Corrosion-erosion monitoring first The first of ClampOn's groundbreaking corrosion erosion monitors (CEM) was due to become operational in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of last month. Destined for retrofitting in an unspecified BP brownfield application, it is one of ten ordered already by BP and other operators – including Total for a new North Sea field development – all of which were also expected to be delivered by the ClampOn headquarters manufacturing facility in Bergen, Norway, before the end of 2011.
Based on the company's proven and highly regarded acoustic technology, and developed under a joint venture project with BP and Innovation Norway, the noninvasive monitors enable operators to obtain a realistic and quantifiable picture of wall thickness changes in a given section of pipe.
The new monitor was unveiled for the first time during Houston's OTC show last May, and by then had already been 10 years in the making. With product quality, accuracy and durability transcending all other considerations for sensing devices expected to give many years' uninterrupted service in harsh offshore environments, ClampOn co-founder and president Dag Aldal admits his team went back to the drawing board several times in that decadelong development span before they were entirely satisfied with the system.
The CEM detects changes in wall thickness ultrasonically through transducers attached to a given section of pipe considered most prone to corrosion wear. It can be deployed at hotspots to monitor erosion development, and either retrofitted to existing pipelines and structures or installed under insulation on new pipelines.
The system can perform measurements on pipe diameters from 50mm and upwards and on material thicknesses ranging from 4mm to 35mm. During extensive testing, it has shown itself to be both physically robust and capable of withstanding changes in pipe temperature. According to ClampOn, changes in average wall thickness of as little as 1% can be measured in real time. A single array of sensors typically covers a 1m section, but there is no limit to the number of adjacent arrays that can be deployed. DM
Adsorption deal
Italy's Siirtec Nigi (SiNi) has signed a co-operation agreement with GL Noble Denton to promote the latter's Advanced Adsorption Process Technology (ADAPT) for treating high-pressure gases to prospective clients.
The five-year agreement will see Milan-headquartered SiNi and GL Noble Denton work in partnership to use ADAPT technology in competitive tenders for basic engineering, FEED and EPC.
Weatherford has taken delivery of the first ten of 14 Atlas Copco XAS 186 portable energy compressors ordered for Middle East cementing operations offshore and onshore. Eight of them feature special skid frames and additional ‘add ons' specified by Weatherford ME for mounting in the company's Tripod 2100ft3 capacity cement bulkers.
Located in Dubai, the Weatherford ME facility provides the regional headquarters and workshops for five product lines including Secure Drilling Services (SDS) and covers the Middle East and North Africa. The SDS division has a fleet of 200psi to 5000psi compressors and boosters.
The new Atlas Copco XAS186 modified air compressors pressurize bulk plant delivery cement from bulk tanks, discharging into the transporter/mixing system. Featuring a purposespecified skid frame for of mobility for both onshore and offshore applications, the compressors offer a free air delivery of 185l/s at 8 bar to ensure 100% dry transportation of the cement. |
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