Vented, layered-wall deepwater conduit and method
US6039083A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 13, 1998 |
| Grant date | Mar 21, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 13, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF16L2011/047
- WIPO fieldMechanical elements
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A flexible conduit constructed of overlapping layers of sealing and strengthening materials designed to resist tensile, compressive, and axial forces is employed as a submerged flow line carrying pressurized fluid. Sealing material layers disposed radially on either side of the strengthening layers isolate the strengthening layers from the liquids that contact the internal and external conduit walls. The innermost seal layer is positioned within a burst layer that protects the external strengthening layers from pressure-induced damage. The annular area between the strengthening layers is continuously vented to the atmosphere to prevent pressure damage to the strengthening layers caused by gases leaking or permeating into the annular area through the seal layers. End connectors join sections of the conduit together and connect the vents of the sections to each other to form a continuous vent passage that vents the annulus gas at the water surface.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.