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BACKGROUND

Oil platforms are often used in offshore oil and gas pro duction. More recently, processing facilities are being relo cated to the ocean floor. Such subsea installations may be located in considerable water depths, for example in a depth of more than 1.000, 2.000 or even more than 3.000 meters. At such water depths, corresponding pressures of about 100, 200 or 300 bar, respectively, prevail. The devices forming part of Such Subsea installation do accordingly need to be capable of handling Such high ambient pressures. One possibility of handling high pressures is the use of a pressure resistant enclosure which maintains a close to atmo spheric pressure inside, thus enabling the use of standard topside components. A further possibility is the use of a pressure compensated enclosure. Such enclosure generally comprises a pressure compensation system, or pressure com pensator, which balances …