Development of a New Class of Sustainable Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipes for Clean Oil and Gas Transport

为了增加在竞争激烈的全球市场中的份额，Shawcor有意将其增强热塑性塑料管（RTP）的规格扩展到更高的服务等级，即温度和压力。在这项研究计划中，预计将开发新的突破性技术，用于在高达100 °C的温度和1500 psi的最大工作压力下经济生产RTP。然而，Shawcor目前基于HDPE的RTP产品的热稳定性和机械稳定性不够高，无法承受温度升高至100 °C所导致的降解速率增加。迄今为止，广泛的研究工作已经导致选择多层复合管设计用于此目的。这种设计在必要时利用了工程热塑性塑料的上级特性，同时通过在复合管的要求较低的部分中使用商品热塑性塑料来最小化总体产品成本。目前的研究项目将集中在解决与多层管道设计的就业，例如材料选择和界面粘合相关的复杂技术挑战。研究不仅需要设计出高效且高度可靠的多层管道解决方案，而且还需要了解多层复合材料在实际应用条件下的长期行为，例如长期暴露（老化）于流体（例如，烃、盐水、甲醇、CO2和H2S）、热/压力循环和风化。通过进行这些研究，多伦多大学的研究团队将有机会与Shawcor工厂的专家合作，开发适合全面生产的材料范例。

In order to increase their share in a competitive global market, Shawcor is interested in expanding the specifications of their reinforced thermoplastic pipes (RTPs) to higher service ratings, namely temperature and pressure. In this research program, it is expected to develop new and ground-breaking techniques for the economical production of RTPs for use at temperatures as high as 100 °C and maximum service pressure of 1500 psi. However, the thermal and mechanical stability of Shawcor's current HDPE-based RTP products are not high enough to sustain the increase in the rate of degradation caused by the elevation of temperature to 100 °C. The extensive research efforts have so far led to the selection of a multi-layered composite pipe design for this purpose. This design takes advantage of the superior characteristics of engineering thermoplastics where necessary, while minimizing the overall product cost by enabling the use of commodity thermoplastics in the less demanding parts of the composite pipe. The present research project will focus on addressing the complex technical challenges associated with the employment of multilayer pipe designs, e.g. materials selection and interfacial adhesion. Research is required to not only devise efficient and highly reliable multi-layered pipe solutions but also to develop an understanding of the long-term behavior of multi-layered composite materials under realistic application conditions such as prolonged exposure (aging) to fluids (e.g., hydrocarbons, brine, methanol, CO2 and H2S), thermal/pressure cycling and weathering. Through conducting these studies, the research team at the University of Toronto will have the opportunity to collaborate with experts at Shawcor's facilities to develop a material paradigm suitable for full-scale production.