The AZ-10 is an off-the-shelf subsea tree that features a totally concentric tree and hanger system. It has a water depth capability to 6,000 ft (1,829 m), a working pressure to 10,000 psi (69 MPa), temperature rating of 250º F (121º C), with a design life of 20 years.

“Argus’ tree is expected to fit into early production operations, in marginal fields, and for extended well testing,” says Earl Broussard, director of marketing. “We can reduce the schedule to first oil in a typical fast-track development from about 800 days to less than 250.”

This reduction in wait time accounts for much of the overall savings, but there are other advantages, says Broussard. The tubing hanger and running tool are factory assembled, and the installation requires only five tools.

“The tree is all stainless steel, with no overlays, and monobore,” adds Broussard. “At less than 50,000 lb, it weights less than half of most standard subsea trees, so it can be handled by a typical rig crane. If you can run a BOP stack through the rig moonpool, you can run this tree.”

Adding to the system applicability, instead of interfacing with OEM hardware which is not standardized, Broussard says it interfaces with standardized OCTG.

Expro launches ActiveSONAR metering technology

Expro launched the ActiveSONAR metering technology. The clamp-on sonar technology can be retrofitted to a wide range of applications and is designed to address the flow rates and heavy schedule piping encountered in upstream oil and gas applications.

The meters can be deployed on new or existing installations, lowering both the technical risks and operating costs associated with flow measurement, according to Expro.

The technology can measure primary gas flow rates over a wide range of wet gas

Sonar flow measurement uses sonar-array processing technology to measure volumetric flow rates within pipes by determining the speed at which naturally-occurring, coherent flow structures flow past an array of sensors clamped on to the outside of the pipe. Specifically, sonar flow measurement technology leverages the ‘beam forming’ techniques, originally developed in underwater acoustics, to determine the location of sound sources underwater.

Sonar flow measurement is applicable to single and two-phase multiphase flows and Expro Meters is developing three-phase meters around this technology. The clamp-on capability is particularly useful for applications in which intrusive flow measurement devices are not practical, the company says.

3M introduces new corrosion protection for pipelines

3M introduced new Fusion Bonded Epoxy (FBE) technology called 3M Scotchkote Coating 626-120 and Scotchkote Coating 626-140. The Scotchkote coatings protect oil and gas pipelines against corrosion at high temperatures. Scotchkote coating 626-120 can operate up to 115º C (239º F) as a stand alone and up to 130º C (266º F) when used in a three-layer system. Scotchkote coating 626-140 can withstand temperatures up to 135º C (275º F) as a stand alone and up to 150º C (302º F) as part of a three-layer system, the company says.

Both Scotchkote coating products are a one-part, heat-curable thermosetting epoxy powder designed as a stand-alone or as the corrosion coating for a dual layer FBE and multilayer polyolefin system.

Pipelines are operating at higher temperatures than ever due to deep downhole oil and gas production,” says Henry Hernandez, 3M’s marketing manager of Corrosion Protection Products. “This creates a problem of corrosion of pipes that require advanced materials and technologies. 3M’s Scotchkote coatings are designed to withstand the heat and provide an innovative solution that offers reliable high-operating temperature coating systems for the oil and gas industry.”

Dow Hyperlast develops new technology for coating, insulation systems

Dow Hyperlast has engineered a technology to blend glass syntactic polyurethane (GSPU) coating and insulation systems for deepwater pipelines on site in remote locations. The ETNAFLOW Portable Mixing Plant mixes materials, while an advanced process control ensures formulation accuracy, quality, and consistency of the finished product.

Designed for local operations, ETNAFLOW Portable Mixing Plant consists of raw materials holding and dosing

“The ETNAFLOW mixing system was inspired and developed as a direct result of our requirement to supply Wasco Coatings in Malaysia, with Flow Assurance Insulation coating materials for the Gumusut-Kakap project,” says Alex Lane, global business leader for Dow Hyperlast’s Pipe and Tank Division. “This project in the South China Sea called for performance parameters at ocean depths of up to 1,200 m (3,937 ft) in very remote areas. Dow Hyperlast experts quickly recognized the need for a reliable, portable GSPU mixing system that could help expedite the project, improving materials handling and ensure quality.”

Draka introduces Arctic Grade electrical cables

The new Arctic Grade electrical cables from Draka featured at OTC are designed to meet the challenging conditions of extremely cold climates.

“Our new cost-effective Arctic Grade cable combines cold impact and cold bend requirements down to -40° C

Under the IEC guidelines, the new Arctic Grade cables are also flame retardant and flame resistant and are available from 250 V to 30 kV.

“With un-discovered hydrocarbons located in more extreme parts of the earth and ocean we feel it is necessary to provide the technology our customers need to expand their exploration programs,” says Nesset.

BMT shows new subsea pipeline strain sensor

BMT Scientific Marine Services Inc. showed its new ROV-deployable subsea pipeline strain sensor assembly.

A key feature of the ROV deployable package is the stable support frame for the sensor package. Before installation starts, a support frame is clamped to the riser by the ROV to provide an anchor for the ROV, and to ensure that the sensors can be fitted or adjusted without causing any damage to them. The SSSA is suitable for pipelines or risers in up to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) water depths, according to BMT

“Until BMT’s new development, strain sensors had to be installed prior to deployment of subsea pipes or possibly by divers. The new technology permits the SSSA to be retrofitted to already submerged pipes too deep for divers,” says Rod Edwards VP of BMT.

Rubberatkins unveils HP/HT Packer Elements

Rubberatkins unveiled its latest HP/HT Packer Elements. The company formulated an AFLAS compound for the new product, which is capable of holding pressures up to 10,000 psi and temperatures of 450º F (232º C) continuous and 540º F (282º C) short-term. According to the company, the AFLAS Packer Element will provide a reliable and robust solution for permanent and retrievable sealing solutions for completion equipment.

The Packer Element has a high resistance to H2S, steam, strong acids, and bases ensuring that it maintains optimum functionality within a range of environmental parameters.

Rubberatkins also previewed its new Swellable materials that are currently in development. “We have developed elastomer compounds which swell in oil and water, providing the client with a simple passive sealing solution,” says Nick Atkins, director of Rubberatkins. “The seal which is created using Rubberatkins Swellable technology can withstand temperatures of up to 150º C (302° F). We are currently testing pressure capability up to 10,000 psi.”

Knight debuts equipment inspection program

Knight Oil Tools debut its KIP inspection program for quality assurance. The interactive quality assurance program is a patent-pending system that uses a touch screen to allow technicians and inspectors to retrieve technical data, review reference material, and record inspection results from the shop floor.

“The bottom line is consistent quality with every tool, every time,” says president Mark Knight, who presented the technology.

Each component of equipment is serialized and identified with schematics to allow clear rotation of inspection results. Over 46,000 commodities have already been entered into the system and more will be added.

3M’s glass bubbles help extend production to 15,000 ft below surface

3M has developed three new grades of glass bubbles for deepwater insulation and buoyancy applications -- S42XHS, XLD3000, and XLD6000.

The products advanced performance makes it possible to link surface facilities to longer subsea tiebacks at greater depths, or to reduce riser and flowline insulation dimensions for better placement and more efficient pipelay operations at current depths, the company says.

“3M’s next-generation of glass bubbles are helping to extend the range of oil and gas production to as much as 15,000 ft (4,572 m) below the surface,” says Rob Hunter, applications development specialist for 3M Oil & Gas. “Additionally, first generation 3M hollow glass bubbles offered density and strength values of approximately 0.16g/cc at 500 psi, while these new fourth-generation 3M glass bubbles perform at the level of 0.3g/cc at 6,000 psi.”

ABS unveils new design compliance software

ABS unveiled its ABS Eagle Offshore Structure Assessment Program (OSAP) Version 2.0. This latest version allows designers of TLPs and spars to check the compliance of their designs with ABS Class requirements. Initially, the software was applicable only to semisubmersibles.

The new software builds on guidance presented in ABS’s Guide for Building and Classing Floating Production Installations by taking into account the sophisticated load modeling required for these two specialized floating structures.

The various load cases that should be considered include environmental loads, hydrostatic pressures and buoyancy, gravity and inclination-induced loads, inertia loads, operational loads, as well as mooring and riser loads during both transportation and operation and site-specific storm design levels.

The six main functions of the program are load generation, design wave calculation, load mapping and balancing, global strength assessment, fatigue assessment, and buckling and ultimate strength analysis.

“The software streamlines the complex design code check process by helping designers determine environmental loads, transfer hydrodynamic loads to a structural model, and extract structural analysis results from a user selected finite element analysis program,” explains Pao-Lin Tan, director, ABS Corporate Offshore Engineering Support. “Simply put, the software acts like a data processing hub connecting the hydrodynamic and structural analysis software with analysis results to check against the design code.”

ITT debuts reverse osmosis watermaker

ITT Corp. debut its Reverse Osmosis watermaker. The new system, dubbed C’treat ROUSTABOUT, generates between 4,000 and 20,000 gallons of potable water per day from sea water. ITT says C’treat incorporates many features found in its custom-engineered watermakers including:

• Rugged steel frames
• High quality epoxy coatings
• Corrosion resistant and durable components
• Compact footprint
• Highest levels of filtration in the industry
• Simple, reliable system.

“With the ROUSTABOUT system, we have taken many of the features from our custom units and combined them in one ready-to-ship, off-the-shelf watermaker,” says Tom Vanden Heuvel, GM of ITT C’treat Offshore. “Designed specifically for drill rigs, ships, and marine contractors, it will represent a reliable, high-value alternative to our custom-engineered systems and competing, less dependable off-the-shelf products.”

C’treat also produces a full line of ultraviolet disinfection systems to sterilize drinking water, and custom water systems including potable water pumping packages for the offshore industry. All C’treat water systems can be specially designed for customer needs and specifications. ITT also backs all of its offshore water systems with a global network of on-call service and support.

“We know the locations of every product that we have manufactured, and are ready to help with maintenance or product support at any time,” Vanden Heuvel says. “Whether it’s a custom system or the new ROUSTABOUT series, our goal is to make the customer’s experience with C’treat as simple and efficient as possible.”

Atlas Copco unveils new product lineup

Atlas Copco unveiled three new products – DrillAir portable compressors, Hurricane boosters, and a CaliberXD drill bit. DrillAir provides up to 510 psi of air; the Hurricane booster range adds models with 500-4,500 cf/m flow and up to 5,000 psi pressure; and the Caliber SD incorporates PCD technology that Atlas Copco says is more durable than conventional diamond inserts.