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Simulating subsea conditions
with energy chains
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from igus
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Sailing into open water is not the only way to observe ocean depths of more than 20,000 feet.
Hyperbaric testing simulates deep-water conditions, and effectively assesses subsea equipment with hydraulic and
electrical components at depth. Master Flo Valve Inc. is home to one of the largest custom-built hyperbaric test
systems in the U.S. The system simulates sea water pressures equivalent to 23,000 feet below sea level (10,000
PSI/690 bar) and temperatures below freezing.
"There are not many systems like this in the world," said Frank Koeck, General Manager of Master Flo USA. "Master
Flo has one of the biggest size and pressure rating combinations."
The Master Flo system is most often used
by the oil industry for subsea equipment that
needs to be tested in conditions similar to
those which it will be installed. Other industries
have also expressed interest.
"All major subsea operators have equipment
that has been hyperbarically tested," said
Koeck. "But there's also submarine equipment,
buoy systems—many different businesses can
use this."
The test chamber can handle subsea
equipment up to four tons, five feet wide and
eight feet long. Test pieces are automatically
guided into the chamber, and the chamber is
closed and filled with a fluid to simulate sea
water immersion. Environmental conditions in
the chamber are regulated from inside a control room, and various hydraulic and electrical control options are
available.
Since the Master Flo chamber is such a confined and potentially dangerous space, personnel cannot go inside of
the vessel for equipment preparation or setup. Thus, test pieces are connected with electrical cables and hyrdaulic
hoses, and are then loaded into the bottom of the vessel with electrical cables. Simply dropping the connected
cables and hoses into the chamber, however, can cause them to dangle or become damaged. A cable management
system was required to prevent this from happening.
Chamber of the Master Flo hyperbaric test system
(Source: Ormond Energy Innovations Inc.)
