Aspen Aerogels Wins Contract to Insulate Subsea Tieback in Gulf of Mexico

Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Aspen Aerogels has been awarded a contract from Technip to supply Spaceloft® advanced aerogel thermal insulation for the Caesar-Tonga subsea tieback to the Constitution spar, located in Green Canyon 680, in the Gulf of Mexico.

The tieback system consists of two pipe-in-pipe (PIP) insulated oil flowlines (referred to as North and South Caesar-Tonga flowlines) connected to two insulated flexible risers that originate from the spar.

Aspen Aerogels’ Spaceloft, qualified for high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) subsea pipe-in-pipe applications, provides the lowest proven thermal conductivity of any insulation. The Spaceloft will be delivered in modern, low emissivity packaging that makes the insulation easy and quick to install and improves thermal performance.

Technip, the leader in PIP technologies, is building the rigid pipeline at its Mobile, Ala., spoolbase for U.S. oil and natural gas company Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and its partners. This is the second Anadarko project for Aspen Aerogels.

Aspen’s aerogel thermal insulation has been installed in more than 250 kilometers of subsea pipelines in fields located in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Brazil, offshore Angola and the North Sea. Aspen’s insulations are used in offshore platforms, refineries, LNG facilities and other industrial facilities. Aspen’s materials also are being designed for electrically heated pipe-in-pipe (EHPIP) applications, new flexible LNG transfer lines, cryogenic valve boxes and other challenging areas.

Technip and Aspen Aerogels have teamed on numerous projects. Aspen Aerogels supports Technip’s drive for superior flexible cryogenic insulation, ultra-low thermally conducting insulation for the longest subsea tiebacks and high temperature thermal insulation for field joints. Aspen’s aerogel insulations are being used by dozens of operators at several locations worldwide. Aspen insulation is especially suitable for long length pipelines in low temperature margin fields where insulation performance counts the most.

Aspen has extensive experience insulating oil and gas pipelines and reservoirs operating between minus 170 degrees Celsius (cryogenic temperature for liquefied natural gas) and 650 degrees Celsius. Aspen’s insulation products are used in applications upstream (subsea pipelines), midstream (platforms) and downstream (processing facilities).

Technip is the integrated PIP leader in deep offshore waters, having worked on similar challenging fields since 1989 and having achieved installation by reeling as deep as 2,961 meters (9,713 feet). Caesar-Tonga water depth in the field varies from 4200 feet to 5100 feet.

About Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels supplies industry-leading aerogel insulation products that are up to eight times more effective than other insulation materials. Aspen’s insulation solutions enable customers to reduce capital and operational costs while easily incorporating insulation in demanding industries such as oil and gas, LNG and cryogenic transport, building and construction, and military and aerospace. Aspen manufactures three lines of products (Spaceloft, Cryogel and Pyrogel) at its state-of-the-art, high-capacity plant in East Providence, R.I. For more information, visit www.aerogel.com for details.

About Technip

With a workforce of 22,000 people, Technip ranks among the top five corporations in the field of oil, gas and petrochemical engineering, construction and services. The Group is headquartered in Paris with main operating centers and business units in France, Italy, Germany, the UK, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, the USA, Brazil, Abu-Dhabi, China, India, Malaysia and Australia. In support of its activities, the Group manufactures flexible pipes and umbilicals, and builds offshore platforms in its manufacturing plants and fabrication yards in France, Brazil, the UK, the USA, Finland and Angola, and has a fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction.

Source: PR Newswire