Wireline Issue 42 - Summer 2018

MER | Asset Integrity

Reviewing data from non-intrusive inspection pilot studies on Total’s Elgin Franklin platform

operator,” asserts James. “The no’s are the interesting bit; how do we resolve those and take things up a level?” >

“The no’s are just as important as the yes’s in that context. The yes’s are numbers on the board – they’re saving money and making us a safer

these have now been removed from the planned summer shutdowns, generating an estimated £500,000 in savings – a combination of operational expenditure savings and cost avoidance. More widely, an industry survey by the OGTC and ABB (see box out right) found that NII technology has the potential to deliver increased production and lower maintenance costs worth up to £242 million annually on the UKCS. “On top of that, of course, there is the inherent safety benefit,” adds James. “NII is now one of the elements of our risk-based inspection approach. portfolio. “We’ll review all our vessels, exchanges, systems – anything that requires internal inspection – to see if they are compatible with NII. Our goal is to take every vessel on every site to the end of its working life with the support of a NII road map,” says James. Should Total uncover any technical barriers that prevent its deployment in specific situations, they could call upon the expertise in Dave’s team and the AISC to see how the technology could be adapted or advanced to overcome them. As part of the project, Total intends to fully implement NII into its

Fact-finding mission

The Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) and ABB carried out an industry survey to assess if and how operators were using non-intrusive inspection (NII) techniques and the potential benefits it could bring to industry. The findings show: • The use of NII on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) is limited, with some operators currently making no use of the available technology. • Adopting NII could enable increased production and lower maintenance costs worth around £242 million per year to the UKCS. • Up to 80 per cent of vessels could be examined non-intrusively, without requiring a shutdown. • Improved safety with up to 80 per cent fewer confined space entries required. • A 33 per cent reduction in turnaround durations. • Overall cost savings of up to 80 per cent compared to inspections that involve entry into a vessel. The survey also reported that the main barriers to adopting NII are the perceived lack of viable non-destructive evaluation techniques, concerns about regulatory compliance, and transparency on the total cost of inspection. Therefore, the OGTC and ABB are now looking at ways to help industry overcome these barriers to gain the full benefits of deploying NII technology.

Download the full report at http://bit.ly/NIIsurvey.

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