When failure is not an option
– Fiber Glass Systems deliver the solution.

Apr 08,2019

In 2014 we were approached by Oil & Gas Industry giants BP with a challenge.  A large one.

For the past 3 years we have been supplying a large number of composite products for their Clair Ridge oil field platform situated in the North Sea, including our MARRS® OFFSHORE handrail systems, phenolic grating and various access structures.

The giant oilfield in which the platform operates is now the location of the world’s first sanctioned offshore, full-field deployment of a new, ground breaking waterflood technology- BP’s LoSal® Enhanced Oil Recovery, (EOR).

BP are investing $120 million for desalination facilities and they estimate that this will facilitate the recovery of around 42 million barrels of additional oil.

Some of the vital pieces of equipment for this investment include the LoSal® Skids on which Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Pressure Vessels are incorporated.  These had been scheduled for deployment for installation on the Clair Ridge Platform.

Unfortunately, due to a series of latent defects primarily resulting from inadequate design and manufacture, SWRO vessels suffered from leaking nozzles and were subsequently un-useable and non-repairable.

The Problem:  BP had a non-negotiable schedule to adhere to and no alternative supplier that had the knowhow or experience to complete the successful manufacture of 290 replacement vessels to extremely stringent tolerances.

The Solution:  Fiber Glass Systems 40+ years manufacturing expertise and our ethos of “the Customer is King”.

A project of this complexity, size and to such restricted timescales was going to be a risk, albeit a carefully considered one, but a risk we simply could not refuse to undertake in order to support industry leader, BP.

The success of the endeavour was dependent upon many factors and demanded the resource and expertise from every level and department, from our Engineering Services Division for stress analysis, design review, design qualification and testing, through to our Specialist Fabrication Division.

In order to manufacture the vessels to the required specification parameters, whilst maintaining repeatable quality and production flow, Specialist Fabrications Director – Mr Adrian Kennett – designed and built two bespoke CNC machines capable of automatically performing the precision drilling of holes and internal recesses, with the added capability of clamping and rotating the pipe through 180 degrees, re-clamping into a secondary position and continuing to drill additional holes.

Each vessel was an impressive 6.8 meters long with an 8” diameter and were supplied in sets of twos and threes with up to six titanium side ports (nozzles) each.

One our 5 factories was wholly dedicated to the manufacture of the vessels, not only housing the two machines but also a purpose built and unique secure test area suitable for the high pressure testing of assembled vessels at 118 bar.

Throughout the project we worked closely with our client and suppliers worldwide to maintain the strict quality and scheduling requirements and our Engineering and Specialist Fabrications Departments successfully over came all the inevitable challenges that the project presented.

Vessel number 290 completed the manufacturing process in Dec 2014 and was despatched to South Korea where Fiber Glass Systems Engineers were onsite to witness installation and ensure correct product handling etc.

Client feedback following project completion;

“The scope of Fiber Glass Systems supply on the BP Clair Ridge project included the design and manufacture of 290 GRE Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) pressure vessels, which were an essential part of the BP LoSal™ package.

During the contact Fiber Glass systems engineers and project managers worked closely with BP personnel to design, test, qualify, manufacture and successfully deliver the 290 SWRO vessels in a tight timeframe.”  – Mechanical Engineer, BP

Do you have a challenging project that you are currently unable to find a viable and cost effective solution for?  Why not put our team of experts to the test – you could be amazed at the solutions we could offer!

Call a member of our friendly team on 01752 581200 or email us at [email protected] to find out more….

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