The project examines how left in place subsea pipelines degrade over time and will generate evidence to support environmental assessments and inform future offshore decommissioning decisions. Photo by Jens Freudenau https://unsplash.com/@jenstakesphotos

News

A new project has been launched under INSITE Phase 3 to better understand how subsea pipelines break down over time when left in place.

CoRRODE (Coating and Residue Release from Offshore Degraded Equipment) is led by Professor Alfred Akisanya at the University of Aberdeen in collaboration with the National Decommissioning Centre (NDC).

Exposure to the subsea environment gradually degrades pipelines, which are typically made of carbon steel coated with concrete or polymer. Hydrocarbon production can result in the buildup of scale deposits composed of organic wax, heavy metals, and Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM). INSITE’s Phase 3 project: CoRRODE aims to advance the understanding of the medium-term and long-term degradation mechanisms of left-in-place decommissioned subsea pipelines.

The project focuses on both the breakdown and dispersal of physical particles from rigid pipelines and the mobilisation and environmental fate of contaminants found within the pipeline scale.

The vision of CoRRODE is to generate robust, quantitative insights that can inform predictive modelling and environmental assessments related to pipeline degradation and dispersal of breakdown particles. The focus lies on the pipeline material and its surrounding environment, providing a scope for high-resolution analysis to support more informed and effective decommissioning strategies.

Read more on the INSITE website here – Coating and Residue Release from Offshore Degraded Equipment (CoRRODE) – INSITE North Sea

INSITE (Influence of Man-made Structures In The Ecosystem) is an independent scientific research programme investigating the environmental and social impacts of Marine Artificial Structures in the North Sea.

Notes for Editors