd.co.uk