Amoco Trinidad selects wet welding repair option
- Amoco Corp., Naperville, IL (United States)
- Global Divers and Contractors, Inc., New Iberia, LA (United States)
- Amoco Trinidad Oil Co., Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Amoco Corp., Houston, TX (United States)
A recent underwater inspection of Amoco Trinidad Oil Company`s Samaan A Production platform revealed a separated horizontal brace at a water depth of 125 feet (38.1 m). A closer inspection showed that the 16 in (.4 m) diameter horizontal brace had completely separated from the Leg on the member side. A drilling program scheduled to commence from the Samaan A platform was to begin in about two months. A fast track analysis of the structure and a subsequent repair plan was immediately organized. A computer aided structural analysis was completed for the structure with the horizontal brace removed. Structural engineers decided that the brace must be reinstalled before being loaded with a drilling unit. A clamped brace repair assembly was not practical due to a multi member node at one of the legs. Wet welding was selected over dry hyperbaric welding as the best, safest, most cost effective and quickest option. A wet welding procedure and welder divers were qualified at depth according to AWS D3.6. A repair assembly was designed and fabricated. Personnel, wet welding equipment and the fabrication were shipped by air from New Iberia, LA to Galeota Point, Trinidad. This is the first time that wet welding techniques were employed for structural repairs directly to the leg of an offshore structure at any Amoco location.
- OSTI ID:
- 403603
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9606279--; ISBN 0-7918-1492-0
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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