Dundee-based Flintstone Technology has successfully installed its pull-through mooring connector system for the Kraken and Mariner oil fields east of Shetland.
The pull-through mooring connectors provide a means of simple connection and disconnection of mooring lines to mid water buoys or floating facilities and have the additional benefit of reducing the make-up time by more than 80%, saving several days of installation time on each project, improving safety, whilst using simple rigging.
The connectors are made up using an ROV and pull through line from a support vessel.
Andrew Clayson, Flintstone managing director, said: “In a low oil price, companies may look at research and development as an area for potential spend reduction – when the opposite should be the case.
“The only way the industry will survive these difficult times, particularly in mature regions, is by encouraging more innovation and greater R&D into technologies that can create significant cost savings. Our new pull through connector fits that profile exactly.”
Offshore production support ships typically have 12 mooring lines that connect the turret and the seabed and often require change during their service life.
Flintstone’s pull-through connector, which can be deployed on all turret-based mooring systems, was developed in response to an industry need to be able to disconnect mooring lines, laydown and reconnect new lines without the vessel disconnecting from the turret assembly.
The connectors, which can be designed for any mooring line load requirements, are installed and changed using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and pull through line from a support vessel. Rugged and forged in alloy steel to avoid the need for corrosion packs, the system’s dual axis rotation eliminates out of plane bending while its self-aligning properties dispense with rigging requirements.
Flintstone Technology was set up in 2012 by Andrew Clayson as a product design consultancy. The company completed several significant projects before developing its first product, the buoy turret connector, in 2013. Last year, the company moved to new premises on the north side of Dundee, which has extensive facilities for assembly and testing.
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy