Balmoral Offshore Engineering has invested heavily in its manufacturing facility in Aberdeen. The plant manufactures very high quality, consistent modules while the in-house hydrostatic test centre offers test capabilities to 7000msw equivalent.
Drilling riser buoyancy provides lift while reducing the submerged weight of the riser joints. This helps to minimise top tension and prevent stress in the riser while reducing loadings during deployment/retrieval of the blow-out preventer (BOP) stack.
Drilling risers extend from the BOP to the drilling vessel with their primary function being the provision of fluid communications between the well and the drilling vessel while supporting the choke, kill and auxiliary lines. The riser is also used to guide tools into the well and serves as a running/retrieving string for the BOP.
Dressed drilling riser joint
Balmoral drilling riser buoyancy modules are fitted around the riser with moulded apertures accommodating auxiliary lines and riser clamps.
The vertical lift of the syntactic modules is transferred to the riser by a thrust collar fitted to the riser pipe below the upper coupling. A matching collar is normally installed at the lower end of the assembly to facilitate the transfer of the module weight during handling.
