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Adding Value to Offshore and Marine

Parker Hannifin addresses the need to optimise productivity and add value in offshore applications and introduces some of the latest technology developed to meet the changing needs of this sector.

Today’s offshore companies are under greater pressure than ever to maximise the efficiency of their systems and processes. Miles away from the coast, any downtime can be extremely difficult and costly to remedy, making specifying technology that is reliable and easy to monitor essential. As if this wasn’t a tough enough challenge, increasingly stringent safety and environmental regulations are being introduced, demanding that offshore businesses operate responsibly as well as profitably.

The latest engineering technologies have been developed in partnership with offshore operators to help them meet these changing needs. From more effective filtration products and condition monitoring systems, to tailor made aftercoolers and heavy duty lubricant filters, the technology is now available to keep systems running reliably with consistently optimised results.

Maximising Productivity

Essential to maximising the productivity of offshore applications is the ability to measure, monitor and remove contamination from fluid systems effectively. A new generation of filtration and condition monitoring technology has been developed for this purpose, allowing processes to be carried out efficiently and with consistent results.

For example, the latest fuel filtration systems are more effective than ever at removing water from fuel, all the way from the refinery to the engine. Hi-tech particle counters can also be used to monitor accurately the contamination levels of fuels, replacing potentially subjective methods of fuel monitoring and minimising system degradation and downtime. An example of this technology, the portable ACM20 from Parker, uses a principle known as light obscuration to allow contamination levels to be measured accurately in just two minutes.

Similarly, the latest laser-based particle detection devices, such as Parker’s iCount PD, are able to improve the reliability of systems by making it easy to monitor contamination levels in fluids. These units can be permanently mounted on-line to provide independent monitoring of system contamination trends. Early warning LED or digital display indicators can be set for low, medium or high contamination levels, while optional indicators can also be specified to detect moisture. Solutions such as these offer a cost effective method of prolonging fluid life and reducing machine downtime.

In addition to preventing fluid contamination, effective filtration is also required to improving the performance of natural gas processing systems. The latest range of natural gas filtration solutions can now be specified with a choice of filter media types, including glass fibre for coalescing liquids, cellulose for particulate removal, and activated carbon materials for oil vapour and hydrocarbon removal. These filters can remove contaminants down to 0.01 microns to keep gas processing systems operating reliably.

Similarly, lubricants must also be kept free of contaminants. With heavy duty lubricants typically used at sea, robust and reliable filtration solutions are required. A new generation of filtration systems are now available to meet these challenges, which can be specified with a wide variety of media types to keep lubricants free of both water and particulate contamination.

Increasing Efficiency

In addition to improving the productivity of offshore applications, the latest filtration technology is also helping operators to implement more efficient systems that save space, resources and money.

Large diameter filters can be used to replace up to ten conventional units for a more compact, lower maintenance option. These filter cartridges typically offer micro ratings of between 1 and 90 microns and are capable of exceptionally high levels of dirt retention. As the filters offer longer life than conventional models, users can keep down costs and minimise downtime. These kinds of large diameter filters are ideal for use at sea as they are able to withstand the high flow rates typical in offshore applications.

Similarly, a new range of water- and air-cooled aftercoolers have been developed to remove up to 80% of condensate from a system, enabling smaller refrigeration dryers and adsorption dryers to be installed, once again saving space, energy and money.

Also simplifying offshore processes considerably is a new generation of nitrogen generators. With the logistics of delivering and storing gas at sea generally proving problematic and expensive, the latest nitrogen generation technology is a far more efficient solution. These units use membrane technology to diffuse oxygen from a compressed air stream, producing nitrogen for use in industrial processes. This technology is proving invaluable in offshore environments, providing inert gas on demand to compress gas seals, flush pipelines, provide a cover layer for storage tanks, and flush out flaring systems.

Safety First

While optimising productivity and increasing efficiency remain priorities for offshore operators, there is an increasing focus on the safety of the technology used at sea, particularly where potentially hazardous gases or liquids are being processed.

To meet these needs, a number of filtration products have been developed that carry DNV approved Atex certification for safe use in hazardous environments. Ensuring the safety of employees is now an essential requirement for companies, with increasingly stringent legislation being introduced. These intrinsically safe products, from moisture sensors to particle counters, can help to both protect the safety of workers and meet the latest guidelines simply and cost effectively.

Respecting the Environment

Likewise, with environmental awareness more acute than ever, companies are looking for engineering solutions that have the minimum impact on the environment, both directly and indirectly. The leading manufacturers of filtration systems have put significant time and investment into helping end users achieve these aims, with a new range of greener products.

An example of these more environmentally conscious systems is the LEIF® series of filter elements form Parker. These components enable waste levels to be reduced significantly by requiring only the used filter element to be disposed of while the cartridge can be reused. A whole range of these innovative elements are now available, including high pressure, low pressure and tank top filters. Environmentally friendly breathers can also be specified with water repelling media to eliminate water contamination from engine systems.

With such high demands being placed on today’s offshore companies, being able to find engineering solutions that are efficient and reliable, as well as safe and environmentally friendly, is crucial. By investing in the latest filtration and condition monitoring technology, and working in partnership with the manufacturers of these products to ensure they address end user specifications, operators can meet their needs simply and cost effectively.

Parker Hannifin is the world's leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of commercial, mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. The company employs more than 57,000 people in 43 countries around the world. Parker has increased its annual dividends paid to shareholders for 52 consecutive years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 index.

Sentinel Instruments is a company which specialises in the design, supply and manufacture of Load and Tension Monitoring equipment and systems for the offshore, marine and engineering industries. The company manufactures an advanced fully digital Safe Load Indicator for offshore lattice boom cranes.

The company also manufactures a range of sheave devices for monitoring tension, length and velocity of steel wire ropes in the range 20-500Tons. Sentinel designs and manufactures a range of load cells both tension and compression for a variety of applications both offshore and onshore.

The load cells can be incorporated into systems for bulk tank monitoring and crane monitoring or any application where the value of stress and strain requires measurement.

Pressure and temperature measurement solutions from WIKA are components integrated in the business processes of our customers. This is why we consider ourselves to be not just suppliers of measurement components but rather more a competent partner that offers comprehensive solutions in close co-operation with our customers.

Our top ranking in the world market today is thanks to the consequent devotion to ensure first class quality backed by more than 4.900 employees in the WIKA group of companies. More than 500 experienced distribution employees alone, ensure that our customers are competently advised and individually serviced throughout the world.

More than 30 million quality products are delivered year in, year out, in more than 100 countries.This means some 300 million WIKA measuring instruments in use all over the globe.

WIKA provides satisfaction right down the line with precision products which represent the most modern pressure and temperature measuring technology backed by an extensive service program which more than meets the demands and wishes of our customers.