Trelleborg is looking forward to celebrating 50 years of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and the Group’s 46 years of participation. The company looks to the future of energy and power generation, showcasing a historical timeline, including firsts from the oil & gas industry, OTC, and Trelleborg.
On this journey through time, Trelleborg demonstrates how its innovative marine hose, offshore, and sealing solutions improve safety, optimize productivity, and help customers maintain their competitive edge while barrel prices continue to recover. These historic moments may also provide insight into the next 50 years of the offshore industry. Visit Trelleborg stand number 3239 to view past and present industry moments and speculate on the innovations to come.
Customer Focus
Over the last couple of years, Trelleborg’s offshore operation has refocused and taken the extra time to find out what their customers’ challenges are and how the company can help customers solve these challenges.
Antony Croston, Business Group Director with Trelleborg’s offshore operation in Houston, says: “We adapted and brought our business strategy into alignment in order to really focus on the challenges currently facing our customers. By partnering closely with a number of them, we have been able to further develop our existing product portfolio while also introducing new products and services that embrace new material developments and intelligence technologies. This has enabled us to enhance our value and performance to both our customers and end users, during installation and throughout the entire service life.”
New developments include rotating buoyancy for pipeline buckling mitigation, standardized bend restrictors, and distributed buoyancy modules and helically grooved technology for risers. All of these products incorporate novel, patented technologies that provide class-leading performance.
Croston continues: “We have been able to adapt and invest in our business to increase responsiveness and provide market-leading assurance of product performance for the harsh offshore applications and environments faced by the industry. Our new multi-million-pound testing facility in Skelmersdale, England, ensures that we are able to provide our customers with the most representative hydrostatic testing scenarios, guaranteeing peace of mind and quality in the equipment manufactured and delivered to them.”
The new testing facility houses two state-of-the-art hydrostatic test chambers and will be able to simulate extreme deepwater conditions, including temperature, enabling accurate testing of subsea and drilling equipment.
Next Generation of Sealing Materials
For the last 50 years, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has offered the offshore market peace of mind through the development of high-quality products and industry-compliant materials for high-pressure, high-temperature environments. Solving the unique and extreme sealing challenges inherent in oil and gas industry applications is one of the company’s core competencies, and its engineers continue to develop new solutions to meet the industry’s ever-evolving needs.
According to Eric Bucci, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Global Technical Manager Oil & Gas Americas, “Providing value-added solutions to our customers is the key to accelerating their growth. We work hand-in-hand with our customers to develop solutions that enable them to reap the benefits of shared resources, technology, and capabilities.” Providing a complete sealing material portfolio compliant with industry standards, such as NORSOK and ISO, is one example that demonstrates the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions commitment to its customer base and the industry as a whole.
“We combine state-of-the-art materials with innovative seal designs to create truly unique, customer-focused solutions that our customers can confidently and reliably take to market,” says Bucci. “As an example, our Metal End Cap seal solves long-standing high-temperature, high-pressure challenges by passing API PR2 testing on the first attempt, saving our customers significant time and money by avoiding repetitive testing.”
Learning from its customers’ experiences, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is able to predict future market needs and develop the next generation of sealing materials and designs.
Rapid Innovation in Fluid Transfer
Trelleborg’s oil and marine hose operation will be showcasing fluid transfer solutions that are underpinning some of the most significant trends in the offshore oil and gas markets.
2019 will see LNG infrastructure continue to expand around the world – increasing the need for flexible infrastructure. Trelleborg’s Cryoline LNG hoses not only lower capex costs for LNG infrastructure, but enable ports to add flexibility to load and unload a wider range of vessels.
In addition, Trelleborg’s oil and marine hose operation will demonstrate how selection of seawater intake risers can impact a project. With extreme service life requirements and complex installation issues to overcome, seawater intake risers present a unique challenge for FLNG and FPSOs.
Trelleborg’s SWILINE seawater intake risers feature unique diverless installation functionality and optimize placement of hypochlorite injection to maximize performance and service life. Field-proven, SWILINE solutions have been used on two global FLNG projects, including the Shell Prelude, the world’s largest FLNG in the Timor sea with production beginning last year. The team can also discuss how Trelleborg is raising standards in STS oil transfer with the KLELINE STS hose, qualified to GMPHOM 2009 standards.
Vincent Lagarrigue, Director of Trelleborg’s Oil & Marine operations states, “The rise of LNG, increases in demand for STS transfer, and a need to invest in resilient solutions are driving rapid innovation in the field of fluid transfer. We’re proud to be working closely with customers from the very beginning of projects to develop and maintain the solutions that will unlock new possibilities; whether that’s enhancing a port’s capacity for LNG handling, increasing safety in STS transfer, or pushing the boundaries of performance for FLNG and FPSO seawater intake risers.”
The future of Energy: the Next 50 years
Antony Croston says: “I believe one of the main drivers for the oil and gas industry in the next 50 years is digitization. When combined with the latest material technologies, digitization using Smart Technologies can possibly transform the industry as we know it. While the industry can be seen as resistant to this technology, understanding Big Data might be the key to the next big breakthrough in working smarter and cost-effectively.
New technology enables new ways to generate value and interact with customers. Trelleborg offers various services and digital tools to make life easier and increase value for its customers. This involves smarter products with built-in sensors and tracking systems, as well as online design programs and digital channels, such as web-based and mobile applications.
