Offshore Europe 2009 featured more than 1500 exhibitors from around the world, including 330 companies participating for the first time and a new location for Sandvik in the Blue zone. Over 49,000 visitors made the event the busiest in the event’s history with over 20% more visitors than the previous record-breaking conference and exhibition in 2007. New products introduced by Sandvik included the latest hyper duplex stainless steel, new bright finish slicklines, downhole casing and production tubing, umbilicals technology, and the Sandvik ClikLoc™ rapid action connector and powder technology components. Developed in anticipation of demands for more remote and deeper subsea umbilicals – the electrical and hydraulic system ‘lifelines’, which link remote subsea wellheads to the processing platforms – the new hyper duplex grade Sandvik SAF 3207 HD™ offers higher yield strength, withstands increased pressures, enabling thinner wall tubes for umbilicals, reduced reel sizes and lower installation costs. Its ability to withstand crevice corrosion at seawater temperature makes the new special-purpose material suitable for very deep umbilical applications in extreme conditions.
