Overview
ISO 17349:2016 - Petroleum and natural gas industries - Guidelines for offshore platforms handling streams with high content of CO2 at high pressures - provides guidance for the design and operation of topside facilities on fixed and floating offshore production units that handle CO2‑rich streams (defined as CO2 molar concentration above 10%). The standard focuses on surface processing (compression, dehydration, hydrocarbon dew‑point control, CO2 separation) up to the last barrier (for example an ESDV). It excludes subsea production systems and cryogenic CO2 separation processes. ISO 17349 supplements existing offshore standards by addressing the unique thermodynamic, materials and safety challenges of dense‑phase and CO2/hydrocarbon mixtures.
Key topics and technical requirements
ISO 17349:2016 covers practical design and safety considerations, including:
- Behavior of CO2‑rich streams: considerations for dense phase, critical and supercritical behavior, EOS (equations of state) selection and validation for CO2/hydrocarbon mixtures.
- Hydrate and solid CO2 formation: assessment and control strategies to prevent hydrate or CO2 solid formation in piping and equipment.
- Flow metering and process control: implications of CO2 properties on measurement accuracy and control systems.
- Depressuring, blowdown and relieving: procedures and design for safe depressurization of CO2‑rich systems (blowdown valve arrangements, depressuring strategies).
- Flare and vent system configuration: selection and configuration guidance for flares and vents, including velocity categorization (e.g., low/high velocity tip flare and vent criteria).
- Materials selection: corrosion, brittle and ductile fracture risks in CO2 environments; guidance on metallic and non‑metallic seals, lubricants and cladding.
- Safety, hazard and consequence analysis: leak consequence modelling, CO2 detection, toxicology considerations, hazard identification, and risk management strategies.
- Informative annexes: practical methodologies (e.g., running ductile fracture evaluation, BLEVE considerations, water content specification, rapid gas decompression).
Applications and users
ISO 17349:2016 is intended for:
- Offshore process and safety engineers designing topside facilities handling CO2‑rich streams.
- Materials and corrosion specialists selecting alloys, seals and linings for CO2 service.
- HSE, risk and integrity management teams conducting hazard identification, consequence analysis and emergency response planning.
- Operators, EPC contractors and regulators seeking guidance to supplement existing offshore standards for projects with significant CO2 content or high‑pressure injection requirements.
Keywords: ISO 17349:2016, CO2‑rich streams, offshore platforms, topside facilities, high pressure, hydrate formation, depressuring, flare and vent, materials selection, safety.
Related standards
Normative and commonly referenced documents include: ISO 13702, ISO 15156 (Parts 1–3), ISO 15544, ISO 19900, ISO 21457, ISO 23251, and ISO 25457. These provide additional requirements for fire/explosion control, materials in sour environments, emergency response, structural requirements and pressure relieving systems.