Less stringent reservoir and flow parameters on Greater Plutonio, have justified the design optimisation of BP’s Greater Plutonio Tower. The 1,200m long bundle is made of a core pipe wrapped with shells of syntactic foam for the Tower’s buoyancy only, with all 11 Risers fastened on the outside of the Tower. Cladded pipe is used for the production risers with external coating for thermal insulation. The Water Injection Risers feature an Internal Plastic Line for protection.

With lined-pipe accepting limited bending, the assembly line for the fabrication of Greater Plutonio’s Tower is re-designed. Fabrication is now carried out from a straight line to produce 300m long segments of tower, which are jointed together. On completion, the Tower is stored in the Bay of Lobito, Prior to transport and installation. Weight of the Greater Plutonio Tower in the air is in the range of 4,000T and requires seven months of sheer fabrication work.