Flotation Systems

Cover2Oil States Industries has been supplying products and services for sealing and flotation to the offshore, fixed-structure market for over 50 years. As a pioneer in this market, Oil States originally designed and patented many of these products.

These include high-pressure diaphragms for flotation, weld-in, removable, J-tube and mud barrier along with various cutting and removal devices to ensure proper deployment. Oil States also supplies a full line of plugs for customer-required specifications.  These include leg or pile plugs, pull-out style and pump-out plugs.

High-Pressure Flotation Diaphragms

Key Features

  • Provide buoyancy for jacket leg and skirt pile sleeves during installation.
  • High-pressure, high-strength nylon-reinforced rubber; tested to 1.5 times hydrostatic pressure from water depth.
  • Quickly pierced by the pile or ruptured with an integral cutting tool.
  • Diaphragm sizes available to 144″ O.D.
  • Available as dual-diaphragm design or for extreme-pressure situations.

Applications

  • Provide buoyancy during jacket installation on legs, sleeves
  • Buoyancy tanks
  • Sealing J-Tubes
  • Pile flotation

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Technical installation assistance

Internal Welded Style Diaphragms

Key Features

  • Full pressure rated.
  • Supplied as complete assembly.
  • Added redundancy.
  • Controlled pre-flooding of legs.

Applications

  • Sealing during jacket installation

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Installation technical assistance

Removable Diaphragms

Key Features

  • Fully removed to clear leg access.
  • Internal placement at any elevation.
  • Accommodate legs and piles.

Applications

  • Retrieval process after installation
  • Clear leg for drilled piles
  • Minimize grout-connection loss

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Installation technical assistance

J-Tube Diaphragms

Key Features

  • Provide buoyancy during installation; high strength, high pressure.
  • Accept installation of pull-in cables and diaphragm cutters.
  • Easy to install.
  • Provide clean, sealed J-Tube prior to riser pull-in. Long-term integrity for future expansion.
  • Utilize guide cones for efficient operations.

Applications

  • Sealing J-Tubes and riser tubes during jacket installation
  • Long-term protection of J-Tube integrity for future development

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Installation technical assistance

Mud-Barrier Diaphragms

Key Features

  • High-strength, nylon-reinforced rubber.
  • Keep mudline soil debris from prematurely entering the sleeve prior to piercing by the pile.
  • Easily pierced by the piling.
  • Reduced cost over high-pressure diaphragms.

Applications

  • Jacket installation – fixed platform
  • Jacket legs and sleeves
  • Non-buoyant, grouted legs and sleeves

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Installation technical assistance

Diaphragm Cutting and Removal Devices

Key Features

  • Buoyancy tank flooding applications.
  • Installed and tested at the factory.
  • Quickly and efficiently cuts the diaphragm to reduce piercing loads by the pile.
  • Equipped with eye nuts for easy attachment of removal cables.

Applications

  • Flooding of buoyancy tanks
  • Reducing pile penetration forces

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Installation technical assistance

Leg and Pile Plugs

Key Features

  • Designed for any diameter leg, sleeve or pile.
  • Fully removable and retrievable.
  • High-pressure rating with integral flooding system.
  • Suitable for use on towed piles.
  • Uses inflatable packer for seal.

Applications

  • Maintain buoyancy in jacket legs, skirt sleeves and piles
  • Used on buoyancy-towed piles
  • De-watering and salvage applications

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Technical installation assistance

Pull-Out and Pump-Out Plugs

Key Features

  • Provide buoyancy for spar hulls and buoyant tanks.
  • High-differential pressure applications.
  • Easily removed; leave no remnants.
  • Standard sizes to 48″; larger upon request.
  • Reliable, simple sealing system.

Applications

  • Buoyancy tanks
  • Spar hull flooding

Services

  • Engineering design
  • Elastomer compounding
  • Fabrication
  • Testing
  • Installation technical assistance