New products and services

Personnel transfer technology provides robust safety suite

Reflex Marine’s latest crane transfer technology, the FROG-XT range, provides the market’s safest suite of personnel transfer devices. The tested and verified devices, available in four-, six- and 10-person capacities, are already in use by operators, including Total. The FROG-XT is an evolution of the company’s existing FROG capsule. The range allows for low- and high-capacity transfers, as well as the capacity for all devices to be quickly and easily converted to MedEvac mode to transfer casualties. The features of the FROG-XT are designed to provide greater comfort and a more secure passenger experience, while being more compact, and easier to ship and maintain. Wider operating parameters, as well as the ability for high-capacity transfers, mean that the FROG-XT range is extremely versatile with operational flexibility.

Helium-filled hard drive introduced

HGST has released the world’s first hermetically sealed, helium hard drive, the Ultrastar He⁶, for massive scale-out environments, cloud storage, disk-to-disk back-up, and replicated or RAID environments. Today, the amount of data that companies need to store is only growing, but many IT budgets remain flat. With its latest features, the hard drive reduces total cost of ownership for data centers. At only one-seventh the density of air, helium, as a replacement for air inside of a hard drive, reduces the turbulence caused by the spinning disk, cuts power consumption and results in a lower temperature within the disk drive. The reduction in turbulence allows HGST to deliver a seven-disk design in a traditional 3.5-in. form factor. The hard drive is also the first in the industry with a 6-terabyte capacity, for a 50% capacity gain and a 23% reduction in the energy needed to run the drive. 

High-volume, drilling mud density classifier developed

Fluid Systems Inc. has designed and developed a patent-pending, high-process-volume classifier for use in barite recovery and dual-density drilling. The centrifugal separator is trademarked as the BARKEEPER, and classifies drilling mud into concentrated high-density and low-density streams. A series of modules can process at or above circulating mud volumes for high-efficiency recovery of high-density mud, and the delivery of low-density streams, to centrifuges for the removal of drilled solids for delivery to the active mud system, or for re-injection into the riser. Extensive field testing of prototypes have yielded excellent results without plugging issues associated with older technologies. Field trials of production units are scheduled to begin in early fall.  

Real-time analysis technologies unveiled

MicroSeismic has released new technologies to allow for advanced real-time analysis.  A specialist in real-time microseismic imaging, the company has enhanced its capabilities to give clients the opportunity to make critical adjustments at the well site, to optimize production and reduce costs. The new technologies include Automatic Moment Tensor Inversion (Auto MTI), which enables more accurate source mechanisms, on every event, in real-time; Event Editing, which is a machine-learning software that locates more microseismic events with greater accuracy; and Anistropic Calibration, which allows for faster, more accurate event locations by utilizing advanced seismic anisotropy techniques. 

Software adds capabilities for deploying data in decision-making

National Instruments (NI) has introduced LabVIEW 2014 system design software, which features upgrades to help users acquire, analyze and visualize data sets for informed decision-making. The software standardizes how users interact with hardware through reuse of the same code and engineering processes across systems, which scales applications for the future. This saves time and money, as technology advances, requirements evolve, and time-to-market pressure increases. The latest release simplifies purchasing through the LabVIEW suites, which offer LabVIEW add-ons and complementary software, specific to automated test, embedded control and monitoring, and hardware-in-the-loop and real-time testing. The software’s newest capabilities include the DataFinder Federation data search technology, new built-in algorithms and the Data Dashboard for LabVIEW.

Well control taskforces to be formed

The International Well Control Forum (IWCF) is establishing technical taskforces involving industry specialists, with the aim of helping drive up the quality of well control training. The independent, not-for-profit organization, which sets international training standards for well control, is making the move as part of a raft of new measures, in response to the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) post-Macondo guidelines. IWCF is seeking industry volunteers for roles on eight new taskforces. 

New rig design improves speed-to-market offshore

William Jacob Management, Inc. (WJM) has introduced a modular offshore drilling rig design that reduces deployment costs and improves speed-to-market. The Modular Offshore Rig Facility (MORF) is a copyrighted design for a 3,000-hp modular drilling facility. WJM said its MORF design is the first of its kind in terms of size and configuration, as well as being a first for the Gulf of Mexico. The rig has two main modules: the drilling equipment set (DES) and the drilling support module (DSM). The DES has the capacity to access 15 wells arranged in a 3 × 5 matrix, and is can drill to 25,000 ft. The DSM is equipped with a pair of rig cranes for installation.

Additional sizes introduced for fittings, tubing

High Pressure Equipment Company (HiP) has expanded its medium-pressure line with the addition of a 11/2-in.-OD line of fittings, couplings, tubing and nipples that accommodate pressures up to 15,000 psi. The 15/16-in. orifice, LF24 line is compatible with existing 11/2-in. valves, allowing users to plumb their existing systems with HiP components. HiP’s fittings in the 11/2-in. line include a complete range of elbows, tees and crosses, as well as union couplings (slip type), bulkhead couplings and caps.