Trellborg Gains Crogenic Technology

Global engineering group Trelleborg has signed and finalized an agreement which will see its Trelleborg Industrial Solutions business area acquire cryogenic hose system technology from SBM Offshore, a company in floating production and mooring systems. According to Trellborg, thistransaction will enable the company to accelerate and strengthen its offering in the supply of equipment for the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) market.

Mikael Fryklund, President of the Trelleborg Industrial Solutions business area, commented, “An increasingly popular choice in the offshore oil and gas sector, FLNG vessels are a cost effective and flexible solution for commercializing new gas discoveries in remote deep-water locations. However, conditions of current FLNG locations are quite mild and only require the use of the most straightforward technology. As such, there are minimal qualified solutions for LNG offloading available, especially in harsh environments.”

He continued, “As a business we are committed to investing in technology which has a strong market potential and good future profitability. The acquisition of SBMs cryogenic hose system technology bolsters our technological offering and strengthens our existing portfolio within offshore offloading. Furthermore, it will complement Trelleborg’s existing LNG hose development program and further accelerate our emerging offloading LNG hose system, which are expected to go to market next year.

Trelleborg, which will continue to work with SBM Offshore in regards to the development of this technology, has acquired the full manufacturing line for production and testing, patents, qualification and type approval for cryogenic offshore offloading and loading hose systems. SBM Offshore and Trelleborg have undertaken rigorous tests and achieved demanding qualifications.

Trelleborg said it has already begun to utilize this technology and teamed up with two leading oil and gas industry players, including SAIPEM, to develop a new LNG tandem offloading system.

Launched at OTC 2013, the new system is derived from existing and proven technologies and is set to become a key component in offloading systems for future offshore FLNG projects. By enabling offshore transfer of LNG in tandem configuration, the cryogenic floating hose from Trelleborg will pioneer a step change in the safety of this critical operation. This innovative system will also allow FLNG projects to be considered in harsher conditions, without excessive downtime due to offloading system availability, and with significantly reduced risk.

Trelleborg is also developing a cooling seawater suction hose system, also for the FLNG market. While both of these hose systems are expected to go to market in 2014, the technologies are already part of future LNG project proposals.

trelleborg.com