The infrastructure that has been the foundation of our energy supply for decades is now being reshaped in the wake of the demand for a switch to renewable sources. Yet for all the attention being placed on the ‘energy transition’, the requirement for quality manufacturing and engineering remains a critical constant, and the oil and gas industry continues to be at the forefront of that.
But is oil and gas missing a trick? Julian Vance Daniel, director at Vessco Engineering, examines how the processes and procedures that govern engineering and manufacturing in the stringent civil nuclear sector, could equally apply to the oil and gas sector.
As a specialist fabricator of large pressure vessels, we have had the opportunity to utilise the best practices and techniques from the nuclear engineering sector and apply them to other industries, including the oil and gas sector which has been a mainstay of our work over the decades. Having achieved the Fit for Nuclear Standard (F4N) in 2018, we have a proven track record in working on nuclear processing sites such as Sellafield, power generation sites like Hinkley Point C, and experimental fusion facilities, both domestically and internationally.
The IP and processes that we have assimilated from working within the highly regulated nuclear sector have directly shaped our work in other industries, such as the water utility, chemicals manufacturing, as well as energy. And it’s not only our own company undergoing this, our experience and observations of this are consistent with other suppliers across the Tier 2 and Tier 3 nuclear supply chain.
What’s different, and what can be transferred?
First and foremost, the civil nuclear sector is governed by some of the most stringent and rigorous documentation and processes of any industry. It goes without saying that the implications of a serious accident in the sector are significantly higher than in others, and for that reason the tried and tested methodologies deployed here can be usefully cross-pollinated, especially where safety and risk are critical considerations as they are too in oil and gas.
Quality plans and inspection and test plans are extensive, shaping wider areas of the manufacturing workflow. I believe that those who are involved in manufacturing and engineering within the oil and gas sector have everything to gain by embedding some of this thinking into their own processes starting with design, right through to inspection and quality control.
In nuclear for instance, there’s a highly developed focus on identification of counterfeit, fraudulent or suspect (CFSI) items. Proving and validating provenance is critical. It’s not just about the potential problems of the purchased materials, it’s about maintaining tight traceability throughout the complete manufacturing journey – such as documented evidence that the material you legitimately procured is still the same material, from the same source, should that material need to be divided across separate components.
To mitigate the risk of CFSI, both the civil nuclear and oil and gas industries rely on strict materials sourcing and quality control protocols. This includes the use of trusted suppliers, strict inspections, and detailed documentation of materials and components. Furthermore, they must be able to identify these items using a variety of methods such as physical and chemical testing, electronic tracking and traceability, and certification programmes such as CFSI, BS EN 4872 and other global certifications.
Does health and safety thwart change?
Components in oil and gas production and exploration are not without their own strictly controlled quality and safety requirements, not just in the protection of valuable resources but in terms of the colossal risk to the environment in the event of a major leak or breakdown. Controlled welding and monitoring techniques are vital in meeting these uncompromising standards, from the manufacture of transmission pipelines, storage vessels, or vessels that need to withstand immense pressures, temperatures or weights, such as those found on and offshore on from rigs and platforms to gas processing plants. Additionally, structures and equipment used in the industry must have a long lifespan, welding being critical to durability and resilience.
Having said this, it is also my experience that both the nuclear and oil & gas sectors are still relatively slow at embracing new technologies, such as modern methods of welding and fabrication, like synergic MIG welding which is proven in so many other sectors. It has a relatively low defect rate and could I believe be employed more widely in oil and gas for the fabrication and manufacture of pressure vessels, heat exchanges and columns within refineries and exploration platforms. However, it all comes back to safety, and with change comes perceived increased risk.
Speed is crucial in industries that involve production. This is especially true in oil and gas where minutes of production downtime are measured in the millions potentially. It is imperative that sufficient time is given for the advance preparation of documentation prior to manufacturing, and oil and gas suppliers should expect the process to be iterative and precise with no room for misinterpretation or vagueness.
As a rule, there will be more inspection hold and witness points in civil nuclear work than in oil and gas, but the outcome should still be the same, and the preparation and navigation of documentation should be accounted for at the very outset to help create efficiencies, and ultimately, profitability of workflow.
There is a constant requirement for innovation in the nuclear realm, not least to ensure these traditionally slow processes are sped up because of the traceability and auditing of safety, even a fraction, to improve the bottom line for all in the supply chain, particularly at Tier 2 and 3. Not just new methodology, but with new materials too that are being used in the nuclear fusion sector, such as yttrium.
Likewise is the requirement to produce components faster and more economically without detriment to quality, and if learnings from doing so can be shared with in other manufacturing realms, that has got to be good for UK engineering, not least at a time when energy production and consumption is undergoing so much change.
