Offshore staff
HOUSTON – Trelleborg has launched a distributed buoyancy module (DBM) clamp claimed to offer numerous advantages over existing models.
Austin Harbison, product development manager with Trelleborg Offshore & Construction, said: “DBMs play a vital role when it comes to maintaining the configuration of flexible risers and umbilicals, ensuring fatigue damage and stresses are minimized. However, an increase in operating temperatures, combined with the use of ever more complex riser systems, has resulted in offshore operators requiring increased compliance and higher capacity from their buoyancy solutions.”
The new range employs what the company describes as a superior composite construction, making for easier and safer working conditions, and improved compliance to better accommodate riser creep. Further, the new clamp, designed to interface on all riser types, features aramid fibers instead of a titanium strap, which is said to be costlier and more complex to fabricate.
Trelleborg adds the development has resulted in simplified manufacture and lower lead times for clamp components such as straps, which can now be delivered in days rather than months. In addition, the lightweight design means the clamp is more buoyant and lighter in the air, assisting handling and installation.
Additionally, the company has introduced a new lighter tooling system claimed to cut clamp installation times by 50%.
5/06/2013
