Shell Technology Ventures has invested in Dutch thermoplastic composite pipe firm Airborne Oil & Gas alongside German specialty chemicals firm Evonik and HPE Growth Capital (HPE).
How much the three firms have invested in Airborne Oil & Gas (AOG) is undisclosed. AOG has developed a process for the production of thermoplastic composite pipes for a variety of offshore oil and gas applications.
The current offshore oil and gas infrastructure consists of either rigid steel pipes or so-called flexibles. The latter comprise of multiple layers of steel and polymers. AOG’s thermoplastic composite pipes dispense with steel entirely and are therefore not susceptible to corrosion.
They have extremely high mechanical stability but are also flexible. As an added advantage they are lightweight and can be fabricated in lengths of up to 10km, which means that AOG’s pipes can be installed relatively simply and cost effectively. Rigid steel lines are welded together from segments that are 10-20m-long, using specialized and costly pipelaying vessels.
A number of operators have qualified AOG’s pipes for offshore oil and gas transport lines, where the benefits of low cost installation and the absence of corrosion offer breakthrough improvements. A considerable amount of the 150,000 to 200,000km of globally installed transport lines is over 20 years old and in need of replacement, which is an attractive entry point for AOG.
Evonik company is a market leader in polyamide 12, marketed as VESTAMID, which is well-proven in pipes for oil and gas production and transport, making “Airborne Oil & Gas an excellent strategic match for Evonik,” says Bernhard Mohr, head of Venture Capital at Evonik.
“In Evonik we’ve gained a strategic investor with an extensive knowledge of plastics for oil & gas applications,” says Eric van der Meer, CEO of AOG. “We hope this will give us additional impetus to develop our business further.”
AOG's pipelines are made from three layers: an inner plastic pipe is covered with a composite of unidirectional tapes, which in turn is sheathed by plastic. Polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide 12 and PEEK can be used. Unidirectional tapes are thin plastic bands in which continuous reinforcing fibers are embedded in parallel alignment. When a number of such bands are stacked vertically at defined angles and fused together, it results in an extremely stable composite.
All the layers are melt-fused into one another inseparably.
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