A method to improve the barrier performance of flexible riser internal pressure sheath—Heat transfer experiment and simulation

Abstract

A considerable amount of acidic gas penetrates into the annulus between the internal pressure sheath and the outer protective sheath during the service of flexible risers, which will inevitably lead to corrosion of the metal functional layer. Many researchers have modified nanocomposites from the mass transfer perspective to reduce the materials' permeability coefficient. While permeation is an integrated process of heat and mass transfer process, heat distribution directly impacts gas permeation. Herein, the thermal conductivity of flexible riser liner materials is predicted for the first time by a combination of molecular dynamics and experiments, and then the radial temperature distribution under different seawater temperatures and internal fluid temperatures is investigated by finite element analysis. Finally, the effect of temperature distribution on the permeation coefficient was analyzed. The results demonstrate that the thermal conductivity can be predicted by molecular dynamics simulation, and the thermal conductivity of (polyvinylidene difluoride) PVDF/TiO2 decreases, while the thermal conductivity of PVDF/carbon nanotube (CNT) increases compared with pure PVDF. The temperature distribution of the internal pressure sheath material decreases when condensate water is present. As the fluid temperature rises from 30 to 110°C, the maximum increase ratio in the permeability of PVDF/CNT over PVDF increased from 3.6% to 14.8%, and the maximum decrease ratio of PVDF/TiO2 permeability coefficient compared with PVDF is from 1.2% to 4.6%. The results present a new idea to improve the barrier properties of materials by decreasing thermal conductivity.