Last month's Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston demonstrated First Subsea's commitment to the offshore industry in both technical and practical mooring matters.  

Metals Forging - Improved Heat Treatment

First Subsea and University of Sheffield Institute of Microstructural and Mechanical Process Engineering presented the results of a two-year research project into metals forging.  Taking a practical, empirical approach to metals forging, the two-year project has:

• allowed the development of a heat transfer model that can be used to predict cooling rate and its effect on the microstructure in a range of forged metals. From this, toughness and hardness can be deduced in different positions across a forged billet up to 480mm diameter.

Deepwater Mooring Trends - LankoFirst Fibre Rope Connector

The time has come for dedicated deepwater mooring systems that accurately reflect the practical and engineering demands of deploying mooring systems beyond 10,000ft.

Brian Green's paper reviewed the elements of deepwater mooring systems with reference to the integrity of deepwater mooring lines and the excessive complexity of mooring line interconnectivity, resulting in increased installation times and higher vessel costs.

With the advent of new fibre rope mooring connector technology that improves the engineering integrity of rope connections and reduces deployment times, such as the LankoFirst 'Link' connector shown above, a ‘Lean Installation’ approach to deepwater mooring is now possible.

For more information on 'Lean Installation' of Deepwater fibre rope mooring lines contact First Subsea on +44(0)1524 387777, email: briang@firstsubsea.com and visit www.firstsubsea.com.

Copies of the OTC papers are available as a download from www.otcnet.org

• The Effects of Large Scale Forging and Heat Treatment Processes on the Mechanical Properties of Mooring Connectors, OTC-20909.
  
  
• Deepwater Mooring Systems - Advances in Connector Technology and Implementation Practice, OTC-20920.