• Question: What do you think is the most important invention in Subsea Engineering and why?

    Asked by greg to Neil on 11 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hi Greg!

      Wow, this is a tough question… I think in terms of the very basics, designing insulation to keep the oil and gas warm was very important. The insulation is usually a layer of plastic, such as Polypropylene, that goes around the outside of a pipe.

      If the pipe is long, then a lot of heat will be lost along its length to the surrounding seawater, which is cold (4°C is often assumed). If the pipe cools down too much, then waxy substances can form that can block the pipe!

      So without insulation, a lot of long pipelines wouldn’t be feasible as they would have wax problems… So it’s pretty important!!

      Hope this helps!

Comments