A new low-friction, non-porous, wear resistant tungsten carbide coating from Hardide Coatings has enabled Unitech Offshore AS to design a unique ROV-operated subsea high-pressure connector with integrated ball valve for use in critical production applications including wellhead control, gas lift and chemical injection.

The UH-500 connector integrates a 2” reduced bore ball valve into Unitech’s standard UH-550 2” male stab connector resulting in an extremely compact and short assembly.  Opening and closing of the ball valve at full working pressure of 10,000 psi is by a handle mechanism operated by the ROV manipulator while the ROV remains connected to the female connector with its class 4 torque tool.

The connector is now in use for customers including Cameron and BP on the latter’s Block 31 field in Angola.

Uwe Bauersfeld, general manager, Unitech Germany GmbH, commented:  “An extremely low-friction, non-porous coating with superior wear resistance and a smooth surface finish was required for the ball and sealing cartridges. Hardide-T provided a cost effective solution that could meet the challenging conditions in which the UH-550 connector operates and we now have more than 120 units in the field.”