PROTECTION IN THE HARSHEST OF ENVIRONMENTS

摘要

GLASSFIBRE-REINFORCED POLYESTER SHELTERS ARE PROVIDING ADVANCED PROTECTION FOR OFFSHORE PROCESS ANALYSERS. THEIR LIGHTNESS AND CORROSION RESISTANCE SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION IN THE HARSH NORTH SEA ENVIRONMENT. Shelters fabricated from glassfibre-reinforced polyester are protecting gas metering instrumentation from the harsh North Sea environment on an offshore platform upgrade project engineered by Oil & Gas Systems ltd. Two outdoor shelters supplied by Intertec Instrumentation provide lightweight and corrosion-resistant protection for gas chromatograph analyzers and process transmitters mounted above new natural gas export pipelines connecting the platform to an onshore UK terminal. The instrumentation provides critical monitoring data on gas quality as part of the custody transfer metering system. This particular platform upgrade project presented a number of challenges, including the harsh operating environment of the North Sea, and the space and weight restrictions of adding the new facilities onto a working platform. Metering systems for fiscal, allocation and custody transfer applications are a significant part of the systems integration work of Oil & Gas Systems (OGS) - which has a reputation for being able to rapidly design and build efficient solutions for complex project requirements. Glassfibre-reinforced polyester (GRP) materials were specified to protect the instrumentation. This allowed weight to be reduced significantly compared with metal shelters. GRP construction also provided excellent protection against both the harsh weather in the offshore location, and the local environmental conditions. Intertec Instrumentation was selected to build the custom GRP shelters because of previous good experience of working with the company on projects, including shelters and enclosures already installed in the same gas field.