EnerMech is expanding its valves division with the acquisition of the UK valves business of Denholm Valvecare (DV). The global integrated engineering services group has acquired the UK trade and assets of the valves division of family-owned Denholm Oilfield Services for an undisclosed sum. EnerMech expects its UK valves business to generate around £7m revenue in 2018 following the deal, which will see all DV valves equipment, inventory and an estimated 25 staff transfer to the Aberdeen-headquartered business. EnerMech Chief Executive Officer, Doug Duguid, said: "The opportunity arose to acquire a well-established valves business which will upscale our existing UK valves business and offer ec

Every engineer wants the best accuracy level sensor they can get, but this specification often comes at an extra premium. Not today! The VEGAPULS 64 80 GHz contactless radar level transmitter now has increased its accuracy down to 1mm as standard, at no extra cost. This means, whether in storage or processing, you will get the best repeatability and accuracy of measurement on ranges up to 30m. Combine this with the sensors proven focusing, its ability to deal with build up, how it can operate even on the smallest of mounting connections, or that it even works through valves and down long nozzles - this all results in a great level solution for your process. Don’t take our word for it, ask th

Some time ago a manufacturer of Locator Beacons, approached us and requested we design a range of special connectors. Despite the small quantities involved, we were happy to oblige. “They need to be waterproof (unmated ).” OK that’s fine, a piece of hermetic glass in the rear end will work! They told us that was too expensive. They wanted to pay the same as a standard connector And - “We need it to be highly reliable....with no NRE charge.” So, we had to design, develop, sample, machine, plate, assemble and deliver a range of four connectors with a completely new feature, in seven weeks!! The connectors themselves were relatively simple jacks and cable plugs. The problem, was how to make the

Piper Alpha was the event which lead to the oil and gas industry reassessing its approach to safety. Even with new standards and an increased awareness of what causes large process safety events like these, almost 30 years on from one of the biggest disasters the industry has experienced, we continue to see large and fatal disasters occurring: Texas City, Buncefield and Richmond refinery to name a few. However, it is not only the oil and gas industry which is at risk of high consequence, low probability events such as these. Any industry where quantities of dangerous substances meet the threshold outlined in the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations are also at risk, includin

Biofouling or ‘biological fouling’ is the accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or animals on wetted surfaces. The offshore oil and gas industry are responsible for a multitude of different assets underwater which these organisms grow on, but why do they become an issue and how does the industry solve this? Emma Learmonth, Director of AQUASIGN, highlights why this serious issue causes problems and tells SOS Magazine how by mimicking fish skin, they are combatting this problem for their clients: Biofouling causes a raft of significant issues for companies working in subsea environments. Being a subsea marker provider, we look at this issue from a visibility and safety perspective – s

Responding to the demand to safely protect power and data cabling in today’s interconnected world, Flexicon has launched its most extensive flexible conduit ‘Products and Solutions Guide for Hazardous Areas.’ Says Tim Creedon, Sales & Marketing Director for Flexicon: "Failure to protect power and or data cabling in areas with the potential risk of explosion can be catastrophic for safety and operational efficiency. It has never been more important to specify cable protection correctly to ensure on-going operation throughout a system’s life and protect people, property and processes. Hazardous areas, by their nature, present many risks and depending on the application the hazards faced can va

This new application guide from BEKA associates is intended to aid the selection of the most suitable pulse input rate totaliser from the extensive range of models manufactured by BEKA in the UK. It contains a brie f review of pulse output flowmeters and the associated terminology, including an explanation of what the number of flowmeter output pulses and their frequency mean. All BEKA pulse input rate totalisers have similar functions and a common configuration menu enabling them to calculate and display total flow and the rate of flow in engineering units. This application guide takes the reader step-by-step through the simple rate totaliser configuration routine, including practical appli

KOSO Kent Introl’s new highpressure subsea choke valve is qualified to API 6A / 17D and works at pressures of up to 15,000 PSI. It is a worthy addition to their range of subsea valves and leaves them very well-placed to meet the needs of similar high-pressure, high-temperature subsea applications. Their newly developed 15,000 psi subsea choke valve utilises a trim capable of handling extremely high pressure drops, safely avoiding any potential damage and to prevent the Joule-Thomson effect. To achieve this they utilised their eight stage, solid tungsten carbide multispline trim. This also included an internal cleaning function to clear any upstream particles. The trim and all its features ar

Now under construction, Iraq’s State Company of Oil Projects’ (SCOP) Karbala Refinery will use state of- the-art refining processes and automated control to maximise production of liquefied gas, petrol, gas oil, fuel oil, jet fuel and asphalt. When it opens in 2020, the facility will have a refining capacity of 140,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd). Production will meet the latest international standards, serving the growing domestic demand for oil in Iraq and reducing the current level of refined product imports. Rotork orders for the Karbala Refinery include large quantities of IQ3 non-intrusive intelligent electric valve actuators, designed specifically for automated flow control sys

Aging oil and gas facilities suffer from degradation and equipment wear and tear. When this happens to the electrical infrastructure, safety is of paramount concern, and tracing and locating problems such as insulation faults is notoriously difficult. In worse case scenarios, it can shut down production whilst fault-finding is undertaken. To speed up the fault identification and location process, Bender has developed a portable online earth fault location system that can be deployed in the field to trace such faults. Which device? To determine the nature and location of the insulation breakdowns, a Bender EDS309X series portable earth fault detection system is suitable for use in conjunction

Global OEM, HTL Group, have strengthened their UK presence in the South East by adding Great Yarmouth based Gee-Force Hydraulics to the HTL Group. Gee-Force Hydraulics partnered with HTL Group back in 2016 as their Rental and Training Partner for the South East corner of the country . The partnership combined Gee-Force’s established brand and HTL’s extensive hire fleet and training portfolio to deliver a package of solutions. Now, part of The HTL Group of companies, Gee-Force Hydraulics can offer an even greater range of HTL controlled bolting and products and services from their Great Yarmouth facility on Beacon Business Park. Additionally a wide range of ECITB Approved Mechanical Joint Int

Destec is synonymous with innovation engineering high quality connectors for the oil & gas industry. Destec has been in business for 49 years and still a family owned company run by the same director who founded the company. But Destec has kept a low profile for many years, even though the Destec service team has been providing the UK power stations and offshore platforms machining and maintenance for many years, and Destec are now expanding to new areas & Industry. Destec also holds major supply contracts with some of the biggest companies in the world like ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Shell, EDF, BAE Systems and many more throughout the world, even winning the regional Exporter of the year awa

Unique Group, one of the world’s most prominent integrated subsea and offshore solution providers, has re-established a dealer agreement with Kongsberg Maritime AS for the Middle East region. Under the business cooperation agreement, Unique Group’s offices in the region will offer sale and service of KM’s wide range of underwater mapping, navigation, acoustics and camera solutions to customers in the territories of Bahrain, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. The two companies presently have an agreement in place for Nigeria and Kenya. The Kongsberg Maritime range of underwater mapping products includes the EM 712RD®, EM 2040C® and 2040P®, EA440/EA640, and the Geoacoustics range among others. Th

ASV Global is delighted to announce the successful deployment of one of its C-Worker 7 class of autonomous surface vessels for Subsea 7. The 7m autonomous surface vessel was used to support a pipelay operation off the coast of Egypt. Fitted with a survey suite comprising a multibeam echosounder and side scan sonar, the C-Worker 7 carried out touchdown monitoring in support of the Seven Antares pipelay vessel. A spokesperson from Subsea 7 said: "The C-Worker 7 has proven to be a very capable vessel providing an excellent stable survey platform controlled by the Pipelay Vessel." Richard Daltry, Technical Director at ASV Global said: "We are delighted to be supporting Subsea 7 in their quest to

Global Controlled Bolting OEM HTL Group are making their industry leading calibration and certification system ‘i-Calibrate’ available to all. i-Calibrate was designed to improve calibration and test processes saving time and money at both periodic equipment calibration and test stage as well as during daily use. The i-Calibrate system generates a wide range of calibration and test certificates which are stored in real time at the point of calibration or test. This allows users to access important data 24/7 globally via the i-Calibrate portal through a QR code displayed on the tooling, or via an embedded RFID. Previously this software was exclusively used by HTL Group for their extensive hir

Gaining Your Panel Hours in the Required Time-Frame Struggling to get those final hours on the saturation bell diving panel or have been trying to complete your panel hours within the timeframe as per IMCA D013 (IMCA offshore diving supervisor and life support technician certification schemes) and IMCA C014 (Guidance on the Use of Simulators)? If you are having difficulty to achieve those final hours – there is a solution now! KBA Training Centre has launched the ‘Simulator Training for Saturation Diving Supervisor’ whereby trainee bell diving supervisors can gain up to 70 panel hours and 10 bell runs through a 35 hands-on hours’ experience on a class B simulator. Career development is more

Divers face some of the harshest environments and need the ability to easily navigate around obstacles unhindered when performing underwater inspections. The Cygnus DIVE underwater thickness gauge has been designed for divers undertaking metal thickness measurements. The gauge has a super-bright AMOLED display and large numbers so that readings are visible even in poor conditions, can be worn on the diver’s forearm allowing one-hand to remain free while carrying out inspections and can withstand the most extreme diving environments. Other key features of the Cygnus DIVE include: • Multiple-echo measuring mode giving the ultimate accuracy. • Single-echo and echo-echo measuring modes for extre

Subsea construction often requires specialised and expensive equipment to be safely lowered to the seabed and accurately positioned for installation in a reliable and cost effective way. Over the years there have been many incidents involving hooks in the offshore industry. The two most common incidents are snagging of hooks and unintentional release of the rigging from the hooks, also known as shedding. The new RUD ROV Hook has been designed to offer a product that not only meets the operational safety standards but also the speed of use requirements the industry faces, thus reducing time penalties and increased costs. The RUD ROV Hook is a completely new design that has never been seen acr

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions is to showcase its ground-breaking sealing technology specifically developed to meet the demands of accessing unconventional wells. The leading sealing company recently unveiled the industry’s widest range of approved sealing materials for subsea systems at the Subsea Expo Conference & Exhibition in Aberdeen in February. Having recognised that subsea exploration has moved to greater depths, the company set about developing the most sophisticated technology the industry has ever seen. The result was the XploR™ range of sealing materials, an entire family of advanced elastomers especially developed for oil and gas applications, each featuring low compression set ch

Subsea services company, Rovco has appointed Liam Warren as Operations Manager to support the delivery of complex ROV and survey projects across the globe. A chartered engineer with considerable knowledge and understanding of the offshore sector, Mr Warren brings more than 15 years’ experience having worked on a number of major oil and gas, marine renewables and nuclear projects. Prior to joining Rovco, Mr Warren was a Construction Package Manager for Costain where he played an instrumental role in the development of the marine works required for the construction of an offshore heat sink system for the nuclear facility at Hinkley Point C. He worked for seven years as an Operations Manager fo