The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community
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www.sea-technology.com July 2014 / st 31 reliable, purpose-built terminations, and are currently sourced for pro- duction control systems that require a 25-year de- sign lifetime. Technology Gap Assessment Conducting a formal tech- nology gap assessment before beginning a product development effort is a proven way to ensure that you are indeed embarking on a project that will satisfy an ex- isting market requirement. In the ocean equipment business, like any other business, in order to remain viable, the manufacturer must deliver what the customer is asking for, i.e., that which has a market. A "really clever de- vice" will remain just a "really clever device," unless there is a market for it. Conducting a technology gap assessment ensures that the new product being considered can "map" to an exist- ing market and will contribute to the revenue stream of the company. The standard process for conducting a technology gap assessment includes these general steps: studying the mar- ket and determining what is being asked for and where the product can add real value; identifying all areas of technol- ogy available; identifying the gaps between where we are today and where we want to be; and encouraging/develop- ing products that close the technology gap and introduce the desired product. AMETEK has conducted a technology gap assessment, resulting in a dry mate connector compliant with industry specifcations and current design needs. Accordingly, the connector was evaluated for commercial risk and return, with the results being favorable at this time to introduce such a product. T here are fundamentally two different types of connectors available in the underwater arena for physical connections: wet mate- able and dry mateable connectors. Wet mateable connectors can be con- nected while underwater. Dry mateable, or dry mate connectors, on the other hand, are connected (mated) above the waterline, and then the connector and cable assembly, and related equipment, are taken into the ocean environ- ment. AMETEK SCP has accomplished a thorough review of industry spec- ifcations for the design of dry mate connections, to ensure that a prod- uct would be developed consistent with these specifcations. The re- sulting innovative new connector also has a number of attributes that represent a leap forward in technology. History of Dry Mate Connectors The dry mate connectors offered today are much the same in confguration as the frst connectors offered in the post-World War arena. Since that time, much has been learned about dry mate applications. Although the original designs were attached to system cables with an overmolding process, more recent designs have been adapted to pressure- balanced, oil-flled (PBOF) systems. In fact, one of the more widely used specifcations for connectors and cabling sys- tems for the oil and gas arena (Statoil TR2390) requires the use of PBOF cabling. One might ask why the energy community would specify PBOF hoses instead of hard cable for its subsea connectivity hardware. The rationale for this is that the oil and gas com- munity believes that overmolded designs are not capable of a 25-year lifetime, as the overmolding process is understood to have a life of not much greater than about 10 to 12 years. PBOF cabling systems, on the other hand, can be ftted with Next-Generation Ocean Dry Mate Connector AMETEK SCP Develops Elite Series By Dave Jenkins (Top) The Elite Dry Mate Connector. (Bottom) The PBOF ftting.