systems are fit for purpose and it is safe to bring the plant up to
operating conditions. Flange management is an important step
in this process to manage and ensure all necessary information
is recorded as recommended by Oil and Gas UK based on the
original UK Offshore Operators Association guidelines for the
Management of Integrity of Bolted Pipe Joints. The use of a flange
management integrity system could assist in the mitigation and
avoidance of high consequence events.
In the US, flange integrity management is vital in helping
to meet regulations set out by the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement to bring plants up to operating
conditions. Safety and environmental management systems (SEMS)
regulations, SEMS, SEMS II and RP 75, have made more practices,
which were previously voluntary, mandatory for oil and gas
production processes. These are designed to enhance the safety
and environmental protection of offshore drilling operations.
In the UK oil and gas industry, flange integrity management also
helps to address the government’s Health and Safety Executive’s
requirements for ageing and life extension inspection programme
(KP4). Prolonging the life of assets is crucial for operators to ensure
their assets remain cost efficient.
SPX Bolting Systems designed a new cloud based flange
integrity management system, FLANGEPRO, to help address these
regulations by capturing and recording all integrity activities on
safety critical plant and equipment. The software can be used
to record drawing numbers, system details, joint, bolt and gasket
details, tensioning and torque values, pressure testing and joint
history. The software provides secure access to any project,
on demand, anywhere in the world, giving clients necessary
information when and where they need it.
FLANGEPRO helps to maintain the mechanical integrity of
assets, by improving safety, reducing risk and saving SPX Bolting
Systems’ clients time and money by helping to prolong the life of
their oil and gas assets and make them more cost efficient.
FLANGEPRO gets to work on Aberdeen/
Shetland based project
SPX Bolting Systems has been working with Aberdeen based
customer, Altus Intervention, pipeline and process services
specialists in the North Sea, for five years. The companies have
worked together to maintain asset integrity for various oil and
gas companies and previously, before the development of
FLANGEPRO, used two of SPX’s bolting asset integrity software
solutions, Adviser and Controller. SPX’s Controller system was
recently replaced by the new FLANGEPRO cloud based flange
integrity management system.
SPX Bolting Systems Business Development Leader, EMEA,
Chris Cashmore says, “FLANGEPRO, our new Cloud based integrity
software has significant advantages over the previous ‘Controller’
system in that it can handle much greater volumes of data, has
improved features, functionality and accessibility, and is directly
supported online. It allows multiple client operators to work
simultaneously, from different locations, on the same project(s).
Stored data can be instantly accessed and retrieved to manage
systems and allow predictive patterns to be assessed – working
towards improvements and safer, more reliable assets and
projects.”
Altus Intervention uses FLANGEPRO for implementing flange
integrity management on various oil and gas projects in the
North Sea. They work regularly with a global services provider, to
implement flange management.
Recently, the two companies carried out onshore and offshore
work for a client on a number of large projects in the North Sea
implementing FLANGEPRO to enhance the service offering. The
projects contained components manufactured from all around
the world which presented the challenge of collating all the
component information into one consistent database.
The client needed to find a solution to help them gain control
over the huge task facing them. In order for the project to be
precomissioned they would need to identify and collaborate all
the bolting information from the various components.
FLANGEPRO provided the client with an efficient way to
implement flange integrity management by collating all the
data in one place via the software. This helps the plant’s pre
commissioning to be completed as quickly as possible.
Altus Intervention’s Process Operations Manager, Peter
Lawson, talks about their choice to upgrade from SPX Adviser and
Controller: “Upgrading to FLANGEPRO was a natural evolution for
Altus Intervention, having worked with SPX Bolting Systems for
many years and using their previous flange management system.
We considered other options but it realistically made sense, due to
the life quality of SPX equipment and the flexibility they give their
clients, to upgrade to FLANGEPRO”.
The project has taken place over the past two and a half
years and is still ongoing. FLANGEPRO software is being used
to fulfil a multi-service contract covering all pre commissioning
Figure 2.
FLANGEPRO software provides the control to safely
and efficiently perform any activity or workflow for any type
of asset with complete confidence.
Figure 1.
SPX
Bolting Systems
tools and
technology.
26
World Pipelines
/
JULY 2015
