Strohm has concluded a joint industry programme (JIP) in collaboration with Petrobras and Shell to qualify its Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) flowline technology.
Featuring full-scale qualification and extensive offshore field testing, the project represents the most advanced initiative worldwide to evaluate TCP flowlines under actual offshore conditions. The corrosion-free solution offers a 30-year design life and holds the potential to transform deepwater operations in Brazil and globally.
The JIP has delivered the first fully qualified flowline engineered to endure the harshest Brazilian pre-salt conditions, including severe CO₂ environments, over a 30-year operational span. Utilizing Strohm's systematic qualification framework, the programme incorporated system-representative testing to validate interactions between the pipe, end-fittings, and sealing interfaces under realistic operating conditions, ensuring predictable long-term system integrity.
Martin van Onna, Strohm’s CEO said, “The project has great strategic relevance for the subsea sector in Brazil and beyond, as it decisively solves one of the major pipeline integrity challenges identified in recent years: the risk of stress‑corrosion cracking in environments with a high CO₂ concentration. By using non-metallic TCP, corrosion is simply eliminated, strengthening system integrity and operational reliability in challenging subsea environments.”
“Strohm’s TCP flowline is designed to be installed by today’s installation vessels without the need to change anything. The installation procedures do not require material changes and the pipeline’s behaviour both on the vessel and subsea during installation is fully predictable and in line with industry practice. Strohm’s TCP can be considered as a suitable replacement for flexible lines currently vulnerable to corrosion and we are ramping up production capacity to meet the expected demand.”
Ramón Rojas, JIP programme manager at Strohm said, “The development is based on a fully integrated methodology that combines engineering design, material selection, structural analysis and full‑scale validation. This approach ensures that predicted and actual performance are aligned, providing a high level of confidence in the system’s behaviour under demanding operational conditions and guaranteeing reliability throughout its 30‑year service life.”
Philippe Noury, technical lead for the DNV verification, said, "This qualification provides the independent technical basis for moving into the planned pilot. It also gives the industry a practical example of how non-metallic flowlines can be assessed under DNV-ST-F119 for demanding, high-CO₂ deepwater service.”
