Norbar Torque tools has developed a torque multiplier for the subsea tools market. The gear unit has been designed as an adapter for torque tools used on subsea Christmas trees. Installed on the ocean floor at depths of up to 3000m, these ‘wet trees’ provide a challenge for the torque tools designed to actuate the various valves. Norbar’s newly developed torque multiplier is designed to withstand the corrosive environment and is pressure compensated to allow operation at typical subsea pressures. It is designed to be suitable for use with the standard Class 4 torque tools that, operated by ROVs, are used to remotely actuate the wet valves. The nominal length can be changed from short to long by adding or removing an adjustment shaft under the adapter sleeve. The new torque multiplier is currently under test with Norbar’s Norwegian customer serving the North Sea Oil market, but the expectation is that the product will prove a suitable solution in this application.
