Cormon chooses fabrication partner

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 14, 2005

Lancing-based corrosion monitoring specialist Cormon has chosen Arc Energy as its fabrication partner.

Arc Energy Resources is firmly established as one of the leading weld overlay cladding and fabrication contractors to the pipeline industry with a comprehensive range of processes available at its Gloucestershire factory.

The company's capability and wide experience are complemented by a reputation for customer service, which is why Lancing-based corrosion monitoring specialist Cormon chose Arc Energy as its fabrication partner.

Because building oil and gas pipelines in noncorroding, high-alloy duplex steels is prohibitively expensive, carbon steel is used as a cost-effective alternative.

However the chemical inhibitors needed to prevent corrosion of carbon steel are also expensive, and therefore the treatment needs to be carefully metered.

In order to control the cost of this treatment, Cormon supplies corrosion monitoring solutions that provide an accurate means of measuring the rate at which pipelines are corroding.

One of the company's newest corrosion monitoring technologies for the subsea market is the Ring-Pair Corrosion Monitor (RPCM), which uses spool sensors to measure pipeline corrosion rates to within 1um, in true, flowing conditions.

The spools, which form part of the pipeline itself, need to be capable of withstanding severe mechanical loadings as well as attack from the corrosive mixture of oil, water and gasses such as CO2 that form multiphase flows.

To ensure the highest standards for weld overlay cladding and fabrication of the spools, Cormon has appointed Arc Energy Resources as its fabrication partner.

Arc Energy applies weld overlay cladding to the critical sealing areas of the components.

After machine finishing, the spool halves are welded together and pipe "pup" pieces or flanges added as required, before hydrotesting is carried out.

Whilst the weld overlay cladding required for the inside of the spool is relatively standard, the welding procedures used to join the spool components together are extremely complex and have to be individually qualified to a very high specification for each job.

All welds must be approved by an accredited third party to meet the requirements of BS8010 Pt 3, BS4515 and DNV-OS-F101.

Commenting for Cormon, joint Chief Executive Bob Davies says the whole process, and especially the welding procedures are a real challenge and the fact that Arc Energy can achieve such high standards is a great credit to them.

"They are more than just a welding supplier, they are our fabrication partner and, as such, they provide us with a comprehensive service", he says, explaining that besides undertaking key joining welds, cladding and all weld qualifications, the company also performs the nondestructive testing.

What really makes the relationship special is the fact that Arc Energy provides the facilities at its factory for Cormon to install the electronics, carry out the final assembly, hydrotest the units and run all of the tests necessary to gain the buyer's acceptance.

As well as hosting Cormon engineers, the company frequently hosts the buyer's inspectors, engineers and technicians during key phases of the fabrication and the acceptance testing.