TPT January 2016

89 / 106

January 2016 87
Welding
Measurement
for ultra-deep
offshore project
OIL and gas pipe measurement specialist Optical Metrology
Services (OMS) has completed a series of pipe measurement
surveys for the Kaombo Ultra-Deep Offshore Project. The
scope of work involved end dimensioning, numbering and
colour banding of deep-sea, fatigue-critical flowline pipe, steel
catenary risers (SCR) and long seam welded line pipe.
Kaombo Ultra-Deep Offshore Project involves the
development of six of the 12 fields discovered at Block 32,
around 260km offshore Luanda in Angola. The project is located
in an 800km2 site in the central and southeast part of the block.
The water depth at this location ranges from 1,400m to 1,900m.
The project involves the drilling of 59 subsea wells, which
will be connected via 300km of subsea pipelines to two floating
production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. Associated
gas from the fields will be transferred to the Angola Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Soyo. Production is scheduled to
start in 2017, with production capacity expected to be 230,000
barrels a day.
MarcusSmiles, client solutions executiveat OMS, commented,
“OMS is really excited to be involved in such an important deep-
sea development project – currently the largest of its kind in the
world. By measuring every pipe end and then colour banding
these to a calibration block group code [in accordance with
calibration blocks to be used for the AUT inspection], ‘golden
joints’ can be allocated to the more critical sections of the deep-
sea pipeline. Identifying and marking pipe ends in this way will
improve operational logistics for the customer, ensuring the least
possible disruption and handling to their pipe fit-up and welding
processes, which in turn will minimise project cost and delays.”
OMS was contracted to perform onshore pipe end
dimensioning of more than 10,000 pipe ends. The work was
carried out in three separate mobilisations. Five OMS engineers
were deployed for ten weeks at the Bredero Shaw pipe yard
in Batam Island, Indonesia, to measure more than 9,000 pipe
ends. In addition, two OMS engineers were deployed for two
weeks at the Socotherm pipe facility in Sicily, Italy, where
an additional 750 pipe ends were measured. The pipe sizes
measured were a mix of 10", 12", 14" and 16" in diameter.
OMS also deployed four engineers for two weeks in Brazil,
where an additional 800 pipe ends were measured. These
were 18" diameter subsea arc welded line (SAWL) pipes.
For end dimensioning, OMS utilised its own AutoTool laser
measurement tool, which is capable of recording more than
2,000 internal and external measurements around each pipe
end in less than 20 seconds. This tool is accurate to 0.05mm
and enables OMS staff to measure hundreds of pipe ends in
a single shift. This means less time on site, minimising project
delays and costs for the customer. The AutoTool is a non-
contact laser-based measurement system that is provided to
the customer as a service together with trained operators.
Optical Metrology Services Ltd – UK
Email:
Website: