ISO 13628-2:2006

Overview

ISO 13628-2:2006 - "Petroleum and natural gas industries - Design and operation of subsea production systems - Part 2" - defines minimum technical requirements for unbonded flexible pipe systems used in subsea and marine applications. The standard establishes uniform criteria for the design, material selection, manufacture, testing, marking and packaging of unbonded flexible pipes to ensure safe, dimensionally and functionally interchangeable assemblies for oil and gas production.

Key topics and technical requirements

ISO 13628-2 covers the principal elements required to specify and qualify subsea flexible pipe systems, including:

• Functional and system requirements: overall performance expectations for static and dynamic flexible pipes used as flowlines, risers and jumpers.
• Design requirements: loads and load effects, pipe design methodology, structural layer design and system-level considerations.
• Materials and qualification: material selection criteria, qualification testing and quality assurance for polymer extrusions, armour layers and carcass.
• Manufacturing and quality control: production processes, manufacturing tolerances, repair procedures and factory quality plans.
• Testing and acceptance: factory acceptance tests such as hydrostatic pressure tests, electrical continuity/resistance and gas venting checks.
• Documentation, marking and packaging: required design reports, as-built documentation, operation manuals, marking and packaging standards.
• Annex guidance: informative purchasing guidelines and recommendations for bend stiffeners and bend restrictors.

Important exclusions and scope limits are explicitly stated:

• Does not apply to bonded flexible pipe constructions (see ISO 13628-10 for bonded pipe guidelines).
• Does not cover flexible pipe ancillary components, choke-and-kill lines, or pipes that use non‑metallic tensile armour wires (those are treated as prototype products).

Applications and users

ISO 13628-2 is intended for organizations involved in subsea oil and gas production where flexible pipes are required for conveying oil, gas, water and injection chemicals in both sweet and sour service. Typical users include:

• Subsea engineers and riser/flowline designers specifying flexible pipe systems.
• Manufacturers and fabricators of unbonded flexible pipe and end fittings.
• Procurement, QA/QC and testing teams responsible for factory acceptance tests and documentation.
• Operators and offshore contractors managing installation, inspection and operation of subsea production systems.

Related standards

• ISO 13628 (series) - other parts cover umbilicals, subsea trees, control systems and bonded flexible pipe (Part 10 and Part 11).
• API Spec 17J - ISO 13628-2 is based on and aligned with API Specification 17J (unbonded flexible pipe).
• ISO 15156 and relevant material and testing standards referenced for qualification and testing.

This standard is essential for specifying reliable subsea flexible pipe solutions that meet international safety, manufacturing and testing expectations.