Objetivo Oil and gas exploration is being carried out in ever deeper water, as more readily-exploitable reserves become depleted. And whilst previously uneconomical deep-water oilfields are now becoming financially viable, accessing them remains difficult due to the technical challenges associated with extreme operating conditions.When working in water at depths of up to 5000m the water pressure is above 500atm. Components and systems for extracting oil and gas need to be neutrally buoyant, in order to maintain them in the desired position. Buoyancy modules for drill risers used in exploration lines are currently made from syntactic foams using micro and macro-spheres. Macro-spheres offer buoyancy advantages, but become increasingly unreliable at greater depths due to manufacturing inconsistencies. A typical deep-water buoyancy module will contain thousands of tightly packed spheres, and when a buoyancy module fails this can necessitate costly repairs and lead to environmental harmThe current technology for buoyancy modules operating at less than 3km uses spheres made of Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) balls which are then coated with a shell of epoxy resin. The epoxy coating acts as the load bearing structure withstanding water pressure. Spheres from each batch are pressure tested and rated for performance which determines the depth at which the batch can be usedThis proposal concerns development of a perfectly spherical, low-cost coated ceramic macrosphere manufacturing process. The ceramic spheres will be designed and manufactured in more than one size for improved packing density and rated for higher compressive strength allowing use at greater depths. A further development of this project is to address the sphere contact issues within the current syntactic foams. Point contact between spheres can contribute to failure from stress concentrations. We propose to coat the higher strength ceramic spheres with an elastomeric resin, reducing stress and the risk of failure. Ámbito científico engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringengineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and filmsengineering and technologymaterials engineeringceramics Programa(s) FP7-SME - Specific Programme "Capacities": Research for the benefit of SMEs Tema(s) SME-2013-1 - Research for SMEs Convocatoria de propuestas FP7-SME-2013 Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria Régimen de financiación BSG-SME - Research for SMEs Coordinador MOULDED FOAMS LTD Aportación de la UE € 244 523,89 Dirección Wardpark Road, Wardpark South 1 G67 3EX GLASGOW Reino Unido Ver en el mapa Tipo de actividad Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Contacto administrativo John Thornberry (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos Participantes (6) Ordenar alfabéticamente Ordenar por aportación de la UE Ampliar todo Contraer todo Plasto AS Noruega Aportación de la UE € 260 835,13 Dirección ORAN OST 6300 Andalsnes Ver en el mapa Tipo de actividad Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Contacto administrativo Lars Stenerud (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos DE CAVIS AG Suiza Aportación de la UE € 265 282,57 Dirección WOLFGANG PAULI STRASSE 10 8093 ZURICH Ver en el mapa Tipo de actividad Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Contacto administrativo Urs Thomas Gonzenbach (Dr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos ALMATH CRUCIBLES LIMITED Reino Unido Aportación de la UE € 271 642,41 Dirección THE RUNNING HORSE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE EPSOM BUILDING UNIT 2 A CB8 9NE BURROUGH GREEN Ver en el mapa Tipo de actividad Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Contacto administrativo Zophia Turowska (Mrs.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos TRELLEBORG OFFSHORE UK LIMITED Reino Unido Aportación de la UE € 39 750,00 Dirección STANLEY WAY STANLEY WAY INDUSTRIAL WN8 8EA SKELMERSDALE LANCASHIRE Ver en el mapa Tipo de actividad Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Contacto administrativo Dave Williams (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos THE UK MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE LIMITED Reino Unido Aportación de la UE € 12 738,00 Dirección MIDDLE ASTON HOUSE OX25 5PT OXFORDSHIRE Ver en el mapa Tipo de actividad Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Contacto administrativo David Cartlidge (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos EIDGENOSSISCHE MATERIALPRUFUNGS- UND FORSCHUNGSANSTALT Suiza Aportación de la UE € 16 228,00 Dirección UEBERLANDSTRASSE 129 8600 Dubendorf Ver en el mapa Región Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Contacto administrativo Jakob Kuebler (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos