RIASSUNTO
Abstract
The scope of this paper is to describe the advantages of utilizing Elastomeric Wraps for repairing and protecting offshore boat landing piles located in the splash-zone, which is a challenge worldwide, and to make comparison between this new protective Wraps and our existing repair practice. With the aim to improve the capabilities of the boat landing to absorb impact energy by approaching vessels without structural failures and to enhance corrosion resistance at the boat landing piles. Currently, Safaniyah Offshore Department repairs corroded boat landings piles by welding half sleeves pipes to restore the thickness of the boat landing structured piles and then applying anti-corrosion coatings. This practice consumes significant execution time, requires hot working activities [e.g. welding] and has a limited durability [e.g. most boat landings require costly refurbishments and repairs every 3 to 5 years intervals]. Furthermore, most of offshore platforms have boat landings, which consume significant offshore maintenance resources [e.g. boats and barges time] to conduct necessary repairs for eliminating further damages to the platform structures. Due to these challenges, Elastomeric Wraps, induced-tension polymer Wraps, was piloted at a high traffic boat landing to test its capability to pass pre-determined success criteria, which include significant reduction in corrosion rates and higher level of boat impact resistance. The advantages of this design include cost saving, faster installation time, better maintainability, longer life service, improved anti-corrosion protection, higher resistance to boat impact and safe installation (no hot work required). The Elastomeric Wrap was installed in 2017 at a boat landing for the first time as part of the efforts to provide a permanent solution for protecting the splash-zone piles located in a very corrosive environment, and subject to potential mechanical damage from repetitive impacts by approaching vessels. This product is not only designed to mitigate the corrosion effects, it also protects against mechanical impacts at boat landings by Marine vessels [e.g. supply boats, maintenance barges]. The design also can be modified in the field as per specific-site requirements and dimensions, which provides additional flexibility for field maintenance. The rigorous criteria for considering the Wrap as a successful alternative are aimed at identifying area of deficiencies in the design stage during field trials and before approving the Wrap for maintenance of the boat landing. In short, the Elastomeric Wraps is developed for maintaining assets integrity, ensuring efficient utilization of company's valuable resources and safe operation for transferred personnel, crew vessels and supply boats, which is in line with Aramco Operational Excellence (OE) and Safety Management System (SMS) objectives.