Kvaerner orders subsea sensors

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 12, 2003

GE Druck has received a substantial order from Kvaerner Oilfield Products for the supply of customised PTTX400 Series subsea wellhead transmitters.

GE Druck has received a substantial order from Kvaerner Oilfield Products for the supply of customised PTTX400 Series subsea wellhead transmitters, to provide long-term precise measurements of oil process pressure/temperature.

The GE Druck transmitters will be installed on Aker Kvaerner control systems, submerged 1500m into seawater in support of Dalia, a Total subsea oil production system development project situated 160km offshore from Angola, West Africa.

The transmitters have been designed to provide high levels of performance while withstanding the extremely severe operating conditions and subsea environment, with an operational life of up to 25 years.

Aker Kvaerner Project Manager Howard Benbow said: "We awarded this contract to GE Druck firstly because of their technical track record based on previous orders placed with them.

Secondly, for Aker Kvaerner to be successful in winning the contract from Total for the Dalia subsea production system, we had to select a supplier who could demonstrate to our client that they had the technical knowledge to develop and qualify a subsea pressure and temperature sensor which meets the project specific requirements.

The qualification and development work completed to date by GE Druck has been exemplary and we look forward to their successful delivery execution of the purchase order".

This contract results from 2 years of specific development by the GE Druck Engineering team, working closely with Aker Kvaerner to ensure strict compliance with a comprehensive range of project requirements and the successful integration of advanced measurement and communications technologies.

The final product was also subjected to a challenging qualification program, successfully completed prior to contract.

"This contract demonstrates our continued commitment to the subsea industry and we appreciate Aker Kvaerner's sustained confidence in choosing GE Druck to meet the many technical challenges", said Mark Bryant, GE Druck Commercial Director.

"Our wide range of products is proven in key oil and gas applications worldwide and our core technologies are well suited to meet the exceptional demands of a subsea production environment".

The PTTX400 series is inherently rugged and compact with a flexible modular design platform.

To meet the project specification a new high pressure/high accuracy quartz measuring element was developed with Profibus digital communications.

Pressure ranges from 300 to 690bar and temperature ranges from -40 to +150C are being supplied, with accuracy up to 0.03% full scale.

External case pressure is up to 300bar and containment pressure in excess of 1000bar.

In addition, various mechanical configurations are being produced and feature high grade NACE approved body/process wetted materials including Inconel 625 and stainless steel UNS 31803.