Strohm has secured a contract with Total and ExxonMobil to trial high pressure, high temperature thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP).
Under the agreement, the Netherlands-headquartered firm will carry out a qualification testing programme for a TCP jumper for use in offshore oil and gas operations.
If successful, developers plan to adapt the technology further so it can be used to create subsea riser applications.
The TCP Jumper is designed and fabricated using carbon fibre and PVDF polymer, providing a powerful and lightweight product for subsea high pressure and high temperature applications.
Strohm, which has bases in Houston, Rio De Janeiro and Kuala Lumpa, was the first firm to bring TCP to the oil and gas industry in 2007.
It also boasts an impressive list of shareholders including Aker Solutions, Chevron, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Subsea 7 and private equity investor HPE Growth.
Henk de Boer, chief technology officer at Strohm, said: “This project for Total and ExxonMobil demonstrates our success in the subsea market with our TCP technology on the basis of a compelling business case, fit-for-purpose materials and a clear endorsement of the technology from key clients.
He added: “Total and ExxonMobil have previously qualified our materials and products for water injection and have an extensive and deep understanding of composite materials and TCP.
“We are delighted they have agreed to start this qualification project, which aims to extend our growing qualified product portfolio for Total and ExxonMobil to include hydrocarbon service.”
Ivo Conradi, SURF & SPS R&D lead at Total, commented: “We have been involved in TCP developments with Strohm since the early days. We believe there could be great potential in using TCP Jumpers to optimise subsea architectures, with the aim to reduce cost and increase lay-out flexibility. This programme is an important step for our company to be able to consider TCP as an alternative solution in a wider range of subsea applications.”
Tristan Aspray, vice president of research and technology development at ExxonMobil, said: “We recently qualified Strohm’s TCP for water injection applications and look forward to the potential for new offshore product offerings that bring value and maximize efficiencies for upcoming offshore developments.”