Offshore staff
GALVESTON, Texas – Trelleborg has been showcasing the capabilities of its flexible piping system Elastopipe on the exhibition floor of the Topsides, Platforms & Hulls conference and exhibition held at the Moody Gardens Convention Center in Galveston, Texas, from Feb. 3-5, 2015.
On the exhibit floor, company officials noted that technological developments have revolutionized deepwater drilling and production in recent years, and the need for high performance, robust and dependable topsides solutions has never been greater. In an emergency, they noted that a deluge system must deliver water where it is needed at the correct pressure, no matter the situation.
Regardless of explosions, impact from flying debris, project lifetime, or jet fire, a facility’s piping system needs to operate safely and effectively every time. Trelleborg officials noted that current rigid piping systems, whether metallic or fiberglass, have potential limitations including loss of pressure over time, increased corrosion potential, stress cracking, weakness against impact or explosion, and increased testing and maintenance costs.
It is in this context, company officials said, that Elastopipe can offer a new way of piping with the first corrosion-free, explosion, impact, and jet fire resistant flexible piping system. The system uses synthetic rubber instead of traditional materials and is the only piping material approved for offshore deluge systems that has survived sequential explosion, impact and jet fire testing, company officials said.
They added that Elastopipe is a patented flexible piping system developed for transporting a variety of fluids and is available in two versions: Fire Resistant (FR) for fresh and seawater, and Fire and Oil Resistant (FOR) for hydrocarbons, solvents, additives, acids and hydrogen sulphide.
02/05/2015
