Flare-stack lagging and cladding project is a first for Skyriders
This article has been supplied.
Flare stacks require regular inspection and maintenance. Flare stacks are similar to smokestacks or silos, and range from 50 m to 80 m in height. Their function is to burn off surplus or dangerous excess gases that cannot be utilised or stored.
Traditionally, sizeable cranage needs to be mobilised to lift the necessary equipment and personnel to the top in order to be able to carry out the work required. This has major implications for both productivity and safety.
Recently rope-access specialist Skyriders was called upon to assist a major petrochemical producer in Mpumalanga during a shutdown of a major flare stack to carry out ultrasonic (UT) wall-thickness testing, Marketing Manager Mike Zinn reports.
Prior to this, the five-person team was required to remove all damaged lagging and cladding, and afterwards replace it with new material. The lagging is an insulating material that is covered with a protective layer of thin steel sheeting.
“Our challenge was to ensure that our methodology was planned correctly, and that everyone in the team knew exactly what they were required to do,” Zinn explains. The fact that Skyriders was only called upon in the final days of the shutdown added an element of time pressure to the fast-track project.
“Our success here could definitely lead to additional work in this niche sector. It is a prime example of the safety and cost-savings that can result from applying rope access,” Zinn stresses. UT wall thickness measurement is a specialist inspection service offered by Skyriders, which has technicians trained specifically in this regard.
UT measurement comprises the non-destructive testing of the local thickness of a solid element such as a wall, based on the time taken by the ultrasound waves to return to the surface. This measurement is determined by an ultrasonic thickness gauge.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest News
Showroom
Immersive Technologies is the world's largest, proven and tested supplier of simulator training solutions to the global resources industry.
VISIT SHOWROOM
John Thompson, the leader in energy and environmental solutions through value engineering and innovation, provides the following: design, engineer,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
