Resins
Design Issues With Subsea And Downhole Components
For structures below the water line and in the borehole, composites add to their list of benefits the key characteristic of design flexibility, because composite materials can be tailored to meet specific challenges. For example, composites can add buoyancy to low-pressure steel air cans on a spar platform’s r
Read MoreModular Cable Offers Flexibility
The Composite Carbon Cable system developed by Doris Engineering, IFP, Soficar and Freyssinet is based on a different design. Their concept is to assemble a tether from uniformly sized strands or “modules” made up of parallel rods. Each module is hexagonally shaped, allowing any number of modules (strands) to
Read MoreProven Performance In A Chemical Line Installation
EDO Specialty Plastics (Baton Rouge, La., U.S.A.) filament winds composite pipe and fittings for offshore facilities platforms and rigs. Founded in 1973 as Specialty Plastics and acquired by EDO in 1998, the company manufactures industrial fiberglass piping systems for the chemical, petrochemical and pulp and
Read MoreRiser Arch Trays, Mud Mats Provide Multiple Benefits
In 1999, 42 composite riser arch trays were supplied by DML Composites (Plymouth, U.K.) to Halliburton Subsea for the Norsk Hydro Troll C field riser support system, in 1,100 ft/340m of water. The trays, which sit atop two 260 ft/80m tall steel jacket riser support structures, cradle the flexible risers that c
Read MoreStudies Support Viability Of Composites
Numerous studies have compared the performance and cost of steel and composite tendons. Conoco, Norske Conoco A/S (NCAS) and KOP headed several projects to qualify composite TLP tethers prior to launching a full sea test. In a recent study, they compared steel and composite TLP systems in water depths up to 9,
Read MoreOther Types Of Repairs Possible With Composites
Since 1995, DML Composites (Plymouth, U.K.) has been one of the pioneers in the use of customized wet layup repairs for offshore pipework and other platform component repairs. A project completed by DML in 2000 involved the in-service repair of a steel caisson on a platform in the North Sea. A caisson is a lar
Read MoreSemisubmersibles Lighten The Load
Transocean Sedco Forex (Houston, Texas, U.S.A.) is working on a new design for its ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rig, the Sedco Express. A major offshore contractor specializing in deepwater drilling, Transocean has 166 MODUs and inland drilling barges in operation around the world. Semisubmersibles are mobi
Read MoreComposite Accumulator Bottles Perform In Service
A riser tensioning system for a TLP consists of a tensioning ring and framework, with four to eight hydraulic cylinders — each with an attached pressure vessel or “accumulator bottle” — to support and allow movement of the rigid riser pipe. Installed in the riser wellbay, this primary structural system is desi
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