Manufacture of pipe-in-pipe assemblies
AssigneeAcergy France SAS
InventorJulien Verdeil
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pipe-in-pipe assembly comprises a bundled infill structure occupying an annulus between inner and outer pipes of the assembly. The infill structure is formed of a plurality of elongate elements laid along the inner pipe comprising a mixture of reinforcing elements and insulating elements. The reinforcing elements have greater mechanical resistance than the insulating elements to radial compression whereas the insulating elements provide greater thermal insulation than the reinforcing elements. Pluralities of the reinforcing elements are positioned together within the infill structure to form reinforcing formations, such as spacer formations, embedded between insulating regions of the infill structure that are defined by pluralities of the insulating elements.
Claims32
A pipe in pipe assembly, comprising:
- a bundled infill structure occupying an annulus between inner and outer pipes of the assembly, the infill structure being formed of a plurality of elongate elements laid along the inner pipe;
- wherein the elongate elements of the infill structure comprise a mixture of reinforcing elements and insulating elements, the reinforcing elements having greater mechanical resistance than the insulating elements to radial compression whereas the insulating elements provide greater thermal insulation than the reinforcing elements;
- and
- pluralities of the reinforcing elements are positioned together within the infill structure to form discrete reinforcing formations that are circumferentially embedded between insulating regions of the infill structure defined by pluralities of the insulating elements, wherein the reinforcing formations are spacer formations that are angularly spaced around the inner pipe and that extend radially from the inner pipe toward the outer pipe.
A method of manufacturing a pipe in pipe assembly, the method comprising:
- forming a bundled infill structure around an inner pipe of the assembly by laying a plurality of elongate elements along the inner pipe;
- and
- inserting the inner pipe and the infill structure into an outer pipe of the assembly, the infill structure then occupying an annulus defined between the inner and outer pipes;
- wherein
- the elongate elements of the infill structure comprise a mixture of reinforcing elements and insulating elements, the reinforcing elements having greater mechanical resistance than the insulating elements to radial compression whereas the insulating elements provide greater thermal insulation than the reinforcing elements;
- and
- the reinforcing elements are placed together within the infill structure to form discrete reinforcing formations, each of those formations comprising a plurality of the reinforcing elements and being circumferentially embedded between insulating regions of the infill structure defined by pluralities of the insulating elements, wherein the reinforcing formations are spacer formations that are angularly spaced around the inner pipe and that extend radially from the inner pipe toward the outer pipe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.