Offshore staff

STAVANGER, Norway –A new bundle hybrid offset riser buoyancy system was introduced by Balmoral Offshore Engineering at DOT in Stavanger, Norway, today. Its Supatherm high temperature buoyancy system is designed to meet the higher temperature operating conditions that production risers encounter compared to drilling risers, the company said.

The syntactic material used in Supatherm has not macrospheres and tolerates temperatures to 90º C without significant buoyancy loss, Balmoral said. The material also has advantages in mechanical characteristics such as compressive strength.

"Critical manufacturing parameters such as time, tolerance, temperature cure, and post cure control are vital to the successful production of these specialized modules," said Robert Oram, Balmoral's technical director who was responsible for development of Supatherm.

Supatherm is a result of industry experience in developing riser solutions such as the syntactic foam that both insulates and provides buoyancy for the hybrid riser tower at Total's Girassol, Balmoral said.

10/10/2007