Since the acquisition of Plymouth-based Manuplas by Advanced Insulation in April 2014, the company has seen significant growth in demand for its products and as a result has made the decision to purchase a neighbouring facility on the Estover Road site.
The new facility will service the demand for new subsea buoyancy products as well as creating more space for marine products manufacture including buoys and modular bow fender systems for offshore wind farm service vessels.
Commenting for Manuplas, General Manager Stephen Ward says: “The growth of the renewables industry, particularly offshore wind farms, has driven us to spend many years researching and developing leading concepts for modular fendering systems that are mounted on wind farm support and crew vessels. With these new solutions already proving popular, and demand for our existing portfolio strong, extra space and additional manufacturing facilities will help to futureproof the company.”
The Manuplas portfolio now includes a range of sub-surface buoyancy and subsea protection products such as pipe laying floats, umbilical floats, installation buoys, modular subsea mooring buoys, piggyback saddles, subsea cable protection systems and ROV buoyancy. Additionally, the company is also readying itself for the launch of a range of Distributed Buoyancy Modules incorporating proprietary engineered clamp technology for the SURF (Subsea Umbilical Riser Flowline) market.At 50,000 square feet, the purchase of the new unit on Estover Road will more than double the manufacturing and office space of the existing Manuplas facility, with 80% of the additional floor space being earmarked for the manufacture of future designed and developed high-performance products.
As Stephen goes on to say, the Manuplas name has a long association with the design, manufacture and supply of marine products to ports, harbours, navies, boat builders and vessel operators around the world and, through substantial investment in research and development, products now include market-leading solutions for the rapidly growing offshore industry where lightweight buoyancy materials are required for use in water depths beyond 3000msw.
On-going research and development projects have seen the company develop and manufacture high-performance products incorporating physically cross-linked polyethylene foams which, to increase abrasion and tear resistance, are sprayed in a unique protective marine-grade polyurethane coating that allows for the incorporation of a nylon or Kevlar reinforcement. Additionally, the company’s new modular, foamless polyurethane fender solutions have the ability to deliver excellent energy absorption properties thanks to the unique design of the internal structure.
For further information on the Manuplas range of subsea products, or their marine buoys and fender systems, call +44 (0)1752 771740, email sales@manuplas.co.uk or visit www.manuplas.co.uk.
As leading manufacturers of technical and insulation materials for the upstream oil and gas industry – and specialists in the design, engineering and manufacture of polymer solutions for the marine and offshore sectors – Advanced Insulation and its Manuplas business unit have manufactured and supplied a five-piece modular bow fender set to Northern Offshore Services AB (NOS) for its M/V Developer, a next-generation crew vessel developed and based on the company’s extensive experience in the offshore wind market.
The Manuplas name has a long association with the design, manufacture and supply of marine products – such as modular bow fender systems for offshore wind farm service vessels – to ports, harbours, navies, boat builders and vessel operators around the world and, as Manuplas technical sales support manager Andrew Wickham explains, Manuplas developed this custom fender system following more than 10 years’ experience in designing and engineering bow fenders, utilising bespoke materials developed in house specifically for this highly demanding application.
“These fender designs are proving popular based on their ability to generate higher levels of grip while applying less force on the landing piles. The impact pads which take most of the abuse, are independent of the rest of the Bow fender system. This makes them easier and more cost effective to replace as and when required and ultimately minimises any disruption to the vessel’s operation schedule.” Says Andrew.
Other benefits of the fender set include high-impact absorbency with the ability to withstand harsh offshore environments, safe access to turbines, high abrasion resistance and a virtually non-marking external finish.
Commenting for NOS technical manager Markus Olofsson says: “The main reason for contacting Manuplas was to create a partnership that could successfully build custom boat landing fenders. The increased surface area where their solution attaches to the boat landings, coupled with the advanced materials used, increases the wave height that the vessel can accommodate at the boat landing.”
The custom fender developed with Manuplas is a high-performance solution that provides excellent performance at sea when arriving at boat landings in poor weather
Additionally, with the new five-piece modular fender set, NOS can operate in much higher wave heights. On a typical day in the North Sea, NOS’s newer vessels can operate for around 28 days per month.
Summing up Markus says: “We have been working with Manuplas for six years and were among the first to use the custom-built fenders. They are outstanding in service and its new five-piece modular fender set is very high on the list of performance features for NOS’s vessels. It is also much cheaper to replace a fender than to repair a vessel, so the Manuplas solution is also an important component in helping us to succeed in this market.”
Northern Offshore Services’ M/V Developer has now been deployed to UK offshore wind farms for operation.
Gloucestershire-based Advanced Insulation, a leading manufacturer of technical coatings and specialised fire protection and thermal insulation materials for the upstream oil and gas industry, has appointed Ian Wilcock as Business Development Manager for its ContraBlast® range of fire and blast wall protection systems.
Commenting for Advanced Insulation, Global Business Development Manager for topside insulation and fire protection business, Philip Watson says: “Ian joins the company with a proven track record in business development and sales roles and brings a wealth of experience in relevant sectors. He will be forging new relationships with targeted groups of companies that will provide Advanced Insulation with new business channels to support the future growth of the business, especially for its new ContraBlast range of protection systems.”
Ian joins Advanced Insulation from the Shepherd Group where his 16 years in business development and sales gave him responsibility for modular structures in the oil and gas, power distribution/generation and rail markets. Prior to that, Ian spent 20 years with Ingersoll Rand in international business development.
Ian’s responsibilities at Advanced Insulation will be the promotion of the company’s recently launched ContraBlast modular fire and blast wall protection systems which, compared to traditional steel blast wall structures, provide thermal insulation and passive fire protection to J120 and H120 IMO classifications, bio-directional blast protection and weight and space envelope savings in excess of 60%. Additionally, each 2.4m ContraBlast composite panel – which features Advanced Insulation’s ContraFlame MS400 phenolic syntactic foam as its core material – is easy to install, requires no welding and provides a blast rating of up to 2.8bar.
To find out more about Advanced Insulation’s blast and fire wall products and services, visit www.aisplc.com or email info@aisplc.com.
Advanced Insulation, a leading manufacturer of technical coatings and specialised passive fire protection and thermal insulation materials, is delighted to announce the acquisition of Nottinghamshire-based Covertherm Limited, a manufacturer of insulation jackets.
Established in 2009 by Managing Director Paul Kendrick, Covertherm’s range of bespoke thermal insulation jacket and cover solutions provide exceptional heat savings and are well aligned to complement Advanced Insulation’s ContraFlex® range of flexible fire protection jackets.
Commenting for Advanced Insulation, Managing Director Andrew Bennion says: “At a time when many manufacturers are looking abroad for low-cost production solutions, we’re looking to reverse that trend and this acquisition will provide a UK manufacturing base for our ContraFlex range of passive fire insulation jackets, which will now be produced by Covertherm for the UK and export markets.
“It is also an opportunity for Covertherm’s own portfolio to be introduced to Advanced Insulation’s other jacket manufacturing bases and we expect the company to grow significantly over the next 12 months.”
The new UK manufacturing facility adds to already established production facilities in Dubai, Kazakhstan and Korea and will provide increased production capacity that will help to cope with the increasing demand for ContraFlex products.
Commenting for Covertherm, Managing Director Paul Kendrick says: “To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to and something that motivates and inspires you. Advanced Insulation’s acquisition has provided this for me and all Covertherm staff; and we are looking forward to further rapid growth and the introduction of new products.”
Advanced Insulation’s ContraFlex is a range of custom flexible protection jackets designed to provide high-performance thermal insulation and protection from jet or hydrocarbon fire to equipment that requires frequent maintenance access such as valves and actuators, welding nodes, manways, junction boxes, process vessels, hot equipment exhausts and localised protection.
Further information on Covertherm and its products/services can be found at www.covertherm.co.uk. For details on Advanced Insulation and its ContraFlex range, call +44 (0)1452 880880, email sales@aisplc.com or visit www.aisplc.com.
In a move to strengthen relationships with customers and key suppliers in the North American oil and gas market, Gloucester-based Advanced Insulation – a leading manufacturer of technical and insulation materials for the upstream oil and gas industry; and specialist in the design, engineering and manufacture of polymer solutions for the marine and offshore sectors – has appointed Mike Sherman and Larry King as sales managers.
With responsibility for all North American subsea sales, Mike Sherman’s focus will be the development and implementation of strategic growth plans for this key Advanced Insulation market. Larry King will focus on the promotion of the company’s subsea insulation products and the development of its business throughout Texas and Louisiana.
Welcoming Mike and Larry to Advanced Insulation, director of subsea sales Kevin Firth says: “North America and specifically the Gulf of Mexico are key sectors for our subsea insulation products and these appointments will play a major role in the company’s growth plans for the US market.”
Having graduated from the University of Houston, Mike Sherman began his career in the oil & gas sector with BJ Services. He joins Advanced Insulation from ABCO Subsea where he was responsible for umbilical management and hydraulic controls products and services; and for forging relationships with drilling contractors and OEMs.
Larry King joins the company with over 26 years in the oil and gas industry, starting as a roustabout before progressing into insulation sales. Previous experience includes roles with Bayou Flow Technologies, where he worked with Cuming Corporation epoxy and Permapipe GSPU insulation systems. Larry also joins Advanced Insulation from ABCO Subsea where he managed customer relationships with operators and EPIC companies.
To find out more about Advanced Insulation’s products and services, visit the website: http://www.aisplc.com or email info@aisplc.com. The US office can be contacted on +1 (281) 600 0022.
As offshore drilling technology advances and wells become ever deeper, the problem of corrosion increases proportionately. The presence of hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide and chlorides creates a potentially catastrophic corrosive mixture. Add to this the extremely high product temperatures from deep wells and there are significant problems that need to be overcome.
When assessing the corrosion protection of any production system, piping and process engineers have a number of options to consider. The effectiveness of each will vary dependent on a number of factors including: the aggressive nature the product; pressure and temperature; size and complexity of the system; well-life expectancy; available development period and the budget.
A production pipeline, from wellhead to topside processing, will typically include pipe, various types of connectors, fittings (tees, elbows etc.), complex valve blocks, pig launcher/receivers, etc., all of which will be subject to corrosive and possibly erosive attacks on their internal wetted surfaces. So how do engineers design a system to resist these attacks?
Protection methods where risk of attack is low and life-cycle short, may be as simple as an injected inhibitor used with conventional high-strength carbon or low alloy steel.
Where greater protection is needed corrosion resistant alloys (CRAs) such as austenitic (300 series); ferritic/martensitic (400 series); and duplex stainless steels or the more complex high nickel chromium alloys, must be considered.
With apologies to the manufacturers of austenitic stainless steels, it is unlikely they would have the resistance required for the very worst conditions. They would have to be used in very heavy wall section to match the pressure retention achieved by the carbon steels in common use (API 5L X60 or X65 for instance).
Duplex steels and nickel based alloys, such as alloy 625, are the only materials in general production which, when welded, will achieve the strength to match carbon steels. However, there are constraints to their use in solid form – namely cost, availability and the need for very rigid fabrication procedures.
Cost is particularly relevant where large quantities of pipe and fittings or large forgings or castings are needed. Wellhead valve systems and pipe bundle bulkheads are typical examples.
The use of carbon and low alloy steels clad with a corrosion resistant alloy has been common practice for some years and is a proven, economical and technical alternative to solid alloys.
The term ‘cladding’ covers a wide range of processes including: hot roll bonding, explosive bonding, diffusion bonding, centricast pipe, co-extruded pipe and weld overlay cladding.
Each has particular merits, so the processes are not necessarily competing for the same market. For example, whilst hot roll bonded plate, rolled and welded into pipe, may be economical for a 12m length, co-extruded or centricast would offer savings if 12km are required. Also, in periods of high demand, the lead times for some of these techniques may preclude them from use in a fast track or refurbishment project.
Weld overlay cladding
Weld overlay cladding technology presents the materials engineer with a wide choice of welding processes and immense flexibility. An almost infinite range of component shapes and sizes can be protected, with an equally wide range of base material/cladding alloy alternatives.
The combination of high strength low alloy steels (AISI 4130 or 8630 for example) and alloy 625 (Er-NiCrMo-3) is probably the most common for high pressure retaining wellhead equipment.
Weld procedures are normally qualified to ASME IX, as are the welding operators. Additional testing to prove conformity with API 6A and NACE MR01-75 is also completed, along with any contract specific requirements from the end user.
Selection of the most appropriate welding process is largely dependent on factors such as the size of the clad area; access to the area to be clad; alloy type, specified clad thickness; chemical composition limits; welding position; and NDT acceptance standards.
Welding processes in common use internationally include:
Given that the process used must be practical, viable and provide the mechanical and chemical conditions to achieve service requirements, economics dictate that the higher deposition rate processes should prevail. Details are available to optimise processes and deposition rates while taking into account the limitations that may apply.
Automated or mechanised processes generally offer the best deposition rates and provide the most consistent quality of deposit. This enables the finished cladding to closely match the results provided during procedure qualification testing. Mechanised equipment can also be designed to access areas that simply cannot be reached by manual methods – for example through a small-bore pipe.
GTAW processes can be used in bores as small as 15mm, and are ideal for components of varied geometry where the position of the welding head requires frequent adjustment, from a simple flange that needs to be clad through the bore and across the sealing face, to a complex valve body with several interconnecting bores.
Often equipment also needs cladding to RTJ grooves. The control available with the GTAW process means that cladding can follow the profile of the groove rather than filling it completely. This not only saves time and material but also reduces the cost of finish machining.
This flexibility also lends itself to cladding irregular shaped components such as pipefittings. Elbows and tees as small as 2” NB can be clad, particularly where specifications do not allow for a mixture of base materials – for example a carbon steel pressure vessel, where fittings in solid alloys are not permitted due to risks from the use of materials with different thermal expansion rates.
Using this process the chemical composition of the welding consumable can be achieved at 2.5mm from the base material/cladding interface (this can be reduced to 1.5mm in the case of 300 series stainless steels, where over alloyed wires are available).
Where plain bores (in pipe or flanges for example) are greater than 250 - 300mm, the faster depositing electroslag and submerged arc processes can be considered. Equipment is available to enable pipe lengths of 12m to be successfully clad.
The electroslag process utilises a large weld pool that requires substantial base metal backing (generally a minimum of 20mm) to prevent burn through and support the edge of the weld pool to avoid collapse of the molten weld/flux covering.
It is ideal for areas of plain, open access. It is not ideal for cladding adjacent to convex or concave edges. The deposit thickness is nominally 5mm with the strip widths discussed here. With 60mm strip, deposition rates of up to 22kg per hour can be achieved.
To enable the chemical composition of the deposit to match that of the consumable specification within the first layer (3mm from the interface), over-alloyed strip and ‘loaded’ metal containing fluxes, are available.
Where a strict limitation is imposed on iron dilution into the cladding, a second layer can be added to give entirely undiluted weld metal. However, the use of a 9 -10mm thickness of cladding may negate the commercial advantage of the high deposition rate process.
In these circumstances additional production test plates have been produced, and corrosion tests carried out on the single layer to prove the acceptability of the material for known service conditions.
Another option is the use of a combination of processes. A recent example required a final layer of alloy 400 over a significant surface area. The first layer was pure nickel, deposited by spray GMAW. The second, with 30mm electroslag strip (to ER NiCu-7) ensured that the chemistry (in particular the low iron requirement) was achieved and a total thickness of 7mm was deposited. A material saving of up to 30% was achieved with only a small increase in production time over the two layers of strip.
Submerged arc welding using a solid wire consumable, while not as fast, is a useful ‘halfway house’ between strip cladding and slower GTAW and pulsed GMAW. The welding heads used are not as large as strip heads, and the consumable delivery method is much more flexible. Hence the ability to use this in smaller bore diameters. Traditionally larger diameter consumables (2.4mm +) have been used for this process, again resulting in the need for fairly thick substrates to accept the high heat and large weld deposits.
Recently, procedures have been developed using 1.2mm wires allowing use on thinner section components, and giving more controlled thickness of deposit while maintaining deposition rates of approximately 5kg per hour. As with strip cladding, consumable/flux combinations are available to make single layer deposits viable, especially with duplex and ferritic/martensitic stainless steels.
When weld overlay cladding was first employed, re-machining after cladding was the norm. However, as techniques and equipment have improved, the ‘as welded’ finish has become much smoother and many areas of clad equipment are now left ‘as clad’. This would not apply to sealing/gasket areas, which have to be produced to the very finest of tolerances.
Without doubt the GTAW (and PTA) processes give the least contoured deposits, so procedures have been developed to use the quicker submerged arc or GMAW processes for the first layer and finish with GTAW – combining the benefits of two processes.
When cladding high strength (and therefore more hardenable) low alloy steels such as AISI 4130, 21/4 Cr 1 Mo and, potentially, martensitic stainless steels such as A182 F6NM or AISI 410; PWHT is invariably adopted. This stress relief ensures that the layer of base material immediately below the weld (heat affected zone) is within the recommended hardness levels for the service conditions (as required by NACE).
Test procedures
The level of NDT will be in accordance with the specification to which the equipment is being produced, plus any client or contract requirements detailed in quality plans and purchase orders.
This will almost invariably include liquid penetrant inspection, usually after any machining has taken place. Ultrasonic inspection is less often required, but is used to confirm sound fusion and the absence of volumetric defects.
Chemical analysis of the clad surface is sometimes requested and can be tested in a number of ways, the most common being by analysis of swarf samples from the component, or by use of an X ray spectrograph (PMI) machine, or similar.
Where austenitic or duplex steels have been used, reporting the phase balance may be an additional requirement. This can be calculated from chemical analysis using one of the internationally recognised formulae, or by use of a suitably calibrated magnetic ferrite detector.
The ability to clad ‘off the shelf’ components of any shape and size with a wide variety of corrosion resistant alloys, has made weld overlay cladding the most adaptable and flexible in use - whether you need a one-off special or a large production run.
