ELEx Connector

The ELEx connector body consists of a plug and a socket, which form a pressure vessel when they are mated. The high voltage female contacts are mounted in the upper, socket section and the male contact pins in the lower, plug section of ELEx.

The electrical contacts are mated automatically when the female and male sections of ELEx are mated. As the ELEx is mated subsea, the interior of the connector contains seawater at the ambient pressure. A fluid exchange process then takes place, resulting in a one atmosphere gas environment inside ELEx.

The principle of the ELEx fluid exchange process is to:

1.   Mate the plug and socket of the connector in ambient seawater;
2.   Remove the seawater surrounding the high voltage pins;
3.   Clean the interior of the connector with an appropriate fluid;
4.   Remove the fluid; and
5.   Fill the ELEx container with a gas at atmospheric pressure.

The final, one-atmosphere, gas filled environment in which the high voltage contacts are maintained eliminates the problems of the long-term degradation of the insulation liquid associated with dielectric-filled connectors and results in a simpler construction with no moving parts.