Subsea 7 officially opened its Global Pipeline Welding Development Centre (GPWDC), the result of a £10million in its operations base at Clydebank, Glasgow.
The center is to develop welding technology for deployment globally and follows on from Subsea 7 having operated an in-house pipeline welding technical authority since 2006 after buying pipeline production firm Petrology.
The GPWDC is in two main buildings—Pipeline Development Centre (PDC) 1, a 2266sq m welding and inspection center and PDC2, at 1152sq m and housing R&D and screened radiographic and ultrasound NDT testing facilities.
PDC1 can accommodate up to four simultaneous pipeline projects and has a simulated welding production line, where two 30ft (10m) pipeline strings can be rotated, aligned and welded under controlled conditions.
It also has dedicated workstations for computerized NDT welding inspection procedures and pipe beveling. A pit/tower/turntable facility is planned to recreate welding conditions on vertically-laid 10m pipe lengths.
PDC 2 includes NDT offices with a dark room and viewing room and a metallurgical laboratory for sample preparation. It also has three automatic welding/inspection bays, two manual welding bays and a 14m sealed radiography bunker for full-fatigue strength NDT testing.
Inspection facilities include two X-Ray enclosures and two NDT bays for Automatic Ultrasonic Testing (AUT) and Manual Ultrasonic Testing (MUT).
Steve Wisely, executive VP commercial, Subsea 7, says: “We are fortunate that today in the subsea sector we are in a growing global market. It is however also a very challenging environment.
“There are many technical challenges associated with the subsea market, and the ability to introduce and leverage value from new technology is a significant enabler not just for Subsea 7 but for our industry as a whole.”
“Pipeline welding technology a key part of being able to overcome the challenges associated with increasing water depths, such as higher temperatures and higher pressures, and the harsher environments we increasingly operate and face globally.
“We the industry need to create technology that allows us to weld pipeline materials suitable for these technically challenging oil field developments. Corrosion and fatigue resistant pipeline welding of steel and alloy pipelines is an enabling capability for Subsea 7.”
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