Page 22: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2014)

Lubricants During the OTC Brazil 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, MTR?s cor- respondent Claudio Paschoa met with Chris Morrissey, who is Team Leader in Energy Lubricant Develop- ment for Castrol in the UK, and Car- men Pino, Regional Sales Director for Castrol Offshore for a chat about the new Environmental Lubricant being developed by Castrol Offshore with the support of OneSubsea. This barrier oil provides extreme thermal stability, good electrical insulation and lubricity, and fully meets the tightest OSPAR environ- mental legislation The O&G industry is increasingly tar- geting deepwater plays, where subsea equipment such as pumps, manifolds and Xmas trees are constantly under high pressure, be it the water pressure at depths that may exceed 2,000m or high pressure from the reservoir itself. There is also the heat coming from the reser- voir and the cold from the deep ocean waters which may affect subsea equip- ment. Most subsea equipment uses some form of lubricating oil, which is used to lubricate hydrodynamic bearings, me-chanical seals and other internal compo-nents, but also acts as cooling medium in motor, pump or compressor compo- nents. Lubricants additionally keep cer- tain insulation properties in motor and power penetrators, along with transport- ing wear particles to  lters and acting as a barrier between sea/process and inter- nal components. ?There were a couple of main drivers in developing the new New O shore Environmental Lubricant Lubricant By Claudio Paschoa, BrazilCastrol?s Pangbourne Technology Center. (Photo BP)22 MTRJanuary/February 2014 MTR #1 (18-33).indd 22MTR #1 (18-33).indd 221/24/2014 2:22:44 PM1/24/2014 2:22:44 PM