RTP is a plastic pipe, initially developed by Akzo Nobel early 90s and by Tubes d'Aquitaine[1] from France, who developed the first pipes reinforced with synthetic fiber to replace steel high pressure pipes. Material of the pipe might be Polyethylene (PE), Polyamide-11 or PVDF and can be reinforced with Aramid or Polyester fibre.[2] Nowadays the technology of producing such pipe including the marketing is mainly in hands of Pipelife with Soluforce and available in coils up to 400m length. These pipes are available in pressure ratings from 30 to 90Bar. The last few years this type of pipe is acknowledged as the standardised solution for oilfield flowlines.[3] A very great advantage of this pipe is also its very fast installation time compared to steel pipe as average speeds up to 1000m/day have been reached installing RTP in ground surface.[4] The pipe mainly benefits applications where steel fails due to corrosion and installation time is an issue.
Technology and history
The idea of synthetic fiber reinforced pipe came from Akzo Nobel, where Bert Dalmolen initiated a project to develop such a pipe. He was later hired by Pipelife where a state of art production line was developed to produce RTP. Pipelife also developed a pipe reinforced with steel wire to achieve even higher pressure ratings of over 150Bar. Mr Chevrier (Tubes d'Aquitaine) also developed machinery that could produce such pipes, but was not successful in commercialising RTP.