OTC new tech winner: Test chamber simulates water depths up to 9,800 feet

Global energy services company ShawCor’s new Simulated Service Vessel—which tests offshore pipe insulation in simulated water depths of nearly 10,000 feet—is one of 13 winners of the 2012 Offshore Technology Conference’s Spotlight on New Technology award. As The Houston Chronicle reports, the ShawCor Simulated Service Vessel isn’t the only simulator vessel in operation. But it is the only one that can simulate water depths of 9,800 feet and temperatures of 356 degrees. Steve Edmondson, ShawCor’s vice president of corporate research and development, say the vessel was created to address more stringent pipe testing requirements that are becoming common in the offshore industry as exploration and drilling continue to go deeper and deeper. Edmondson says one of the biggest hurdles during the year of development was transporting the 90-ton vessel from Oakville, Ontario, where it was manufactured, to ShawCor’s subsea test facility in Toronto. The vessel traveled 20 miles in one piece on an oversized road flatbed, maneuvering, in some places, through a one-lane street. The first pipe-insulation test took place in July. The vessel has already been used to test various insulation systems for oil and gas projects of major operators in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. This year, it will be used to test pipe insulation for an operator developing a liquefied natural gas export project in Australia. Check out a few photos of the testing vessel and read the full story here; and get a glimpse of all of this year’s OTC new tech winners here.