MOTHBALLING NEWS

We touched on mothballing in a previous post, contemplating an Enviropeel-protected future where assets could achieve their full potential, free from the threat of corrosion. We also mentioned that the idea for Enviropeel sprang from the downturn of the 1980s and our CEO, Arthur Haycox's insight into the potential for a sprayable encapsulation system to protect decommissioned equipment from offshore platforms.

The French have some words for it ...

Apart from Déjà vu, which tells us that we have seen it all before, the French also point out that plus ça change plus c'est la même chose - the more things change, the more they stay the same - and it seems they are right.

Several news stories recently have been reporting 5-year lows in the price of crude oil, with falls of about 40% in the past six months to below $68. This is close to the marginal production cost of more expensive offshore projects and, as a consequence, drillers and operators are looking to slowdown production by taking the most expensive units offline.

Warm and Cold Stacking

So, as they did in the eighties, platforms are being readied for an uncertain future. Warm stacking is the first phase, where a rig goes in to standby but basic operations are maintained - on the basis that any downturn will be of short duration. However, according to some observers, there is increased talk of cold stacking, a much longer-term process with complete shut down of the least cost-effective production platforms until prices rise well beyond the cost of production.

With operational costs of around $30,000 a day for a working platform, a reduction to as little as $2000 a day for a cold-stacked platform is an attractive option. A return to service, however, may be a distant prospect if the platform is not adequately safeguarded against deterioration while out of use.

It is surprising, for example, how quickly pumps and valves become unserviceable if left for prolonged periods of inactivity without protection. As the English say, use it or lose it, or perhaps they should be saying, use it or Enviropeel it! It doesn't rhyme as well - but it makes a lot more sense to protect your assets than let them go to waste. It must be worth a little time and $50 of material to save, for example, a valve that would cost many thousands to replace, especially when there are hundreds of valves and thousands of components on every platform which could benefit from such a small investment.

Oil prices will rise. You don't need to be clairvoyant to understand the ebb and flow of the market, nor does it take rocket scientists to understand the maths.

For more information on Enviropeel and mothballing, go to www.mothballing.net

SEEING IS BELIEVING ...

I was reading through the blog yesterday (someone has to) when I realised that we haven't mentioned Simon's deluge test. Well, that's not quite true, we have mentioned it  - but just a mention doesn't do it justice - at the very least it needs a photo.

So here it is

The photo shows a brand new mild steel flange and pipe that have been subjected to a 20% salt-water deluge for several weeks, on a 12-hour cycle to maximise corrosion potential.

The test was undertaken some time ago but, as mentioned, I had not put any details on the blog - and it seemed like a good idea to put that right as soon as possible.

Both images are of the same substrate. On the left, salt-water flows down the pipe and around the Enviropeel encapsulation. causing the whole substrate to stream with rust. On the right, opening up the encapsulation reveals just how complete the Enviropeel protection has been. It's a pretty graphic demonstration of how incredibly good the Enviropeel system is at protecting vulnerable steel substrates. For more details one ingress protection you can access 'Enviropeel - Ingress Protection' by clicking the link.

HELL IS NOT A SUITABLE PLACE FOR A SNOWBALL

Cycles in human activity dictate that what is popular or useful one day may not be required the next. Changes in fashion, the economy, technology and now even our climate, mean that predicting the future becomes more difficult every year.

Picture courtesy Chuckman Collection Vol. 17

Despite the uncertainty, some basic truths persist: if it can go wrong, it probably will; the simplest explanation is most likely to be true; hell is not a suitable place for a snowball - you know the kind of thing. So, while we may not be able to plan a picnic in England because we do not know when the rain will come, the fact that rain will come remains a certainty.

Left: apparently this is also true for Chicago ...

What’s my point?

It’s about foresight. Our CEO often refers to the ‘K.I.S.S.’ principle - keep it simple stupid - especially when he is talking to me! And there are some things about what we do as a company that are nearly as straightforward as he would like them to be.

Typical fifties car shortly after collection from the dealer

Corrosion is a simple equation - steel plus oxygen and water equals rust - yet we persist in building our most valuable infrastructure from this most vulnerable material. In the past, cars would corrode very quickly and bodywork would fail long before the engine or gearbox but, more recently, an increasingly robust approach to corrosion control has all but eliminated these rustbuckets from our roads. So it seems pretty straightforward, if you want to preserve your infrastructure from corrosion, give it adequate protection.

If only it were so simple

Many factors play a part in producing the rust we see in every outdoor working environment and, of course, not all rust prevention is cost-effective. Indeed, in many areas, corrosion has been seen as inevitable and structures designed to allow for metal loss through these natural processes with very little intervention.

Fortunately, safety issues and such an obvious waste of resources has motivated a more pro-active approach to corrosion control in recent years but factors such as cost and the long-term effectiveness of protection are as important today as they ever were - and maintenance is in the ultimate catch 22 situation. When operators are busy, there is no time for maintenance and when they have no work, there is also no money.

One of the prime motivators for the development of Enviropeel was the collapse of demand for oil in the 1980s with many oil platforms being decommissioned and production facilities mothballed. Our CEO, who was working in the oil industry at the time, had a background in automotive rust protection and could see that much of the stored equipment was not being adequately protected and started to work on the idea that a sprayable protection system would be ideal if it could be made to work.

In the thirty years that have passed since that time, trillions of dollars have been lost through corrosion. NACE estimates the cost to be approximately 4% of GDP, which would have been over 3 trillion dollars in 2013 alone. Over 25% of pipeline failures in the US are the result of corrosion and many deaths from explosions, bridge collapses and other infrastructure failures attest to the human cost of our failure to control corrosion.

Protecting a large component for storage

Now, I am not suggesting that the universal adoption of Enviropeel would immediately save the planet. It might take somewhat longer - and require one or two other remedial processes before that objective could be achieved. But a little bit of foresight and a few Enviropeel applications can be amazingly effective in reducing losses from component and infrastructure failure – and every little bit helps.

If stored component failure can be reduced to zero in parts of the mining industry and failure cycles in operating equipment reduced by 500%, what would this mean for other industries with similar problems? If you’re in an industry where demand and production cycles fluctuate, how much better off are you going to be if your mothballed equipment still works when you need it? And that emergency standby pump, generator, spare part? You have to be sure it stays fit for purpose.

It really is that simple. It will go wrong if you don’t do something about it and Enviropeel can help – without costing you the earth!

QUALITY CONTROL

Tick lists ... the curse of the modern age?

I don't know about you or your business, but I am sure you spend a lot of time on the constant need to verify everything over and over again to a seemingly endless variety of industry sectors, safety authorities and quality organisations ... and keep doing it every year!

And, no year seems to be as short as the twelve months between ISO audits. By the time you have analysed the auditor's report, debated the corrective actions, revised the paperwork and made the necessary adjustments, there may be time to do a couple of paying jobs between the internal quality audits, procedural reviews and document updates ... then it's time for the next annual audit.

OK, so I'm exaggerating a little ...

Nevertheless, it is true to say that maintaining a meaningful quality control system requires a lot of work. We have a small admin team at the A&E UK office, with regional responsibility for Enviropeel & Alocit sales and manufacture, imports and exports as well as logistics for a projects department which, although it is usually based in the UK, travels extensively locally as well as internationally ... usually with quite a lot of equipment, all of which has to be checked and certified.

In order to work in many industries, offshore for example, it has become mandatory in Europe to be ISO certified, so all A&E paperwork, policies and systems have to comply with our ISO audited quality system. Obviously, in order to function properly, any office has to be well organised, but a comprehensive auditing system like ISO creates a considerable administrative overhead, as the need for oversight means every action has to be recorded and filed. Together with the obligation to review and improve systems on a regular basis, it's a full time job, just keeping up with the paperwork.

Above: an artist's impression of the A&E quality management file retrieval system

And it's not just ISO ...

As well as ISO, other industry sectors require additional auditing. For the UK project team and their work in the electricity generating and transmission industry, this means Achilles. 

Achilles works internationally, across a wide range of industry sectors: Automotive, Construction, Oil & Gas, Transport and Utilities, providing validation of supplier management systems in key areas such as Corporate Social Responsibility / Sustainability, Health & Safety, Environment, Carbon Emissions, Factory Assessment, Quality, Business continuity and Human Resources. For A&E, the relevant sector is Achilles UVDB, the largest sector within Achilles, representing Utilities, Airports and Ports. UVDB measures suppliers against the above-mentioned criteria and then awards them a percentage score to indicate how well they are doing. Buyers can then assess individual suppliers and make choices about who they will use. At its most basic, a supplier's presence on the database gives confidence that it has the necessary capabilities to meet a customer's needs. In the UK, 6,700 suppliers are listed on the UVDB data base and UVDB auditors inspect every supplier, every year. 

For A&E in 2014, customers viewing the A&E profile will see that we did rather well. Quality manager Cathy Frost, ably assisted by Danni Scott, oversaw an improvement on 2013 with well above average results, a tribute to the hard work of both admin and projects personnel.

   MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EVALUATION
   82.5% Health and Safety Management
   86.3% Environmental Management

   100%  Quality Management

   WORK SITE EVALUATION

   90.9% Site Health and Safety Management

   93%    Site Environmental Management

   100%  Site Management

So, having described the pain, we come to the gain ... what does all this mean for A&E and its customers? 

Well, it certainly doesn't mean we never make mistakes. What it does mean, however, is that mistakes rarely happen and, if they do, we rectify the problem, modify the system so that errors are less likely to happen and continue to provide the best possible service in a less than perfect world. So customers are assured that we have the products and systems that can reliably and cost-effectively solve their problems.

Otherwise, what would be the point?

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Charles Darwin never made it to the part of Australia that now bears his name. Even now, the Northern Territory and its capital are off the beaten track for most people - but the region enjoys a thriving international tourist industry and a rich resource-based economy with a large mining industry and a rapidly growing interest in oil and gas.

Charles Darwin on his way to
the ACA Conference

In September, Darwin became the focus of Australia's corrosion engineers as it hosted the annual Australian Corrosion Association Conference, Corrosion & Prevention 2014. The conference exhibition was a sellout, with exhibitors from around the world as well as from the Northern Territory. For the A&E Group, Chris Harrey from our Perth office and Technical Director Simon Haycox were our natural selection to represent the Group at the conference and, armed with tasteful giveaways, they kept visitors entertained and informed throughout the three day exhibition.

Of particular interest to visitors was a unique opportunity to see how well Alocit performs underwater by trying it for themselves. A specially constructed stainless steel and glass tank was filled with seawater and anyone who wished to was able to take a brush and apply the material for themselves. 

The photo on the right shows the tank in use, and it wasn't long before Darwin had a number of 'experienced' Alocit applicators. All of them were amazed to find how easy it can be to apply a coating straight from the can and on to wet and submerged steel - seeing is believing!

Everyone who tried Alocit was treated to an Alocit designer classic ... their very own Alocit Corrosion & Prevention t-shirt.

Visitors were also very interested in the history of Enviropeel in Australia and the role that Australia has had in the development of Enviropeel as a product that can survive and protect in some of the most difficult conditions in the world. It's not often that a product has the impact that Enviropeel had on corrosion prevention for BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto (see blog from April for details or click this link ).

Next year's conference is in Adelaide, we look forward to seeing you there!

So, which Congo is it?

The ancient kingdom of Kongo

When we first had an enquiry for a large project in the Congo, I was blissfully unaware that there are two Congos in West Africa. Despite the fact that earlier generations of my own family had been traders in the region, I did not realise that there had been a French and a Belgian Congo whose colonial borders were still reflected in countries that sit either side of the Congo river as it flows into the Atlantic ocean.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the larger of the two Congos, inheriting its borders from the old Belgian Congo. To the north east, lies the Republic of Congo, once a French colony so, while the two countries may have different borders, they both share French as their official language.

Enter Sean Ong. Sean is A&E Manager for the Far East, based in Malaysia and is responsible for training delivery in his region and elsewhere. He spends a lot of his time travelling in the Middle East as well as Australia and China for product trials, training and exhibitions. As the Congo project involved training an entire application team to complete a large ongoing application, all Sean's expertise would be focussed on getting the training completed as effectively as possible.

The CA30 arrives at the beach - but can't find a deckchair

Sean was one of two A&E employees sent over to Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo (once we had realised that we couldn't get their visas from the DRC consulate). He was accompanied by Josh Nash, a UK Supervisor who had already been to West Africa as part of an Enviropeel training team in Nigeria. With his experience on large power generation structures, Josh was there to lend practical expertise on unusual substrates, as the Congo project involved applications to a different type of structure than the gas and oil pipelines that Sean was used to. The French company had bought Enviropeel material and a twin-pump CA30 application unit and our team was there to train the application team and provide practical guidance on the development of special application procedures.

Sean speaks a number of Chinese dialects as well as English and some Malay, so he does not usually have difficulty with communication. Although the company running the Congo project was French, all their documentation (of which there was a considerable amount) was in English, as were their emails and all the meetings we had with them prior to mobilisation. So it came as a shock to all of us that few people on site - and almost none of the people they were to be training - spoke any English.

Once the Interpreter had a better understanding of the
process, it was much easier for the trainees

Training the Interpreter

Although they were assigned an interpreter, it proved very difficult to translate many of the concepts that lie behind the application methodology. Setting up the machine and switching it on was simple compared with the nuances of spraying techniques so they decided to train the interpreter first. This seemed to make a big difference and, although the process was still very slow, the local trainees began to apply to a reasonable standard. At the same time, one of the company engineers was also trained to service and repair the equipment. 

Josh returned to the UK after 8 days and by the end of 17 days, when Sean was scheduled to return to Malaysia, three team members were certified as Enviropeel applicators. Nevertheless, it was felt that, although good progress had been made, the existing team would benefit from a further period of in-job training and that a greater number of qualified applicators were required. So, the following month, after an initial scare from the advance of the Ebola epidemic, Sean returned to the Congo to train a further 4-6 applicators. At the same time, the company decided to purchase a second application unit to improve productivity. 

It's still early days but progress has continued in application quality and efficiency with reports from Sean indicating the potential for a very successful outcome for our new African colleagues.

Pictures left show an engineer being trained to service a pump, two trainees applying Enviropeel and an application being trimmed in preparation for the final sealant application.

THINGS WE ARE GOOD AT ... and a really good story ... read on!

Underwater Painting and Rehabilitation

The idea that it is possible to successfully coat a structure covered in water seems crazy yet, all around the world, there are bridges, pipelines and jetties that are supported by vulnerable steel and concrete structures that are either permanently or regularly submerged.

Sometimes operators leave it too late ...

Even when great care is taken to protect steel structures in marine environments with coatings and cathodic protection systems - impact damage, microbial action and other factors will often make repairs and/or re-coating necessary.

So, it's handy that we have a product that can help

In the UK, Australia and the USA, Alocit is working with specialist companies that can do amazing things to restore and protect ageing or damaged assets, saving money and preserving valuable infrastructure. 

Commercial Diving Services (CDS) in Alabama featured in a post last November. Company president, Doug Christopher, calculates that they have applied more than 300,000 sq ft of Alocit in their region. CDS have a reputation for success in difficult circumstances but, when called on to survey the structure pictured above, it was clear that the operators had left this particular project a little too long! More sensible applications include the toll bridge piles right. The piles are part of a protective barrier around the bridge support tower and were beginning to deteriorate. After blasting, Alocit coating was applied above water from a pontoon and below water by diver. Alocit can be applied in the wet, through the splash zone and on to dry or wet surfaces above water.

A really good story ...

In Australia Alocit has been used underwater successfully in a range of areas - you have probably seen the video of NZ navy divers (if not, here it is) using Alocit underwater on a damaged prop shaft. Most of the time we sell the coating, customers apply it, job done. Occasionally we get to hear about what they have been up to but, sometimes, it turns out to be a really good story ...

Are you sitting comfortably?

About three years ago Chris Harrey at our Australian office in Perth had a phone call from a local Dock Master with an interesting tale to tell ... he had a large submersible floating dock which had been coated in Korea prior to delivery in Australia. Within a year, the coating started to fail and, as part of the legal action that followed, an assessment had to be made of the likely cost of repair. This wasn't so easy to do. How was the dock to be repaired? How do you dry dock a dry dock? What kind of coating do you use?

Many questions and, as the Dock Master related to Chris, not as many answers as he would have liked. However ... just as the owners of the deteriorating dry dock were contemplating what to do, the dock in question came in from a mission. 

For those of you that are not familiar with this kind of dock, it is designed to be taken out to the vessel requiring maintenance where it submerges. The vessel positions itself over the dock, which then resurfaces, lifting the vessel out of the water. The dock then returns to base so that the vessel can be worked on out of the water.

On this particular occasion, the vessel being returned for work was a submarine. It was covered in corrosion and marine growth, except for one particular area which appeared to be in very good condition. As the Dock Master tells the story, he was intrigued by the clean area thinking that a paint that worked on a submarine would work on his dock. In conversation with the crew, he discovered that the area in question had been coated underwater some years previously as part of a trial and that it had stayed in perfect condition ever since.

An artist's impression of the submarine arriving in Perth

Now the Dock Master was excited, this was just what he needed ... but where could he get it? He investigated, got the name of the product (perhaps I should mention it was Alocit 28.15) and went on line to find it. He was amazed to find that he only had to drive a few miles down the road to get it and that there was a well-respected local company who could apply it for him. 

Gage Roads Diving/Franmarine were the company and since that time they have been using Alocit successfully underwater to repair failing coatings. The background to the application can be found on their website here and in the following pdf document. GRD Franmarine is one of Australia’s leading commercial diving companies with more than three decades of experience in onshore and offshore diving and hull cleaning services

Needless to say, we liked this story but it is not unusual for us to find that Alocit has been able to solve a difficult problem, particularly in situations where other coatings have failed or where coating is required in difficult environments such as underwater. Not so crazy, after all!