Prezioso: customized ATEX cabinets, cabinets and lighting
Oil / Angola /Bloc 0
The context.
The Chevron floating production unit1 (photo) located off the coast of Angola2 is a ship that has many systems for processing and separating different types of oil such as a complete oil gas liquefaction system but also on-board export facilities. The integrity of the vessel requires regular maintenance, such as insulation and surface treatment, to ensure the safety of persons working on board and the maintenance of production capacity. Kilometres of pipes allow flow, cold or hot. If a pipe freezes, the flow will not pass. If a hose or valve is rusty, production will have to stop. If a pipe is poorly insulated while circulating a flow at 150°, personnel are at risk of severe burns. Finally, rusty superstructures will also affect the vessel's ability to withstand bad weather conditions.
One day I received an e-mail which contained a very simple hand sketch, accompanied by a dozen lines explaining the project and the needs, from a need for land expressed in a less formalised way with a financial envelope that fixed a framework, we managed to build, with Prezioso, a tailor-made solution that corresponds to the equipment with which their employees are accustomed to work and which adapts to the specifics of their Chevron client's site. »
Prezioso, subcontractor of the Chevron Group
Surface treatment
Angola
Company profile
Specializing in surface treatment and present in Angola for some 30 years (in different localities: Soyo, Cabinda, Lobito and Luanda), Prezioso works mainly on the ISS (insulation surface preparation scaffolding) but is also developing the IMD (inspection modification and decommissioning of site and decomissioning) and also an integrated activity (survey, consultancy and management).
The challenge.
As a result, Chevron's assets were transferred to Prezioso, which specializes in surface processing. They cover anti-corrosion, cold insulation and the protection of personnel on the upper part of the ship, the bridge and the piping (extraction and circulation of cold or very hot flows). Terrestrial reservoirs near the coast, which are also subjected to salt air, will also be treated against corrosion. For Prezioso, the challenges are threefold.
These are first and foremost the conditions for intervention. The anti-corrosion and insulation work is carried out both day and night, often in hard-to-reach areas, dark or even inaccessible places where the installation of conventional scaffolding is impossible (insulation, inside the ship, of very hot pipes at 10 meters height, large size of ground tanks of hydrocarbons etc.). Then one has to adapt to the specifics of each customer in terms of safety requirements, configuration of installations or working habits, for example in terms of electrical current. Finally, since the Chevron mobile platform to be processed is located off the northern coast of Angola, a particular logistics had to be set up due to delays in the delivery of equipment to a fairly isolated region.
Adaptability is therefore the key word of Prezioso. Each new site corresponds to a particular industrial configuration. Hence the need for equipment capable of ensuring this adaptability in order to make the construction site's life and operation as easy as possible. It is in this context that Prezioso used A2S for the lighting equipment required during maintenance operations on board the Chevron floating production unit.
Our approach.
Two to three months of discussions, through video conferencing and necessary exchanges on the ground, in Angola, with the local teams of Prezioso, were necessary to jointly develop a specifications with the engineer in charge of the project and the head of the purchasing department of Prezioso. These exchanges first helped to define the lighting requirements conditioned by the number of employees on the ship and the tasks to be carried out. Then Prezioso and A2S set out to determine the number of mobile electric cabinets needed and, above all, their specific characteristics.
From a standard electrical cabinet, as we discussed it, we built a tailor-made solution to make life easier. I went to Angola to see the equipment that Prezioso used to work with, to better understand their technical choices but also the difficulties on the ground. For example, winding large electrical cables about 20 meters around a mobile electrical cabinet without any suitable device is not ideal. Hence the arm design at the back of the cabinet to wrap the cable correctly and easily," explains Nicolas Sevestre.
Our solution.
A2S supplied Prezioso with a package including the design and manufacture of ATEX tailor-made distribution/processing cabinets4 as well as portable ATEX boxes and cabinets for lighting, Led ATEX lighting and various accessories (cables, power sockets...). A stock of spare parts (including power outlets, often damaged at this type of site) was also provided by A2S and made available at the Prezioso site in northern Angola.
The main tailor-made elements of the mobile electric cabinets provided by A2S:
- Installation of lifting rings to make them easily transportable
- Installation of protective grids to avoid impact during transport or maintenance
- Attaching bars to the rear so that the cable can be rolled during storage or transport
- Provision of electrical outlets according to customer needs;
- Supply of changeable plastic films for ATEX and industrial lighting
- Adding a handle to the lighting box to make it much easier to move.
The results.
The customer was aware of the specific constraints that could not be met with conventional market solutions. The tailor-made approach was the key to enabling Prezioso to meet its commitments. The solution provided by A2S enabled the customer to obtain a point-by-point answer to the problem of the construction sites that he was to implement. This allowed him to gain flexibility and productivity while ensuring comfort and safety for his workers.
1/ A floating production unit or FPSO (or Floating production storage and offloading)
It is a ship used in the oil and gas industry for the processing and storage of hydrocarbons and the storage of oil, natural gas or oil produced at sea. Until 2017 the longest were about 310 meters long with a width of 60 meters and a hull height of 30 meters. Their production capacity could exceed 200,000 barrels per day for a storage capacity of 2 million barrels.
2/ Angola and oil
Angola, the second largest oil producer on the African continent, whose growth has averaged 10% over the last decade, has very large oil deposits, mainly offshore. In addition, since 2013, the country has started exporting liquefied natural gas.
Products and services implemented.
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