Balltec BendLOK™ Diverless Bend Stiffener Connector
Highest integrity bend stiffener connectors for the harshest environments.
The BendLOK™ offers a secure and robust permanent mechanical connection between the Bend Stiffener and the I-Tube or J-Tube. The BendLOK™ is built with Balltec’s extensive experience in equipment design and manufacture for the oil and gas industry.
The BendLOK™ allows a fully automatic connection and disconnection without the need for divers or ROV intervention. The simple, maintenance free female connects to any FPSO or turret. The male has an adaptable flexible design to interface with various risers, umbilicals and end terminations.
In addition, Balltec has developed an innovative riser pull-in tool that allows the automatic release, without the need for shear pins, tension pins or hydraulics, to be used in conjunction with the BendLOK™ connector. The riser pull-in tool can be simply adapted to function as an automatic BendLOK™ release system that securely retains the riser and male component during recovery.
Features
- Automatic operation removes the need for any diver or ROV intervention on both connection and disconnection
- Scalable design to accommodate the various ‘I’ tubes and ‘J’ tubes, load requirement and riser designs
- Unique pull-in head allows automatic release of riser during installation and used to automatically disconnect the BendLOK™ during recovery
- Pull-in head securely retains both riser and male BendLOK ensuring that no riser clamps are required during connection or disconnection
- Visual indicator on external locking sleeve gives clear confirmation of successful engagement
- The BendLOK™ offers a secure and robust permanent mechanical connection between the Bend Stiffener and the I-Tube or J Tube.
Additional information
| Material | I-Tubes, J-Tubes, custom-designed interfaces and existing infrastructure. The load-bearing components of the BendLOK are machined from ASTM A694 F60 forgings. |
|---|---|
| Certification Class | The BendLOK™ can be designed, manufactured and tested to the clients requirements. ISO 13628-16 (draft) has been used as an initial guide |
| Service Life | Designs up to 42 years |
| Interface | I-Tubes, J-Tubes, custom-designed interfaces and existing infrastructure |
| Applications | Multi-core umbilicals, fibre optic cabling, production and injection risers, gas flowlines, export lines, power cables and hydraulic hoses. |
| Operations | Automatic operation removes the need for any diver or ROV on both connection and disconnection, unique remote pull-in head allows automatic release of riser during installation, external visual confirmation via the locking sleeve and highly visible band instantly confirms, via ROV camera, successful engagement. |
| Class | BendLOK™ tools are designed, manufactured and tested to client specific and class requirements including API 17L |
