- £1M+
- Estimated immediate cost saving
- 0.01 mm/yr
- Internal corrosion rate under typical conditions
The challenge
A global upstream operator, managing late-life assets in the North Sea, faced a strategic decision following a revised COP date for one of its offshore platforms. A pipeline transporting produced fluids between two installations was scheduled for an inline inspection (ILI) in 2025. With COP advanced to the end of 2027, the operator sought to reassess the necessity of this costly inspection, aiming to reduce spend while ensuring pipeline integrity through to decommissioning.
Solution and impact
Imrandd deployed its proprietary data analytics platform, ALERT, to perform a full corrosion modelling and integrity assessment of the pipeline. Drawing on over a decade of operational and microbial data, ALERT enabled high-resolution, day-by-day prediction of internal corrosion, including CO₂ corrosion.
Accurate predictive modelling
ALERT, calibrated to real process and environmental data, provided detailed forecasts of future wall thickness loss under various scenarios. The analysis confirmed that, under typical conditions with maintained inhibition and pigging, internal corrosion rates were negligible (as low as 0.01 mm/year), supporting the feasibility of ILI exemption.
Quantified MIC risk
The absence of operational pigging since 2020 was identified as a driver of MIC risk, with modelled rates reaching 1.76 mm/year. Imrandd simulated multiple operating scenarios, showing that reinstating pigging could dramatically reduce MIC rates and extend pipeline life safely to COP.
Data-driven integrity management
Using a combination of ALERT's modelling, historic ILI data and microbial testing, a defensible case was made to regulators for exemption from the 2025 ILI. This was contingent on key controls being reinstated, including weekly pigging and ongoing inhibitor injection.
Value and cost savings
The ALERT-driven approach enabled the operator to confidently defer a scheduled ILI run, delivering immediate cost savings estimated at more than £1 million. Additionally, the study minimised disruption, reduced HSE risk, and focused integrity management efforts on operational controls rather than invasive inspections.
Conclusion
This project demonstrates the power of predictive analytics in modern asset integrity management. By leveraging Imrandd's ALERT software, the global operator transitioned from scheduled interventions to a proactive, condition-based strategy, delivering cost efficiencies and maintaining safety in a critical late-life asset.
