Groundbreaking subsea pipeline simulation tool garners Hydro Innovation Award

Hydro's newly developed Optimal Pipe Route simulation tool won the company's first-ever Innovation Award.

The Optimal Pipe Route, a multi-discipline simulation tool enabling pipelines to be laid over extended distances, edged out more than 40 entrants competing for the award, which were also drawn from the company’s Aluminium business area and other businesses.

“The Optimal Pipe Route simulation tool is a worthy winner,” said CEO Eivind Reiten during a top leader Hydro conference in Oslo on Wednesday. “This gives us a head-start in relation to new oil and gas opportunities with high potential.”

The winning innovation – conceived and developed by Henning Holm, Gudmund Per Olsen, Hilde Christine Meisingset and Sigurd Teigen – is a tool that primarily enables pipeline lengths, or tie-back distances, to be stretched. It also provides an optimization program for determining minimum route length.

In terms of value creation, Optimal Pipe Route has been important for the Ormen Lange gas field’s subsea-to-beach solution and could play a prominent role in the evaluation of the Shtokman offshore gas field development in Russia.

The tool is now being used to simulate the transport of well-stream from the reservoir to the Ormen Lange process plant. In addition, it can provide benefits in connection with flow assurance parameters, where some promising results have been achieved.

This is the first time the Hydro Innovation Award has been presented. This year's award candidates cover a broad spectrum, demonstrating innovative solutions within very different areas. They boast advances in research and development, applied technology, product development, production processes, work processes and business concepts.

“We are delighted that there has been so much interest in this award within the organization. It’s clear that the prize stimulates innovation within the company,” says David Nunn, Head of Portfolio Strategy.