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Balmoral - Bend Restrictor Solutions for Oil, Gas, and Renewable Sectors
Balmoral Comtec Ltd specializes in advanced bend restrictor solutions designed to prevent over-bending at interfaces between flexible flowlines or cables and rigid structures. These products are crucial in static applications, offering mechanical lock-up only when the desired bend radius is reached, particularly in harsh environments such as oil, gas, renewable energy, and defense industries. Accredited by Bureau Veritas to API 17L standards, Balmoral's bend restrictors are engineered using multiple rigid polyurethane grades to ensure optimal performance. The innovative boltless design, which is patent pending, reduces installation times and costs significantly, enhancing operational efficiency. These restrictors come in a range of bespoke or off-the-shelf options, maintaining high standards of safety and reliability. Forged and PU reaction collars provide interface flexibility, accommodating various client requirements. Balmoral's products are developed in-house using leading design software, ensuring rigorous testing and compliance with industry standards.
Bend restrictors prevent over-bending at the interface between flexible flowlines/umbilicals/cables and rigid structures by mechanically locking up.
They are normally used in static applications but, unlike bend stiffeners, only provide protection once the pipe has achieved the desired bend radius between the flexible line and rigid structures such as wellhead connections, J-tube exits, rigid pipe crossovers and PLET connections.
Accredited by Bureau Veritas to API 17L standards and tailored to meet or exceed customer requirements across the oil & gas, renewable energy and defence industries, Balmoral bend restrictors provide cost effective solutions through optimised design methods, an ongoing development programme and the use of multiple rigid PU grades.
They are supplied as two-piece units that are bolted together.
Balmoral’s bend restrictor solutions are designed and manufactured in-house using state of the art design software. Key information required for this process includes:
- Flexible pipe OD
- Minimum bend radius
- Service life
- Length of coverage by angle or length
- Support structure details
- Flexible pipe min and max internal temperatures; operation and installation
- Flexible pipe min and max thermal conductivity value if pipe is heated
- Min and max installation air temperature
- Min and max seawater operation temperature
- Installation and operation shear force
- Installation and operation bending moment
- Flexible pipe stiffness if not taken into consideration in the bending moment and shear force loads
Balmoral’s vision is to be a solutions provider and, in most cases, provides a bespoke product tailored to meet specific or environmental conditions. It is understood, however, that clients can seek off the shelf options offering the same quality and surety that a bespoke product typically provides.
Through an extensive investment and research and development project Balmoral analysed its extensive track record and developed a range of standard bend restrictors to cover a multitude of diameters operating to specific temperatures, loading capacity and MBR.
This programme resulted in Balmoral’s standardised bend restrictor range which offers:
- A rethink of the load transfer mechanism to a ‘Box to Box’ system
- Standard mouldings catering to a wide range of diameters
- Improved lead-times on documentation and products
- Tested to capacities with the potential to reduce qualification and expense on individual project testing
- Potential cost reduction over bespoke designs subject to performance requirements, specification and quantities
- API 17L Type Approved design methodology