Offshore Installation Equipment

Over the last 25 years we have gained the experience to be your trusted partner in the ballasting, levelling and set down of barge launched jacket structures and steel-constructed gravity-based jacket structures.

Typical Barge Launched Jacket being towed for installation in the North Sea.
Description

We provide safe and reliable products for righting and lowering jackets to the seabed. Our complete Upending Control Systems (UCS) include flood and vent valves, tube bundles, the Upending Control Centre (UCC), flotation tank release systems, rigging release systems, HPU’s, umbilical and umbilical winches. We also provide Template Levelling Systems (TLS) for accurate positioning control of subsea drilling templates

Upending Control Systems

Depending on the size and weight of the jacket due to the installation water depth and topside capacity, a typical jacket structure can have more than 100 hydraulically actuated ball valves mounted in air tight compartments within the jacket legs and buoyancy tanks. Coordinating the opening and closing of the flood and vent ball valves to provide accurate active ballasting into each compartment is key to a safe and successful jacket installation. The operation of the upending control system is manual from the UCC, which is mounted on the jacket above the water line. The UCC is designed to protect the operating equipment from slam forces during launch and is connected by up to 4km of tube bundles to the flood and vent valves.

Key Features

  • Proven and reliable design
  • Environmentally friendly water-glycol hydraulic control fluid
  • Ergonomic UCC design housing hydraulic control valves and electric monitoring system
  • Stored energy system within the UCC
  • Multiple back-up options available
  • Remote control capability eliminates the need for personnel on the jacket during set down

Power

The UCS is operated using hydraulic power and monitored using an electrical power supply

  • Hydraulic power stored in accumulator banks
  • Electrical power supplied by multiple battery packs
  • Back-up power provided from an umbilical between the installation vessel and UCC
  • Solar power for re-charging at sea

Template Levelling Systems

Drilling templates are used to allow pre-drilling operations to be carried out prior to the installation of the Drilling Platform. NOV installs, tests and commissions the hydraulic pipework, panels and cylinders on the template structure prior to carrying out a rigorous land-based witness and acceptance test procedure.

Pin Release System

Typical lifting beam connections for a jacket lifted from a barge by crane and placed in the sea before being trimmed and lowered can be provided by NOV. This can be supplied independently or as part of a full turnkey package including a UCS.

Ballast systems

Ballasting Systems can be used on many offshore structures including Floating Wind Turbines and Jacket Structures.

The Ballasting System is used to transfer large quantities of fluid (treated seawater) very quickly between enclosed compartments using remotely controlled pumps and valves. As floating wind turbines become larger, Ballasting Systems are critical to allow turbines to continue operating for extended periods and can be used to protect the asset when not operational.

A Ballasting System for decommissioning can be implemented during jacket construction, providing an end-of-life solution to evacuate the jacket legs of the treated seawater or to allow easier fitting of external equipment during evacuation process.

Resources
  • Upending Control Systems Flyer