TPT May 2013

Industry News

Specialised welding and fabrication PLR

completed the design for the Cascade Chinook field and, as part of the development programme, sent a team of engineers to Arc Energy’s facility to discuss the critical welding elements of the project and carry out a design review for manufacture. Arc Energy’s welding engineers, led by managing director Alan Robinson, who has a Master’s degree in welding and is one of a small number of UK registered International Welding Engineers, helped the Vector team develop its drawings to a ‘designed for manufacture’ stage. The two companies then worked on a joint-venture basis to produce the fabrications that connect to the Vector PLR, which is 3.5m tall, 2m wide and weighs approximately five tonnes. Arc Energy Resources is a specialist in weld overlay cladding and fabrication for the oil and gas industry. The company’s expertise provides protection against corrosion and wear for a variety of process and pipeline equipment for use in hostile environments. Arc Energy also offers in-house test weld, heat treatment, PMI and NDT facilities. Industry certifications include ISO 9001:2008 quality management, ISO 3834-2 fusion welding of metallic materials, and the internationally renowned ASME U and R Stamps, as well as ISO 14001:2004 environment management, Investors in People and OHSAS 18001:2007 Health & Safety management system.

of the pipe quickly become coated with hard scale and wax deposits, reducing production by restricting the delivery of oil ashore. ‘Pigs’ are introduced into the pipeline using specially designed launching and receiving vessels to clear debris, and to batch and clear residual product. Frequent pigging is required to ensure that production is optimised. Vector’s subsea division, which was awarded the contract for the 15,000psi rated pig launcher by Technip Group,

ARC Energy Resources has completed a contract to carry out specialised welding and fabrication services on a pig launcher and retrieval system (PLR) destined for a time-critical application in the Cascade Chinook oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico, where operator Petrobras is laying an additional subsea pipeline to increase production. The contract, for the subsea division of Vector Technology Group, involved Arc Energy welding a soft landing arm system to the PLR as well as fabricating a structural split flange support to enable the hub of a Vector OPTIMA subsea connector to be attached to pipeline end terminations (PLETs). In addition, Arc Energy fabricated and welded a number of specialised components to produce lifting brackets and control panels that needed to meet similarly demanding welding procedures for the Vector specification. All components were fabricated to high standards and close tolerances by Arc Energy in accordance with American structural welding codes AWS D1.1 and ASME VIII. Output from the Cascade Chinook field has a high hydrogen sulphide content, which necessitates the use of very tight welding parameters in order to adhere to the demands of NACE. As a result of the long pipe lengths, the internal surfaces

The Petrobras pig launcher and retrieval system

Arc Energy Resources – UK Fax: +44 1453 823623 Email: sales@arcenergy.co.uk Website: www.arcenergy.co.uk

Accreditation for butt-weld fittings

meeting standards and adhering to specifications.” Thanks to high technological expertise in moulding, heat treatment and weld- end preparation, Erne Fittings produces elbows, tees and reducers for use in the construction of power stations, refineries, oil and gas plants, and in many other demanding applications.

understands the respective require- ments of this sophisticated industry, and is able to produce according to one of the most demanding standards in the oil and gas industry. Senior sales manager Christian Rehmann commented, “The on-going perfection and quality assurance has made Erne Fittings the leading supplier of butt-welding fittings for the approved market. We are happy to add another important accreditation to our list. We will take this as further motivation to exceed expectations in regard of

ERNE Fittings GmbH has announced that it has successfully achieved NORSOK M-650 edition 4 accreditation for Titan butt-weld fittings. The company has held the accreditation for its Duplex products since 2010. Since then, Erne Fittings has been listed on the prestigious Statoil Approved Vendor List. The NORSOK standards give continuous improvement of safety, health and environment. By achieving this approval, Erne Fittings underlines that it fully

Erne Fittings GmbH – Austria Fax: +43 5524 501 8202 Email: sales@ernefittings.com Website: www.ernefittings.com

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M ay 2013