Service Installation Equipment

Architecture. The Service Installation Equipment comprises the plug of the High Voltage Electric Connector ("ELEx") and the location bays for the pipeline connection systems. For future applications Alpha Thames have developed a horizontal rigid pipe connection system CUSP ("Connection of Underwater Systems and Pipe/flowlines") which will enable operators to chose their preferred method of connection.

The umbilical power/control cable is wired to the plug of the ELEx before installation and is installed using a form of jointed harness which is clamped to the umbilical and transmits the loads directly to the Docking-Manifold structure.

High Voltage Electric Connectors. Existing designs for subsea, wet-mateable electrical connectors are based on maintaining the electrical contacts in an insulating liquid or a gel that is pressurebalanced with the subsea ambient pressure. These high voltage connector designs are being developed from the low voltage, subsea, and wet-mateable connector designs that are currently in use in subsea applications. Read more.

ELEx. 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.

Pipeline connection system (CUSP). CUSP is a system for horizontal pressure connection of rigid or flexible flowlines, bundles and electro-hydraulic umbilicals, and for the remote retrieval of valves and pipeline repairs. The system has been designed to dramatically reduce the complexity of these subsea operations. It accurately aligns the pipeline ends, then clamps, seals and locks in a single operation. Read more.