Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK --Balmoral Offshore Engineering has opened a new subsea test center at its headquarters in Aberdeen.
The multi-million pound investment provides a range of procedures including hydrostatic, mechanical and laboratory testing.
“Our R&D program is continually developing new materials for use at increasingly greater depths and in high pressure/high temperature environments”, said Jim Milne, chairman and managin director. “We have vessels that can test to sea water depth equivalents of 7,000 m (23,000 ft).”
The centerpiece of the new facility is a custom-built pressure test vessel,PV6, which Balmoral believes is the largest commercially available unit in Europe.
It is installed vertically with an internal diameter of 1.83 m (72-in.), an internal length of 9 m (29.5-in.), and a maximum operating pressure of 410 bar (6, 000psi). The vessel is fitted with penetration flanges to allow connection of hydraulic and electrical lines.
Other tests to be performed at the new center include uplift determination, water ingress, bulk modulus, compression and creep.
“It is vital that subsea equipment performs as expected in the field”, says Balmoral’s engineering and projects manager, Fraser Milne.
“When deployed many of our products are the final link in the subsea chain and installers must have the confidence that the products are entirely fit for purpose. Using this industry-leading facility ensures through-life performance for the products achieving certification.”
05/03/2011
