TPT July 2016

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July 2016 15
I NDUS T RY
Denys and Selmers win technology award
SELMERS has announced that the
company, together with Denys, has won
the 2015 IPLOCA New Technologies
Award sponsored by BP. The award
was presented during the IPLOCA
annual convention held in Singapore,
by Michael Hiam, engineering manager,
BP Integrated Supply and Trading.
The award is given in recognition
of a significant achievement in
the development of new pipeline
technologies. The IPLOCA New
Technologies committee, with Jean
Claude Van de Wiele as the chairman,
decided to present the award to Denys
and Selmers, represented Johan van
Wassenhove (Denys), Bart Appelman
(Selmers) and Luc Hoppenbrouwers
(Denys), in recognition of their work on
their onshore automatic vacuum field
joint blasting.
The adjudication committee selected
this entry because the new tool
improves HSE conditions for workers
in the field; it is a development coming
from a contractor and a manufacturer
working together; and it is an example
of technology transfer from the offshore
to the onshore industry.
Denys specialises in the onshore
construction of oil and gas pipelines, and
has used this field joint blaster in day-to-
day work. Together with Denys, Selmers
was able to evaluate the field joint blaster
when used in the field. With the outcome
of the evaluations, the working of the field
joint blaster was optimised.
Conventional field joint blasting is
typically a time-consuming manual
operation, and carries some safety,
health and environmental risks, since
the process produces a lot of dust and
thus also potential pollution. The quality
assurance also demands effort and
discipline.
Advantages of the operator-friendly
closed-loop vacuum blaster include
internal grit recovery; high blasting
capacity; and a clean, automated and
remote-controlled process with minimal
abrasive loss.
Selmers BV – Netherlands
Website:
Jean Claude Van de Wiele, Johan Van Wassenhove,
Bart Appelman, Luc Hoppenbrouwers and Michael Hiam