• Question: What happens if your pipe melts! Will the world melt?

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

      Neil Taylor answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hi!

      Well, if we are talking about subsea pipelines, then they are usually made of steel. Steel has a melting point that is around 1300 °C.

      Oil/gas reservoirs are generally classed as “High Temperature, or HT” at temperatures over 150 °C, which accounts for a minority of reservoirs in production – most are lower than this (although a few are higher!). These temperatures are well below the 1300 °C required to melt steel.

      However, heat does have an effect on the strength of the steel pipe – so you have to take this into account during design and make the pipe the right size to prevent this being an issue.

      Hope this helps!

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