Fluoroglide® Subsea Bearing Sliding Pads
The repeated expansion and contraction of pipelines fixed to the subsea PLET’s often causes the base to dig into soft silt, resulting in unacceptable stress levels building up in the attached pipelines over a period of time.
Using our Subsea Bearing Sliding Pads between the equipment mounting plate, which is a rigid structure, and the mud mat allows movement without resulting in stress build-up.
Our range of Fluoroglide® Subsea Bearing Sliding Pads - J Bearings were developed for the BP Greater Plutonia project off Angola in 2005 for deep subsea applications.
-
Our material PTFE Fluorinoid® FL134 has been developed to give outstanding performance in subsea conditions.
-
Fluorinoid® FL134 PTFE material will not support any kind of marine growth or allow attachment of marine growth such as barnacles etc.
-
No maintenance is required. Fluorinoid® PTFE will never cold weld to itself and therefore requires no lubrication.
-
Small particles which may become embedded do not cause binding of the surfaces.
-
The reliable low friction values provided help to mitigate many of the common issues including pipeline walking and excessive stress in both the pipeline and surrounding infrastructure.
Our range of Fluoroglide® Subsea Bearing Sliding Pads - J Bearings have been designed to operate in sub-sea conditions with our Fluorinoid® FL134 bearing material chemically and mechanically locked into a steel housing plate.
The recommended design load for Fluorinoid® FL134 in a Fluoroglide® Subsea Bearing Sliding Pad configuration is a maximum of 100kgs/cm2.
With these design pressures, the coefficient of friction will be 0.1 maximum.
Project-specific long-term testing can be undertaken by Fluorocarbon and independent Test Houses that can approve the bearing for subsea applications.
You can be confident that once fitted, there will be no maintenance required and the friction will stay consistent throughout the service life.
The slide-bearing components can be fixed to the installation by bolting, tack-welding, full welding or mortar embedment, and the appropriate type of bearing should be chosen according to the installation method.
-
Consider any unusual conditions affecting the slide bearings, such as the need for additional thermal insulation, vibration pads and deflection of the slide bearing surface.
-
Decide the most appropriate method of mounting the slide bearings.
-
We recommend chemical bonding for locating the slide-bearing material on its support. The shear value of the epoxy adhesive is greater than that of the PTFE.
