CASE STUDIES - Fabrication and machining servicesrenown-engineering.co.uk/wp-content/...Metal-Fabrication-Case-Studi… · The project involved complex fabrication of several anchor

CASE STUDIES

Fabrication

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Northumberland Business Park West, Dudley Lane, Dudley, Cramlington, NE23 7RH

The project involved complex fabrication of several anchor

bases, weighing 15 tonnes each, both square and circular,

for use in the Forties Oilfield - the largest field in the North

Sea.

Anchor bases are sunk to the seabed and act as anchors for

ancillaries to attach to and be held in place against strong

tides. This is done to ensure subsea oil and gas operations

can be undertaken with minimal disruption.

The bases have to be manufactured to very high

specifications due to the harsh environments they are

subject to, thus involving complex and heavy fabrication.

Add to this a requirement for anti-corrosive coating and

Lloyds approved hydraulic testing, and the project becomes

a complicated operation requiring close management and

high quality engineering with no real margin for error.

15 tonne subsea fabrication project

Whilst the global demand for hydrocarbon extraction enters into deeper and more demanding subsea envi-

ronments, the support and flexibility from the subsea engineering supply-chain is vital.

Renown Group operates to fully support major clients in subsea engineering operations, and this case study

highlights one example of a project to manufacture anchor bases.

Top: The squared anchor base

Below: The circular anchor base

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Northumberland Business Park West, Dudley Lane, Dudley, Cramlington, NE23 7RH

The project

Renown Engineering were tasked to weld 100mm thick eye

beams to a base plate for an oil and gas application. Renown

were required to turn the project around quickly as the customer

had already been let down by a supplier who could not fulfil the

welding demands.

Issues to overcome

The original subcontractor machined the items, meaning any

distortion during the welding process would ruin the project. The

machining was also so acute that access for welding was

impossible.

Renown’s approach

To overcome the difficulties of allowing access for welding,

Renown redesigned and re-machined the weld preparation to

enable access for welding to take place.

Renown qualified a welding procedure to cover the thickness

range (200mm) and qualified welders against the procedure.

When the welding began, pre-heat was critical, therefore

Renown used STORK for pre-heating equipment. Heating pads

then needed to come off every other shift to allow the job to be

rotated, staggering the welding to minimise distortion. Renown

also manufactured a frame to hold the component during the

welding process.

Due to the speed of response, Renown was able to deliver to

the customer’s specifications and on time.

Oil and Gas heavy welding project

Renown Engineering Ltd has over 25 years’ experience in welding and fabrication complex and heavy

projects in various materials. The following project exemplifies the depth of welding capability, and the

willingness to take on challenging projects.

In this example, Vector International were seeking a supplier to step in on a short lead time after being let

down by a different vendor.

Top: 100mm thick eye beams posi-

tioned into re-machined slots ready for

welding

Above: The eye beams welded into the

base plate

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Northumberland Business Park West, Dudley Lane, Dudley, Cramlington, NE23 7RH

What Issue was the Client Facing?

OSBIT required several complex fabrications, black built and

against a tight deadline. We took on the contract against a

pre-determined deadline as the parts had to be back with the

client for painting.

What was Renown Engineering’s approach?

Upon award of the contract, we created a project plan and

liaised with OSBIT to ensure key milestones were hit. To avoid

potential bottlenecks, the machining was intelligently

scheduled, and parts of it were subcontracted to another site

of the Renown Group to utilise the Group’s capacity.

How has the Client Benefited from the Project?

OSBIT received a successful on-time black build, ready for

painting. This meant no hold-ups in their overall project.

What did Renown Engineering Learn from the Project?

We were able to foresee potential bottlenecks that allowed us to

schedule key operations to minimise down-time. Micromanagement

meant up to date information on scheduling, this in turn was used to

plan machine operations in real-time.

“The quality of the fabrications, along with the machining and

inspection capabilities of Renown Engineering are great. Having

all functions under one roof lessens the risks associated with

using third parties...when working to tight timescales”

Neil Harrison, Engineer, OSBIT Power

Offshore wind access project

This case study highlights Renown taking on complex fabrications for offshore engineering gurus, OSBIT

Power. The project was to support OSBIT with their new product, MaXcess, a highly innovative solution to

enable personnel to safely access offshore wind turbines directly from the vessel.

Renown Project Engineer, Tom Moody, led the project and explains how it was delivered.

Above: The MaXcess System in use

Below: One of Renown Engineering’s

fabrications for the project