Design engineering
Balmoral’s design team has a wealth of engineering design expertise at its fingertips. Augmented by state-of-the-art 3D modelling, finite element analysis, CFD, lab and testing facilities, the company is totally committed to the highest standards of performance.
A core function of the Balmoral team is to develop close working relationships with clients allowing them to develop a comprehensive understanding of key requirements and ultimately deliver a personalised service at all levels.
Manufacturing
Balmoral Offshore Engineering has taken advantage of recent developments in materials, plant and processing techniques to install highly efficient, automated buoyancy manufacturing facilities.
Comprising thermoplastic syntactic, aliphatic amine cold cure and anhydride hot cure manufacturing capabilities, supported by highly engineered macrosphere production tumblers, shakers, vacuum chambers and curing ovens, this facility represents a step change in the way buoyancy products are manufactured.
The company has also created a state-of-the-art polyurethane elastomer processing facility that benefits from in-house design, engineering and testing support.
Most commonly used as a moulding material for riser, cable, flowline and product protection applications, PU elastomer is a tough, fatigue resistant substance which is ideally suited to impact and abrasion resistant products.
Syntactic production and curing
The combination of hollow glass microspheres and a resin matrix, known as syntactic foam, is central to any buoyancy manufacturing operation. Balmoral has introduced, for the first time, an automated system which provides consistent quality syntactic material, critical to achieving high performance buoyancy and insulation products.
By implementing hot and cold cure processing, supported by refined hardware to provide control over temperature, duration and cool-down times, Balmoral Offshore Engineering has overcome product failure issues such as stress, material instability and brittleness that are experienced by traditional manufacturing operations.
Ultimately, BOE products are capable of performing in hostile deepwater environments commonly experienced in the industry today.
Deepwater focus
Continually investing in materials innovation, Balmoral Offshore Engineering is highly focused on the developing deep and ultra-deepwater markets.
The company is committed to a continuous programme of research and development to provide cost effective, fit for purpose products based on its intimate knowledge of composite and polymer materials.
Being the first company to develop and test 7000m syntactic drill riser buoyancy and ROV materials Balmoral has further invested in creating the industry’s most comprehensive deepwater buoyancy manufacturing and testing facilities.
