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The Perenco Purbeck to Southampton Pipeline (PSP) is a stabalised crude oil pipeline originating at the Wytch Farm Gathering Station and ending at the Hamble BP Oil Terminal.
The pipeline is 91km long and 16 inches in diameter, with a minumum depth of 900mm.
Towards the end of the pipeline, it skirts the edge of Fawley refinery. A junction in the pipeline provides the option for connection to the refinery at the south.
End-of-line valves at the Wytch Farm Gathering Station and the Hamble Terminal allow isolation of the pipeline. Four intermediate isolating valves are spaced roughly 16km apart along the length of the pipeline. The valves can be operated remotely from the Gathering Station.
Protection against corrosion of the pipeline is provided by an impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system. There are four cathodic protection sites along the length of the oil pipeline. These sites consist of burried anodes located away from the pipeline, and a transformer rectifier. These installations are burried.
Helicopter inspections of the route of the pipeline are conducted
every few weeks, this is to check for activities taking place on
the ground which might impact the integrity of the pipeline. Marker
posts along the length of the pipeline aid this inspection.
The route of the pipeline is also walked once a year for inspection.
Marker posts are placed where the pipeline intersects with roads,
paths, and watercourses.
When the pipeline is no longer required, the plan is to leave it in place.
A natural gas pipeline runs alongside the stabilised crude oil pipeline from the Wytch Farm Gathering Station to an SGN compound in Sopley, where it enters the gas network. This pipeline is at a minimum depth of 1100mm. The natural gas pipeline shares the cathodic protection system from the crude oil pipeline.
