Beyond that, usually oil comes out of a deep-sea well with clearly higher temperatures than the surrounding water in depths of up to 2.100 meters.
If pipes are not properly insulated, the viscosity of the oil will be strongly increased. In connection with the length of the pipeline, this can reduce the flow rate substantially. Beyond that, in the long term Paraffin will settle at the inner walls of the pipes, which can lead to a complete collapse of the pipeline.
Therefore flow lines and risers must be heated or insulated, so that the temperature of the oil remains as constant as possible and an undisturbed enterprise can be achieved.
Due to the very high expenditure and the enormous costs of heated systems insulated pipes are very common today. Conventional insulating materials, for example mineral fibers, cellulose film, Perlites or Polyurethane-foams thereby lead either to very thick or very rigid pipelines.
It is very important to use a very flexible but also good insulating system, particularly with pipelines, manufactured as endless pipes on shore, since they are wound up and locally unwound again.
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