Corrosion control coating prevents shutdown offshore Holland
Existing corrosion control solutions are time consuming, costly to apply and do not necessarily offer adequate levels of protection in offshore environments. TM198 was developed by Oxifree Global as a solution to corrosion and to drive down capital and operational costs. It is an organic, patent-protected, self-lubricating thermoplastic coating which provides complete protection against contamination and corrosion.
The product was recently used on a wellhead platform offshore northern Holland. Caused by the salty marine environment combined with the constant wet and dry conditions, wind, and changing temperatures, corrosion was clearly visible on the metal work of two wellheads, particularly around complex shapes. Two technicians attended and applied two coatings of TM198 to the wellheads, which had previously been protected with paint; this was failing under the harsh offshore conditions.
Unlike conventional coatings, where the entire surface requires sandblasting before application, preparation for TM198 is minimal. Technicians brushed down the surface with wire brushes to remove loose rust and debris, speeding up the preparation process and keeping costs down for the client.
Aluminium tape was used to cover the flange spaces to reduce material usage and again, lower costs. The entire wellhead was coated, including valves, flanges, lock nuts, and pipes. Hard to reach areas and the underside were coated first using the Polymelt 50 ATEX unit, designed especially for use in hazardous environments. Technicians applied a silicone sealant, although not essential, to provide the leading edges of the coating with added protection.
One of the main challenges faced was lack of accommodation on the platform; each day technicians had to be shuttled in and out, making logistics far more difficult and costs run high. The speed of application, tolerance to weather conditions, and minimal preparation required for TM198 meant a faster application speed- despite the challenges, both wellheads were completed in just two days.
Areas of coating can be cut away at any time for inspections and simply refilled to continue protection. It can be applied to live equipment and starts working immediately. Only thermoplastic encapsulation allows the valve actuators or stems to be protected from seizing, while allowing them to spin freely within the coating, Oxifree says, noting that the built-in oils provide self-lubrication as well.
With no shutdown necessary and minimal surface preparation required, TM198 can provides savings on maintenance costs, capital, and opex.
Energy-efficient gangway for offshore personnel transfers
Kongsberg Maritime has introduced a new gangway for its Walk-to-Work (W2W) vessels to improve the efficiency of offshore personnel transfers.
According to Srinivas Tati, the company’s VP Business Development, “W2W vessels contain many stand-alone products and solutions from various suppliers. This fragmentation often leads to inefficient and costly operations, and can even entail greater safety risks. There is a need, therefore, for greater system integration.
“The gangway on our vessels is completely integrated with the dynamic positioning system and power management. The design also features integrated HD cameras and sensors on the gangway itself, which enables faster docking and dropping off of workers on platforms, meaning that more sites can be visited in a day.”
In an offshore wind farm service context, the gangway will automatically start the docking process as the vessel approaches a turbine. Once docked, the gangway stays safely connected via the dynamic positioning system regardless of weather conditions and sea state, allowing the engineers to disembark. It can then quickly disconnect and move on to the next turbine. An integrated lift within the gangway assists lifting of goods and personnel from the weather deck, or can be integrated into the vessel’s design to move goods from below deck, making the entire operation more efficient.
“We have designed a way to harness the energy created by moving structures on board,” Tati said. “The electric motors that power the W2W gangway for instance, can generate power from the movement itself. This can then be fed back into batteries, which are integrated to the vessels systems through the power management system. We are also working on a similar system for all kinds of back deck winches.”
Bringing in power, operational modes, and handling operations offers the potential for further efficiencies. To this end, Kongsberg Maritime is partnering with contractors to help it become a single supplier for integrated onboard energy, handling, and operational systems. Over the past few months the company has formed partnerships with Siemens on variable-frequency drives and with Schneider Electric for switchboards and related systems for offshore and maritime vessels.
BP, GE launch new real-time asset management technology
BP and GE recently introduced Plant Operations Advisor (POA), a digital solution designed to improve the efficiency, reliability, and safety of BP’s oil and gas production operations.
BP is using POA to manage the performance of its Atlantis platform in the Gulf of Mexico and, subject to a successful pilot, the system will be deployed next year to other facilities around the world. Once installed, more than 20 million digital data points will be streamed live, with the aim to allow the operators to improve the efficiency, reliability, and safety of its global assets.
The tool, built on GE’s Predix operating system, was created as part of a development partnership the two companies announced in January.
Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of GE Oil & Gas, said: “We are taking a big step forward together during this time of digital transformation, deploying what we’ve co-created over the past year to drive the kind of productivity improvements that the oil and gas industry needs. The global deployment is expected to be the largest-scale deployment of GE’s Predix-powered APM [asset performance management] technology to date.”
POA will help prevent unplanned downtime and improve facility reliability by helping engineering teams respond quickly to issues as they occur in real-time.
Ahmed Hashmi, BP’s Head of Upstream Technology, said: “By bringing together some of the best minds at GE and BP, we were able to develop this innovative digital product and are confident that it will have a significant impact on our business. When fully deployed, these advanced digital technologies will change the way we work and improve the integrity and performance of our assets around the globe.”
Using GE’s Predix and APM capabilities, the new technology integrates operational data from producing oil and gas facilities to deliver notifications and analytical reports to engineers with the aim of helping them to identify operational performance issues before they become significant.
The system is said to provide simplified access to a variety of live data feeds and includes visualization capabilities including a real-time facility threat display. It also incorporates an extensive case management capability to support learnings from prior operational issues.
GE said it intends to offer this technology, which combines big data, cloud hosting, and analytics on both individual pieces of equipment as well as the entire production system, as an APM solution available to the industry once the pilot has been completed.
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