Even when offshore facilities are built to good design and safety standards, catastrophic events can still occur. The Piper Alpha case demonstrated the need for comprehensive safety management systems. Programs such as OSHA 1910.119 Process Safety Management combine design, safety, training, management, documentation, human factors and operational procedures into strong safety cultures that employees and operating companies practice everyday. A key element for operators is the use of risk assessment tools to demonstrate the effectiveness of their safety procedures and operations.
Offshore oil and gas production systems have a unique combination of equipment and conditions not seen in other industries. The offshore environment has new potential hazards, which must be identified and controlled.
Offshore Project Experience:
APTECH has been involved in offshore projects since its inception in 1979. Our projects have covered failure analysis, design reviews, and risk assessments for structures, vessels, machinery and pipelines. Our clients have included the US Navy, oil and gas companies, and the major offshore design and construction companies. Our projects have spanned the globe, including the South China Sea, the North Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.
APTECH's projects have been focused on the analysis and prevention of material degradation mechanisms, including brittle fracture due to impact loading, fatigue and corrosion fatigue due to unanticipated transients, general corrosion in a marine environment, and special cracking problems in Navy equipment. We have been responsible for risk analysis projects for deep-water pipelines, including an assessment of the hazards encountered during the design process.
Several of our past projects are worth highlighting here because they capture the breadth and depth of APTECH's capabilities and experience:
- Fixed offshore platform fatigue design
- Risk analysis for deep-water pipeline
- Validation of fatigue design for Shell's Cognac
platform
- Analysis of Catapult Receiver Vessel cracking
APTECH provides independent evaluation of the remaining useful life of ships, utilizing the latest naval architecture and marine engineering analysis, and skilled financial analysis of relevant costs and revenues. Life extension programs can be clearly defined for valuable vessels of many types in order to meet the financial objectives of owners, lenders, and charterers. Specific repairs, replacements and alterations to maintain reliable ship operation and maximize profitability will be selected and projected up to a proposed ship retirement date.
APTECH also provides an economic remaining useful life (RUL) assessment program for many types of merchant ships. The RUL program for liquefied gas ship is especially valuable to ship owners, port authorities and safety regulatory agencies, insurance companies, and chaterers. Vessel carriers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum gas (LPG), ammonia, vinylchloride nomoner (VCN), propylene, ethylene, and other chemical gases are subject to special low-temperature loads and resulting stresses, fatigue cycles and fractures. Most of the products transported are explosive, flammable toxic, or corrosive, and therefore are very high hazards. Prudence mandates the highest degree of maintenance and care of these liquid gas carriers, and demonstrated skills of the ship crew and terminal operators.