Engineers in Abu Dhabi lowering a refurbished API 610 VS4 pump into the testing tank. (Image source: Amarinth)
Over a decade ago, Amarinth supplied ten super-duplex API 610 VS4 pumps with atmospheric pressure single lip seals to ADNOC for closed drains systems. However, more recently, as ADNOC was upgrading its giant Bab onshore field, one of its largest onshore producing assets, and looking to redeploy the API 610 VS4 pumps, it found higher concentrations of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in the oil than when the original pumps were ordered. This required a different seal support arrangement on the pumps to contain the dangerous gas.
Archirodon, the EPC awarded the Bab field upgrade, approached Amarinth to review whether new pumps would be required, or the existing pumps could be updated and integrated into the new oil train. Amarinth proposed that the seal support systems on the existing pumps be changed to Plan 71 nitrogen seals, which would be suitable to for the higher concentrations of H2S, and that the pumps be fully refurbished and certified for use on the upgraded facility.
It was agreed that the upgrade and refurbishment would be completed within 27 weeks from purchase order to commissioning as a longer shutdown would mean losing some £1M per day in production capacity, and this all had to be done during the global Covid-19 pandemic and country lockdowns.
A three-way cooperation between Amarinth, Archirodon and ADNOC was formed to tackle this fast-track logistical challenge, all overseen by Amarinth’s Head of Technical Engineering. Amarinth first organised with Archirodon and ADNOC for the pumps to be collected from around the large Bab site and then crated and transported to its local engineering and service centre in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Once the pumps were at its service centre, Amarinth undertook a strip and report for each of the ten pumps detailing what required reconditioning (such as motors and shafts) and what needed replacing. The company then organised the acquisition and shipping from the United Kingdom of all the necessary components, including the new Plan 71 seal support systems, couplings, pipework, and instrumentation panels for the refurbishment and update of the pumps to be completed in Abu Dhabi.
Full witness testing of the upgraded pumps was also carried out at the Abu Dhabi facility before the newly warranted pumps were returned to site. Amarinth engineers accompanied the pumps to the Bab facility and worked alongside Archirodon to oversee the installation, commissioning, and factory acceptance tests of the upgraded pumps into the new oil train.
Despite the engineering and logistical challenges, compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, Amarinth was able to have the upgraded pumps commissioned within the deadline enabling Archirodon and ADNOC to keep the Bab upgrade project on-track.
Oliver Brigginshaw, Managing Director of Amarinth, commented: “This project has shown that by using our local in-country facilities, leveraging our renown business agility, and working in a close partnership with our customers, we are able to deliver against challenging project deadlines despite the many operational difficulties posed by the Covid-19 restrictions. We look forward to working on further projects with ADNOC and other operators across the Middle East."
Amarinth has recently been certified in accordance with the ISO 14064-1 Carbon Reduce scheme, the international standard for quantifying, reporting and removing greenhouse gas emissions, underlining the company’s long-held commitment to reduce carbon emissions for itself, its customers, and its supply chain.
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