Flexible pipes made from polyamide 12 outplay polyamide 11

Following 14 years of research, the Institut Français du Petrole selected PA 11 and PA 12 as the best of several hundreds of materials tested for flexible piping. The paper OTC 5231, “Improved Thermoplastic Materials for Offshore Flexible Pipes” published in 1988 by the Institut Français du Petrole und Coflexip S.A., underscores the performance of both polyamide grades in this area.

In an approval program conducted jointly with an industry partner and a leading oil company, Evonik has shown that VESTAMID^® LX9020 complies with industry standards for flexible piping (API 17J and EN ISO 13628-2). In an aging study carried out by an independent accredited institute, the material showed better hydrolytic resistance than PA 11. It was also shown that the material has greater resistance to fracture.

First polyamide to receive Lloyd’s approval

VESTAMID^® LX9020 is the first polyamide 12 to receive Lloyd’s Register approval for production of flexible risers (non-bonded flexible pipes) for transport of production and injection fluids in offshore crude oil production. Since the end of 2006 more than 340 flexible lines have been produced that contain VESTAMID^® LX9020 as barrier or outer layers.

The flexible pipes can be installed in a single piece from the offshore production platform to the drill hole, at depths of up to about 2,000 meters of water. In long-term tests extending over more than two years, polyamide pipes performed well with excellent UV and hydrolytic resistance as well as chemical resistance to oil field chemicals and crude oil, considered to be highly aggressive.