Chevron's Deepwater Pipeline Repair System project was initiated in 2006. The project objective was to develop an expedient repair solution for pipelines that have been damaged by anchor drags, mudslides, dropped objects, corrosion, etc, in order to minimize production downtime.

Chevron's Deepwater Pipeline Repair System is capable of repairing up to 200-foot sections of damaged 12", 20" or 24" pipelines in water depths up to 10,000 feet. The system equipment consists primarily of structural lifting frames, diverless hydraulic dual grip and seal pipeline connectors, a cut/bevel/FBE removal multi-purpose combination tool and a repair section of pipe. This equipment is utilized to perform a repair in which the damaged section of pipeline is cut and removed, a repair spool is lowered and aligned with the pipeline and, after connecting the repair spool to the pipeline, the pipeline is lowered to the seabed. Additionally, a diverless hydraulic clamp was procured for the repair of smaller, localized pipeline damage.

CTI personnel were integrated into the Chevron Project Team to provide document control support, engineering support, project and interface management, and general technical support throughout the entire project. Specific responsibilities for CTI personnel working on the project included the following:

• Provide project engineering support during the design/manufacture and System Integration Testing (SIT) of the system components
• Provide finite element analyses (FEA) to verify integrity of the pipeline and repair section of pipe during installation and SIT
• Design structural reaction collars (using FEA) used to counteract the forces generated in the system when setting the hydraulic connectors in place
• Create all project documentation including installation procedures, project execution plans, storage and maintenance plans, a project design basis, and project specifications
• Provide technical assistance during all bidding processes, including those for the reaction collar fabrication, SIT operations, equipment storage and warehousing and miscellaneous equipment fabrication
• Design rigging for the repair section of pipe, interchangeable for use with not only several different pipeline sizes but also with different lengths of repair pipe
• Provide all drafting and document control support required by the project team