Glass Fibers
Pre-Cured Sleeves For High-Pressure Pipes
Clock Spring is one of several composite wrap approaches developed by inventor Norman C. Fawley of NCF Industries Inc. (Santa Maria, Calif., U.S.A.). The concentrically-coiled, glass fiber-reinforced polyester composite sleeve was devised with support from the Gas Technology Institute and the gas pipeline indu
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Composites Air Cans Lighten Riser Loads
Low-pressure air cans, designed to add buoyancy to a spar platform’s riser string, are good candidates for composite materials. Up to 12 ft/3.7m in diameter and from 30 to 60 ft/9.2 to 18.5m long, the hollow structures support the riser weight and take load off of the platform’s hull. Typically installed insid
Read MoreNew-Generation Composite Buoyancy Elements Key For Deep Drilling And Production
Principal suppliers of riser buoyancy products include major producer Balmoral (Aberdeen, Scotland, U.K. and Houston, Texas, U.S.A.) and CRP Group Ltd. (Skelmersdale, Lancashire, England, U.K.), which also owns Emerson & Cuming (Canton, Mass., U.S.A.). Balmoral customizes epoxy resins, which are used to cr
Read MoreComposite Drill Pipe An Available Option
Lincoln has been producing flexible composite drill pipe for short-radius, horizontal drilling since 1991. Its nominal 2.375 inch /60.3 mm (OD), 30 ft/9m long pipe shaft is filament wound with 12K carbon fiber combined with glass fibers in epoxy resin over an elastomeric liner. Standard API rotary shoulder too
Read MoreSubsea Wellhead And Pipeline Protection Covers
Wellhead and pipeline protection covers are required under the Norsok regulations for subsea installations in the Norwegian sector (Standard U-002, Subsea Structures and Piping System). Traditional steel wellhead covers are very large — often more than 50 ft/15m square — to allow ROVs access to the Christmas t
Read MoreCustom Wet Layup Repair Solutions
In the second group are customized repairs, employing glass or carbon reinforcement, wet out with vinyl ester, polyester or epoxy resin and applied to the pipe by trained personnel, have been available since the mid-1990s. Selection of reinforcement material, wrap thickness and overlay length is dictated by th
Read MoreComposites Used For Repair by Statoil
Statoil has used composites to repair steel topside components for more than 10 years on the Statfjord and Gullfaks platforms, using wet layup methods designed for each application, says Melve. “We repaired four water lines at an onshore oil storage facility between 1983 and 1987,” he says. “After nine years,
Read MoreDesign Issues with Repair
The ability to repair in place, rather than replace, critical platform equipment systems like topside piping, flowlines and structural components is an attractive option for a platform operator. Composite piping is easily repairable using the same basic methods as the initial installation, says Kevin Schmit, m
Read MoreDownhole Composites Boost Durability, Drillability
Halliburton Energy Services, Schlumberger Oilfield Services, Weatherford International, and Baker Oil Tools, all based in Houston, Texas (U.S.A.), offer composite downhole tools — made with both thermoplastics and thermoset resins — for a variety of applications. Halliburton’s FasDrill packers and plugs
Read MoreFiberglass Ideal For Dry Deluge System Applications
Around 1982, offshore platforms began using dry deluge systems, where the ring main is kept full of seawater but the downstream piping is dry. The dry piping is separated from the ring main by deluge valves, which automatically open and distribute water through the dry pipe to spray nozzles during a fire. This
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