Quote:
Originally Posted by Bootsy
In the last little while there has been a higher number of failures with these types of lines (flexpipe, fiberspar etc..) when it comes to water injection. The failures in most cases are caused by a combination of construction damage aggravated by high pressure and the cycle service the pumps are ran (off/on rather than steady flow) .
In fairness to the ERCB they have been requesting audits on fiberglass lines that are used on water injection, where they want producers to pressure test their lines, as well as providing construction records and operational procedures. We had 3 of these specific lines tested last year. Its unfortunate this one was caught before hand.
The problem with these lines is in a lot of cases when companies put them in 5-10 years ago they were using traditional pipe-lining companies who are used to steel pipes to install them with little experience with fiberglass lines and the hazards involved.
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The cyclic service issues should be addressed in the design as you have to add a 50% safety factor to the products stated Maximum Operating Pressure. Although I dont know when that requirement was added to z662.
Installation is always a concern with this type of product. I am very interested to read the ERCB report when it comes out as we have a few lines installed with these type of products.
