Page 45: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2022)

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TECH FEATURE BALMORAL

Photos courtesy Balmoral Offshore Engineering

Drill Riser

Buoyancy

Solution inspired by the Sea Turtle

Aneel Gill, Product R&D Manager, Balmoral Of shore Engineering, explains how

Balmoral Comtec’s new Drill Riser Buoyancy solution was inspired by nature.

natural phenomenon was industrialized using ues while offering up to 75% VIV suppression ef? ciencies biomimetic engineering resulting in a structure which dramatically improve riser motion and drag in oner- capable of offering VIV ef? ciencies that dra- ous subsea current environments compared to traditional matically improve riser motion and drag. drill riser buoyancy.

A “With this development, we looked at several different “The LDV uses the same foam systems which Balmoral has ways of reducing vortex induced vibration, and it was our used for 40 years,” said Gill. “These systems are designed for tak- director who asked, ‘Have you seen a sea turtle? Have you ing impact and dynamic load-outs,” said Gill. “The LDV is there seen the shape?’,” said Aneel Gill, Product R&D Manager, to minimize the dynamic loads caused by currents [and other

Balmoral Offshore Engineering. After a bit of digging by forces]. This improves the operational window for the driller.”

Gill and the Balmoral R&D team, the shape, the geom- The hex design eliminates the need for ancillary sup- etry, the pattern, all made sense. pression equipment and helps reduce time-consuming ac-

The result is DuraFloat LDV (patent pending) tech- tivities when running and removing drill stacks.

nology which integrates vortex induced vibration (VIV) Additionally, it is recognized that reduced riser motion suppression and drag reduction into drill riser buoyancy due to VIV suppression dramatically improves the fatigue modules to increase rig ef? ciency without compromising performance of subsea equipment resulting in further cost safety or structural integrity. savings by extending the service life of wellhead and con-

The system is designed to provide optimum uplift val- ductor/casing equipment.

march/april 2022 OFFSHORE ENGINEER 45