Valve cladding contract awarded

Arc Energy was awarded an initial contract by Oxford Engineering to clad a number of valve bodies destined for sub-sea Christmas trees.

Oxford Engineering is a manufacturer of high-integrity components for the oil and gas, aerospace and defence, medical and other industries.

Based in Abingdon on a site where the MG sports car was once built, the company's machine shops produce equipment for body scanners, flight-critical parts for aircraft and high-integrity clad components for sub-sea Christmas trees for the oil and gas industry.

The weld overlay cladding that provides the vital corrosion-resistant coating for many of these sub-sea components is applied using special high-performance welding techniques that require 100% nondestructive testing.

Finding a company that could provide a reliable cladding service was a challenge faced by Oxford Engineering's Business Development Manager Kevin Clark.

Clark said: "We were experiencing some limitations with our existing cladding supplier so I searched for an alternative on the internet".

"Arc Energy already had some approved procedures and was well known to the major equipment manufacturers for whom we are working".

"Its people were extremely knowledgeable and very easy to deal with, so our Quality Department arranged a visit".

As a result, Arc Energy was successfully audited by Oxford Engineering and its customer and was subsequently awarded an initial contract to clad a number of valve bodies destined for sub-sea Christmas trees.

Due to their complex shape, cladding of the alloy steel bodies with a 3mm coating of Inconel 625 was considered a difficult project and had caused problems for other suppliers.

Arc Energy Sales Director Alan Brown says there were very specific requirements governing production of the cladding and for this reason the company agreed to develop and qualify a new welding procedure on behalf of Oxford Engineering, to ensure strict adherence to their customer's specification.

Commenting on the result Clark says the technical team at Arc Energy proved more than capable of dealing with such a difficult project, and adds: "We have been impressed with their knowledge and experience and subsequently, their success in dealing with a number of other projects they have completed for us".

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