Cryogenic Comminution of Subsea Cables and Flowlines: A Pathway for Circular Recycling of End-of-Life Offshore Infrastructure
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (i)
- a multiphysical modelling of heat transfer and structural transformation of flexible flowlines and umbilical cables under cryogenic environments of liquid nitrogen to determine the critical process parameters such as the transient ductile-to-brittle transition time and glass transition time at a constant cryogenic temperature.
- (ii)
- a two-stage cryogenic crushing test, enabling us to demonstrate the crushing and separation efficiencies, as well as the cost benefits of the process.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sample Details
2.2. Theories
2.3. Numerical Simulation and Laboratory Testing Procedures
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Thermal Analysis of Flexible Flowlines in Cryogenic Environments
3.2. Thermal Analysis of Subsea Cables in Cryogenic Environments
3.3. Two-Step Cryogenic Crushing Test
- Waste quality: The quality of the plastic components of the flowline and umbilical cables is still good except for some levels of surface oxidation. The nature and purpose of the various additives should be characterised to find the optimum supply chain for reuse.
- Waste sorting: Plastic wastes are usually sorted through a sequence of sorting steps [31]. Additives can be removed by using gravity in airflow (air classifier), and plastics and metals can be separated by a sink-float density separation system, the magnetic attraction of ferrous metal or by induced magnetic repulsion of nonferrous metals, and a standard IR detector complemented by hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy (HIS).
3.4. Basic Cost Assessment
- Availability: can be easily generated onsite via a cryogenic compressor.
- Handling low technical input: industrial application of LN is readily matured and can be easily controlled.
- Heat transition: conductive and convective mechanisms of LN can be easily managed compared to other cryogens.
- Inert atmosphere: the inertness of LN will preserve the quality of the processed material without any risk of fire. However, this also requires some risk management of the operator’s asphyxiation.
Note | Based on 0.16 $/Kg 1 | Cost of Cooling 1 km Length | Potentials of Materials in 1 km Length 2 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) | (b) = (a × 0.16) | (c) = (b × 1000/L) | |||
Flexible flowline | Length = 0.15 m Diameter = 0.14 m | 2 kg | $0.32 | $2100 | HDPE: 7 tonnes Carbon steel: 15 tonnes Stainless steel: 10 tonnes Total value > $35,000 |
Umbilical cable | Length = 0.15 m Diameter = 0.18 m | 2.5 kg | $0.4 | $2700 | HDPE: 6 tonnes Galvanized carbon steel: 22 tonnes Copper: 1 tonne Total value > $40,000 |
4. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
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Oluwoye, I.; Mathew, A. Cryogenic Comminution of Subsea Cables and Flowlines: A Pathway for Circular Recycling of End-of-Life Offshore Infrastructure. Sustainability 2023, 15, 15651. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115651
Oluwoye I, Mathew A. Cryogenic Comminution of Subsea Cables and Flowlines: A Pathway for Circular Recycling of End-of-Life Offshore Infrastructure. Sustainability. 2023; 15(21):15651. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115651
Chicago/Turabian StyleOluwoye, Ibukun, and Arun Mathew. 2023. "Cryogenic Comminution of Subsea Cables and Flowlines: A Pathway for Circular Recycling of End-of-Life Offshore Infrastructure" Sustainability 15, no. 21: 15651. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115651